Author: India Writes Network

It is Doklam again: Will it lead to another confrontation?

- by India Writes Network

On last Sunday, 25 March, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters in Dehra Dun that India is “alert and ready for any unforeseen situation in Doklam”. Adding that the government was constantly working to modernise the forces and that they would be ready to “maintain our territorial integrity.”
This was a day after India’a Ambassador to Beijing, Gautam Bambawale, told the South China Morning Post in an interview that any attempt by China to change the status quo along the Indian border may lead to another Doklam-like standoff.
Earlier in the month, Sitharaman had told the Rajya Sabha that the forces of the two countries had redeployed themselves away from the point of the standoff in last June. In response to a question on Chinese activity there, she said that “in order to maintain these troops during winter, PLA has undertaken construction of some infrastructure, including sentry posts, trenches and helipads.”

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ISIS killed 39 Indians, what took govt 4 years to confirm this?

- by India Writes Network

Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament on Tuesday, 20 March, that the government found DNA proof regarding the death of 39 Indian workers who went missing in June 2014 from Mosul, Iraq, after ISIS took over the city. Her announcement ended years-long speculation, mostly from the government’s part, on the fate of the missing.
DNA matches from bodies exhumed out of mass graves surrounding the infamous Badush prison, on the outskirts of Mosul along the banks of river Tigris, confirmed the deaths of the missing Indians. According to a detailed account by the lone survivor from the group, Harjit Masih, the remaining men were killed, execution style, on 15 June 2014, four days after their abduction.

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Changing geopolitical scene in Indo-Pacific: Vietnam-Australia & Vietnam-India partnership

- by India Writes Network

The geo-political scene in the Indo-Pacific region is changing rapidly in over the last couple of years. The driving force behind these changes is the rise of China, together with its assertiveness on territorial issues, particularly its claim on most parts of South China Sea in the midst of rival claims from some other countries of the region, namely Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and, of course Taiwan that claims everything that mainland China does.
The strengthening of Vietnam-Australia relations and India-Australia relations together offers an alternative narrative to China’s view of the regional order.

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Macron’s visit marks new phase in Indo-France strategic partnership

- by India Writes Network

“France wants India as its first strategic partner in Asia, and it wants to be India’s first strategic partner in Europe, and even the western world,” said French President Macron as the two countries inked 14 crucial agreements in New Delhi, signalling a “big leap” in the bilateral relations. Macron’s was an unambiguous gesture reflecting the deepening of strategic ties between the two countries. The comprehensive nature of the agreements covering defence, economic, nuclear energy and energy security, among others, was an indication of growing convergence between the two countries in the times of dispersed and diverse security threats with global balance of power under transition. Though India and France have maintained cordial relations since the cold war times, the potential of their strategic partnership appeared to have remained largely underutilised. The recent visit by the French President to New Delhi may well be considered as a major breakthrough in strategic ties between the two countries as they are responding to their convergence of interests like never before.

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Mayhem in Ghouta: And dilemma before civilians

- by India Writes Network

Even minutes after the United Nations Security Council pushed Syrian regime’s backer Russia to agree to a ceasefire, the bombardment of eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, still continued.According to a UK based monitor called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the regime has killed over 500 people in less than a week. The regime calls it a lie, but the locals from Ghouta say Assad has been raining lethal barrel bombs, among other ammunition, on 350,000-400,000 remaining inhabitants of Ghouta, shoving them underground.
The regime first imposed a siege in the area, ringing the capital in May 2013. Albeit at prices ten times higher than in Damascus, basic materials like food and fuel were supplied through the al-Wafideen opening. Rebels also dug tunnels leading to Damascus to smuggle in the goods. Since late last year, the siege has been absolute. Syrian forces bombed the tunnels and sealed Wafideen.

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BJP breaches last Red citadel in Tripura

- by India Writes Network

The Left’s last citadel in India has crumbled, with the Bharatiya Janata Party set to replace the 20-year old rule of CPI(M)’s Manik Sarkar in an election that has proved to be quite revolutionary. The BJP is leading in 40 seats, crossing the 2/3rd mark after counting began this morning for the 59 assembly seats, giving a decisive push to its Mission Northeast.
From securing around 1.5 per cent votes in the last assembly election in 2013, to this historic election verdict, it has been an impressive performance of the BJP that aligned with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura. The party carried out an aggressive campaign in the state with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party heavyweights like Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Yogi Adityanath leading the campaign.

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India-Jordan ties turn strategic with defence pact

- by India Writes Network

Imparting a new energy to New Delhi’s Look West policy, India and Jordan have taken their security cooperation to a new level by signing a defence framework agreement and inked a clutch of agreements in diverse areas.As countries that face the common threat of terrorism and extremism, India and Jordan have also decided to bolster their cooperation in counter-terrorism and deradicalization.
The talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jordanian King Abdullah II in New Delhi on March 1 have deepened strategic dimension of the burgeoning India-Jordan ties. The major takeaway was the signing of a defence framework agreement that covers areas like training, defence industry, counter-terrorism, military studies, cyber security, military medical services and peace-keeping.

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AIIB $1.5 billion loan boosts India’s infrastructure plan

- by India Writes Network

In a move that could help bridge India’s infrastructural gap, the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $1.5 billion in loans to India for a host of infrastructure-based projects in 2018. While the loan will be utilized for the development of energy, roads and urban centres, there will be a special focus will be on enhancing India’s renewable energy capacity.
With 7.74 per cent equity share in the multilateral development bank, India is only second to China which holds 29.9 per cent. Operating from 2016, the 84-member bank, which was initiated by China, is focussed on supporting infrastructural development across the Asia-Pacific region.

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