Author: India Writes Network

US cautions India on Iran ties: Don’t rush, hold your horses

- by India Writes Network

The Iran deal is not done yet. Don’t rush – “hold your horses.” This is the message of Wendy Sherman, the US’ key negotiator for the Iran nuclear deal, to India and all those countries who are eagerly looking to step up economic and energy ties with Tehran in the hope of the much-anticipated lifting of sanctions.
“I would say ‘hold your horses’. We are not quite to an agreement yet,” Sherman, US Undersecretary of Political Affairs, said in the Indian capital. She was responding to a question on the US’ position on India and other buyers of Iranian oil that want to increase their trade ties with Tehran.
The deadline for the Iranian nuclear deal, which aims at preventing Iran from developing an atomic bomb and to bring the country into the global mainstream, has been set for June 30. However, the United States says there is no guarantee of the closure of the deal as tough nuclear negotiations lie ahead.

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Clearing Up Misconceptions Between India and China

- by India Writes Network

China and India are not only neighbors but also important rising economies and global powers with a combined population accounting for 35 percent of the world’s total. However, the two nations remain largely distant in some respects. A survey about the rise of China conducted in India in 2013 by the Asian Barometer Survey Organization showed that many Indians lacked knowledge about the growing power to their north. And in recent interviews with Beijing Review, most Chinese respondents expressed stereotypes about India that focused on negative qualities like poor infrastructure and social governance, overlooking India’s status as a global leader in information technology and the bio-pharmaceutical industry.

Media observers said a lack of mutual understanding is the root cause of the indifference and even outright ignorance displayed by the peoples of the two countries toward each other.

China-India relations have entered a period of overall accelerated growth. Nonetheless, persistently negative media reports of the two sides are failing to improve the relationship. Some in the media overhype border disputes and political issues while neglecting bilateral economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

At the Second China-India Media Forum on February 1 in Beijing, a platform jointly established by the State Council Information Office of China and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India to enhance bilateral media exchanges, participants from the mainstream media outlets of both countries addressed these issues. These media representatives held candid and in-depth exchanges on the crux of the problems and the convergence of their interests to provide the general public of both countries with accurate and comprehensive information in order to reduce misunderstandings.
Manish Chand, Editor in Chief of India Writes, echoed Dasgupta’s view by noting that Indian media should break the tradition of always “looking at China-India relations through the security prism,” and devote more energy to culture stories.
“Culture is always a missing component in Indian media coverage. The frame of reference while thinking of culture is mostly the West. We speak of Hollywood and its films and actors, but how many people know of Chinese films and directors?” said Chand.

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