Author: India Writes Network

Indian hostages in Iraq: India seeks Turkey’s help

- by India Writes Network

With the extremist Sunni terror group ISIS continuing its assault in the Middle East, the lives of 39 Indian constructions workers hang in the balance as they remain in the ISIS’s captivity for almost nine months. Against this backdrop, India has sought Turkey’s help to secure the release of the Indian hostages from Iraq, who were kidnapped from Mosul, Iraq, last June.

India’s External Affair Minister Sushma Swaraj has been pursuing the issue over the past months through various channels and took it up with her Turkish counterpart, Mr. Mevlut Cavusoglu, who was in India on a short visit. Although intelligence agencies have been unable to locate the exact whereabouts of the Indian hostages and their captors, the talks with Turkey have brought fresh hope for their secure rescue.

India was faced with a similar situation last year when the ISIS held 46 nurses captive, later releasing them unharmed. Their safe return to India, after much back and forth across multiple diplomatic channels, showed the diplomatic prowess of the newly-elected Modi government.

In the current case, according to sources, Mr. Cavusoglu said that the ISIS’s information flow was very “restricted” and no concrete details were available on the whereabouts of Indian workers. Recent ISIS killings of hostages from Japan have caused concern for the safety of the Indian hostages. Some sources had also claimed earlier that the hostages had been killed.

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‘Modi ranks ahead of Xi in handling domestic affairs and Global diplomacy’

- by India Writes Network

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi added yet another feather to his cap by securing the top rank, ahead of China’s President Xi Jinping, in handling domestic as well as international affairs, as per China’s National Image Global Survey 2014, which ranked nine heads of state on different parameters.

The survey, collating responses of 4500 people across nine countries, showed that amongst the leaders’ capability in handling domestic affairs, Mr. Modi led the rest with a score of 3.74 on a scale of five, followed by Mr. Xi (3.58), Mr. Tony Abbott (3.55), Mr. David Cameron (3.53), Mr. Barack Obama (3.48) and Mr. Shinzo Abe (3.37). In the international affairs department too, Mr. Modi scored ahead of Mr. Xi, followed by Mr. Cameron and Mr. Obama.

“Xi’s handling of both domestic and international affairs has won high praise. He ranks second, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for his capability of handling domestic and international affairs,” Said Wang Gangyi, vice-president of China International Publishing Group, citing the survey report released in Beijing on March 18.

The survey was aimed at surveying international perception towards global leaders’ domestic and foreign image and policies. It also showed that President Obama was the most well known Head of State, followed by Mr. Putin.

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China, Japan open security dialogue after 4 years

- by India Writes Network

In what seems to be a promising development, China and Japan, the two leading Asian economies entangled in a festering territorial dispute, have held their first high level security talks in four years. The meeting in Tokyo signals the possibility of a thaw in strained relations between the two countries estranged by historical issues and perception of rivalry.
The meeting focused on improving the bitter relations and setting up a maritime communication hotline between the two countries. The meeting came ahead of a trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea on March 21, in Seoul for the first time in nearly three years.
Both China and South Korea have historical issues relating to Japan’s militarist past of wartime aggression. The way ahead lies in finding some mode of grand reconciliation and facing up to the past while looking ahead to the future of possibilities.
The possible thaw in relations between China and Japan also bodes well for India, which is looking to forge multi-pronged relations with the world’s second and third largest economies on separate tracks.

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Counter-terror meet: ISIS hasn’t influenced Indian Muslims

- by India Writes Network

India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the-three day counter terrorism conference in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. The conference focuses on the integrated approach to counter terrorism and provides a platform to a wide array of professionals involved in counterterrorism analysis and practice from world over to explore the nature of terror threats in current times and strategies to overcome them.
In his inaugural address, Mr. Singh expressed happiness at the negligible impact of ISIS on the country’s youth. He said that Indian Muslims were ‘patriots’ and that ISIS has failed to influence them since the community is complete integrated in the national mainstream. Of the handful of Indian youth who had joined the ISIS, some had even returned after being persuaded by their families.

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India condemns Tunisia terror attack, calls for global action

- by India Writes Network

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee have condemned the terror attack in Tunisia and underlined that New Delhi stands firmly with the people of the country in this hour of attack.

“Attack in Tunisia is appalling & condemnable. We stand firmly with the people of Tunisia in this hour of grief and pray normalcy return soon,” Mr Modi said via twitter.

The attack on foreigners in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, appeared to be the worst since the al-Qaeda suicide bombing killing 14 Germans, two French and five Tunisian on the Island of Djerba in 2002.

The brutal militant group, The Islamic State, is suspected to have links with the Tunisia attack, which has once again underlined the trans-national nature of terrorism, fuelled by radical Islamist groups and ideologies.

The U.N. Security Council has condemned the Bardo museum terror spree, saying that no terrorist action can reverse the path of Tunisia toward democracy.

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