Author: India Writes Network

Sugar-sweet: India galvanises ties with Fiji

- by India Writes Network

In a defining outreach to Pacific islands community, India has unveiled a $75 million line of credit for Fiji for upgrading the sugar industry and sought to deepen defence and security cooperation with the archipelago nation.
Revitalising development partnership with Fiji, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who touched down in Suva at the crack of dawn on a day-long visit, also pledged $5 million fund to develop villages in the Pacific nation that is home to a large Indian diaspora. Persons of Indian origin comprise over 37 per cent of Fiji’s population.
Signalling a diplomatic upsurge with the Pacific island community, the Indian leader also held a summit meeting with the leaders of the island states. Mr Modi announced an ambitious Pan-Pacific Islands Network that will provide telemedicine and tele-education to residents of these countries.

Read More

Make in India: How to succeed

- by India Writes Network

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the “Make in India” initiative, which is aimed at increasing the manufacturing output within India. This is a welcome step towards harnessing India’s large labour force and resource base. However, the manufacturing sector in India has lagged in recent years, and to succeed several reforms are necessary to unlock the potential of India’s manufacturing sector.
Rebooting India’s manufacturing sector is a challenging but essential task. India has a huge potential for manufacturing a wide range of products ranging from traditional and cultural-related products to the most modern sophisticated products. Many of these products have good export potential that can be exploited. The example of the auto sector is a lesson to follow. India has become a major producer and exporter of automotive products including a wide range of 2, 3 and 4 wheelers and components. This has happened as a result of liberalization and integration into the global economy.
The “Make in India” campaign needs the widest possible support to succeed. The central and state governments, business and industry, and labour organizations must work together to achieve this goal.

Read More

Modi, the rock star, sells India dream to diaspora in Australia

- by India Writes Network

It was a show like no other! For the thousands of Indians gathered at Sydney’s Allphones Arena on the evening of November 17 at least, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was no less than a rock star. It was evident not just in the huge presence of members of the Indian community at the cavernous arena, but also in the manner in which they hung on to every word of his and cheered him on.
If the Rolling Stones Mick Jagger rocked the iconic sports complex in Sydney just a week ago, the Indian Prime Minister had Indian expatriates virtually eating out of his hands during his six-hour stay in Sydney. A stay during which he received a traditional Aussie welcome and a boomerang as a gift.
Mr Modi, in turn, played to the gallery as he tugged at their heart strings, his speech a mix of the emotional, the practical and even the humorous. The around 20,000-strong crowd, in turn, responded by frequently breaking into chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ as the Indian leader exhorted the rapturous crowd to return to their Motherland what they had got from it.

Read More

Modi’s Canberra visit: Continuing the momentum

- by India Writes Network

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Australia for the G20 Summit in Brisbane, and will then travel to Canberra for an official bilateral visit. Modi’s visit, taking place nearly 30 years after the last Indian Prime Ministerial visit (Rajiv Gandhi in 1986), comes at a critical time for both countries – when strategic equations are being redrawn, creating new Asian security dynamics.
India and Australia are engaged today in a variety of areas. They have growing defense ties in the form of consultations and multilateral exercises, as well as a broader security and strategic relationship that covers nuclear non-proliferation and energy security, both in coal and civil nuclear, and is likely to expand to solar and wind. The congruence of interests and ideas is indeed growing. However, it is important that India-Australia relations are not entirely viewed through the bilateral prism. Instead, the relationship needs to be based on regional security considerations about which Canberra and New Delhi share similar views.

Read More