Author: India Writes Network

‘No full stop in diplomacy’: India, Pakistan PMs may meet in New York

- by India Writes Network

“In diplomacy, there is no full stop. It is always commas and semi colon.” In a masterly one-liner, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has indicated that India is keeping options open on re-engaging Pakistan, kindling possibilities of a likely meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York later this month.
In her first interaction with the media after taking charge of India’s Ministry of External Affairs over three months ago, Swaraj appeared a picture of poise and handled around 50 questions on issues ranging from India-Pakistan talks and the Chinese president’s forthcoming visit to India to the crisis in Fiji and the plight of Indian hostages in Iraq. Unlike her loquacious predecessor, Swaraj’s answers were pithy and pointed, displaying her easy familiarity with nuances of foreign policy issues. This emerged clearly from her measured response to the possibilities of the meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Sharif on the sidelines of the 69th UNGA in New York and the no-nonsense stand on the cancellation of foreign secretary-level talks last month due to the Pakistani high commissioner’s meeting with separatist Kashmiri leaders.

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Floods in Kashmir ignite India-Pakistan goodwill diplomacy

- by India Writes Network

As floods and landslides continue to wreak havoc in Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan have put aside their recent diplomatic acrimony and extended a helping hand to each other in this time of unfolding human tragedy.

Late monsoon rains have trigged massive floods on either sides of the Line of Control (LoC) that divide the two halves of Kashmir, inundating hundreds of villages. According to reports, over 270 people have died in India and Pakistan.

The death toll in India is reported to have crossed 160 with around 5000 homes destroyed. Srinagar, the capital of India’s northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, too, have been inundated by flood water in the worst floods in over 60 years.

In what is being termed as “flood aid diplomacy” by Pakistan’s media, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a personal letter to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to express condolences and offered humanitarian assistance to Islamabad for relief and rescue operations.

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India, Australia seal nuclear deal, focus on security ties

- by India Writes Network

In a defining step that has decisively transformed India-Australian ties, the two countries have signed a landmark nuclear deal that clears the decks for the import of Australian uranium to the energy-deficient Asian economy and bring them in a closer strategic embrace.
The long-awaited nuclear deal was signed in the presence of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott, the first foreign leader hosted by the 100-day old new government in New Delhi on a standalone bilateral visit. A beaming Modi hailed the agreement as “a historic milestone” and can count it as a diplomatic gift as India gears up to scale up the share of atomic electricity in its overall energy mix.

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