Author: Manish Chand

Modi mantra in Nepal: Healing, connecting and linking Varanasi & Kathmandu

- by Manish Chand

The Modi mantra rings loud and clear in Nepal. Talk to anyone in the buzzing bazaars of Kathmandu, the very word Modi evokes smile and respect. He has become synonymous with development and hope for people in Nepal who are yearning for better governance and infrastructure. Trying to live up to soaring expectations in the Himalayan state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi formalised $1 billion soft loan for development projects, gifted a trauma centre to Nepal and unveiled sister-city arrangements between key Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage hubs in India and Nepal.
“If Nepal is not happy, India cannot smile. Nepal’s happiness gives us joy,” Mr Modi said in a brief speech at the inauguration of National Trauma Centre in Kathmandu, , his first engagement after touching down in Nepal on November 25 afternoon.
This time round, Mr Modi underscored that if there is a strong “engine of trust and confidence” between India and Nepal, anything is possible, reflecting a sense of optimism about the future trajectory of bilateral relations that was encapsulated in Mr Modi’s wide-ranging talks with his Nepali counterpart Sushil Koirala. Pushing the ties on fast-track, the two sides signed a dozen pacts, that included an agreement for India providing $1 billion Line of Credit for a host of infrastructure projects in the Himalayan state that is navigating its transition to democracy, and a landmark Motor Vehicle Agreement that will boost people-to-people contacts, business and tourism between the two countries.

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Raising the bar for SAARC: Building Bridges, Linking Dreams

- by Manish Chand

Intertwined Destinies, Interlinked Dreams – expressions like these may appear ornate clichés for sceptics, but in reality it would be an understatement to underscore the enormous stakes each country has in fructifying immense potential of the region. India, the largest economy and the most populous country in the region, is an idealist as well as a realist in its ongoing efforts to revitalise the SAARC as the preeminent forum of regional cooperation and integration. For the India Story can’t be delinked from the state of South Asia, its choices and its conflicts and its surging hopes and aspirations.
In an imaginative initiative, Prime Minister Modi has called for jointly developing a SAARC satellite that could become a powerful symbol of regional solidarity and a realistic vehicle of providing the much-needed data for averting natural disasters and meteorological data to optimise agriculture potential of individual economies and the region. Initiatives like these show that the SAARC grouping, if it wants to, is ready to move into a different orbit, literally as well as metaphorically.
It’s time to raise the sights, dream big and prove that even the sky is not the limit for regional integration.

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It’s time for South Asia: Pitching SAARC into higher orbit

- by Manish Chand

It’s a gloriously sunny day, the kind of weather that should stimulate imagination and inspire some out-of-box thinking in leaders of South Asian countries, who will gather in the Nepali capital to invigorate a 29-year old regional grouping that is still itching to take off.
The summitry atmospherics can be felt everywhere in Kathmandu, with colorful banners proclaiming the tag line of the 18th SAARC summit: “Deeper Integration for Peace, Progress and Prosperity.” The theme song encapsulates in a miniature the abiding mastertheme of the November 28-29 summit, and the driving impulse of the SAARC process itself. And rightly so.
In a way, All eyes will be on Mr Modi’s SAARC debut and his vision for raising the bar for the SAARC dream. Home to vibrant and emerging democracies, growing economies, and home to 1.7 billion people and major religions of the world, South Asia has all the makings of a regional dynamo itching for its place under the global sun. It’s time for the leaders of the region to put a stop to endless visions and revisions and take firm and decisive steps to pitch the SAARC into a higher trajectory.

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Chalein Saath Saath: Celebrating Republic Day, with Barack Obama

- by Manish Chand

Marking a new energy and a milestone in the defining partnership of the 21st century, Barack Obama will become the first US president India will host as chief guest on the Republic Day in 2015.
President Obama’s acceptance of Mr Modi’s invitation to come to India is nothing short of a diplomatic coup by India’s new prime minister, who was not too long ago shunned by Washington for his alleged inaction during the 2002 Gujarat riots, and denied a visa. More importantly, it’s a strategic masterstroke as Mr Obama’s visit – this is the first time the leaders of India and the US would have visited each other’s country within months – and sends a powerful signal across to India’s friends and adversaries alike in the region and the world at large. China will be specially watching the Obama visit as there is nothing Beijing is more apprehensive about than the growing cosiness and strategic compact between the world’s leading democracies. Pakistan, the perpetual griper, will obviously like to launch a diplomatic offensive, as it’s already doing with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urging Mr Obama to take up the Kashmir issue with Mr Modi during their January meeting. Islamabad will probably get the same frosty answer as George Bush said in Islamabad so memorably in 2006: “Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories.”

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India & Fiji: A Pacific Bonding

- by Manish Chand

Call it the Pacific Bonding, if you like. The multi-hued ties between India and Fiji are set to get a new sparkle as Suva rolls out the red carpet for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 29. This will be the first prime ministerial visit from India to Fiji after Indira Gandhi visited the Pacific nation 33 years ago in 1981.
The timing of the visit is propitious as Mr Modi visits the island nation weeks after Fiji held multi-party elections, which was judged as largely free and fair by the international community. India has welcomed Fiji’s re-embrace of democracy and backed the election process by providing indelible ink and training. India also participated in the Multilateral Observer Group (MOG) for the Fiji elections as co-Chair (with Australia and Indonesia).
Fittingly, Prime Minister Modi’s 10-day overseas trip that included big-ticket multilateral summits and dozens of bilateral meetings in Myanmar and Australia ends with Fiji and meetings with leaders of small but significant Pacific island nations that are set to loom large on India’s diplomatic agenda in days to come.

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Modi targets black money, pitches for BRICS Bank by 2016

- by Manish Chand

Fourth months after his BRICS debut in Fortaleza, Brazil, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the leaders of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa in the picturesque Australian city of Brisbane and underlined that the repatriation of black money parked abroad, that runs into billions of dollars, was “a key priority,” and linked it to security challenges facing the world.

Mr Modi, whose government has vowed to vow bring black money kept in secret bank accounts by Indians abroad a national priority, made a strong pitch for “close coordination” on the issue during an informal meeting of the five-nation BRICS leaders on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brisbane November 15.

Building on the architecture of the BRICS Bank fleshed out in Fortaleza at the July 15 summit, the Indian leader said that BRICS should set 2016 as the target for the inauguration of the BRICS Bank.

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India at G20: The Power of 20

- by Manish Chand

Call it the Power of 20. It’s the world’s most powerful economic club, bringing together 20 most developed and emerging economies in the world, spread across five continents. The G20 comprises around 90 per cent of the global GDP, 80 per cent of the world trade and more than two-third of the world’s population. Six years and eight summits later, it’s a high moment for G20 as the leaders of the world’s premier economic forum gather for their 9th summit in Brisbane, the picturesque gateway to Australia, November 15-16.

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Modi’s high-speed diplomacy: 3 countries, 4 summits, 40 leaders in 10 days

- by Manish Chand

Three countries, four multilateral summits, meetings with over 40 leaders of the world, spanning continents and diverse geographies, including Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Pacific Region. And all this in 10 days! If this sounds like fantastic and humanly impossible, weigh in again. This is India’s speed diplomacy cruising along in high gear as Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads on a 10-day overseas tour that’s going to underline New Delhi’s commitment to multilateralism and its proactive thrust to shape an emerging world order.
Prime Minister Modi looks poised to display a deft multilateral diplomacy and reaffirm India’s commitment to multilateralism that was questioned by many after New Delhi stood globally marginalised following its refusal to play along with the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the WTO. In a departure statement ahead of his trip, PM Modi has summarised some key themes of his longest overseas trip. First, be spoke about multiple global challenges and underscored national development and resurgence as the driving force of India’s diplomacy.

By the time Mr Modi returns home, he would have met leaders of most of the world, spanning continents.

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Act East: New energy in India’s ASEAN journey

- by Manish Chand

Act East. It’s the flowering of the Asian Dream, and India’s burgeoning relations with the 10-nation ASEAN grouping are at the heart of this unfolding Asian resurgence. This win-win synergy and chemistry between India and ASEAN, home to economic vibrancy, innovation and enterprise, will be encapsulated in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden trip to Myanmar November 11-14 to attend his first India-ASEAN summit and the 18-nation East Asia Summit.
Commerce, Culture and Creativity are the three pillars of India’s robust engagement with ASEAN. In the economic arena, the India-ASEAN relations are poised to scale new frontiers.
Under the new leadership in Delhi, India’s Look East policy has morphed into a proactive Act East policy, which envisages accelerated across-the-board engagement between the two growth poles of a vibrant Asia. This has been reflected in a spate of two-way visits in the first few months of the Modi government.
Looking ahead, the two sides will be exchanging notes on the next steps in their partnership in the form of the 2015-2020 action plan, which is expected to be firmed up and unveiled at the India-ASEAN summit next year.

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