Culture

Act East: Delhi-S(e)oul Bonding

- by Manish Chand

It’s been a year of Looking East as well as Acting East for the Indian diplomacy. India’s diplomatic and economic engagement with Southeast Asian and East Asian countries saw a marked upswing in 2014. With India’s Look East policy morphing into Act East policy under the Narendra Modi government, the country’s diplomatic calendar in 2014 is ending with a visit by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to South Korea, which will focus on intensifying economic ties and injecting greater strategic content into this dynamic relationship.
The growing strategic comfort in bilateral ties will be reflected in a renewed push to implement the civil nuclear deal the two countries signed in 2011. Unlike Japan, which is still hemmed in by its powerful non-proliferation lobby, South Korea is expected to be more pragmatic and cooperate closely in areas of nuclear safety and research and development. The two sides have “identified research and development, training of India’s scientific personnel, and working together on next-generation reactors,” says Akbaruddin.
Looking ahead, South Korea, East Asia’s economic dynamo and India, Asia’s third largest economy, are set to come closer in an evolving calculus of win-win opportunities. The two countries are now looking to implement their civil nuclear deal, collaborate in outer space and frontier areas of technology, and are taking a slew of steps to bolster their defence and strategic ties through enhanced joint exercises and maritime cooperation. With the Asia-Pacific theatre becoming the focus of global attention and India acting east with renewed vigour, expect the multifarious India-South Korea strategic partnership to acquire a new ballast in days to come.

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PBD 2015: Serenading NRIs, on home turf, Modi-style

- by Manish Chand

Madison Square Garden, New York. Allphones Arena, Sydney. After dazzling and ravishing NRIs in high visibility rock-star like shows in foreign lands, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to turn on all his charm to serenade over 3,000 NRIs and PIOs on home turf in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. On January 8, Mr Modi is expected to perform a new improvisation of his ‘Song of NRIs’ and will seek to enlist them as proactive stakeholders in the reignited India growth story.
The annual jamboree of overseas Indians looks set to have a new shine next year as India toasts the centenary of the homecoming of Mahatma Gandhi, the most famous NRI, and seek to leverage myriad talents and resources of expat Indians for the larger project of national resurgence. The Modi government, which has made a proactive engagement with the 25-million strong Indian diaspora scattered across countries and continents a key feature of its foreign policy, is bursting with ideas to put its own stamp over the 13th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) that will be held in Gandhinagar January 7-9.
In the age of visuals, the PBD promises to be a captivating show. It will be a 3D performance in ways more than one. Celebrating Mahatma Gandhi’s historic salt march, a new high-tech museum built inside a giant salt mound will illumine the father of the nation in a 3D image. Prime Minister Modi, on his part, will have his own 3D mantra of Democracy, Demographic Dividend and Demand, with which he charmed the rapturous crowds at Madison Square Garden in New York on a bright Sunday morning.
Get ready for the 3D show in Gandhinagar.

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Modi’s Speed Diplomacy: UN declares June 21 as International Yoga Day

- by Manish Chand

India’s soft power got a defining global endorsement, with the United Nations declaring June 21 as the World Yoga Day. It’s also a diplomatic triumph for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had formally proposed declaring an International Day for Yoga during his maiden speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 27.
The 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly December 11 adopted by acclamation draft Resolution, A/69/L.17 with a record number of 175 countries co-sponsoring it.

It’s literally fast-track diplomacy for India as the UN declared the Yoga Day barely 80 days after the pioneering idea was mooted by the yoga-practising 64-year-old Indian leader. The declaration has triggered jubilation in India and all over the world, where the ancient discipline of yoga – a union of mind and body – has found a growing number of ardent practitioners and devotees.
In his address at the UNGA on September 27, Mr Modi had made a robust pitch for yoga as the world’s answer to sustainable development and healthy lifestyle that harmonises the mind and the spirit. “Yoga is an invaluable gift of our ancient tradition. Yoga embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day,” Mr Modi had argued.

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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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Britain lauds India’s emergence, celebrates heroism of Indian soldiers

- by India Writes Network

Underlining India’s emergence as “a force for good in the world,” Britain has pitched for stronger multi-faceted partnership between the two countries and honoured the over million Indian soldiers who fought in World War I.
The atmosphere at the British high commissioner’s residence was solemn as well as celebratory as British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and India’s Defence Minister Arun Jaitley recalled the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers that helped Britain and the allied forces win the 1914-1919 war.
Fittingly, India’s defence minister unveiled the government’s plan to prepare a structured history of all the wars that the Indian Army has fought and instructed Army chief Gen. Dalbir to begin preparations for this exercise.
Mr Jaitley underlined the need to have a structured history of the contribution of Indian soldiers, both in book and the digital format.

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ITEC toasts 50 years: Celebrating South-South spirit of sharing

- by Manish Chand

Made in India! It’s their tryst with India, and the spirit of South-South sharing, that has branded them for life. On the night of October 22, which coincided with the Diwali eve, students and mid-career professionals from dozens of countries across the globe celebrated a unique institution called ITEC, which brought them together to India in an adventure of learning, seeking, sharing and skilling.

Singing and dancing amid animated chatter to Indian pop star Alisha Chinai’s foot-tapping number Made in India, this rainbow brotherhood toasted the golden jubilee of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, which has become their ticket to India and the world in more ways than one. The atmosphere was heady and resembled that of a graduation dinner, with ITEC alumni from diverse nationalities exchanging notes, clicking photos and packing their nostalgia bag with memories of India. Noor Mohammed from Afghanistan said disarmingly: It’s a gift. I am so happy to be part of ITEC and come to India.” Catherine from Colombia was also all praise for the ITEC ethos: ”It was an invaluable experience. India is an amazing country.”

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Beyond symbolism: What Nobel Peace Prize means for India and Pakistan

- by Manish Chand

The symbolism of the joint 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for a veteran Indian child rights activist and a Pakistani teenager who defied the Taliban to emerge as an icon of the girl’s right to education is compelling. The Nobel committee may not have envisaged relentless firing and hostility between the border troops of the two countries when they decided to award the Nobel to them, but the timing of the announcement has lent an extra resonance to this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. It has underlined the need for the two estranged South Asia countries to stop firing at each other, but to focus their energies instead on stamping out myriad social evils that hold up the enormous potential of their combined 1.4 billion people.
This is no time, therefore, for self-congratulatory spiel for both India and Pakistan. The struggle against poverty and multifarious forms of social injustice is only going to get harder if both nations persist in self-defeating, destructive spiral of mutual belligerence and recriminations. “The Nobel Committee regards it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism,” said Thorbjoern Jagland, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The Nobel Committee has sent a potent message across, and it’s time for the leaders and people for both nations to heed that message, carefully, and in their own national interests.

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