Dawood not in Pakistan, counters Pakistan envoy
A day after India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh asserted in Parliament that 1993 Mumbai mastermind Dawood Ibrahim was in Pakistan, and India would do anything to bring him back to …
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Modi must ensure India is in China’s global calculations
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Beijing on Thursday, this will be his third meeting with President Xi Jinping in a year. This is an achievement by itself, given …
Read MoreIndia says Dawood in Pakistan, will get him no matter what
It’s a damage-control exercise, and a belated one at that. Nearly a week after the Indian government declared Dawood Ibrahim, one of the most wanted criminals responsible for 1993 Mumbai …
Read MoreModi’s China Visit – Allaying Maritime Misgivings
There is an air of anticipation surrounding Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit to China – not least because there is a whole range of prickly bilateral issues awaiting serious and …
Read MoreThe Pakistani army planning something against India
It is not the first time that the Pakistan army has accused the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency, of fomenting trouble in Pakistan. Propaganda against India …
Read MoreCameron stuns pollsters, back in 10 Downing Street
Defying sceptics, British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party swept to a blockbuster victory in the UK polls, winning an outright majority in the parliament.
It was a spectacular victory by any reckoning, which stunned pundits and pollsters who had predicted a hung parliament. The Conservative Party won 331 seats in the 650-member parliament, assuring Mr Cameron a full five years in 10, Downing Street and the first majority Conservative government in decades.
‘Phir Ek Baar, Cameron Sarkar’
The victory elicited a steady stream of congratulations from world leaders. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to felicitate Mr Cameron, and he chose his favourite twitter handle to convey his warm sentiments for the British leader. Improvising on his party slogan in the May 2014 elections, Mr Modi tweeted:” As you rightly pointed out – its Phir Ek Baar, Cameron Sarkar.”
Read MoreIndia, Russia must tackle terror flowing from neighbours: Mukherjee
MOSCOW: Amid the unfolding transition in Afghanistan, India’s President Pranab Mukherjee has highlighted the threat of terrorism emanating from the neighboring countries and underlined the need for the two strategic …
Read MorePresident Mukherjee in Moscow: India joins Russia in V-Day celebrations
Amid the West’s isolation of Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, India’s President Pranab Mukherjee is in Moscow to join in the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the allied victory in World War II – a trip that also reaffirms and underscores New Delhi’s solidarity with a time-tested partner that is sailing through difficult times.
Intensifying educational exchanges is high on the presidential agenda. The president is accompanied by heads of several top educational institutions, including Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, Directors of IIT Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. In addition, India’s Department of Science and Technology will also sign agreements with Russian Science Foundation. The two strategic partners are expected to sign nine memorandums of understandings and eight cooperation agreements in the area of higher education alone.
Modi mantra for India-China ties: Cooperate and Compete, while keeping border peaceful
Cooperation and competition are inextricably woven into the fabric of India-China relations. Ahead of his maiden multi-city tour of China, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a long-range view, saying India cooperates with China on the global stage, but at the same time the two countries also compete in the economic arena.
In an interview with TIME magazine, Mr Modi also underscored that the two Asian giants have “learnt from history” and have managed to maintain peace and tranquillity on their disputed border.
Mr Modi’s three-day visit to China, starting May 14, will be keenly watched not just in the two countries, but also in the region and the world. All issues will be on the table, but the prime ministerial agenda will be primarily economic and will focus on getting Chinese finance and expertise to boost the Make in India project and to bolster the manufacturing base in India. During Xi Jinping’s visit to India in September last year, China pledged to plough in $20 billion investments over the next five years, but only around $1 billion have trickled in so far. Mr Modi will, therefore, be pitching for fast-tracking Chinese investments into India.
Five Takeaways Modi should target in China
Many Indian prime ministers have visited abroad in pursuit of national interests, although such visits to China were few and far in between, with five PMs visiting Beijing six times in as many decades. Some of these visits – by Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Vajpayee – have been described as “breakthroughs” for recognising Tibet and Taiwan as a part of China, with no reciprocal Chinese statement that Kashmir or Arunachal Pradesh are a part of India.
With PM Modi planning to make a trip to China from May 14-16, the first time an Indian prime minister will be visiting Beijing in the first year of his first term, it is natural – as PM Modi told his Chinese interlocutors – to expect “concrete outcomes” during the visit. For this visit to be successful, India needs to seek several clarifications and positive approvals from China on a host of issues in the realm of bilateral relations and beyond.
During the visit of PM Modi to China, there will be a lot of pressure in both countries to make this visit a “breakthrough’ in the bilateral relations. Such a breakthrough is quite possible if India clearly draws the red, amber and green lines of interactions with China, without falling into the binary trap of whether China is an opportunity or a challenge.
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