Diplomacy

Modi’s France visit to bolster strategic ties, focus on smart cities: Rakesh Sood

April 8, 2015January 5, 2016 - by India Writes Network

India and France are set to galvanise their multifarious relations during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden trip to Paris. The two countries have a robust strategic partnership over the years, and are looking to push the envelope in a host of areas.

Pakistan, Sri Lanka sign nuclear pact

April 7, 2015April 7, 2015 - by India Writes Network

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have signed six agreements including a civil nuclear deal, two months after Colombo signed an atomic deal with New Delhi during Sri Lanka’s President Mithripala Sirisena’s …

Can Great Powers now do an Iran on North Korea?

April 7, 2015 - by India Writes Network

The framework for a deal between the P5+1 (US, UK, Russia, France, China and Germany) and Iran vis-à-vis Iran nuclear programme could be one of the few truly transformative moments …

Global climate change: Modi draws red line, focuses on India’s clean energy plans

April 7, 2015April 8, 2015 - by India Writes Network

Months before the Paris global climate summit, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid down red lines, saying said he would not succumb to foreign pressure to commit cuts in carbon emissions and stressed on the country’s plan to focus on ramping up the production of clean energy and home growth methods to combat climate change.

He underlined that respecting nature is engrained in our cultural values and India could lead the world in battling climate change, rather than merely following Western guidelines.

Inaugurating a two-day conference of state environment and forest ministers in New Delhi, he said that “we have a legacy of thousands of years in this field… India can show the way to the world out of this crisis”.

India is today the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Though our per capita emissions remain way below the developed countries (1.7 metric tonnes per capita, as opposed to China (6.2 mtpc) and USA (17.6 mtpc)), they are slated to increase with economic growth and development. There is pressure on India to restrict emissions, especially after the US and China committed to reductions in a land mark announcement last year (China agreed to cap emissions latest by 2030 and have 20% share of renewable energy in energy mix). Mr Modi highlighted India’s initiatives in solar and wind energy sectors and the need to switch to renewable energy and find innovative solutions to global warming.

India to hold SAARC Health Ministers’ meeting

April 7, 2015April 7, 2015 - by India Writes Network

With health challenges becoming acute in South Asia, India will host SAARC’s fifth health ministers’ meeting on April 8 and take effective measures to prevent health issues faced by their …

Focus on defence cooperation in India-Vietnam ties

April 6, 2015April 6, 2015 - by India Writes Network

Building on the government’s Act East Policy, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment last year to aid in modernising Vietnam’s defense infrastructure, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Vietnam’s …

Modi’s Europe yatra: Cruise with Hollande, cleaning up Ganga via Rhine

April 6, 2015April 6, 2015 - by Manish Chand

It promises to be a memorable evening in Paris, redolent of the famous Bollywood number of the late 1960s. When India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande go on a boat ride on the shimmering moon-lit Seine river next week, expect sparks to fly, and illuminate the multi-hued tapestry of India-France relations. The evening boat ride will be a time to do some small talk, think big, and map out an ambitious trajectory for one of India’s most crucial strategic partnerships in the European continent.
The planned Modi-Hollande boat cruise shows how the Indian diplomacy has changed in its tone, texture and atmospherics since Mr Modi took charge of the world’s most populous democracy and Asia’s third largest economy, nearly a year ago. In the staid and stuffy world of diplomacy, it has taken Modi, a former tea-seller, to reinvent the rules of the game and understand the value of spectacle and gestures in the media-saturated landscape.
From Make in India to Skill India and Clean Ganga, Prime Minister Modi will be looking to rope in two of Europe’s most powerful economies and influential players, for the overarching project of India’s economic resurgence. If it takes a boat ride with the French president and serenading the India Story with the German chancellor, so be it.