Diplomacy

Indian fishermen not allowed in Sri Lankan waters: Sirisena

- by India Writes Network

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena has dismissed the opposition’s claim that his government had given fishing rights to Indian fisherman, and stressed he had issued clear instruction to Sri Lankan navy to seize boats that violated country’s territorial waters.

“We have not allowed fishing in our waters for the Indians. I have given clear instructions to the navy to arrest boats or trawlers that violate our water limits,” Mr Sirisena said in a gathering of representatives of the fishing industry and various political organisations.

Representatives of the Nationals Freedom Front, which sits in the opposition, had accused the government for giving fishing rights to Indians in Sri Lankan waters as an appeasement policy. The Sirisena government is already under fire for moving too close to India, even at the cost of hampering relations with China, which has substantial investments in the country.

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India hails P5+1 nuclear deal as triumph of diplomacy

- by India Writes Network

The historic nuclear deal between the West and Iran has sparked a wave of applause from around the world and elicited a strong welcome from India.

The P5+1 (US, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany) have reached what US President Barack Obama has called a “historic understanding with Iran”. The framework agreement chalks out the agenda for future negotiations, the nuanced details of which shall be worked over the next three months. It allays the fears of Iran gaining nuclear weapons under the guise of pursuing a civilian nuclear programme (under these conditions the “breakout time” would be a year, if the deal is broken), and is a big step in ending the decades of sanction and diplomatic apartheid Iran has faced from the West and its allies.

Calling it a triumph of dialogue and diplomacy, India, which has shielded its partnership with Tehran from Western pressure, has promptly welcomed the accord in Lausanne. “A significant step seems to have been taken with agreement on the parameters of a comprehensive settlement to be negotiated by June 30,” India’s external affairs ministry said in a statement.

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India condemns Kenya attack, calls for global fight against terror

- by India Writes Network

India, a key partner of New Delhi in East Africa and home to a large Indian diaspora, has strongly condemned the terrorist attack on a university campus at Garissa in north-eastern Kenya and underlined the need for intensified international cooperation to combat the scourge of terrorism that cuts across terrorism.
“We stand in solidarity and sympathy with the bereaved families and the injured, and convey our heart-felt condolences to the Government and people of Kenya,” India’s external affairs ministry said in New Delhi a day after the barbaric terror attack on April 2.
“This outrageous terrorist act is yet another reminder that the menace of terrorism continues to threaten us all and the international community needs to further strengthen its fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” said the ministry.
In the deadliest attack in the country since US embassy bombings in 1998, at least 147 students were slaughtered when Somalia’s Shebab Islamist group attacked a Kenyan university.
The attack lasted some 16 hours from before dawn until well after dark and has ended with all four terrorists killed.
The university attack came barely a couple of years after the spectacular mall terror attack in the heart of Nairobi, and put the spotlight on the proliferation of terror networks in the African continent.

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India banks on yoga export: Blending soft power and commerce

- by India Writes Network

India is banking on the global popularity of yoga to cash in on the success of its most famous cultural export. In the recently unveiled new Foreign Trade Policy, yoga has been included under the services export section, a move that shows the government’s enterprise in leveraging its soft power.

The trade policy focus on the ancient Indian discipline of wellness has come in the run-up to a host of events India will be hosting for celebrations relating to the International Day of Yoga on June 21, a pioneering step that was possible only with India’s proactive diplomacy.

The new trade policy aspires to make India a star player in world trade by 2020 – currently Asia’s third largest economy accounts just about 2% of global trade.

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348 Indian nationals evacuated from war-torn Yemen

- by India Writes Network

As the Gulf country descended deeper into violence and anarchy, India evacuated 348 Indian nationals from the war-torn Yemen. They are being taken to Djibouti across the red sea on the horn of Africa, where the Indian Air Force is waiting to fly them home.

INS Sumitra, India’s major petrol vessel, was deployed to rescue Indian nationals after New Delhi got permission to dock its ship at Aden Harbor in Yemen, and evacuate Indians who were stranded in the port city. The Indian government has launched a massive operation through sea and air to bring back around 4,000 citizens stuck in different part of war-ridden Yemen.

The Indian Navy ship departed from Yemen to Djibouti with 348 Indian nationals on March 31 night. They have reached Djibouti on April 1 morning, from where they will be airlifted to India.

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