Diplomacy

India condemns Tunisia terror attack, calls for global action

- by India Writes Network

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee have condemned the terror attack in Tunisia and underlined that New Delhi stands firmly with the people of the country in this hour of attack.

“Attack in Tunisia is appalling & condemnable. We stand firmly with the people of Tunisia in this hour of grief and pray normalcy return soon,” Mr Modi said via twitter.

The attack on foreigners in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, appeared to be the worst since the al-Qaeda suicide bombing killing 14 Germans, two French and five Tunisian on the Island of Djerba in 2002.

The brutal militant group, The Islamic State, is suspected to have links with the Tunisia attack, which has once again underlined the trans-national nature of terrorism, fuelled by radical Islamist groups and ideologies.

The U.N. Security Council has condemned the Bardo museum terror spree, saying that no terrorist action can reverse the path of Tunisia toward democracy.

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Netanyahu scores victory in Israel polls

- by India Writes Network

Benjamin Netanyahu has scored a “resounding victory” in Israel’s polls and looks set to form a right-wing coalition in Tel Aviv.
Mr Netanyahu’s Likud Party defeated Zionist Union, led by Issac Herzog.
Mr Netanyahu, the chairman of Likud Party, boasts of nine years of office in three terms, with limited political achievements. He is poised to form a new government and serve the fourth term in the Knesset, making him the longest running prime minister of the country.
Mr Netanyahu promised to form the new government quickly. “Our country’s everyday reality doesn’t give us the luxury for delay,” he said in a statement.
“The citizens of Israel rightfully expect that we will act quickly and responsibly to establish a leadership that will work for them in areas of defense, the economy and society just as we promised in this campaign — and just like we will now set ourselves towards doing,” he added.

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Modi’s Sri Lanka visit: Mapping the road ahead

- by India Writes Network

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recently-concluded visit to Sri Lanka did not generate any big bang commitments, but laid out an ambitious roadmap for providing more economic substance and strategic heft to this crucial bilateral relationship.
Mr Modi’s visit was rife with symbolism as well as substance, and emphasised on shared cultural relations and economic and security concerns to pave way for a long-term partnership.
The Sri Lankan visit ought to be seen within the larger rubric of the Indian Ocean Region diplomacy: China’s overtures to gain strategic in roads in India’s neighbourhood with economic investments, India’s new government pushing for dynamism in the economy, and India’s aspirations in a multipolar world. There has been a subtle shift in envisioning the region as well. While China pushes the Maritime Silk Road project, India’s ‘Mausam’ initiative, seeks to project soft power, and revive cultural linkages among the Indian Ocean littoral, showing India’s desire to move to a new regional identity (beyond SAARC), and ensuring a leadership role within it.

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India forever, for Sri Lanka: Modi

- by India Writes Network

I am convinced that the future of any country is influenced by the state of its neighbourhood.

The future that I dream for India is also the future that I wish for our neighbours.

We in this region are on the same journey: to transform the lives of our people.

Our path will be easier, the journey quicker and destination nearer when we walk step in step.

As I stand here in Colombo and look north towards the Himalaya, I marvel at our region’s uniqueness – our rich diversity and our common civilisational links.

We have been formed from the same elements; and, from our interconnected histories.

Today, we stand together as proud independent nations – sovereign and equal.

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