Can Tokyo provide Modi his first big bang moment?
A civil nuclear agreement is one of the key outcomes New Delhi is pushing for in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan that starts on August 30. Recently, in …
Read MoreDiplomacy
Kyoto-Varanasi Connect: High noon for cultural diplomacy
Feeding the fish to attract good fortune. Praying in a Buddhist temple. Twinning Kyoto and Varanasi in smart city bonding. Sharing notes on stem cell research. Blending the ancient and the modern, the spiritual and the scientific, cultural diplomacy has acquired a new resonance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day trip to Kyoto, a modern-day pilgrimage that kindles anew possibilities of diplomacy and the two nations coming together in pursuit of national resurgence.
Thinking Smart – this is the game of the new diplomacy that’s going to renew old friendships and forge new coalitions to uplift India and help carve a friction-free Asian century in days to come.
In Tokyo, there will be weightier subjects on the table – nuclear deal, investments, maritime security, Chinese assertiveness, the elusive Asian balance of power – but spirited cultural diplomacy in Kyoto has already softened the hearts, rekindled civilizational bonds and set the stage for transformational outcomes that will pitch India-Japan relations into a higher stratosphere.
Modi embraces Kyoto smart heritage city model for Varanasi
Varanasi, the holy Hindu city which Modi represents in the Indian parliament, will be developed as a ‘smart city’, using the experiences of Kyoto. Kyoto, home to over 2000 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, is renowned for its ability to merge the modern with the ancient, and is symbolic of the development of Japan – where cutting edge technology is used to preserve their historic legacy. The Kyoto-Varanasi pact has set the stage for rekindling civilizational ties between India and Japan, which will deepen the spiritual foundation for the burgeoning multi-pronged modern-day partnership.
Read More
The Threat of ISIS Demands a Global Coalition
IN a polarized region and a complicated world, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria presents a unifying threat to a broad array of countries, including the United States. What’s …
Read More
Modi ‘disappointed’ with Pakistan
Hoping that the right combination of carrots and sticks does the trick, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his disappointment over Islamabad making a spectacle of New Delhi’s peace …
Read More
Modi begins Japan journey
India’s Prime Minster Narendra Modi has touched down in Kyoto to begin an event-packed five-day visit to Tokyo that is poised to pitch India-Japan relations into a higher trajectory. Warm …
Read More
‘Japan is India’s all-weather friend, China needn’t worry’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s August 30-September 3 visit to Japan is laden with great expectations and hopes of substantive outcomes, which can transform the geopolitical dynamics of Asia. In this conversation with www.indiawrites.org, Sanjaya Baru, a well-known commentator on foreign affairs and Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, speaks about the unique character of India-Japan relations, Japan’s starring role in the development of India and his expectations from the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Japan. Baru, the author of The Accidental Prime Minister and Director of Geo-economics and Strategy at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, predicts a robust future of India-Japan relations and underlines that Japan is and will be India’s all-weather friend in days to come.
Read More
India and Japan: The Power of Two
Metro, Bullet Trains, Buddhism, Business, Technology and Innovation. It’s a potent brew, which is made all the more heady by the common strategic intent to co-create an Asian renaissance. It takes two to tango. And India and Japan, Asia’s two vibrant democracies and leading economies, are matching their steps perfectly, and are set to take their bilateral ties to new heights during the August 30-September 3 visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan.
The maiden voyage of Narendra Modi to Japan as the leader of the world’s largest democracy and Asia’s third largest economy, is set to usher in a 3.0 phase in India-Japan relations. The launch of Japan-India Global Partnership in the 21st Century in 2000, the elevation of the ties to the level of Global and Strategic Partnership are some recent milestones in the variegated India-Japan relations. It’s time for a phase of enhancement and acceleration, and the leaders of India and Japan make a perfect pair to shepherd the multi-faceted India-Japan ties to a higher stratosphere.
Read More
Time for India to set priorities in South Asia
After visualising India as the ‘net-provider’ of security in and for South Asia, as then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had mentioned, the nation may now face the dilemma of defining …
Read More
Modi’s Japan visit: Great Expectations
India has “great expectations” from the forthcoming visit to Japan by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is hoping for substantive outcomes.
In a rare gesture signifying special relationship with India, Prime Minister Abe will be personally flying down to Kyoto, an exemplar smart city that blends cultural heritage with modern amenities, to receive him on August 30. During this trip, Modi will have substantial and wide-ranging discussion with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other political, business and educational leaders in Japan.
“We expect, as an outcome, India and Japan to elevate our strategic and global partnership to new level. In short, if I were to summarise for all of you, we have great expectation of Modi’s first visit to Japan,” said Syed Akbaruddin spokesperson for India’s ministry of external affairs at a media briefing on August 28.
Read More