Diplomacy

India, Australia unite against terror, to revive trade deal talks

- by India Writes Network

Blending cricket, curry and commerce, India and Australia have imparted an added traction to their growing strategic partnership by signing six pacts, including a crucial agreement to expand counter-terror cooperation, and agreed to revive stalled negotiations on a liberalized bilateral trade deal. The talks between India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull in New Delhi on April 10 have placed the relations between Australia and the world’s fastest growing major economy on a higher footing.
Intensifying counter-terror cooperation topped the agenda. The two leaders said at a joint media appearance that the fight against terrorists, terror organisations and networks should identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against those who encourage, support and finance terror, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues.
On the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), Mr Turnbull said that “we had a very good discussion on the issue” but acknowledged that progress has not been as fast as either of us would have liked.” Under the circumstances, all that the two PMs could do was to ask negotiators on both sides to resume the talks soon and find a way out and list their priorities soon so that talks can move forward, amidst concerns in India over allowing farm exports from Australia and access to skilled workers to Down Under.
Mr Modi thanked his Australian guest for the passage of a legislation by Australian parliament with bi-partisan support paving way for the country to export uranium to India. Mr Turnbull, on his part, said he was looking forward to starting the supply “as soon as possible”.

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Gift Diplomacy: Hasina brings bagful of presents for Indian leaders

- by India Writes Network

Call it gift diplomacy, if you will. India-Bangladesh ties are getting sweeter and closer, and this is reflected in an array of gifts Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasin has brought for her Indian hosts.
Sheikh Hasina brought with her a bouquet of gifts for President Pranab Mukherjee with whom shares close ties since long, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his mother and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee whose support she desperately needs to clinch the much-delayed Teesta river water-sharing agreement.
Sheikh Hasina handed over a kurta and a pair of silk pyjamas, artefacts, a dinner set, a leather bag set, 4kg of kala jamun and rosgolla, 2kg sandesh made of ‘goor’ , 20kg of Hilsa and 2kg of ‘mishti doi’(yogurt) for the Indian president, who is hosting the visiting PM at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for four days, on the evening of April 9.

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India, Australia to boost security ties, focus on education & skills tie-ups

- by Shweta Aggarwal

Acting East with renewed zeal, India is set to deepen its strategic and economic ties with Australia, a G20 economy and a strategic partner, during Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s maiden visit to New Delhi.
The major takeaways from Mr Turnbull’s April 9-12 visit are expected to be in realms of enhanced security cooperation and intensified collaboration in education and skills-building between the two countries.
The strategic importance of India and Australia for each other is growing amid the evolving geo-political landscape in the Asia-Pacific region. The Australian government has identified India among the top five priority relationships and New Delhi sees Canberra as a key strategic partner in the region.
Civil nuclear cooperation is poised to register progress, with both sides looking to finalise commercial negotiations for the first shipment of uranium from Australia to India this year.
With the Indian Ocean emerging as a zone of contention and rivalry between major players in the region, including India and China, New Delhi and Canberra are expected to focus on increased collaboration in the strategically located region. The two countries are also expected to upscale their cooperation in counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation.
Australia is poised to become an important partner of India in its development agenda, with the two countries expected to sign pacts on education and skill development. The focus on the training partnership is evident in the composition of the Australian leader’s delegation, which includes nearly half of Australia’s universities.

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Transforming Ties: $5 billion boost for India-Bangladesh connect

- by Manish Chand

India and Bangladesh have pitched their burgeoning relations onto a higher trajectory by signing 22 agreements in diverse areas, including two crucial defence agreements and another one on civil nuclear energy cooperation. New Delhi has raised the bar for development and strategic cooperation by unveiling a combined package of $5 billion in new Lines of Credit for Dhaka.
The agreements were signed after wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina in the Indian capital on April 8.
India announced a new line of concessional credit of $4.5 billion for implementation of a wide array of projects in Bangladesh and another $500 million LOC for defence procurement by Bangladesh. The new credit package has made Bangladesh the biggest recipient of Lines of Credit for India and positioned New Delhi as a leading development partner of Dhaka.
Defence and security cooperation has received a big boost with Mr Modi announcing a Line of Credit of $500 million to support Bangladesh’s defence related procurement. “In implementing this line of credit, we will be guided by Bangladesh’s needs and priorities,” he stressed.
Pushing the envelope for bilateral relations, Mr Modi outlined new areas of cooperation, including “some high-technology areas, that have a deeper connect with the youth in both our societies.” “These would include working in the fields of Electronics, Information Technology, Cyber Security, Space exploration, Civil Nuclear Energy, and others areas,” he said.

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The Teesta test: Will Sheikh Hasina’s ‘Charm Mamata’ Mission work?

- by India Writes Network

Will the waters of Teesta river unite, or divide India and Bangladesh? This is the overwhelming question for many commentators and the media in the two countries as Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began her four-day visit to India on April 7.
Since September 2011, when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vehemently opposed the Teesta deal and chose to opt out of the then India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka, a solution to the issue has remained elusive. As Ms Banerjee refused to budge from her stand, the Teesta issue appeared to have lost some traction as India and Bangladesh made dramatic strides in their bilateral ties in the last six years in a range of areas including security, land and maritime boundary demarcation, power and road connectivity. However, it returned to spotlight again on the eve of Sheikh Hasina’s visit primarily due two reasons: (1) the mercurial chief minister of West Bengal has agreed to be present in the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina on April 8 and (2) Sheikh Hasina has once again made a strong pitch for the Teesta treaty on the eve of her arrival in Delhi.
There had been doubts and speculations if Ms Banerjee would join Modi and Hasina in the talks primarily due to her known stand on the Teesta issue and the daily political sabre-rattling between her and the Modi government on the issue of scrapping of high-value currency notes and Bharatiya Janata Party’s alleged saffron agenda across the country. The Hasina government, which faces elections next year, expects India to travel the extra mile to ensure that the Teesta deal is sealed and signed or at least get a concrete assurance from New Delhi during her visit to Delhi.
It remains to be seen if Mrs Hasina’s charm offensive has any effect on Ms Banerjee who is known for her hard-nose political sense. With panchayat (village administration bodies) elections in West Bengal just a few months away, will the chief minister take the risk of a deal that she believes will affect water supply from Teesta in northern part of the state? One has to wait till April 9 to know whether the mercurial chief minister has decided to stall the Teesta deal yet again, or defied all speculation to become saviour of this deal, which can move India-Bangladesh relations on another plane.

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Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India: Defence pact, n-energy, development aid top agenda

- by India Writes Network

India’s transforming relations with Bangladesh are set to scale new heights during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s four-day visit to India which will see the two countries sign over 20 pacts, including a landmark agreement on defence cooperation which will bring the two countries into a tighter strategic embrace.
Sheikh Hasina touches down in New Delhi to a red carpet welcome on April 7 for a four-day visit, her first trip to India after a hiatus of more than seven years. India is pulling out all stops to make the visit a big success and project it as a model of its reinvigorated “Neighbours First” policy. In a difficult neighbourhood, India’s blossoming relations with Bangladesh is an unfolding good news story and shows what can be achieved in neighbourly relations with political will and mutual trust.
Briefing the Indian media ahead of Sheikh Hasina’s visit, Sripria Renganathan, Joint Secretary in charge of Bangladesh and Myanmar in India’s external affairs ministry, said in New Delhi that the two countries will sign a five-year framework agreement on defence cooperation for supply, renewal and research and development and a separate MoU under which concessional loan will be earmarked for Bangladesh to source defence equipment from India.
“We do intend to sign two MoUs on defence: one a framework for cooperation for a few years for supply and research and development and the second for Bangladesh to source defence equipment from India under which a line of credit will be earmarked,” she said in response to a question. Diplomatic sources said the Line of Credit for sourcing of defence equipment will be around $500 million.
The big takeaway of Sheikh Hasina’s visit will be a marked upswing in development cooperation, with India looking to announce a massive package of LOCs, which could be in range of $3-5 billion. Ms Renganathan said that India would extend “another substantial concessional loan” to Bangladesh, but did not specify the amount. This will be the third Line of Credit by India to Bangladesh, after the first two LoCs amounting to $1 billion and $2 billion were announced in 2011 and 2015. With the new LOC, which is expected to be announced after talks between Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on April 8, Bangladesh would become the top recipient of India’s developmental assistance.
Counter-terrorism and radicalization of youth, the problems faced by India and Bangladesh, are also expected to dominate the agenda during bilateral talks between Sheikh Hasina and Modi.

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Dalai Lama in Arunachal: India asks China to refrain from artificial controversy

- by India Writes Network

With an upset China watching closely, Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has begun a week-long visit to India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The visit has raised the hackles in Beijing and looks set to fuel fresh tensions in Sino-Indian ties. Brushing aside Beijing’s strong objections, India has asked China to refrain from stoking “an artificial controversy” around the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, a region in the eastern Himalayas China claims as its own and regularly denounces foreign leaders’ visits to the place as attempts to bolster India’s territorial claims. India has consistently maintained that Arunachal Pradesh is its integral part and that China should respect that.
Four days ago, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang had told the media in Beijing that “China resolutely opposes the 14th Dalai Lama visiting border regions disputed by China and India” and warned that this would “seriously damage” bilateral relations. He dubbed the Dalai Lama as a “dangerous separatist” and urged India to “avoid taking any actions that would further complicate the border issue.” On April 4, the Chinese state media reacted vehemently, saying India “is deliberately risking confrontation” with China by allowing the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh and warned that there will be “severe consequences” in bilateral ties if the visit was allowed.
The trip by the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh is expected to ratchet up tensions between New Delhi and Beijing, which are already festering over a host of strategic issues such as the long-standing unsettled border demarcation between India and China, China’s growing ties with Pakistan and some other South Asian countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives which India considers as its own backyard. Analysts say that while India officially would not like any political colour to be attributed to the Dalai Lama’s visit, it is sending a clear message that China has not respected India’s sensitivities in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir by including the disputed territory in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

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