In Brief

India-US ties not targeted at China, says US envoy

- by India Writes Network

The US has sought a more proactive partnership with India to promote regional stability, but has underlined that the growing India-US relationships are not “confrontational” in relationship with China.

“[India-US Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean Regions] is a vision borne out of the recognition that India’s Act East policy and our rebalance to Asia are complementary and have the potential to create meaningful impact in the region. We want our partnership to benefit not only our two countries, but also the region—and to a larger extent have our partnership stand as a model for emerging democracies worldwide,” US ambassador to India Richard Verma said. Richard Verma is the first Indian-American to become the US ambassador to India. He was speaking an interaction organised by the Asia Society Indian Centre in Mumbai on February 10.
The joint vision statement on the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean regions during US President Barack Obama’s trip to India haw elicited strong negative reaction from China. Influential state-controlled Chinese dailies termed the vision statement as a manifestation of a US-orchestrated containment strategy directed against China, and accused India of following through with the “containment policy.”
The US envoy’s remarks sought to allay Beijing’s anxieties and placed the India-US geopolitical configuration in a broader perspective

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Delhi loves Kejriwal, swearing-in on Valentine’s Day

- by India Writes Network

Delhi loves Arvind Kejriwal. Fittingly, Kejriwal, the man who has created history by winning 67 seats in Delhi assembly, will be sworn in as the chief minister of the city state on February 14, Valentine’s Day.
The blockbuster victory of Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party has stunned pundits and pollsters alike, and only showed how much Delhi loves the greenhorn politician, decried by his opponents as ‘muffler man,’ and his connect with the masses and classes of this city state of around 25 million people.
Kejriwal is, however, not the kind to let success go to his head. A day after the results of the Delhi polls were declared, the APP said that the party would invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi and other union ministers for the swearing-in ceremony. The induction of Kejriwal, a rights activist-turned-politician, will take place at Ramlila Maidan, the sprawling public square which was the epicenter of mass anti-corruption protests in 2011, pitchforking Kejriwal into the national limelight.

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Arvind Kejriwal conquers Delhi, makes history

- by India Writes Network

In a resounding triumph of new politics, Arvind Kejriwal, an activist-turned-politician, has made history, and has conquered Delhi, with a vengeance. In a virtual sweep of the broom, Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (at 11 am IST) is now leading in 62 of Delhi’s 70 seats.

The results of the Delhi assembly elections are expected to be declared later in the day.

The Delhi verdict is a major blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had converted the Delhi elections into a personality-style contest between him and Mr Kejriwal.

Kejriwal has created history in more ways than one: this is the first time Delhi will get a non-Congress, non-BJP government, with an outsider to the political system set to be anointed the chief minister of Delhi. This is also the first time a party will get more than 60 seats in the Delhi assembly.

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Modi dreams big for India, promises $20 trillion economy

- by India Writes Network

Buoyed by renewed global confidence in the India story, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised the bar by declaring a new ambitious target of scaling up the Indian economy 10-fold to $20 trillion. To make sure that his claim was not seen as grandiose showmanship, the Indian prime minister unveiled a raft of reforms, including reforming country’s the labyrinthine tax system to attract foreign investment and streamlining the governance system to make it faster and more effective.

Underlining the importance of fast-tracking institutional reforms, Mr Modi declared at a business conclave, organised by The Economic Times, that he was preparing the ground to turn India into a $20-trillion economy from $2 trillion. “In 20 years of liberalisation, we have not changed a command-and-control mindset. We think it is okay for government to meddle in the working of firms. This must change,” he said in New Delhi in a speech that was generously interspersed with the word reform and its improvisations.

However, in a carefully-worded formulation, the prime minister made it clear that his government would not cut subsidies that will adversely impact the poor. “I believe that subsidies are needed for them (poor). What we need is a well-targeted system of subsidy delivery. We need to cut subsidy leakages,” he told the country’s industry titans in New Delhi January 16.

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