India and the World

India, Pakistan unveil 5-point agenda to improve ties, focus on terror

- by India Writes Network

Terrorism and fast-tracking the trial of the 26/11 Mumbai mayhem accused predictably dominated the talks between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, the first positive meeting between them after more than a year.
Belying the undercurrents of tensions that permeate India-Pakistan relations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart shook hands, smiled and posed before hordes of paparazzi in the Russian city of Ufa. The official spin coming out of the much-hyped meeting was that it was held in a cordial atmosphere.
For a change, the meeting was more than just a photo-op meant for the international community which is always concerned about the relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals. The statement read out by foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan conjured up a positive picture of the way forward in a conflicted relationship. “They agreed that India and Pakistan have a collective responsibility to ensure peace and promote development. To do so, they are prepared to discuss all outstanding issues,” they said. “Both leaders condemned terrorism in all its forms and agreed to cooperate with each other to eliminate this menace from South Asia,” they added.
The meeting seemed to have paved for accelerated engagement between the two countries, with Mr Modi accepting the invitation of Mr Sharif to visit Islamabad for the SAARC summit in 2016.

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Ufa summit: BRICS leaders walk the talk, New Development Bank to lend by 2016

- by India Writes Network

Reinforcing their commitment to remapping the global financial landscape, the leaders of the BRICS group of emerging powers declared operationalized their two signature initiatives the New Development Bank (NDB) and Contingent Reserve Agreement(CRA), saying these institutions will act as a global safety net amid fragile economic recovery. “We welcome the substantive progress that was made since the Fortaleza Summit on 15 July 2014 during the Brazilian BRICS Chairmanship, especially the establishment of BRICS financial institutions: the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserves Arrangement (CRA). The Ufa Summit marks their entry into force,” said the Ufa Declaration. Amid fragile global recovery, the BRICS also formally adopted strategic economic partnership which will upscale trade and investment among emerging economies and positioned them as the future hub of economic growth.
The 7th BRICS summit has imparted a big push to the ongoing project of recasting the global financial system and underscored the centrality of emerging powers in this process.

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India-Pakistan thaw? Modi, Sharif to talk in Russia about talks

- by India Writes Network

It’s official! Ending feverish speculation over the last few days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the SCO summit in the Russian city of Ufa on July 10.
The last time the leaders of the two countries held talks was during the visit of Nawaz Sharif to New Delhi to attend the inauguration of the Modi government. At that time, they spoke about ushering in a new chapter in bilateral ties but those hopes were belied when Pakistan’s High Commissioner invited Kashmiri separatist leaders, which was immediately denounced by New Delhi and cited as the reason for cancelling the talks between the foreign secretaries in August last year.
Finally, Prime Minister Modi’s telephone call to Mr Sharif to greet him before the holy month of Ramzan broke the ice, fueling speculation about a possible meeting in Ufa. The agenda for talks is not clear, but it is expected to focus on exploring possibilities for revival of limited dialogue between the two countries. Mr Sharif is expected to invite Mr Modi to Islamabad for the 19th SAARC summit his country will hold in 2016.

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India-China ties: Lakhvi ghost shadows Modi-Xi talks, but focus on bright new future

- by India Writes Network

The ghost of 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur-RehmanLakhvi hung in the winter air in Ufa as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the twin summits, a meeting that was marked by much bonhomie despite the discordant note struck by Beijing over the Lakhvi issue.

Significantly, this was the fifth meeting between the two leaders in a year, bilaterally and on the margins of various multilateral summits, which underlines a new phase of intense and accelerated engagement between the two Asian giants, which are often viewed through the Western prism of rivalry and competition.

The meeting saw Mr Modi fondly reminiscing about his visit to Xian, China’s fabled city of Terracotta Warriors and home province of the Chinese president, in May this year, and his wide-ranging talks with the Chinese leader on the future trajectory of relations between the two Asian powers.

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India backs Kazakhstan’s bid for rotating UN seat

- by India Writes Network

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his two-day visit to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on July 7, the second leg of his five-nation visit to Central Asia and Russia. He met his Kazakh counterpart Karim Massimov after touching down at Astana. The two leaders discussed a wide array of bilateral and regional issues. In an outreach to young Kazakh students, Prime Minister Modi spoke at Nazarbayev University, Astana in which he spoke about cultural linkages in form of yoga and Bollywood and outlined a robust vision of India’s expanding relationship with the resource-rich Central Asia. Describing Kazakhstan as a voice of responsibility in international affairs, Mr Modi backed Astana’s bid for non-permanent seat in the UN for 2017-18. Looking ahead to the SCO summit in Ufa, Russia, on July 9-10, Mr Modi said: “India’s membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation will deepen our regional partnership.”

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Greece’s ‘No’: What next for Europe and Greece?

- by India Writes Network

Greece has given a resounding vote in the referendum to reject austerity measures imposed by the creditors in the terms and conditions for a bailout. The vote was 60-40 in favour of the ‘No’ side. The massive vote is a setback to the Eurozone and the dream project of a single currency which was implemented to remain permanent and strengthen the union. While the vote is a rejection for austerity, it is by no means an indicator that it is a vote to exit EU.

Many Greeks feel it is important to stay within the EU, but that does not mean they are ready to be coerced into accepting what the elite nations of Europe try to impose. Even Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras, while acknowledging that the vote was a mandate for sustainable future, said it was by no means a mandate against Europe and warned that there would be no easy solutions. The outcome for millions of Greeks was an angry message to creditors that Greece can longer accept repeated rounds of austerity that, in five years, had left one in four without a job.

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