India and the World

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.”

Read More

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.

Read More

Reconnecting to Central Asia: Modi’s visit to Stans states a game-changer

- by Manish Chand

If I say Amir Khusrau is our poet, I would be stoned in India,” the Tajik ambassador said recently in New Delhi, a shade dramatically. In Dushanbe, don’t be surprised if Tajiks recite to you soulful couplets of Zebn-un-Nisa, Aurangzeb’s eldest daughter better known by her pen-name Makhfil (The Hidden One). Mahabharata and Ramayana are prime time shows on Uzbek TV. And this will be a revelation for those not in the know: on Valentine’s Day, Uzbeks celebrate their love for the 16th century Mughal emperor Babur.
From Bollywood and kathak to yoga and Hindi, Central Asia is suffused with the glow of Indian culture and spirituality. It was, therefore, fitting when India launched its Connect Central Asia policy in 2012 as the two regions have been conjoined intimately through historical and cultural ties for centuries. It’s a relationship that has been enriched by culture and poetry, but geopolitically it’s only now this strategically located region is zooming back into the focus of India’s diplomatic-strategic establishment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the five Central Asian states is a compelling statement of India’s reawakened interest in the region that is critical to the country’s interlinked strategic, economic and energy interests. The forthcoming visit of Mr Modi, the first by an Indian prime minister to all five post-Soviet Stans states in one go, is a game-changer of sorts that’s set to transform India’s multifarious relations with the energy-rich Central Asian region, where China has firmly positioned itself as the leading economic power and dispenser of largesse.

Read More