Pak boat operation exposes intel gaps again
The incident involving the sinking of a fishing vessel off the coast of Gujarat on New Year’s Day has raised more questions than it has answered. To start with, the …
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A new C3 mantra for young global Indians: Connect, Celebrate & Contribute
Connect, Celebrate and Contribute –- this was the 3C mantra that resonated among young global Indians who gathered in Gandhinagar, a satellite city named after Mahatma Gandhi, in what External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called the celebration of the 25-million strong Indian diaspora and India’s soft power.
In a pioneering exercise, the annual gathering of overseas Indians called ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ kicked off on January 7 with a hymn to the power of youth and the first-ever youth PBD that provided a platform for young NRIS and PIOs to connect with their ancestral land and contribute their bit in the ongoing transformation of the motherland.
Enthusiasm was palpable among young expats who has come to the city that embodies the spirit of Gandhi, the exemplar pravasi, as they were reminded of the glory and the grandeur that was India and the unfolding miracle that is India.
Sushma Swaraj encapsulated the animating ethos of the PBD as she inaugurated the three-day diaspora fest on a bright resplendent morning on January 7. This year around, the PBD is special as it celebrates the centenary of the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India as the liberator of the nation.
Modi’s federalism project: A work in progress
Complaints against the UPA government’s discriminating attitude and step-motherly treatment of the states of the Indian Union, particularly of those where the non-Congress parties ruled, and the promise to usher in cooperative federalism if voted to power was one of the main planks of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s electoral agenda in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Now that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has been in command of India for over seven months, it is time to have a look at the progress that the country has made in this direction.
Barely months after the announcement, the prime minister has delivered on his promise as the Planning Commission has been replaced with a new think tank-like body, NITI Ayog, which is expected to set the policy agenda for the government. The new body’s Governing Council will comprise state chief ministers and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.
The next few months are going to reveal the government’s strategy for the implementation of its federalism project. It is a work in progress and appears to be going in the right direction, but the next Union Budget and the 14th Finance Commission report would offer concrete evidence of the prime minister’s commitment.
The year ends, but the chaos may just be beginning
This year by far has been the most chaotic year in international politics, since the end of the Cold War. The depredations of the so-called Islamic State terrorists in the …
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China’s image and public diplomacy: expansion and controversy
At the end of 2008, the year China stunned the world with the spectacular staging of the Beijing Olympics, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of CPC summoned representatives and officials of 28 parties and ministries for a meeting to discuss how to improve China’s national image. The meeting emanated from the growing realization that although for the past 30 years, China had experienced sound economic development, satisfactory political and social stability and had just concluded a remarkable Olympic Games, China’s image in the international arena did not quite match its national power. The western media has propagated a negative relentlessly –- a singularly one-sided and biased image of China, but it is now time for the Chinese media to take the initiative to promote China’s national image in a comprehensive and objective manner.
Cross-cultural communication Currently, Confucius Institutes or Confucius classrooms have been established throughout the world. They provide free fortnightly classes. While China provides all the funding, teachers, and teaching materials, for the foreign institutions as a collaborator all they need to do is to provide training space and students for the classes.
The biggest issue is, if a government has tarnished its own image domestically due to dictatorship, corruption, low social welfare, violation of human rights and the rising discontent amongst its own people, how can it persuade the international society to accept a positive image of it? Therefore, the China Image will be popular internationally only if its government’s domestic image improves amongst its own people by providing welfare, freedom and human rights for all.
Breakthrough Diplomacy@India: What to expect in 2015
Diplomacy is the art of the possible. If successful and effective diplomacy is about reigniting the spark in old relationships, winning new friends, breaking new grounds, and shaping the outcomes in the international arena to promote the country’s enlightened national interests and development, then the seven-month old Narendra Modi government scores high as it builds on the successes of 2014 and looks ahead to 2015 with “new vision and new vigour.” Breakthrough Diplomacy, as India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj writes in a prologue to the eponymous e-book published by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, is about melding ‘Diplomacy for Development’ as the overarching themes in India’s global engagements.
“2014 has truly been a Year of Breakthrough Diplomacy. India’s star is today shining ever brighter on the global firmament,” writes Swaraj.
Talking of breakthrough diplomacy, it’s time to unscramble the jargon and introduce some balance in diplomatic discourse and the unfolding possibilities in the coming months. For one thing, breakthroughs don’t happen every day or every year in diplomacy; the India-US nuclear deal was a breakthrough, but getting Obama to be the chief guest at the 2015 Republic Day celebrations is a diplomatic triumph, but not a breakthrough. To claim routine diplomatic successes as breakthroughs, therefore, would be misleading, and lowering the bar. For another thing, diplomatic breakthroughs presuppose a perceptible and substantive rise in a country’s comprehensive national power, economic and military strength as well as soft power.
US-Cuba thaw: New Year & New Hopes
As Cuba celebrates on January 1 the 55th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution which swept into power a new government led by the charismatic Fidel Castro, the deep freeze in relations with its giant neighbour shows signs of thawing at last. President Obama’s December 17 announcement that diplomatic ties would be established, and some relief provided from the economic embargo against Cuba, brought cheer to both sides of the Florida straits, the 100 mile waters that separate the two countries. The full story of US-Cuba relations goes back to the 1890s, with many colourful and eventful chapters. Now the questions are — what will this opening lead to, and how it will impact the various stakeholders, and the region?
Obama’s announcement marks a bold admission that the economic embargo against Cuba has failed to bring about a regime change. Rather, it has enabled the regime to crack down on dissent, sometimes unwisely promoted by agencies within the US, and exploit the image of a small country defending its hard-won sovereignty against a giant and powerful imperialistic neighbour.
President Obama’s announcement has received complete international support, which should encourage him and his supporters to move ahead. The US dropping its opposition to Cuba’s integration into regional architecture of Latin America will help the entire region to move forward. Cuba and the US must move to constructive engagement from destructive hostility.
Reshaping Indonesia-India relations critical to 21st century Asia
Vibrant democracies, emerging powers, and partners in the unfolding Asian resurgence. India-Indonesia relations have a rich past, and is looking to zoom into a rich future, bristling with possibilities. Co-founders and fellow-travellers of the Non-Aligned Movement, India and Indonesia have imparted a contemporary strategic dimension to their multi-faceted relationship. From President Sukarno gracing the first Republic Day celebrations of 1950 to India hosting Indonesia’s then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations in 2011, the India-Indonesia partnership in the 21st century is acquiring new layers and depth.
The year 2014 saw a change of guard in both New Delhi and Jakarta, propelling self-made politicians from humble backgrounds to the top of the power ladder. The new leaderships in both countries are keen to seize the moment to infuse a new energy and vitality into this robust relationship.
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26/11: India voices outrage over likely Lakhvi release, summons Pakistan envoy
Days after the brutal cold-blooded massacre of children in Peshawar by Taliban militants, Pakistan does not seem to have learnt the right lessons from the numbing tragedy. The schizophrenia underlying …
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Act East: Delhi-S(e)oul Bonding
It’s been a year of Looking East as well as Acting East for the Indian diplomacy. India’s diplomatic and economic engagement with Southeast Asian and East Asian countries saw a marked upswing in 2014. With India’s Look East policy morphing into Act East policy under the Narendra Modi government, the country’s diplomatic calendar in 2014 is ending with a visit by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to South Korea, which will focus on intensifying economic ties and injecting greater strategic content into this dynamic relationship.
The growing strategic comfort in bilateral ties will be reflected in a renewed push to implement the civil nuclear deal the two countries signed in 2011. Unlike Japan, which is still hemmed in by its powerful non-proliferation lobby, South Korea is expected to be more pragmatic and cooperate closely in areas of nuclear safety and research and development. The two sides have “identified research and development, training of India’s scientific personnel, and working together on next-generation reactors,” says Akbaruddin.
Looking ahead, South Korea, East Asia’s economic dynamo and India, Asia’s third largest economy, are set to come closer in an evolving calculus of win-win opportunities. The two countries are now looking to implement their civil nuclear deal, collaborate in outer space and frontier areas of technology, and are taking a slew of steps to bolster their defence and strategic ties through enhanced joint exercises and maritime cooperation. With the Asia-Pacific theatre becoming the focus of global attention and India acting east with renewed vigour, expect the multifarious India-South Korea strategic partnership to acquire a new ballast in days to come.