India and the World

Multiple challenges await India’s new defence minister

- by India Writes Network

India’s new defence minister Manohar Parrikar will have to hit the ground running as he begins his tenure in South Block from November 10. From tensions on the unresolved borders with China and Pakistan to India’s embarrassing tag of being the world’s largest arms importer, he will have his hands full.
It has taken Prime Minister Narendra Modi over five months to appoint a full-time defence minister for the country. Parrikar, a grocer’s son and former Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) pracharak, is known to share a good personal rapport with Modi.
While his predecessor Arun Jaitley set the ball rolling, it will be Parrikar who will have to measure up to the challenging task of overseeing India’s operational military preparedness.
The task at hand for Parrikar is particularly onerous given that his predecessor A.K. Antony, who served as the defence minister for no less than eight years, was unwilling to take fast decisions and risks lest his image of ‘Mr Clean’ be sullied.

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With economy on rebound, Modi set for G20 summit debut

- by Manish Chand

Eight summits and six years after it was born in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, the upcoming G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, could be a milestone in fructifying some key initiatives to restore global economic growth and create the much-needed equilibrium in the global economic order.
For India, there will be a lot riding on how some of the expected outcomes shape up in the G20 joint declaration on November 16. Growth and job creation will be the twin focus of India’s business-friendly Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for whom the Brisbane summit will be his first G20 experience as well as his first major global outing with leaders of the world’s most advanced and emerging economies.
At a time when the economic growth across the world remains uneven and show stark asymmetries, India is going to the Brisbane summit on a high note, with a clear message that India will contribute substantially to the global economic growth in the years to come, and hence it makes sense for the world to be on the side of the India story and global economic resurgence.

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India & Bhutan: All-weather friends eye new horizons

- by Manish Chand

It’s set to be a unique year in the annals of the all-weather friendship between India and Bhutan. As President Pranab Mukherjee heads on his maiden trip to the strategically located Himalayan state early November, the timeless and exemplary relationship between the two fraternal neigbours will once again be in the spotlight. The presidential visit underlines a confluence of civilizational, economic and geostrategic imperatives that grounds special ties between the world’s largest and youngest democracies. 2014 is, therefore, set to be a watershed year as this is the first time the president and the prime minister of India would have visited this Himalayan nation, which prefers to measure its national wealth in terms of gross national happiness, within months of each other.
President Mukherjee’s forthcoming visit to Bhutan will build on these winning ideas and reinforce the template of B4B – Bharat for Bhutan and Bhutan for Bharat – which has been eloquently articulated by Prime Minister Modi. This idea of intertwined destinies has been aptly encapsulated by Bhutan’s king, who has said memorably: “My bond with India is for life, for it arises from two loves — my love for India and, my love for Bhutan and my people.” This sense of deep fraternal bonding and synergy of interests will endure amid the relentless flux of time and gain new force in days to come.

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India-Russia talks: Setting the stage for Putin’s visit to India

- by Manish Chand

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to be in India early December, much after India’s new prime minister would have held summit meetings with the leaders of the US, Japan, China and many other countries. Is Moscow going down a notch on India’s foreign policy radar under the new dispensation in New Delhi?
This kind of scepticism is voiced in some sections of the media and commentariat, but it would be a gross misreading of the Modi government’s foreign policy priorities. The fact that the Modi-Putin summit meeting is happening after other Modi’s headline-hogging meetings with world leaders does not mean anything; on the contrary it reflects enduring trust a comfort factor in the India-Russia relationship which has no parallel.
For Moscow remains pivotal to India’s core national interests, and the shifting geopolitical realities of the second decade of the 21st century is not going to change this plain fact. This centrality of Moscow’s place in India’s foreign policy calculus will be reflected in wide-ranging talks between Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi November 5.

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South China Sea: The ‘Shared Interest’ of India and US

- by India Writes Network

The India-US Joint Statement, released following the meeting between India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama on September 30, suggests the tasks that the two countries will pursue to deepen and strengthen the bilateral relationship.
Their common view on the SCS dispute is related to their Asia-centred policies, which are at the intersection of their foreign policy directions. The two countries are pursuing a synergy effect in Asia via their bilateral collaboration in the region. The joint statement states that “the leaders committed to work more closely with other Asia Pacific countries”, noting “India’s “Act East” policy” – the new version of the Look East policy – and “the United States’ rebalance to Asia”.

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Britain lauds India’s emergence, celebrates heroism of Indian soldiers

- by India Writes Network

Underlining India’s emergence as “a force for good in the world,” Britain has pitched for stronger multi-faceted partnership between the two countries and honoured the over million Indian soldiers who fought in World War I.
The atmosphere at the British high commissioner’s residence was solemn as well as celebratory as British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and India’s Defence Minister Arun Jaitley recalled the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers that helped Britain and the allied forces win the 1914-1919 war.
Fittingly, India’s defence minister unveiled the government’s plan to prepare a structured history of all the wars that the Indian Army has fought and instructed Army chief Gen. Dalbir to begin preparations for this exercise.
Mr Jaitley underlined the need to have a structured history of the contribution of Indian soldiers, both in book and the digital format.

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Opulence out, new austerity mantra in India

- by India Writes Network

No first class air travel on overseas visits. No pow-wow in luxury hotels. Ostentation and opulence are out; austerity is in.
The new Indian government has tightened the belt and asked officials to cut down all the flab and frills, and get down to business. Unveiling an austerity drive, the Indian government underlined that it was aimed at cutting non-plan expenditure by 10% and bring down the fiscal deficit to 4.1% of GDP in 2014-15.
The new guidelines enunciated by India’s finance ministry has barred bureaucrats from travelling first class on overseas visits and asked them to use video conferencing as much as possible. The accent is on doing away with needless frills, with officials barred from holding meetings in 5-star hotels.

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