India and the World

Stage set for Modi-Obama summit in White House

- by India Writes Network

It’s official. The defining partnership of the 21st century is set to get a fresh sparkle when the White House hosts India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his maiden summit with US President Obama in Washington September 30.

Prime Minister Modi will travel to Washington September 29, after a clutch of back-to-back meetings in New York, which includes his maiden address to the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

President Obama will host a private dinner for the Indian leader at the White House on September 29, to which only seniormost figures of his Cabinet will be invited. On September 30, the two leaders will hold full-spectrum talks to reinvigorate the India-US relationship and set fresh benchmarks for fructifying the full potential of this critical strategic partnership. This will be followed by a lunch hosted for Prime Minister Modi by US Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department on September 30.

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‘No full stop in diplomacy’: India, Pakistan PMs may meet in New York

- by India Writes Network

“In diplomacy, there is no full stop. It is always commas and semi colon.” In a masterly one-liner, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has indicated that India is keeping options open on re-engaging Pakistan, kindling possibilities of a likely meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York later this month.
In her first interaction with the media after taking charge of India’s Ministry of External Affairs over three months ago, Swaraj appeared a picture of poise and handled around 50 questions on issues ranging from India-Pakistan talks and the Chinese president’s forthcoming visit to India to the crisis in Fiji and the plight of Indian hostages in Iraq. Unlike her loquacious predecessor, Swaraj’s answers were pithy and pointed, displaying her easy familiarity with nuances of foreign policy issues. This emerged clearly from her measured response to the possibilities of the meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Sharif on the sidelines of the 69th UNGA in New York and the no-nonsense stand on the cancellation of foreign secretary-level talks last month due to the Pakistani high commissioner’s meeting with separatist Kashmiri leaders.

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Floods in Kashmir ignite India-Pakistan goodwill diplomacy

- by India Writes Network

As floods and landslides continue to wreak havoc in Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan have put aside their recent diplomatic acrimony and extended a helping hand to each other in this time of unfolding human tragedy.

Late monsoon rains have trigged massive floods on either sides of the Line of Control (LoC) that divide the two halves of Kashmir, inundating hundreds of villages. According to reports, over 270 people have died in India and Pakistan.

The death toll in India is reported to have crossed 160 with around 5000 homes destroyed. Srinagar, the capital of India’s northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, too, have been inundated by flood water in the worst floods in over 60 years.

In what is being termed as “flood aid diplomacy” by Pakistan’s media, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a personal letter to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to express condolences and offered humanitarian assistance to Islamabad for relief and rescue operations.

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India, Australia seal nuclear deal, focus on security ties

- by India Writes Network

In a defining step that has decisively transformed India-Australian ties, the two countries have signed a landmark nuclear deal that clears the decks for the import of Australian uranium to the energy-deficient Asian economy and bring them in a closer strategic embrace.
The long-awaited nuclear deal was signed in the presence of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott, the first foreign leader hosted by the 100-day old new government in New Delhi on a standalone bilateral visit. A beaming Modi hailed the agreement as “a historic milestone” and can count it as a diplomatic gift as India gears up to scale up the share of atomic electricity in its overall energy mix.

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India & Australia: On a strong wicket

- by Manish Chand

C for Cricket, C for Commerce, C for Coking Coal, and C for Community, the 450,000-strong Indian community which is thriving in Australia. Think of India-Australia relations, and these four Cs spring readily to mind. And yes, uranium, the yellow cake, which may just end up being the show-stealer during the September 4-5 visit of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

The India-Australia relations are on a strong wicket, and they are scoring high in every field. In a sign of close and warm relations, India has rolled out the red carpet for Prime Minister Abbott, who has become the first head of government to be hosted by the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi on a standalone bilateral visit.

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Australian PM serenades India, nuclear deal on the way

- by India Writes Network

In a milestone in their transforming ties, India and Australia are poised to sign a civil nuclear deal that will enable the import of Australian uranium to the energy deficient Asian economy. Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott began his two-day trip from Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, and serenaded India’s growing global stature and its importance to Australia’s future. “The purpose of this trip, as far as I’m concerned, is to acknowledge the importance of India in the wider world, acknowledge the importance of India to Australia’s future,” said Abbot in a meeting with business leaders in Mumbai on September 4. “There is an abundance of opportunities here in India. I am determined to make the most of them,” he said on an upbeat note.

Abbott will make a pitch for enhanced trade and commercial partnership between Canberra and New Delhi. Currently, the trade volume between the two countries hovers around $15 billion which, experts say, is below potential. India also invests around $11 billion in Australia.

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Al Qaeda launches India branch, India on alert

- by India Writes Network

India’s Home Ministry has issued an all-India alert after Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group in a new tape released on September 4. In his first videotape in over a year, al Zawahiri says Al Qaeda has not forgotten injustices and oppressions suffered by Muslims “in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir”.
Calling the formation of the “Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” a glad tiding for Muslims in the region, Zawahiri added that the group will aim to “break all borders created by Britain in India” and “raise the flag of jihad” across the subcontinent.

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