India and the World

Modi to Pakistan: Stop proxy war of terrorism against India

- by India Writes Network

In his maiden visit to Kargil, the site of a bitter India-Pakistan war 15 years ago, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a tough stance against Islamabad’s use of terrorism in its proxy war against New Delhi.

“The neighbouring country has lost the strength to fight a conventional war, but continues to engage in the proxy war of terrorism,” Mr Modi told personnel of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force in Kargil, located in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, August 12.

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Innovative India: A hub for wearable technology

- by India Writes Network

Vibrating shoes that guide you to your destination, a ring that enables your fingers control over most gadgets, and a coin-sized electronic device that can help you track your valuables. Indian startups, engaged in innovative wearable technologies, are creating a buzz as they build India’s reputation as a hub for innovative consumer electronic inventions.

Ducere Technologies Pvt., an Indian startup, has designed Bluetooth-enabled footwear — aptly named Lechal shoes — which vibrate to let the user know where and when to turn to reach a pre-set destination.

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South China Sea: US, China spar, India backs freedom of navigation

- by India Writes Network

Stability in the South China Sea – a region disputed by China and Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam – dominated discussions at a series of meetings held in Myanmar focused on the ASEAN and East Asia region. The meetings saw a prickly verbal exchange between US and China, with Beijing forcefully rejecting a US proposal for countries to refrain from “provocative” acts in the South China Sea

In Naypitaw, US Secretary of State John Kerry worked hard to ease tensions between China and its neighbours on the issue of the South China Sea Islands.

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India-Myanmar ties: Buddha, Business and Bollywood

- by Manish Chand

The “neighbours first” policy of the new government in India will again be in focus when India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj goes on her maiden visit to Myanmar August 8-9 for bilateral talks, as well as to attend ministerial meetings connected with ASEAN, East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum. Myanmar will be the first Southeast Asian country Sushma Swaraj will be visiting after trips to three important neighbours in South Asia: Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The minister’s visit will take place soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s path-breaking trip to Nepal, and underlines the centrality of immediate and extended neighbourhood in India’s foreign policy matrix.

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‘India’s Look East Policy 3.0 is turning real’

- by India Writes Network

In this conversation with India Writes Network, Rajiv Bhatia, Director-General of Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and a former Indian envoy to Myanmar, speaks about the future trajectory of India’s multi-layered relation with Myanmar, the importance of the minister’s first visit to the South Asian country and New Delhi’s burgeoning relations with ASEAN and the East Asia region.

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India’s Enhanced Look East policy takes wing

- by Manish Chand

Look East. And follow the Asian Dream. Intertwining economies, interlinking destinies and creating an arc of prosperity across the region, India’s Look East Policy is cruising along on a higher trajectory. After putting India’s South Asia diplomacy in high gear, the new government in Delhi is now looking East as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj heads to Myanmar, the chair of the 10—nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 18-nation East Asia Summit (EAS). In Myanmar, the minister will participate in India-ASEAN ministerial meeting, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) foreign ministers’ meeting and East Asia summit ministerial meeting. Put together, these separate but interlinked meetings reflect various facets of India’s Look East policy and will set the tone and tenor for the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Myanmar in November for the India-ASEAN summit and EAS.

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PM Modi to visit world’s highest battlefield in Siachen

- by India Writes Network

To boost the morale of troops stationed at the world’s highest battlefield, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit the strategically located Siachen Glacier during his tour of Ladakh next week.

The visit will be the first to Siachen by an Indian prime minister in nine years. Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag is expected to accompany Modi on his visit to Siachen, where he will also be briefed at the headquarters of the 14 Corps.

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