India and the World

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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Transforming Ties: Modi a big HIT in Nepal, India unveils $1 billion credit

- by India Writes Network

HIT Nepal with Highways, I-ways and Tansways. India has just found a winning formula to transform its relations with Nepal as Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled $1 billion line of credit for a host of development projects in the neighbouring country. In the first prime ministerial visit from India in the last 17 years, Modi launched a charm offensive on his maiden visit to the picturesque Himalayan state, which is intimately bound with India by deep-seated cultural and religious ties.

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