India and the World | India Writes

3 keys for unlocking India-China economic ties: New Steps, New Horizons

January 4, 2018January 4, 2018 - by India Writes Network

President Xi’s report pointed out the right direction for developing China-India economic and trade relationship. In the future, following the principles of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we will use three “keys” to unlock the potential of balanced and mutually beneficial China- India economic and trade cooperation in the “new era”.
With the guidance of our leaders and the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, India-China economic and trade cooperation will bring real benefits to our governments, business communities and ordinary people. It will become the bedrock and anchor of our bilateral relationship. With the development of this relationship, the day when “China and India speak in one voice, and the world listens” will come soon.

Celebrating India-Vietnam bonding: Uncle Ho’s Book Corner in Delhi

January 2, 2018January 2, 2018 - by Manish Chand

It’s a celebration of burgeoning Hanoi-Delhi cultural bonding, which is set to deepen with the setting up of the first-ever Book Corner of Vietnam, named after the iconic leader Ho Chi Minh in a prestigious library in the Indian capital.
The Vietnam-Ho Chi Minh Corner in the Central Secretariat Library in New Delhi was inaugurated recently by Vietnam’s Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh and Sujata Prasad, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Culture.
The event also saw the launch of a book that celebrates Ho Chi Minh’s unstinting love for India and his legendary friendship with India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Amid ongoing geopolitical churn in the region, Vietnam has emerged as one of India’s key strategic partners in ASEAN. While diplomatic contacts and economic ties are growing rapidly, the India-Vietnam partnership is rooted in centuries-old cultural and civilizational linkages.
Blending Buddhism and cultural linkages with an expanding economic and strategic partnership, the India-Vietnam relations are poised to soar high in months to come.

TRUMP CONNECT: A NEW INDIA-US CHEMISTRY

December 28, 2017December 28, 2017 - by India Writes Network

Initial anxieties about how President Donald Trump’s volatile policy postures and nationalist agenda will impact the India-US relations have now become muted. PM Modi’s visit to the US, followed by Washington’s greater receptivity towards New Delhi’s concerns on terrorism and Afghanistan, has infused a new dynamism in India-US relations, says Meera Shankar, India’s former ambassador to the US in an article written exclusively for India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international relations
The election of Donald Trump as President of America brought new uncertainties in India-US relations. His “America First” approach and call for strong trade action to protect American jobs from being shipped overseas promised fresh trade frictions and the lack of clarity on the US’s role in the Asia-Pacific raised questions whether the Strategic Partnership would be diluted in favour of a more transactional approach. Today, eight months down the road and following Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US in June, 2017, the India-US Partnership is on course, centred on shared interests in countering terrorism, managing a more assertive China and shaping a balance conducive to peace and stability in the broader Asia-Pacific region.

ISRAEL CAN LIBERATE INDIAN AGRICULTURE FROM CLIMATE DEPENDENCY: MASHAV CHIEF

December 28, 2017December 28, 2017 - by India Writes Network

:Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to India in January 2018, the first visit by an Israeli PM to New Delhi in over a decade, is expected to galvanise development and agricultural cooperation between the two countries.
In a defining step, India and Israel forged “Strategic Partnership in Water and Agriculture” during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landmark visit to Israel in July this year. India and Israel also signed two pacts to enhance cooperation on water conservation and state water utility reform in India, and another agreement on agricultural cooperation. MASHAV, the Hebrew acronym for Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, will shepherd this strategic partnership in years to come.
Manish Chand caught up with Ambassador Gil Haskel, the head of MASHAV, in Jerusalem to discuss the way ahead for India-Israel development partnership. In this interview, Amb. Haskel outlines plans for harnessing Israeli technology to make Indian agriculture less dependent on the vagaries of climate, and to stimulate a new green revolution in India.

Trump’s new security calculus: India leading power & partner, China chief rival

December 19, 2017December 19, 2017 - by Manish Chand

In US President Donald Trump’s newly-unveiled National Security Strategy (NSS), India is toasted as a leading global power, with Washington flaunting its love for New Delhi and deepening strategic and economic ties with this emerging power. Russia and China are painted as rivals and the US’ top national security threats, which threaten to “challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.”
If there is one country which has come out shining in Trump’s “America First” NSS, unveiled in Washington on December 18, it’s India, the world’s most populous democracy and the fastest growing major economy. Seeking to bolster India’s rise, the NSS also backs India’s concerns obliquely on the China-led One Belt One Road project and asks Pakistan to take “decisive action” against terror groups operating from its territory.
Clearly, there is a lot to rejoice for India, but the prospects of adversarial relations with Russia and China presage a conflicted international geopolitical landscape which New Delhi will have to tread cautiously.
Shaping a balanced regional order and curbing China’s assertiveness align with New Delhi’s larger strategic goals, but given its own delicate relationship with China and extensive economic ties New Delhi will have to do a delicate diplomatic juggling act to avoid the impression of joining the US-led China containment design, which has been reinforced by the launch of the Quadrilateral dialogue among leading maritime democracies of the region, including India, US, Japan and Australia.

Modi’s package for Northeast a major push for connectivity & Act East

December 18, 2017December 18, 2017 - by India Writes Network

Advancing India’s Act East policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his government’s package of 90,000 crore for the Northeast that will be used to spur better connectivity and infrastructure in the region. The decision comes ahead of the India-ASEAN Summit that is scheduled for January 25, 2018 and the state elections in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Mizoram next year.

Pakistan, India at loggerheads over consular access to Khulbushan

December 16, 2017December 16, 2017 - by India Writes Network

Maintaining its stand that Khulbhushan Yadav, the former Indian Navy officer detained on charges of espionage, is an Indian “spy”, Pakistan has denied India consular access to the death row prisoner in its counter-memorial submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
India has called the death sentence a “farcical process”. “We also appealed to ICJ in May as we believe Vienna convention was being violated. We do reiterate our position that Jadhav remains in Pakistan and is facing death sentence given through a farcical process and on concocted charges,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

No zero sum games: India & China have more shared interests than differences

December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 - by India Writes Network

The human society has once again come to a crossroads of history. Should one opt for openness or isolation, cooperation or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum game? These are questions we are all thinking hard about. The choice made by major countries will significantly impact the future of our world and the entire mankind.
Both being big developing countries, China and India have far greater shared strategic interests than concrete differences, and far greater needs for cooperation than partial frictions.
We believe that as long as we continue to engage in in-depth strategic communication and promptly dispel strategic misgivings, the strategic value of China-India cooperation will speak for itself, and there will be a prospect of “the Dragon and the Elephant Dancing Together” and “1+1=11” effect as expected by our leaders.

Kumbh Mela on UNESCO world heritage list

December 8, 2017December 8, 2017 - by India Writes Network

India’s greatest spiritual show, Kumbh Mela, has been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.The decision was taken at the 12th session by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in in Jeju, South Korea from 4-9 December.Previously ‘Yoga’ and ‘Nouroz’ were also included in the list.
Held in Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik alternatively, this festival held every four years sees a massive gathering of pilgrims who participate in the ritual cleansing in the holy rivers in India. With its origins in Hindu mythology that tells how a few drops from a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality fell on the four locations across India during a fight between gods and demons, Kumbh Mela is the largest peaceful gathering of pilgrims.

Chababar game-changer: Strategic port opens new pathways for India

December 4, 2017 - by India Writes Network

In a transformational move, India has finally succeeded in surmounting the Pakistan barrier to ease its access to the landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia with the inauguration of the first phase of Chabahar port.
More than a month after India sent its first shipment of wheat to Afghanistan via the Chabahar port in Iran, the first phase of a newly built extension of the $340-million project opened on December 3, opening new strategic and economic possibilities for India.
“Clearly, it’s a game-changing move for Indian diplomacy in the region that has been hobbled by Pakistan’s intransigence in not allowing Indian goods overland access to Afghanistan,” said Manish Chand, Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on India’s expanding global engagements.