India and the World | India Writes

Getting real: India, China to step up anti-terror cooperation, hope for NSG progress

October 15, 2016November 5, 2016 - by Manish Chand

Taking a realistic and long-term view of their burgeoning but challenging relationship, India and China have decided to adopt an incremental approach to resolving contentious issues like the UN proscription of international terrorist Masood Azhar and New Delhi’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, without letting these affect the larger relationship, bristling with possibilities.
In their third meeting this year, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed key issues, including terrorism, NSG and enhancing trade and investment, that have a direct bearing on the future trajectory of the relationship between the two Asian giants.
Looking ahead, India and China are set to focus on ramping up the economic relationship, which has emerged a key pillar underpinning the crucial relationship. In this context, President Xi called for co-operation between India and China in railways, industrial parks, vocational and skill training, space and ICT. This “economics first” approach suggests realism and pragmatism, but to focus only on the economic relationship has its limitations. The real breakthrough that will release pent-up energies of the India-China relationship will be Beijing’s explicit support for India’s global aspirations, including membership of the NSG and New Delhi’s long-standing claim for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India: What to expect

October 15, 2016October 15, 2016 - by India Writes Network

India’s relations with Bangladesh will get a major boost with the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Goa. Sheikh Hasina is visiting India to attend a summit of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit to be held in Goa on October 15-16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina are expected to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the dual summits in Goa on October 16.
Sheikh Hasina will be participating in the multilateral forum along with 11 other leaders from BIMSTEC and BRICS countries. Members of BIMSTEC include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

India, Russia converge on terror, sign 16 pacts

October 15, 2016October 15, 2016 - by India Writes Network

Underscoring the special and unique nature of their relations, India and Russia have signed 16 pacts in diverse areas, including defence, energy, trade and investment and promoting connectivity that are set to provide added heft to this crucial strategic partnership.

Dispelling speculation about drift in bilateral ties, the leaders of the two countries underscored the special and privileged character of the India-Russia strategic partnership.

The meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a luxury hotel in Benaulim on October 15 was marked by warmth, mutual trust and a meeting of minds on a wide gamut of issues, including terrorism.

Highlighting convergence between India and Russia on a range of issues, Mr Modi expressed appreciation of Russia’s “unequivocal condemnation” of the cross-border terror attack in Uri on September 18. “Russia’s clear stand on need to combat terrorism mirrors our own. We deeply appreciate Russia’s understanding and support of our actions to fight cross border terrorism that threatens our entire region. We both affirmed the need for zero tolerance in dealing with terrorists and their supporters,” Mr Modi said at a joint media appearance with Russian President Vladimir Putin here.

India hopeful Russia will scale down military ties with Pakistan, big deals on way

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 - by India Writes Network

Amid a note of dissonance over the issue of Russia’s joint military drills with Pakistan, India has voiced confidence that Moscow will reflect on New Delhi’s concerns as it unveiled an ambitious multifarious agenda to galvanize the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries.

In an attempt to downplay Moscow’s military outreach to Islamabad, India’s ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran indicated that a specific incident or episode should not be allowed to shadow the India-Russian relationship, which is special in many ways.

“It’s not legitimate to reduce the relationship to what happened a few days ago,” Mr Saran said when asked by India Writes Network on whether the Pakistan-Russia joint exercises have cast a shadow over the so-called special and privileged relationship between New Delhi and Moscow.

“We have conveyed our concerns to the Russian side. We are confident that Russia will reflect on our concerns,” the Indian envoy told reporters at Taj Exotica Hotel, the venue of the 17thIndia-Russia annual summit and the 8th BRICS summit.

China courts Bangladesh with big-ticket deals

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 - by India Writes Network

China looks set to raise the bar for its ties with Bangladesh by announcing deals and loans worth billions of dollars during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s official visit to Dhaka on October 14. Bangladeshi officials are expecting at least &20 billion package of investment and aid during President Xi’s visit.

The two countries are also expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on strengthening investment and production capacity. In an issue of concern to India, Mr Xi is also set to launch a charm offensive to win Dhaka’s support for his per project of trans-regional connectivity, ‘One Belt One Road’(OBOR).

Rejuvenating BRICS in Goa: What’s on the agenda?

October 14, 2016November 5, 2016 - by Manish Chand

Amid the festering recession in wide swathes of the world and a conflicted geopolitical landscape, India is poised to host the 8th BRICS summit in the picturesque resort city of Goa, which is expected to unveil a raft of new ideas and initiatives,designed to provide an added strategic traction to this influential grouping of emerging powers.

India has declared I4C or IIIIC as the framing mantra for the 8th BRICS summit, which includes Institution Building, Implementation, Integration, Innovation, and Continuity with Consolidation.In a deft word game, the BRICS acronym has been reinvented, with the overarching objective of “Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions” to pressing global challenges.

US asks Pakistan to act against Hafiz Saeed, supports India’s right to self-defence

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 - by India Writes Network

In a boost for India’s drive to expose Pakistan’s role in fomenting terror, the US has launched a blistering attack on terror impresario Hafiz Saeed, the virulently anti-India suspected mastermind of the Mumbai carnage, and endorsed India’s surgical strikes against terror camps in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

Washington’s indictment of Pakistan comes ahead of the BRICS summit in Goa where India will focus on getting the support of emerging powers for pressuring Pakistan to abandoning cross-border terrorism.

The message to Islamabad was clear: stop sheltering terrorists and punish the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks.

Isolated by India, Pakistan plays with ‘bigger SAARC’ idea

October 13, 2016October 13, 2016 - by India Writes Network

In the wake of the Uri terror strike, India announced its decision not to participate in the SAARC summit which was supposed to be held in Pakistan in November this year. All other SAARC nations followed suit, and decided to boycott the summit. Distressed by this marginalisation and mainly due to India’s increasing influence in the SAARC, Pakistan is now playing with the idea of a greater SAARC. According to a recent report in the Dawn newspaper, Pakistan is looking at the possibility of a “bigger SAARC” to check India’s increasing dominance in the eight-member forum.

According to the report, “Pakistan has pitched the idea of a greater South Asian economic alliance, one that includes China, Iran, and some neighboring Central Asian countries”. A parliamentary delegation from Pakistan during its five-day visit to Washington last week pitched this idea, the report said. “A greater South Asia is already emerging,” Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed was quoted as saying in one of his interactions with the media. “This greater South Asia includes China,Iran, and the neighboring Central Asian republics,” he said. He described the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as the key economic route linking South Asia with Central Asia.

Behind India’s BIMSTEC-BRICS gamble: How to isolate Pakistan

October 13, 2016November 5, 2016 - by Manish Chand

Marking the near complete isolation of Pakistan in the region, terrorism is set to dominate the agenda of dual summits of BRICS and BIMSTEC countries India is hosting in Goa October 15-16.

With Pakistan showing no sign of abandoning terrorism as an instrument of state policy, the overarching focus of India will be to get both BRICS and BIMSTEC groupings to back a collective approach to combating the scourge. India will be pressing these groupings to support a non-segmented approach to terror, which is necessary in view of the propensity of some countries to portray terrorists as freedom fighters, as Pakistan has done in the case of militants active in Kashmir.

Modi warns Pakistan, calls for slaying ‘Ravana’ of terror

October 12, 2016October 12, 2016 - by India Writes Network

Riding high on the surgical strikes conducted by India’s Special Forces on terror pads in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, India’s Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s twenty-minute Dussehra speech in Lucknow focused on terrorism, with a clear warning to Pakistan to stop the export of terror. “Terror is the new target and India will not spare those who shelter and help terrorists,” he said in an obvious reference to the Uri terror strike perpetrated by Pakistan’s terrorists.