India and the World

South China Sea ruling: India asks China to show ‘utmost respect’ for verdict

- by Shweta Aggarwal

The ruling by an international tribunal rejecting China’s “historic rights” to islands in South China Sea has prompted New Delhi to renew its call for resolving maritime disputes through peaceful means, sans use of military force.
In response, China has asserted that it too wants to resolve the dispute by “fully complying” with the international law.
The verdict is seen in India as a vindication of India’s long-standing position on freedom of navigation and resolution of maritime disputes through UNCLOS. “The court has upheld India’s position on freedom of navigation. The ruling will benefit India economically as well as strategically,” Srikanth Kondapalli, an influential China-expert at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told India Writes Network.

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South China Sea row: China rejects arbitration court ruling

- by India Writes Network

Amid global spotlight, an international tribunal has ruled that China’s claims to the South China Sea have no historical or legal basis and censured Beijing for violating sovereign rights of the Philippines.
The case was initiated by the Philippines in 2013 over China’s territorial claims and building of reefs and islands in the region. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands has ruled that any historic rights to resources that China may have had were invalid if they are incompatible with exclusive economic zones established under a UN treaty.
Beijing, which was anticipating a negative verdict, promptly rejected the ruling and rubbished it as a “null and void.”
China “solemnly declares that the award is null and void and has no binding force. China neither accepts nor recognizes it,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

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Modi sells the India Dream in South Africa: H.O.P.E Unbound

- by India Writes Network

Mahatma and Madiba. Interlinked dreams of India and Africa. Rise of India. Resilience and Resurgence. These were key theme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stirring address to ain South Africa on July 1. Sporting a Madiba shirt, Mr Modi enthralled nearly 11,000 PIOs with his resonant vision of a new India and cited myriad cultural and historical links that bind India and South Africa.

Here are some quotable quotes from PM Modi’s speech that encapsulate his views on the transformation of India, the bright future of India-Africa relations and the pivotal place of the Indian diaspora in India’s resurgence.

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NSG support, stronger defence ties signal a new era in India-South Africa ties

- by Manish Chand

Ending weeks of speculation, South Africa has declared support for India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a key takeaway for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Africa’s economic powerhouse.
Getting the support of South Africa, a non-proliferation hawk which renounced its nuclear programme decades ago, was on top of Modi’s agenda in Pretoria.
Modi’s wide-ranging talks with South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma on July 9 firmed up a substantive agenda for galvanising India-South Africa relationship across the spectrum, with special focus on collaboration in defence, value-added manufacturing and information technology. Taking a long-range view of strategic partnership, Zuma ended ambivalence by conveying his country’s support for India’s entry into the NSG, which will enable greater access for India to civil nuclear technologies.

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As PM eyes new horizons in Africa, China factor looms

- by Manish Chand

When was the last time an Indian prime minister travelled to four African countries in one stretch? It’s a tough one, and is sure to evoke a long pause, followed by silence and murmurs of can’t remember. This question has been asked with a tinge of anguish many a time in Africa circles, but with Prime Minister Narendra Modi heading to Mozambique, South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania early this week, it’s going to be replaced, mercifully, by what’s next.

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Modi’s Africa odyssey: Raising the Bar

- by Manish Chand

2016 is set to be the year of Africa for India’s diplomacy, with Narendra Modi heading on the first-ever four-nation tour by an Indian prime minister to the continental Africa in decades. PM Modi’s visit, preceded by President Pranab Mukherjee’s visits to Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire and Namibia and Vice-President Hamid Ansari’s trips to Morocco and Tunisia, has raised the bar for India’s diplomatic outreach to Africa, and underscores the emergence of the resurgent continent as an important pole in the country’s foreign policy calculus.
The clichéd narrative of competition and rivalry between India and China in Africa is a tad overplayed as the two Asian powers have different core strengths and models of engaging Africa. India can’t possibly surpass China in terms of trade volumes in the near term, but Modi’s visit to the four African countries is meant to signal that India is raising the game and is ready to match its rhetoric with resources and core strengths to expand and transform a mutually empowering partnership with the renascent continent.

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Dhaka terror: Outrage in India, PM Modi speaks to Sheikh Hasina

- by India Writes Network

The attack on an upscale restaurant in Dhaka has triggered concern and sorrow in the neigbouring India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi voicing pain beyond words at this despicable attack. Mr Modi spoke to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina and expressed condolences and solidarity at the devastating terror attack in Dhaka, which killed 20 people including a young Indian girl studying in California.
The terror attack in Dhaka is set to propel India and Bangladesh to step up their counter-terror cooperation in days to come. Indian intelligence and security agencies are closely tracking the rise of Islamist radicalism and the ramifications of the July 1 terror attack in Dhaka.

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