Global Indian News
I am delighted to welcome you all to the 2nd edition of the Raisina Dialogue. As they will probably be saying at every international gathering this year, the landscape looks …
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After the stunning upset win over Hillary Clinton in the election on 8 November, President-elect Donald Trump met the incumbent Barack Obama on 11 November to prepare for his swearing-in and assumption of Charge on January 20 next year.
The world waits with bated breath to discover what changes Trump will introduce in pursuit of foreign policy. India is equally concerned and wishes to find out how Trump will be different from his predecessor in his approach towards India and Asia.
Kindling the India growth story anew on a wet and rainy day in the Japanese capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the centrality of India-Japan relations in Asia’s emergence and pitched for more enhanced investments from Asia’s second largest economy.
The conference hall at Keidanren, the seat of Japan’s all-powerful corporate body, was buzzing with energy and enthusiasm as Mr Modi addressed a galaxy of top Japanese leaders and highlighted a set of steps taken by his government which have made India the world’s most attractive investment destination.
“Today, India is on the path of several major transformations. We have taken decisive steps and built a governance system that will help India realize its potential. The results are already visible,” Mr Modi said.“Today, India is on the path of several major transformations. We have taken decisive steps and built a governance system that will help India realize its potential. The results are already visible,” Mr Modi said.
“Even against a weak international economic scenario, the news from India is of strong growth and abundant opportunities. It is of Incredible opportunities, and about India’s Credible Policies.”
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India’s cross-LoC strikes on terrorist launch pads located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) have been much discussed in recent days. While the government has officially described the attacks on terrorist launch …
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Though India made it a point to focus on terrorism and managed to underscore “the need for close coordination on tracking sources of terrorist financing and target the hardware of terrorism, including weapons’ supplies, ammunition, equipment and training,” it could not convince China to change its stance on Masood Azhar, leader of the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The group has been blamed for attacks on Indian soil in the past, including the 2001 parliament attack in Delhi that took the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of war.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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