Tag: India

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

- 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.

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

- 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.

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Scripting a new chapter in India-Iran relations

- by India Writes Network

Building on centuries of civilisational connect and shared interests amid a shifting regional geopolitical landscape, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to Tehran (May 22-23) opened a new chapter in India’s relations with an emerging power in the West Asia region. Enhancing connectivity and commerce, combined with rejuvenating cultural connections, were the overarching themes that framed the first standalone bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Iran in over a decade and culminated in a road map for advancing India-Iran relations in the next decades of the 21st century.

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It’s time to act and fix ailing UNSC: India’s envoy in UN

- by India Writes Network

Today, we stand on the cusp of selecting the 9th Secretary General of the UN. The last report of Secretary General Ban ki-Moon contained in A/71/1 on the Work of the Organization is, therefore, an appropriate inflection point to examine what are the main challenges that face us and what are the means and mechanisms to mend. These are not simple issues nor are they small in number. However, due to paucity of time I will focus on just three examples relating to peace and security that are emblematic of the problems we face.

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India to Pakistan: Abandon your futile quest, J& K is and will remain India’s integral part

- by India Writes Network

Abandon your futile quest and stop abusing international fora for Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. This is India’s strongly-worded message to Pakistan which continues to rake up the Kashmir issue to divert the world’s attention from its relentless pursuit of terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

“Our response to Pakistan is consistent. Abandon your futile quest. Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will remain so,” India’s Permanent Representative to UN Syed Akbaruddin said during a General Assembly debate on ‘Report of the Secretary General on the Work of the Organisation’ at the 71st session of the UNGA.

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Smart Diplomacy: India invites Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi as R-Day chief guest

- by India Writes Network

In a diplomatic masterstroke, India has invited Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in 2017. This is smart diplomacy as it will not only bolster New Delhi’s relations with the Gulf powerhouse, home to 2.6 million-strong diaspora, but will also aid India’s efforts to isolate Pakistan in the region over cross-border terror.

In a letter to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mohamed bin Zayed expressed “thanks for the kind invitation to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations”. “Our strong relations are deeply rooted in history. Our strategic cooperation has increased, driven by our mutual aspirations to develop it,” the Crown Prince said.

Inviting the Crown Prince seems to be the brainchild of Mr Modi, who visited the UAE in August 2015 during which the two sides launched a mammoth investment fund of $75 billion and agreed to intensify their security cooperation. The UAE robustly backed India’s position on delinking religion with terrorism, with the joint statement coming out strongly against states that sponsor terrorism against other countries.

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Isolate Pakistan: In Nigeria, Ansari targets terror-sponsoring states

- by Manish Chand

In a veiled reference to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism against India, Vice-President Hamid Ansari has made a compelling case for bolstering counter-terror cooperation with Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, and underlined that “the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy should be unequivocally condemned.”

Invoking the common suffering experienced by Nigeria and India from the scourge of terrorism, Mr Ansari exhorted the world community not to make any distinction between good and bad terrorists and speak in one voice against this trans-national menace.

“Your country, like mine, has suffered the horrors of this scourge of terrorism. Terrorism today has global reach, no city remains safe,” Mr Ansari said at the National Defence College in the Nigerian capital Abuja on September 28. “Use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy is to be unequivocally condemned. There can be no distinction between good and bad terrorists.” Delinking terrorism with religion, the vice-president argued that a terrorist can’t have any religion or be afforded political sanctuary.

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India snubs Pakistan, says no to SAARC summit

- by India Writes Network

In a major step aimed at isolating Pakistan in the region, India has announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not participate in the SAARC summit in Islamabad due to cross-border terrorist attacks, an obvious reference to the Uri assault by Pakistani terrorists.

In a diplomatic retaliation for Pakistan’s diversionary posturing on the Kashmir issue, India has underlined that the current environment is not conducive to then holding of the SAARC summit.

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India, Nigeria open new avenues to energise ties: Focus on nuclear energy, food security

- by India Writes Network

Bolstering their economic and energy partnership, India and Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, have decided to open new avenues of cooperation in areas of civil nuclear energy, energy, space and food security.

The talks between India’s Vice-President Hamid Ansari and his Nigerian counterpart Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja on September 27 culminated in an ambitious template for scaling up the India-Nigeria relations in key areas that included, among others, hydrocarbons, renewable energy, defence, space and counter-terror cooperation.

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