Diplomacy | India Writes

Syria: The Cease-Fire that was and wasn’t

September 24, 2016September 24, 2016 - by India Writes Network

On 10 September 2016, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov announced a cease-fire agreement in Geneva following negotiations that lasted over ten months. The agreement was not a cease-fire between Russia and the US, but one between their proxies. Russia was answerable for President Bashar Assad and his allies that include Russia. The US was responsible for the ‘moderate’ rebels supported by the West and its allies. The two major rebel groups, ISIL and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, were excluded from the cease-fire. Since the cease-fire has been violated a number of times, one may assume that those who signed the agreement did not have full control over those who fire.

Big Deal: India gets Rafale advantage over Pakistan

September 23, 2016September 24, 2016 - by India Writes Network

Ending year of visions and revisions, India finally signed one of its biggest defence deals with France to acquire 36 Rafale fighter jets, which promise to give the country a decisive edge vis-à-vis its adversary Pakistan in a conflict situation.
The 7.87-billion euro deal was inked by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian in New Delhi on September 23, capping years of hard-fought negotiations which has saved the nation around 750 million Euros.
The deal to buy 36 fighter aircraft in fly-away condition was unveiled during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in April 2015, but the price negotiations dragged on for months resulting in a win-win deal. The Modi government and its negotiators have much to crow about as the final deal has not only saved India 750 million euros compared to the deal negotiated under the previous government, but also comes with a 50 per cent offset clause, which effectively means business of around 3 billion euros for Indian companies.
Rafale jets, considered the most advanced in the world, will bolster India’s defence as they are equipped with latest missiles and weapon system. The India-specific modifications and the integration of state-of-the-art missiles like ‘Meteor’ and ‘Scalp,’ will give the Indian Air Force the much-needed strike capability against adversaries like Pakistan.
The Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor air-to-air missile with a range in excess of 150 km will enable IAF to, if such a situation arises, to strike inside both Pakistan and across the northern and eastern borders while staying well within within India’s territorial boundary.

India debunks Sharif’s Kashmir tune: Shun Pakistan, Ivy League of Terrorism

September 23, 2016September 23, 2016 - by India Writes Network

India fielded a young diplomat to trash Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s staccato speech at UN, in which he drummed the Kashmir cause in a formulaic manner and sought to glorify the leader of a proscribed terrorist organization. It was a stinging rebuttal of the Pakistani leader’s speech, who invested 80 per cent of his time in orchestrating the Kashmir cause, with hardly any resonance among world leaders.
“The land of Taxila, one of the greatest learning centres of ancient times, is now host to the Ivy League of terrorism. It attracts aspirants and apprentices from all over the world,” said Eenam Gambhir, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN. Ms Gambhir was deployed to exercise India’s Right of Reply during the General Debate of the 71st session UN General Assembly on September 21.
Condensed in just 510 words, India’s rebuttal was a model of precision and the most devastating indictment of Pakistan’s continuing use of terrorism as a state policy.
In a rebuff to Pakistan, the leaders of more than 25 countries have spoken at the UNGA, but no one even alluded to Kashmir and everybody spoke about the need to fight terror unitedly, underscoring Pakistan’s growing international isolation.

Uri attack: India confronts Pakistan with evidence, says stop sponsoring terror

September 21, 2016September 23, 2016 - by Manish Chand

It was time for some plain speaking as India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar summoned Pakistan’s High Commissioner Abdul Basit and conveyed that India has enough evidence to link Pakistani militants with the recent terror attack in Uri that killed 18 Indian soldiers.
The message was direct and sliced through duplicity and denials that have become hallmarks of Pakistan’s response in the aftermath of terror attacks in India, engineered by Pakistan-based militants, in collusion with sections of the state machinery.
The latest terrorist attack in Uri only underlines that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan remains active, India’s external affairs ministry said after the meeting between Mr Jaishankar and the Pakistani envoy in New Delhi on September 21. “We demand that Pakistan lives up to its public commitment to refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorism against India,” said the statement. This was an unambiguous statement from India, which suggests that India’s security agencies have made a considered assessment that the attack on an Army base in Uri on September 18 was perpetrated by Pakistani militants with support from state actors.
With India providing specific evidence of complicity of Pakistani militants in recent terror attacks in the country, the ball is now in Pakistan’s court. Denials and equivocations simply won’t do, and hyped-up rhetoric, which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is set to unleash at the UNGA tonight, will not deceive anyone. It’s time for Pakistan to act and redeem its honour, in short.

Uri attack: There are no military options that will give India the outcome it wants

September 20, 2016September 20, 2016 - by India Writes Network

India does not have too many good options in responding to the militant raid that killed 17 Indian army personnel, perhaps the largest number ever for a single day of the Kashmiri insurgency that began in 1990.

Sure, you can break down the responses and see what works. First the military — an army raid across the Line of Control, an army incursion across the international border with Pakistan, a naval blockade of Karachi, an air strike on the Jaish headquarters in Bahawalpur, an air strike on camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Second, the diplomatic — a UN Security Council condemnation and sanctions, sanctions by friendly countries like the US, Japan, UK and Germany, and a few Gulf countries. All of the above have been thought about and have not got us anywhere.

Kashmir terror attack: Modi explores tough options amid rising calls for retaliation

September 19, 2016 - by India Writes Network

A day after the brutal cold-blooded massacre of 17 Indian soldiers by Pakistani militants, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held a meeting with his senior ministers to explore befitting reply to what India sees as the handiwork of Pakistani militants, in collusion with its powerful military establishment.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag were among those who attended the meeting at the prime minister’s residence on September 19.
The meeting took place amid a rising crescendo of national outrage over the killing of Indian soldiers by Pakistani militants, the biggest terror attack on the Indian Army in over a decade, and a growing chorus of influential voices in the strategic establishment rooting for swift retaliation and surgical strikes on terror camps based in Pakistan.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh has ratcheted up the pressure, and called for declaring Pakistan a terrorist state,” indicating that the India-Pakistan relations have sunk to a new low. BJP leader and ideologue Ram Madhav has crystallised national anger in his hard-hitting statement, saying that the days of strategic restraint are over and called for “for one tooth, the complete jaw.”
Pakistan has predictably denied any role in the incident and rejected the “baseless and irresponsible accusations.” This casual response of formulaic denial is only going to compel India to take tough decisive actions that will make it costly for sponsors of terror in the neighbouring country to continue on this course of terror and destruction.

Terror attack in Uri: Global outrage over killing of Indian soldiers in Kashmir

September 19, 2016September 19, 2016 - by India Writes Network

The horrific terror attack at an Indian Army base in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 17 Indian soldiers has elicited strong global condemnation, with the US, UK and Canada, among others, coming out in solidarity with India.

Condemning the attack, the US underlined its ongoing cooperation with India to combat terrorism. “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir…We extend our condolences to the victims and their families. The United States is committed to our strong partnership with the Indian government to combat terrorism,” said US state department spokesman John Kirby.
The pre-dawn raid on an Indian Army base at Uri in north Kashmir on September 18 by suspected Pakistani militants killed 17 Indian soldiers, triggering national outrage and calls for swift punitive action against perpetrators and their sponsors based in Pakistan. Indian security agencies blamed the attack on Jaish-e-Moahamed, also the prime suspect behind the attack on the Pathankot air base early this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to punish those behind the “cowardly” and “despicable” attack.

India pitches for NAM-focused mechanism to counter terror, seeks support for CCIT

September 18, 2016September 19, 2016 - by India Writes Network

In its ongoing diplomatic offensive by India to mobilise the international community against states that sponsor terrorism, India has called for setting up a NAM-focused mechanism to enhance counter-terror cooperation among non-aligned nations. India also pressed the 120-member grouping to galvanise the international community to fast-track the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).

Namaste France: Celebrating Indo-French cultural connect

September 16, 2016September 22, 2016 - by Manish Chand

Namaste France, Bonjour India! The cultural alchemy between India and France is for real, and is now seen in all its glory and myriad splendour in the moveable feast of Indian culture, songs, dance, films, plays and performances which has rolled out across cities in France, inviting the French to soak in the eternal wonder that is India.
The sheer scale of Namaste France festival is staggering and attest to the expanding canvas of India-France cultural relations: 75 days, 23 cities and the crème de la crème of India’s performing arts dazzling the French audience.

Prachanda’s visit: India, Nepal reboot relations, spotlight on inclusive dialogue

September 16, 2016September 18, 2016 - by Manish Chand

Rebooting a crucial relationship that got mired in mutual recrimination last year, India has pledged $750 million for the post-quake reconstruction of Nepal and pledged to continue partnering the fraternal neighbouring country in its ongoing development journey.