War against ISIS: The picture is gloomy
On September 11, 2014 at Jeddah, US Secretary of State John Kerry got together a rather reluctant bunch of 10 Arab States to sign up a Joint Communique in agreeing …
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UK promises exceptional welcome to Modi, upbeat about India Story: Baroness Verma
The multifarious ties between India and Britain are headed for a marked upswing. Moments after he met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brisbane, British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: “Relations with India are at the top of the priorities of UK’s foreign policy.” “Your’s is a very inspiring vision, U.K. wants to partner in any way we can,” Mr Cameron said in another tweet.
The British leader’s enthusiasm seems to be shared across the spectrum in Britain. Soon after the Modi-Cameron meeting, Manish Chand, Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org), caught up with UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Baroness Sandip Verma, and found her brimming with enthusiasm about the trajectory of the India-UK relations and the India growth story.
The 55-year-old politician and businesswoman, who has been made a Conservative peer for life, is also a visible emblem of the success of the Indian diaspora in Britain. In this wide-ranging interview with indiawrites.org in New Delhi, the Amritsar-born Sandip Verma speaks about how Britain is eagerly looking forward to offering Prime Minister Modi “exceptional welcome,” the success of the Indian community in Britain and soaring expectations about the India story under the leadership of a reform-minded prime minister.
India-US WTO patch-up: Will TFA really help India?
India and the US have temporarily resolved their disagreement regarding the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) at the WTO. The US has consented to give India an indefinite ‘peace clause’ pending …
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Sugar-sweet: India galvanises ties with Fiji
In a defining outreach to Pacific islands community, India has unveiled a $75 million line of credit for Fiji for upgrading the sugar industry and sought to deepen defence and security cooperation with the archipelago nation.
Revitalising development partnership with Fiji, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who touched down in Suva at the crack of dawn on a day-long visit, also pledged $5 million fund to develop villages in the Pacific nation that is home to a large Indian diaspora. Persons of Indian origin comprise over 37 per cent of Fiji’s population.
Signalling a diplomatic upsurge with the Pacific island community, the Indian leader also held a summit meeting with the leaders of the island states. Mr Modi announced an ambitious Pan-Pacific Islands Network that will provide telemedicine and tele-education to residents of these countries.
With China on mind, India, Australia deepen security ties
India and Australia have agreed to deepen their strategic ties by deciding to establish a Framework for Security Cooperation, with its most substantive element being the deepening of defence and …
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Sri Lanka: Is Indian concerns on Chinese naval presence justified?
Three Chinese naval vessels calling on Sri Lankan ports in over six months – two of them submarines that can only be offensive platforms – and sections of the Indian …
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India & Fiji: A Pacific Bonding
Call it the Pacific Bonding, if you like. The multi-hued ties between India and Fiji are set to get a new sparkle as Suva rolls out the red carpet for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 29. This will be the first prime ministerial visit from India to Fiji after Indira Gandhi visited the Pacific nation 33 years ago in 1981.
The timing of the visit is propitious as Mr Modi visits the island nation weeks after Fiji held multi-party elections, which was judged as largely free and fair by the international community. India has welcomed Fiji’s re-embrace of democracy and backed the election process by providing indelible ink and training. India also participated in the Multilateral Observer Group (MOG) for the Fiji elections as co-Chair (with Australia and Indonesia).
Fittingly, Prime Minister Modi’s 10-day overseas trip that included big-ticket multilateral summits and dozens of bilateral meetings in Myanmar and Australia ends with Fiji and meetings with leaders of small but significant Pacific island nations that are set to loom large on India’s diplomatic agenda in days to come.
Make in India: How to succeed
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the “Make in India” initiative, which is aimed at increasing the manufacturing output within India. This is a welcome step towards harnessing India’s large labour force and resource base. However, the manufacturing sector in India has lagged in recent years, and to succeed several reforms are necessary to unlock the potential of India’s manufacturing sector.
Rebooting India’s manufacturing sector is a challenging but essential task. India has a huge potential for manufacturing a wide range of products ranging from traditional and cultural-related products to the most modern sophisticated products. Many of these products have good export potential that can be exploited. The example of the auto sector is a lesson to follow. India has become a major producer and exporter of automotive products including a wide range of 2, 3 and 4 wheelers and components. This has happened as a result of liberalization and integration into the global economy.
The “Make in India” campaign needs the widest possible support to succeed. The central and state governments, business and industry, and labour organizations must work together to achieve this goal.
Modi, the rock star, sells India dream to diaspora in Australia
It was a show like no other! For the thousands of Indians gathered at Sydney’s Allphones Arena on the evening of November 17 at least, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was no less than a rock star. It was evident not just in the huge presence of members of the Indian community at the cavernous arena, but also in the manner in which they hung on to every word of his and cheered him on.
If the Rolling Stones Mick Jagger rocked the iconic sports complex in Sydney just a week ago, the Indian Prime Minister had Indian expatriates virtually eating out of his hands during his six-hour stay in Sydney. A stay during which he received a traditional Aussie welcome and a boomerang as a gift.
Mr Modi, in turn, played to the gallery as he tugged at their heart strings, his speech a mix of the emotional, the practical and even the humorous. The around 20,000-strong crowd, in turn, responded by frequently breaking into chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ as the Indian leader exhorted the rapturous crowd to return to their Motherland what they had got from it.
Modi’s Canberra visit: Continuing the momentum
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Australia for the G20 Summit in Brisbane, and will then travel to Canberra for an official bilateral visit. Modi’s visit, taking place nearly 30 years after the last Indian Prime Ministerial visit (Rajiv Gandhi in 1986), comes at a critical time for both countries – when strategic equations are being redrawn, creating new Asian security dynamics.
India and Australia are engaged today in a variety of areas. They have growing defense ties in the form of consultations and multilateral exercises, as well as a broader security and strategic relationship that covers nuclear non-proliferation and energy security, both in coal and civil nuclear, and is likely to expand to solar and wind. The congruence of interests and ideas is indeed growing. However, it is important that India-Australia relations are not entirely viewed through the bilateral prism. Instead, the relationship needs to be based on regional security considerations about which Canberra and New Delhi share similar views.