India and the World

Kyoto-Varanasi Connect: High noon for cultural diplomacy

- by Manish Chand

Feeding the fish to attract good fortune. Praying in a Buddhist temple. Twinning Kyoto and Varanasi in smart city bonding. Sharing notes on stem cell research. Blending the ancient and the modern, the spiritual and the scientific, cultural diplomacy has acquired a new resonance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day trip to Kyoto, a modern-day pilgrimage that kindles anew possibilities of diplomacy and the two nations coming together in pursuit of national resurgence.
Thinking Smart – this is the game of the new diplomacy that’s going to renew old friendships and forge new coalitions to uplift India and help carve a friction-free Asian century in days to come.
In Tokyo, there will be weightier subjects on the table – nuclear deal, investments, maritime security, Chinese assertiveness, the elusive Asian balance of power – but spirited cultural diplomacy in Kyoto has already softened the hearts, rekindled civilizational bonds and set the stage for transformational outcomes that will pitch India-Japan relations into a higher stratosphere.

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Modi embraces Kyoto smart heritage city model for Varanasi

- by India Writes Network

Varanasi, the holy Hindu city which Modi represents in the Indian parliament, will be developed as a ‘smart city’, using the experiences of Kyoto. Kyoto, home to over 2000 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, is renowned for its ability to merge the modern with the ancient, and is symbolic of the development of Japan – where cutting edge technology is used to preserve their historic legacy. The Kyoto-Varanasi pact has set the stage for rekindling civilizational ties between India and Japan, which will deepen the spiritual foundation for the burgeoning multi-pronged modern-day partnership.

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‘Japan is India’s all-weather friend, China needn’t worry’

- by India Writes Network

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s August 30-September 3 visit to Japan is laden with great expectations and hopes of substantive outcomes, which can transform the geopolitical dynamics of Asia. In this conversation with www.indiawrites.org, Sanjaya Baru, a well-known commentator on foreign affairs and Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, speaks about the unique character of India-Japan relations, Japan’s starring role in the development of India and his expectations from the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Japan. Baru, the author of The Accidental Prime Minister and Director of Geo-economics and Strategy at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, predicts a robust future of India-Japan relations and underlines that Japan is and will be India’s all-weather friend in days to come.

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India and Japan: The Power of Two

- by Manish Chand

Metro, Bullet Trains, Buddhism, Business, Technology and Innovation. It’s a potent brew, which is made all the more heady by the common strategic intent to co-create an Asian renaissance. It takes two to tango. And India and Japan, Asia’s two vibrant democracies and leading economies, are matching their steps perfectly, and are set to take their bilateral ties to new heights during the August 30-September 3 visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan.

The maiden voyage of Narendra Modi to Japan as the leader of the world’s largest democracy and Asia’s third largest economy, is set to usher in a 3.0 phase in India-Japan relations. The launch of Japan-India Global Partnership in the 21st Century in 2000, the elevation of the ties to the level of Global and Strategic Partnership are some recent milestones in the variegated India-Japan relations. It’s time for a phase of enhancement and acceleration, and the leaders of India and Japan make a perfect pair to shepherd the multi-faceted India-Japan ties to a higher stratosphere.

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Modi’s Japan visit: Great Expectations

- by India Writes Network

India has “great expectations” from the forthcoming visit to Japan by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is hoping for substantive outcomes.

In a rare gesture signifying special relationship with India, Prime Minister Abe will be personally flying down to Kyoto, an exemplar smart city that blends cultural heritage with modern amenities, to receive him on August 30. During this trip, Modi will have substantial and wide-ranging discussion with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other political, business and educational leaders in Japan.

“We expect, as an outcome, India and Japan to elevate our strategic and global partnership to new level. In short, if I were to summarise for all of you, we have great expectation of Modi’s first visit to Japan,” said Syed Akbaruddin spokesperson for India’s ministry of external affairs at a media briefing on August 28.

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New mantra: Don’t just look east, Act East

- by India Writes Network

Looking East is no longer enough. It’s time for India to Act East – this was the overarching message emanating from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s August 24-25 visit to Vietnam.

In her first meeting with 15 Indian Heads of Mission in Southeast and East Asia in Hanoi, Swaraj directed them to ‘Act East,’ and amplified on the BJP-led government’s strategic intent to scale up India’s ties with the region to a new level, a kind of Look East 3.0 version.

Mapping the way ahead, the brainstorming session on August 26 saw the envoys tossing a host of ideas to galvanize India’s Look East policy, which included buttressing India’s growing role and relevance in the security architecture of Southeast Asia and Indo-Pacific region, including the disputed South China Sea and ways to increase India’s integration in the region through trade, tourism and better connectivity.

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