India and the World

India’s Act East on fast-track: Focus on business and security

- by India Writes Network

India’s Act East on fast-track: Focus on business and security
India’s Act East policy is set to get a big boost with a spate of high-profile visits from the ASEAN countries lined up in coming weeks and New Delhi looking at making a vital breakthrough in the huge telecom market of Southeast Asia with a population of 600 million.
Vietnam’s Foreign Minister and Vice President are expected to visit India and so is Malaysia’s Prime Minister NajibRazak followed by Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister of Australia which is a member of the 18-nation East Asia Summit.

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With China watching, India in talks to sell Akash missile to Vietnam

- by India Writes Network

With China watching, India in talks to sell Akash missile to Vietnam
In a growing strategic embrace with Hanoi, India has said it is in talks to sell for the first time its home-grown short-range surface-to-air Akash missiles to Vietnam. The sale of missile, if it happens, will be deeply resented by Beijing which has been resentful of the burgeoning military ties between New Delhi and Hanoi.
“We are talking to a number of countries and one of them is none other than Vietnam,” state-owned Defence Research and Development Organization’s chairman S. Christopher told the media in Bengaluru on the margin of an air show where the DRDO is showcasing its missile programmes and other key projects, including a light combat fighter.

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Dealing with Trump: India banks on US Congress

- by India Writes Network

With strong bipartisan consensus for developing India-US relations, New Delhi is not worried about the course of this vital relationship under the Donald Trump presidency, and is set to leverage enormous goodwill in the US Congress. At a time when top leaders of Britain, Israel and Japan had rushed to Washington to have a measure of the change of guard in the White House, India is doing the same in a way different from top-down approach.

To begin with, a record number of 27 US Congressmen drawn from both the Democratic and the Republican parties will visit India beginning later this month, reflecting a long-standing bipartisan approach in Washington to further strengthening of relations with New Delhi.

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India’s big space moment: ISRO’s 104 satellites launch stuns world

- by India Writes Network

When the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C37 was successfully launched carrying 104 satellites, an overwhelming majority of them aimed at foreign customers, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in southern state of Andhra Pradesh, on February 16, it marked a major milestone for India’s state-owned space agency ISRO. It was a stunning feats as this is the highest number of satellites put into orbit by any country in one go. The previous international record of launching 27 satellites in a single payload was held by Russia for less than three years.

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Royal gloss to India-UK culture celebrations

- by India Writes Network

It is probably the best of time for India-UK relations and it can’t get more royal than this.Come February 27, the celebration of Indian culture in the United Kingdom will begin at Buckingham Palace, the abiding symbol of British royalty, with a reception to be hosted by Queen Elizabeth II.
The reception by the 90-year-old Queen, the world’s longest reigning monarch, is expected to attract guests from across various fields in India, including Finance Minister ArunJaitley, and the UK’s senior-most minister of Indian origin Priti Patel among other key Cabinet ministers.
The Palace came out with the date of the reception as February 27 in the calendar of engagements of the Queen. “Her Majesty The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh will give a reception to mark the launch of the UK India Year of Culture 2017.” The decision to celebrate India-UK cultural bonding in 2017 was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to London in November 2015.

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Trump-Abe bonding and bonhomie: US-Japan alliance to grow stronger

- by India Writes Network

Talks at the White House, dinner at a private club and a round of golf — US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe showed how serious diplomacy and weekend fun could blend to strike a personal chemistry between them and herald a new chapter in ties between the world’s sole super power and its major ally in Asia.
Appearing at a joint media conference with Mr Abe after the talks, Mr Trump underlined the US’ commitment to defend Japan in the face of China’s massive maritime build-up and North Korea nuclear missile programme. This categorical assistance appears to have put behind Mr Trump’s strident election campaign rhetoric last year that suggested Tokyo pay more for enjoying the American security umbrella.
“We are committed to the security of Japan and all areas under its administrative control and to further strengthening our very crucial alliance,” the US president said. “The bond between our two nations and the friendship between our two peoples runs very, very deep. This administration is committed to bringing those ties even closer,” he added.
Mr Abe’s Washington mission proved to be successful as he got Mr Trump’s assurance in clear terms that the US would continue to back Japan in its dispute with China over territorial claims in some islands in the East China Sea that China also claims. The joint statement said the two leaders affirmed that Article 5 of the US-Japan security treaty covered the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, as is evident from Mr Trump’s reference to the areas under Japan’s administrative control.
The Trump-Abe meeting was closely scanned in Beijing, which sees the US-Japan alliance as posing a formidable obstacle to its regional ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region.

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ASEAN-India at 25: A narrative of optimism

- by Manish Chand

It’s an unfolding narrative of opportunity and optimism as India and the 10–nation ASEAN prepare to celebrate 25 years of dialogue partnership in 2017. A historic milestone for New Delhi’s reinvigorated Act East policy, the commemorative summit will mark 15 years of the summit-level interaction and five years of strategic partnership between India and ASEAN, home to over 1.8 billion people and dynamic growth hubs in the evolving geo-economic landscape of the region. “Shared Values, Common Destiny” – the summit’s theme encapsulates the essence of India’s blossoming relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It is animated by a soaring vision of an Asian century and a commitment to shaping an inclusive regional order.

Announcing the silver jubilee celebrations at the 14th ASEAN-India summit in the Laotian capital, Vientiane, on September 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke eloquently about the promise and potential of this crucial partnership. “The planned commemorative activities are ambitious, just as the promise and potential of our strategic engagement is immense. In India, you would find a ready and reliable partner, willing to march with you in step to fulfil this promise and realise its potential,” PM Modi told the ASEAN leaders.

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Mattis-Parrikar talk: US assures India of sustaining momentum in defence ties

- by India Writes Network

Amid anxiety in India over the Trump administration’s H1B visa policy, there is a reassuring note from Washington about sustaining the momentum in burgeoning defence relations between India and the US. Days after US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Secretary James Mattis spoke to his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar and underscored the new administration’s commitment to build upon the transformation in India-US defence relations accomplished in the last few years.
In the first conversation between the two defence ministers since the change of guard in Washington, Secretary Mattis committed to build upon the tremendous progress in bilateral defense cooperation made in recent years, underscoring the strategic importance of the US—India relationship and India’s role in advancing global peace and security,” Pentagon Press Secretary Capt Jeff Davis said in Washington DC on February 8.
On the strategic and security side, the signalling from the Trump administration has been largely positive. In his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump had assured that the US “considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world.” The two leaders also decided to bolster the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defense.

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Goa Brics India 2016

Goa summit and beyond: Charting the future of BRICS

- by India Writes Network

India’s presidency of the BRICS grouping of emerging powers has come to an end after a packed year of more than a hundred events, meetings, and conventions. The highlight was the meeting of the Heads of States organised in Goa on 15-16 October where all the leaders of BRICS countries were in attendance.
International developments in the past couple of years have squarely put the spotlight on the constituent countries of the BRICS forum. Russia’s expanding role in Syria, China’s One belt One Road initiative, which will have massive economic and political implications for Eurasia, South and South East Asia and Africa, and the centrality of India’s and China’s emission pathways to the success of the international climate agreement have accorded these countries a central role in some of the major global challenges of our times.
But the BRICS forum itself has faced questions of continuity for some time now, and the considerable slowing down of their economies, increasing antagonism and strategic clashes between China and India, as well as the pre-eminence of the growing Russia-China partnership have further reinforced these doubts.
Seen in this context, the BRICS governments’ push to further institutionalise and consolidate their progress is an indication of the importance they still attach to the forum, and a decade since coming together, they seem poised to expand beyond being an economic grouping demanding a seat at the high table to substantial cooperation in other sectors.Within last year, BRICS countries greatly diversified their cooperation through working groups on counter terrorism, employment, environment, agriculture, health, economy and trade, education and vocational training, anti-corruption, infrastructure, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and energy.

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