Categoría: Politics

Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi visited the United Arab Emirates from 16-17 August 2015 at the invitation of His Highness Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Zayed AI Nahyan.

The visit of an Indian Prime Minister to UAE after 34 years marks the beginning of a new and comprehensive strategic partnership between India and UAE in a world of multiple transitions and changing opportunities and challenges.

In recent decades, UAE’s economic progress has been one of the global success stories, transforming the nation into a regional leader and a thriving international centre that attracts people and business from across the world. India has emerged as one of the major world powers, contributing to the advancement of global peace and stability. India’s rapid growth and modernization, along with its talented human resources and large markets, make it one of the anchors of the global economy. The dynamism of the two countries have translated into a rapidly expanding economic partnership, making India UAE’s second largest trading partner; and UAE not only India’s third largest trading partner, but also India’s gateway to the region and beyond.

India and UAE share centuries-old ties of commerce, culture and kinship. Today, the Indian community of over 2.5 million is a major part of UAE’s vibrant society and its economic success. It also makes a significant economic contribution to India and constitutes an indelible human bond of friendship between the two nations.

An extensive framework of agreements, including economic, defence, security, law enforcement, culture, consular and people-to-people contacts constitute solid bedrock for elevating bilateral cooperation across the full spectrum of our relationship.

Today, as India accelerates economic reforms and improves its investment and business environment, and UAE becomes an increasingly advanced and diversified economy, the two countries have the potential to build a transformative economic partnership, not only for sustained prosperity of their two countries, but to also advance progress in the region and help realise the vision of an Asian Century.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/resources/joint-statement-between-the-united-arab-emirates-and-the-republic-of-india/article7550706.ece

Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met in Beijing on Jan. 2 for the 13th Russia-India-China (RIC) summit to discuss how, as three countries with major influence on global affairs and with emerging domestic markets, they can work together to ensure global and regional peace and stability as well as pushing forward global economic growth.

From his 2012 presidential campaign onwards, Putin has tied his ambitions for Russia’s economy to the Russian Far East’s trade with China and the Asia-Pacific region. Relations between China and Delhi, which have at times been subject to tensions over ongoing territorial disputes, have also matured to enable mutual respect, despite the Indian press’s continuing reports on movements of both countries’ armies in northern Tibet and Indian-controlled Ladakh.

In 2009, the foreign ministers of the three countries met in Bangalore to discuss economic matters, then in Wuhan in 2010, representatives from the three countries met to discuss cooperation on think tanks, industry, agriculture, disaster prevention and relief and public health. In 2012, the three were sufficiently emboldened to call for the promotion of regional peace, security and stability, for the benefit of each of their nation’s peoples. From Nov. 10, 2013, the three countries took similar or identical stances on several issues. Several Russian analysts suggested that the RIC foreign minister talks might become a platform for the three countries and this became a reality in 2015.

The three countries took a long time in even reaching a basic level of agreement: from 2002 until 2009, no substantial written statement was issued; at the 2009 meeting in Bangalore, the three nations only reached consensus on supply of energy resources and on a peaceful resolution to the situation in Afghanistan. In 2010, however, the three expressed agreement or similar views on several international and regional issues and agreed to develop their solid foundation in ties. It wasn’t until 2012, when Beijing and Moscow confirmed that India was capable of developing advanced nuclear technology, that talks between the three took off, which has led up to the current talks in 2015, where prejudices may be put aside and action may be forthcoming.

Source: http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150208000138&cid=1101

India has signed a peace agreement with a leading tribal separatist group in country’s remote northeast that had waged guerrilla war for six decades against central rule from New Delhi.
Officials from Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s government signed the accord with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) on Monday, concluding peace talks that began in 1997.
«We are making a new beginning today … 60 years is a long time of fighting, the wounds are deep,» Mr Modi said at a televised news conference alongside the NSCN-IM secretary-general Thuingaleng Muivah, a co-founder of the rebel group.
NSCN-IM is one of several separatist groups active in the remote and underdeveloped northeastern region bordering on China, Burma, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
It has been fighting for an independent ethnic Naga homeland uniting parts of the mountainous northeast with areas of neighbouring Burma, where it runs a government-in-exile. At least one other Naga faction remains at war with New Delhi.
The terms of the agreement were not immediately known. Mr Modi’s government has said it wants to develop the region, which has long felt neglected by the rest of the country, by pumping in development funds and building better infrastructure.

«Since becoming prime minister, peace, security and economic transformation of the northeast have been among my highest priorities. It is also at the heart of my foreign policy, especially Act East,» Mr Modi said, referring to efforts to forge closer ties with Southeast Asia.

Militants in the northeast have stepped up attacks against India’s armed forces this year. Guerrillas killed 20 soldiers in Manipur state, which borders Nagaland, in June in the deadliest attack on security forces in the area in two decades.

The unrest has killed more than 170 people, most of them militants, in the northeast this year, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. Last year, 465 people were killed.

Militant violence is declining across India, but the country is still fighting separatists in disputed Kashmir state in the northeast, as well as Maoist-inspired groups operating across a swathe of the east.

«Our oldest, insurgency is getting resolved, it is a signal to other smaller groups to give up weapons,» Mr Modi at the signing ceremony in his official residence.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/11780739/India-signs-peace-deal-with-Nagaland-separatists-after-60-years-of-war.html

Former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, considered the father of the country’s missile programme, died on Monday in hospital at the age of 83, a doctor said.

Popularly known as «Missile Man,» Kalam led the scientific team that developed missiles able to carry India’s nuclear warheads. He became a national folk hero after helping oversee nuclear tests in 1998 that solidified India’s status as a nuclear weapons state. India’s first atomic test was in 1974.

Kalam died from cardiac arrest in Bethany Hospital in the northeastern city of Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state, according to hospital chief executive officer John L. Sailo.

Kalam, who was India’s 11th president from 2002 to 2007, had collapsed earlier in the day while delivering a lecture, according to Indian media reports.

Kalam, who wrote a book called «Ignited Minds,» became best known as a tireless campaigner for unleashing India’s technological muscle and discouraging expensive imports from the West.

Born on Oct. 15, 1931 in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Kalam graduated from the prestigious Madras Institute of Technology in aeronautical engineering.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expressed his condolences on Twitter: «We have lost an ideal citizen. May his soul rest in peace.»

 

Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/07/27/india-kalam-death-idINKCN0Q11TR20150727

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Friday ratified a resolution to commence the process of granting India and Pakistan full membership and passed a comprehensive blueprint for the bloc’s development in the next decade.

The leaders of the SCO states ratified the resolution on starting the procedures of granting India and Pakistan full membership of the organization, according to a declaration issued after the 15th SCO summit held in Ufa, capital of Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic, Xinhua news agency reported.

The SCO also elevated Belarus to the status of observer from dialogue partner, and took in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal as new dialogue partners, read the document.

Meanwhile, the leaders approved the SCO Development Strategy until 2025, which set targets and tasks for the organisation’s development in the upcoming 10 years.

See more: http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/SCO-Ratifies-Resolution-on-India-Pakistan-Membership-Process/2015/07/10/article2913045.ece