Indian Foreign Policy

schinnas · Post by **schinnas** » 30 Jan 2015 14:04

Yagnasri wrote: Who in MEA clear Obomber speak on sicular rubbish??? My understanding is that it should be cleared by them.

Only for joint declarations, etc. Open forum speeches are up to the concerned leader. Besides, this is not the first time Uncle Sam is lecturing India while in India. They do the same in China as well.

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 30 Jan 2015 14:10

Philip wrote:The FM and diplomacy is based upon strict protocol.The pecking order is quite well established,What often happens is that "track-2" diplomacy,"back channels",etc. often are conducted without the knowledge of the mandarins of the FM.This is done everywhere,all over the world,but generally as an exception rather than the rule,esp. when regular parleys do not make much headway.Trusted confidantes are used to convey messages and parley with power centres independently,often suprising the mandarins of state who are taken unawares when policy decisions taken at the top run counter to their recommendations. What appears from this episode is that Mr.Modi is in a great hurry to get the Indian eco machine moving and is wasting no time,sliicing through red tape when required.He would like to have a For. Sec. who can keep up with his "pace".If the lady in Q was offered alternatives as is alleged,then she should've gracefully taken it rather than wait for the chop,as ultimately,the boss is the boss.Rajiv G also beheaded APV ,however the diff was that he mentioned it at a press conference which was not fair.

I think the manner of SS's exit is a quirk of timing: JS had to be brought on board before his retirement date, but there should be no change at such a senior level before the all-important POTUS visit. There was no other way; Bhadrakumar's blathering about bringing JS as some kind of adviser is rubbish spewed by a person accustomed to kitchen cabinets of MQ. If anything, such advisor-giri would have demoralized I_S officers even more.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 30 Jan 2015 15:05

One media report used the same word in one of my posts,that she could not keep up with the "pace" of the PM in his aggressive foreign policy endeavours.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 30 Jan 2015 17:14

schinnas wrote:
Yagnasri wrote: Who in MEA clear Obomber speak on sicular rubbish??? My understanding is that it should be cleared by them.
Only for joint declarations, etc. Open forum speeches are up to the concerned leader. Besides, this is not the first time Uncle Sam is lecturing India while in India. They do the same in China as well.

I just don't see anything in BO speech that constituted "lecturing". It was just a statement to young Indians on the point that India needs to stay united, as friends of India wish.

It is another matter that most of the splittist tendencies get financial and moral support from India's 'friends'. But let's not be uber-touchy and look for offense where there is none present.

JwalaMukhi · Post by **JwalaMukhi** » 31 Jan 2015 20:42

BO speech lecturing India is par for the course, given how the Indian establishment continues to behave. There is some serious need to get rid of long legacy of being a door mat. Just when one thought that legacy of MMS regime was ending, habits die-hard.
For example, just as everyone was de-hypenating India with TSP, the Indian establishment in its infinite wisdom went and did equal equal to TSP by imitating what TSP did when the arap sultan died. Not even Araps lowered their flag to half mast, but as an eager door mat there are still remnants of legacy of being supplicant engrained in the establishment to do such non-sense. Optics matter immensely.
If one publicly advertises and acts periodically that one is a "door mat", then one should not be surprised if it gets treated as such. Still a long way to go...
If one advertises "spitooon here", then every passerby will spit in it. Then why for worry.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 09 Feb 2015 01:10

Now, an MEA memorial for officers killed abroad
TNN | Feb 9, 2015, 01.29 AM IST
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Now, an MEA memorial for officers killed abroad
NEW DELHI: Government officials who lay down their lives overseas in the call of duty will now have a memorial. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the remembrance plaque at the new Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan on Saturday in the presence of India's ambassadors and high commissioners.

Official sources said the memorial sculpture is a set of six installations of a bird of paradise flower in bloom, made of sandstone stems and titanium petals. Titled 'Transformation', it is a creation of two artists from the National Institute of Design, Jatin Bhatt and Prakash Vani. The inscription on the plaque, from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, reads, "Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya" (from death to immortality).

The foreign service lost B Venkateswara Rao in the 2008 Taliban attack on the embassy in Kabul while Ravindra Mhatre was killed by JKLF terrorists in UK in 1984. Surprisingly, the foreign ministry doesn't plan to put up individual commemorative plaques.

Still remember Mhatre's murder by JKLF mofos in the 80s. Indira Gandhi to her credit took immediate revenge by hanging Maqbool Bhatt right away.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 09 Feb 2015 02:09

JwalaMukhi wrote:BO speech lecturing India is par for the course, given how the Indian establishment continues to behave. There is some serious need to get rid of long legacy of being a door mat. Just when one thought that legacy of MMS regime was ending, habits die-hard.
For example, just as everyone was de-hypenating India with TSP, the Indian establishment in its infinite wisdom went and did equal equal to TSP by imitating what TSP did when the arap sultan died. Not even Araps lowered their flag to half mast, but as an eager door mat there are still remnants of legacy of being supplicant engrained in the establishment to do such non-sense. Optics matter immensely.
If one publicly advertises and acts periodically that one is a "door mat", then one should not be surprised if it gets treated as such. Still a long way to go...
If one advertises "spitooon here", then every passerby will spit in it. Then why for worry.

NaMos over the top PDA was probably a factor as well. My friend Barack, we have become friends now, we talk freely etc - unecessary IMHO. Lost gravitas.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 09 Feb 2015 09:10

We will never know in our lifetimes how great was Sri. B. Venksteshwar Rao's contributions.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 12 Feb 2015 17:36

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 207061.cms

With a new foreign secretary in place, the government has begun movement on appointing new ambassadors and high commissioners in overseas capitals.....In the past six months, no appointments have been made with the result that about 40 overseas missions are crying out for new ambassadors.....With Jaishankar at the helm, there may also be significant changes in South Block itself. Reflecting the PM's emphasis on new aspects of foreign policy, the government is looking to move some key officials around.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 13 Feb 2015 06:36

Looking West, Looking East - G.Parthasarathy, BusinessLine

The swearing-in set the tone. Now a tight travel schedule for Modi defines India’s strategic and foreign policy directions

The year began with clear indications of how the Narendra Modi government intends to position itself in global affairs. The Prime Minister’s invitation to the heads of Saarc governments for his swearing-in was followed by intensive interactions with regional and global leaders in Yangon and Brisbane during the East Asia and G20 summits.

The message sent out was that India was determined to return to a high growth path economically. It would play a pro-active role not only in regional economic integration with its Asean neighbours and major economies such as Japan and South Korea, but also in fashioning new security dynamics across the Indo-Pacific region. India’s security perimeter was no longer confined to the Indian Ocean Rim, but extended across the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

Clear signals

Although President Xi Jinping’s visit to India was marred by Chinese military intrusion in Chumar, the message to Beijing was that while India would resist territorial incursions, it was ready for dialogue to end tensions, expand economic cooperation and widen interaction in forums such as Brics and G20.

But the event that received widespread global attention was the visit of President Barack Obama for India’s Republic Day celebrations. It clearly signalled that India was opening its doors to foreign investment, expanding the scope of bilateral cooperation in defence, and seeking solutions constructively to issues of environment, energy, intellectual property rights and climate change.

New Delhi recognises the reality that the US is going to remain the pre-eminent global power for at least the next two decades. At the same time, one has to recognise that differences in areas such as IPR, especially in pharmaceuticals and in climate change, posed difficult challenges. Moreover, the road ahead in nuclear power cooperation with the US is going to be bumpy. Legal challenges on issues of compensation appear inevitable. It also remains to be seen if American reactors can supply power at reasonable and competitive rates.

The Taliban factor

While India can be satisfied with signs that US support for the Afghan armed forces will continue, American ambivalence on the Taliban will remain a matter of concern. India will have to seek greater cooperation on the Afghanistan issue in interactions with members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, particularly China and Russia.

The Americans understand that India will not join western efforts to isolate and condemn Russia. The recent trilateral India-Russia-China ministerial met in Beijing made it clear that India has serious concerns about the challenges China poses to its national security along its borders, and by its nuclear, missile and military relationships with Pakistan and its assertiveness across the Indian Ocean littoral. Despite this, every effort will be made to address differences on the border issue while expanding trade, industrial, and investment ties, equitably and realistically.

Unlike Pakistan, which reacted churlishly to the Obama visit, the Chinese showed concern combined with realism. They were unquestionably unsettled by the readiness of the US and India to expand military ties while enunciating a common vision for the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific regions. References to the need to avoid the threat of use of force and abide by the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea clearly conveyed concerns over Chinese behaviour in its maritime disputes with South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. It was also asserted that there would be strengthening of cooperation through India-Japan-US trilateral cooperation.

The Chinese responded with expressions of concern, together with rolling out the red carpet for Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and welcoming a proposed visit by Modi in May 2015. One can reasonably expect that at the very least, such a visit will lead to measures that ensure that border incursions such as those that occurred in Depsang and Chumar in 2013-2014 are avoided.

Cautioning the Chinese

It would be too much to expect China to proceed more cautiously in its policies of military, nuclear and missile technology and weapons transfers to Pakistan. China will also proceed with enhancing support for its Maritime Silk Route, designed across India’s entire coastal periphery. But recent developments in Sri Lanka and Myanmar should caution to mandarins in Beijing about getting overzealous on the “strategic containment” of India. Recent agreements with the US, Japan and Vietnam should also serve as a signal to Beijing that a determined India can, at the very least, respond diplomatically to its moves in the Indian Ocean by counter-measures, leveraging its partnerships with China’s immediate coastal neighbours and the US.

Following a categorical US commitment to back India for Apec membership, China has indicated that it will not be an obstacle. The time has also perhaps come to informally sound out the US, Australia, Japan and Asean states such as Vietnam and Singapore for exploring the possibility of India joining the Trans-Pacific partnership.

There are indications that Modi will visit France, Germany and the UK this year, apart from Russia. With a number of its members afflicted by serious economic maladies, the European Union appears to be increasingly looking inwards. But its major powers do have the potential to contribute significantly Modi’s ‘Make in India’ programme and its defence modernisation. The proposed visit to Israel has also to be looked at in this context.

Missing from this schedule are possible visits to Gulf countries such as Oman, Qatar, Iraq and, circumstances permitting, Iran, especially if we are able to finalise long-term contracts for the import of LNG. There is now every indication that, like the prices of oil, the prices of LNG are also set to fall as global shale gas production rises. It would only be in the fitness of things if our “Act East” policies are combined with a pro-active approach to our energy-rich, but politically volatile western neighbourhood. Success in such an active foreign policy agenda will naturally be substantially facilitated by and depend on the government’s success in getting its economic reforms agenda and legislation approved by Parliament.

The writer is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 13 Feb 2015 13:56

Narendra Modi @narendramodi
Would be sending our new Foreign Secretary on a SAARC Yatra soon to further strengthen our ties.

Narendra Mod@narendramodi
Cricket connects people in our region & promotes goodwill. Hope players from SAARC region play with passion & bring laurels to the region.

Cringeworthy to say the least

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 14 Feb 2015 07:22

Modi pads up for new innings in Pakistan talks - Suhasini Haider, The Hindu

As the cricket-crazy subcontinent wait excitedly for the World Cup to start in Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked up the threads of his “SAARC initiative” with a twist of cricket diplomacy on Friday by calling up his counterparts of those nations in the grouping which are playing the tournament.

Of much import is the fact that Mr. Modi renewed political contacts with Pakistan by calling up Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. With the call coming ahead of the World Cup match between India and Pakistan in Adelaide on Sunday, Mr. Modi announced that he would send Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar to Islamabad shortly, the first such move since foreign secretary-level talks were cancelled last July.

A meeting between Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit and Mr. Jaishankar preceded the phone call, sources told The Hindu . Pakistan had been maintaining that India must take the first step to “initiate talks” since New Delhi had cancelled them.

According to Pakistani government sources, Mr. Sharif said “Pakistan will respond positively as engagement is in our mutual interest.”

In Colombo, official sources said President Maithripala Sirisena was “pleased” with Mr. Modi’s call. Reciprocating good wishes to the Indian team in the World Cup, Mr. Sirisena reportedly told Mr. Modi: “Those who follow cricket closely tend to get the nuances in politics too.”

With his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, Mr. Modi exchanged best wishes for their World Cup teams. Mr. Modi and Ms. Hasina discussed bilateral issues. Mr. Modi spoke to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani also. He told the three leaders that Mr. Jaishankar would visit their countries soon on what he called a “SAARC Yatra.”

“Cricket is a metaphor for connectivity at the people-to-people level. Speaking to SAARC leaders is part of the Prime Minister’s multi-layered diplomacy,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 14 Feb 2015 07:25

I think Suhasini Haider and the pakis are in for a disappointment if they think these moves by the Dr. Jaishankar will roll back pakistan relations to MMS days -- the GoI statement that this is a SAARC initiative pretty much says that if the pakis don't play ball with the GoI, they will be isolated, just like they were isolated playing the spoiler in the recent SAARC meet. We will all know the fallout a month from now anyway.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 14 Feb 2015 08:27

Tuvaluan wrote:I think Suhasini Haider and the pakis are in for a disappointment if they think these moves by the Dr. Jaishankar will roll back pakistan relations to MMS days -- the GoI statement that this is a SAARC initiative pretty much says that if the pakis don't play ball with the GoI, they will be isolated, just like they were isolated playing the spoiler in the recent SAARC meet. We will all know the fallout a month from now anyway.

I do hope you are right sir and ABV type things are not going to be done. NM so for is reasonable with everyone including Pakis. I hope he will not change.

But there will belot of presure from prestitutes etc for aman ki asha rubbish.

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 22 Feb 2015 07:21

The flip flops on the nuclear deal, back tracking on no talks with Pakistan, the coordination of Sharif with Obama on India visits, Obama lecturing to Modi and Modi only then turning around to give a speech on religious tolerance are all damaging flip flops for a leader with a clear parliamentary mandate.

The few thinkers we have on matters strategic are not impressed.
Risky call? Modi's Pak gambit could embolden sponsors of terror

After nuclear concessions to America on accident liability and parallel safeguards, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now opening talks with Pakistan, as sought by US President Barack Obama. The charade of sending the foreign secretary on a Saarc tour so as to create a cover for discussions in Islamabad cannot obscure the fact that Modi has reversed course and agreed to reopen talks with Pakistan unconditionally. His move, oddly, came right after hostile statements on India by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his foreign policy adviser, Sartaj Aziz.

The sequence of events leading to the resumption of talks undergirds the Obama effect: Separately in January, US secretary of state John Kerry at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit and Obama in New Delhi exhort Modi to reopen talks with Pakistan. Then this month, Modi sends his petroleum minister to Pakistan for discussions on the planned US-backed gas pipeline from Turkmenistan. Soon thereafter, Obama telephones Sharif, who rails against India. Just hours later, Modi calls Sharif and sings peace, conveying his decision to send his foreign secretary to Islamabad.

At the chai per charcha with Modi, Obama focused largely on one issue: Pakistan. A defensive Modi, instead of questioning the US policy of propping up Pakistan with munificent aid and arms and thereby emboldening its hostility toward India, explained to Obama that he wanted to open talks with Pakistan after the Peshawar killings but was compelled to put off the decision due to continued Pakistani ceasefire violations and the attempt to free UN-designated terrorist Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Modi even pointed out that, as a friendly signal, he telephoned Sharif after the Peshawar attack and made Indian schools honour the victims with a two-minute silence.

Among Obama’s first actions after returning home from India were to unveil more than $1 billion in fresh aid to Pakistan in his budget proposals and to invite Chinese President Xi Jinping on a State visit, while his ambassador in India made clear that the US will work with India and Pakistan to promote “constructive dialogue” between them. Pakistan remains a top recipient of US aid. Unable to certify to Congress that Pakistan is preventing its territory from being used for terror attacks, Obama has used a national-security waiver to keep aid flowing to the world’s Terroristan. Such aid has encouraged Pakistan’s generals to nurture terrorist surrogates, rapidly expand their nuclear arsenal, and call the shots in domestic policy.

Consider this jarring paradox: Obama twice lectured a secular and diverse India in recent weeks on religious tolerance, only to get Modi to open talks with the Islamic republic where non-Sunni minorities are methodically being decimated. But what prompted Modi — who has projected a nimble, non-doctrinaire foreign policy with pragmatism as its trademark — to yield to pressure that he could have resisted?

Modi is opening talks at a time when the Sharif government is very weak. Pakistan’s power balance has titled decisively in favour of the other Sharif, who is the army chief, with the military savouring its triumphs in a series of bruising clashes with the government. The politically impotent Sharif is in no position to pursue rapprochement with India.

Yet Modi has yielded ground even on the issue that led to the cancellation of the last round of talks, with his government conveying to Pakistan that its high commissioner in New Delhi can meet Hurriyat separatists on any occasion other than when official talks are about to begin. Modi’s zigzag suggests that, despite his proactive diplomacy, he has yet to fully fix the broken Pakistan policy that he inherited from Manmohan Singh, whose 10-year tenure was marked by escalating cross-border terrorism even as Singh sought peace with Islamabad at any price.

The Pakistani military, as its intense ceasefire violations since last summer have shown, is intent on shining an international spotlight on the Kashmir issue, not on altering the India-Pakistan dynamic through improved bilateral relations. Talks with India under a tottering civilian government that is in no position to compromise on any issue suit the generals’ agenda. By reviving pairing with India, bilateral talks allow the country that risks failing to regain strategic relevance, including by highlighting the issue closely tied to its generals’ extraordinary power and privilege — Kashmir.

In this light, the renewed “peace process” can produce more process but no peace. Fresh talks are unlikely to alter the calculus of the Pakistani establishment, which is determined to checkmate India’s rise by whatever means — fair or foul — it deems advantageous. Terrorism is one favoured instrument.

In statecraft, talks are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. However, the Modi government is focusing just on the process of talks — knowing well that India can secure no end in a situation where Pakistan’s generals are wielding increasing power and the Pakistani foreign ministry is a weak actor. Opening talks without any prospect for meaningful progress is not sound diplomacy. It risks sending the wrong message and inviting greater aggression. Modi’s Pakistan gambit could embolden the sponsors of terror to step up cross-border attacks, as happened under the cover of previous “peace” talks. Army chief Dalbir Singh recently cautioned, “The terror infrastructure in Pakistan is still intact,” with new terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir showing “Pakistan’s desperation.”

Modi’s dynamism and motivation in diplomacy in the past months has spurred hope of Indian foreign policy finally gaining a distinct geostrategic imprint and direction. His recent actions, however, highlight what has long blighted foreign policy — ad hoc and personality-driven actions that confound tactics with strategy. To advance long-term national interests, Modi must embrace institutionalised, integrated policymaking.

Brahma Chellaney is a geostrategist, author and professor. The views expressed by the author are personal.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 25 Feb 2015 11:12

Jaishankar to begin ‘SAARC Yatra’ from Bangladesh - Suhasini Haidar, The Hindu

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will begin his “SAARC Yatra” with a visit to Dhaka on March 2, followed by a visit to Islamabad, where he will resume India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary-level talks cancelled last year, sources told The Hindu .

The decision to send Mr. Jaishankar was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he spoke to other SAARC leaders ahead of the World Cup in early February. At the time, he had informed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that he would be sending the new Foreign Secretary to Pakistan.

On Tuesday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin conducted a Facebook chat saying, “In accordance with the Prime Minister’s directive, Foreign Secretary will be undertaking a SAARC Yatra to all South Asian countries including Pakistan in March.”

The details of Mr. Jaishankar’s visits and the exact dates are expected to be announced on Wednesday, when he returns from the U.S.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 25 Feb 2015 19:02

India's response to Nasheed's mistreatment by a bunch of ISIS loving thugs in Maldives is very unwise. If India cannot project its power to Maldives and make them behave, what's the point of builing a navy etc.? Can anyone see any upside to this kid gloves treatments to this hard-line, pro-pak islmamist take over of maldives? Isn't the recent episode of throwing out an Indian company from an airport project enough? What is the MEA and NaMo regime waiting for? Are these people in govt. considering what this will do to the resolve of other neighbouring states like Sri Lanka when they "swing" between India and China?

How does this approach of letting thugs like Yamoon and his islamist gang get away with screwing with India and face no repercussions help India's neighbourhood policy?

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 25 Feb 2015 21:57

Maldives is extremely powerful. All banking transactions are transparent to their intelligence directorate. India won't dare touch them.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 25 Feb 2015 22:06

RoyG wrote:Maldives is extremely powerful. All banking transactions are transparent to their intelligence directorate. India won't dare touch them.

RoyGji, don't get it. Do you mean Indians who make these decisions have their money stashed in the maldives? Or that India cannot get human intel? Maldives has hundreds of islands, it should be possible to train a group of Indians to be fluent in Dhivehi and infiltrate the place...in theory.

I am more specifically talking about sending a goodwill visit of a few armed frigates and a squadron of aircraft to Maldives and make them see reason. Maldives will cooperate with the pakis and any islamist group and be a point of transit for terrorists if the feel emboldened to they take their hostility to India to the next level.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 25 Feb 2015 22:17

Maldives is the biggest FDI contributor to India because all the black money gets routed through there before coming back to India. So yes, to your question. Industrialists, journalists, politicians, etc.

I think you should spend a bit more time on BRF.

Shanmukh · Post by **Shanmukh** » 25 Feb 2015 22:22

RoyG wrote:Maldives is the biggest FDI contributor to India because all the black money gets routed through there before coming back to India. So yes, to your question. Industrialists, journalists, politicians, etc.

Isn't it Mauritius that was the biggest FDI contributor to our economy? Never heard of Maldives doing it ....

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 25 Feb 2015 22:28

I think people are mixing Mauritius with Maldives.

Mauritius Overtakes Singapore as India’s Top Source of FDI

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 25 Feb 2015 22:30

RoyG wrote:Maldives is the biggest FDI contributor to India because all the black money gets routed through there before coming back to India. So yes, to your question. Industrialists, journalists, politicians, etc.

That is Mauritius, not maldives. Mauritius is where all the loot is stashed and why Pranab Mukherjee and the UPA did a rush job on a tax treaty with the mauritius a couple of years ago -- mauritius accounts for > 35% of FDI into India, which is pretty clearly unaccounted money taken out from India.

So your reason for GoI not talking on Maldives is not right -- Maldives has no financial claws into crooked Indians who make such FP decisions.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 25 Feb 2015 22:57

Tuvaluan wrote:
RoyG wrote:Maldives is the biggest FDI contributor to India because all the black money gets routed through there before coming back to India. So yes, to your question. Industrialists, journalists, politicians, etc.
That is Mauritius, not maldives. Mauritius is where all the loot is stashed and why Pranab Mukherjee and the UPA did a rush job on a tax treaty with the mauritius a couple of years ago -- mauritius accounts for > 35% of FDI into India, which is pretty clearly unaccounted money taken out from India.

So your reason for GoI not talking on Maldives is not right -- Maldives has no financial claws into crooked Indians who make such FP decisions.

My mistake. You're right. Was thinking about Mauritius the whole time. I'm not really sure why the GoI doesn't exert more influence over Maldives.

amritk · Post by **amritk** » 26 Feb 2015 00:45

Ouch.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 26 Feb 2015 11:33

Tuvaluan wrote:India's response to Nasheed's mistreatment by a bunch of ISIS loving thugs in Maldives is very unwise. If India cannot project its power to Maldives and make them behave, what's the point of builing a navy etc.? Can anyone see any upside to this kid gloves treatments to this hard-line, pro-pak islmamist take over of maldives? Isn't the recent episode of throwing out an Indian company from an airport project enough? What is the MEA and NaMo regime waiting for? Are these people in govt. considering what this will do to the resolve of other neighbouring states like Sri Lanka when they "swing" between India and China?

How does this approach of letting thugs like Yamoon and his islamist gang get away with screwing with India and face no repercussions help India's neighbourhood policy?

OTOH, I think (I sure do hope at least!) India WILL be doing something about this. Not everything comes to the MSM and happens in the public, surely?

A few more days / months and we should know the storyline... or atleast we can create a storyline seeing all the dots and some active imagination.

member_25399 · Post by **member_25399** » 26 Feb 2015 13:11

^^^^ +1
Nobody would have know about India's hand in dismantling Rajapaksa, if not for that news report in TOI.
Seems, Yameen was concerned that same fate awaits him.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 28 Feb 2015 09:40

SCO: Russia to push for India’s full membership - Dinakar Peri, The Hindu

Russia will push for India’s full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during the upcoming meeting it is hosting in July, said Sergey E. Naryshkin, Chairman of the Russian State Duma, here on Friday. India is currently an observer in the multilateral grouping.

“Russia will take all necessary steps to comply with India’s application for full membership during the organisation’s summit in Bashkortostan,” said Naryshkin, third ranking leader in the Russian government.

The SCO, founded in 2001, comprises Russia, China and several Central Asian republics and is seen as a counter to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Russia is also pushing for deeper engagement among the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) group as well as the Russia-India-China (RIC) troika. Mr. Naryshkin said it was logical “to turn BRICS into a full scale strategic forum” for discussing issues of mutual interest.

Russia is scheduled to take over chairmanship of the BRICS grouping and the next summit will be held in Russia in July.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 Mar 2015 03:38

Rajapakse was bloviating in TSP about evils of RAW.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 03 Mar 2015 12:17

Rajapakse has blown his bunghole. Ranting and raving in Pak will no doubt gain him many friends there,after all,he allowed the ISI a free run in the island to wage war against India,but it will only harden the hearts of Indians in the MEA/GOI. He had some supporters over here too,after his extermination of the LTTE,but if he thinks that RAW was responsible for his defeat he is deluding himself.The Mankan people were fed up with his looting thanks to his familia and cronies and thuggery unleashed at his opponents. In this the Chinese were actively complicit,pandering to his rapacious greed,on the scale of a Marcos. They too looted the Lankan taxpayer,sending the country into debt to Chinese entities to the tune of billions and bullion in shady loans,that mortgaged the nation to the PRC. This was to have been paid off in part by the creation of a massive Chinese island off Colombo Port,which in all reality and GMR ws booted out of the airport contract would've realty would belong to China.The Lankan people saw through Rajapakse's megalomania and sent him to the WP basket.He is now using his filthy lucre to lure the Sinhala-Buddhists to return him to power in the next parliamentary elections to save his skin and those of his familia.

We have been too docile with the Maldives.After all it was India that scotched a Lankan Tamil extremist coup attempt a few decades ago. This is due to the impotency of the Snake-Oil regime of Dr.Singh. Sending a small naval task force to patrol waters around the Maldives after GMR was unceremoniously booted out of the airport contract ,with a few overflights of male by IAF fighters would've rammed the message home . The same is still needed today.This time round,the Maldivians are angered at the arrest and treatment of former pres. and opposition leader Nasheed,some say a direct slap in the face of India.It is a pity that after we saved the Maldives from the coup attempt,we did not get them to sign on an agreement whereby we were co-defencders of Maldivian territory and had a permanent defence and security adviser to the Maldivian Pres. as we have with Mauritius.

Time for Indian foreign policy to speak loudly and carry a big stick.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 08 Mar 2015 00:34

X-Posting here so India's "strategic" community learns that SAARC isn't PAK!

Jhujar wrote:Sartaj Aziz admits no breakthrough in talks with India
Ganje Ke Sirr Mey Khaj/ Chinese KMPD
OSAMABAD: The adviser to prime minister on foreign affairs and national security, Sartaj Aziz, admitted on Friday there was no breakthrough in the recently held talks between India and Pakistan on foreign secretary level, however, he said these talks have opened path for future negotiations.
“There was no date fixed for the next round of talks," Sartaj Aziz told media after attending book launching ceremony of General (retd) Abdul Majeed in Islamabad.Responding to a question, the national security adviser said Chinese President is not coming to Pakistan on March 23rd (to attend the Pakistan day parade), however, will visit Pakistan soon. “The dates for the trio are being negotiated through diplomatic channels between the two countries,” Aziz confirmed.IT is perhaps a testament to the hopes and dreams of many in the region that an overnight stopover in Pakistan, squeezed between visits to Dhaka and Kabul, by a senior Indian bureaucrat can still generate so much interest.Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad may have been billed by the Indian government as part of a so-called Saarc yatra, but it was always going to be bilateral issues that dominated the agenda in Islamabad.
For the Pakistani side, the main interest was likely to try and determine how the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi {Pakistan exist on Indian Validation} is planning to address the bilateral relationship in the immediate future.Is the approach to remain wrapped up in the broader Saarc context, a sign that Mr Modi is content to let ties remain frozen, or is the Saarc emphasis really to provide domestic political cover while Mr Modi engages Pakistan and seeks some genuine progress on the major issues?For New Delhi, the main interest was likely to determine whether the military-dominated, but civilian-fronted Pakistani policy on India is willing to address its concerns about regional terrorism and India-centric militants tolerated by Pakistan.What is discussed behind closed doors though will eventually be reflected in the public positions. If the resumption of full-spectrum talks is the goal, then this hesitant dance dubbed as ‘talks for talks’ is well worth the effort.In truth, on some issues there is really little of substance left to negotiate — Sir Creek and Siachen in particular. And much depends on political will. So how the talks are structured may in fact determine what the outcomes are.Mr Modi has already shown his petulant side by cancelling foreign secretary-level talks last year and the state here has shown its intransigence over the Mumbai attacks-related trials. Political leadership is what’s needed, but will it materialise?

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 08 Mar 2015 05:46

The "XI Gins" Chinaman is waiting for the arrival of the Lankan pres.,Sirisena,a true lightweight who has been catapulted by fate into the seat by fate,for the ceremonial "welcome" by the head Chinaman.
The traditional welcome will be a series of hand holds to various p[arts of Sirisena's body to inflict upon him the "pain" of scuttling the Port City project,where the Chinaman personally laid the foundation stone. Any attempt to scuttle the totally pvt. project will see much "pain" being inflicted upon the hapless Lankans.economically,when the Middle Kingdom cuts off aid.

India will have to step up to "the plate",seize it from the hands of XI Gin,and offer the Lankans an alternative well-funded project.But is anyone in the MEA not aware of a failure to do so,to "
beef up" a B or even C plan for the PC project? Our bumbling mandarins of the MEA "lost" the island to the PRC a long time ago.It was the brave Lankan polity that kicked out Rajapakse.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 08 Mar 2015 08:33

Philip lets not use pejorative expressions used by West. So please self edit.
Ramana

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 08 Mar 2015 09:26

India GOes Outboard:Sandy Gordon and R Jha Australia

India Goes Outwards: with Professor Raghbendra Jha & Professor Sandy Gordon. This is the fourth session of Asia Pacific Week 2011, recorded on Tuesday 12 July 2011 at The Australian National University.

Over the last decade there has been an increasing focus on India's economic and military expansion, and its consequences for South Asia and the world. India is becoming a major player in the United Nations, G20 forum and other major multilateral summits. The rise of the middle class, together with Indian companies increasingly becoming multinational enterprises, is fostering an external interest and curiosity when it comes to the growing prominence of India on the world stage. India is being asked to shoulder global responsibilities in areas such as climate change, global security and trade. As a multicultural and multiethnic democracy, these responsibilities present interesting case studies and diverse learning environments for scholars and academics interested in the region. This session investigates the many implications of the rise of India, and the effects it will have on regional neighbours and trading partners.

The ANU Asia Pacific Week is a four-day showcase of the Australian National University's work on Asia and the Pacific. It is an ANU student-driven initiative that brings together leading regional experts and a 100 of the world's top university students from around the world to engage in a series of academic and networking events focused on the Asia Pacific region.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 08 Mar 2015 09:34

Google Books

India's Rise as Asian Power:Sandy Gordon

Its an update of his ealrier book.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 09 Mar 2015 00:06

ramana wrote:Google Books

India's Rise as Asian Power:Sandy Gordon

Its an update of his ealrier book.

Been through the book and the video.
The aussies are batting for PRC and trying to expose problems of India. Gordens look at the list of problems inside India does not show the knowledge of the social political changes happening inside India.
One statement where he says that if PRC were to acquire Arunachal Pradesh they would get access to the other side of the Himalayas gives his bias towards PRC. No country can hold ground on the other side of the Himalayan Mtns.
PRC does not have the global political capital for even holding TIbet and how can it even talk about AP and Gordens talks as if it is a given

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 09 Mar 2015 03:28

How is the book The Idea of India by Sunil Khilnani? worth spending a few hours reading it? SThe name Sunil Khilnani rings a bell. IIRC, his name came up in a negative way on BRF in the past.

What about Kashmir by Sumanta Bose? I have read a few pages randomly and felt that the author is more sympathetic to Pakistan.

I have put it here because the first one is by an US professor of Indian origin. The second is clearly foreign policy related.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 09 Mar 2015 04:19

Just because he is US professors does no mean he is bias free. Most of the early immigrants in social sciences have psecualr roots. Fact he is quoted wrt non-alignment 2.0 shows his Nehruvian groins.

Indian social science profs study India to see how they can help others mess up India. This is regardless of where they are located:India or abroad.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 11 Mar 2015 10:55

The only major instance of pro-active Indian "push" in another country has been in '71,when the 10M refugees posed such a massive burden to the nation that we had to take steps to prepare for military intervention.that too after Mrs.G went to all major western nations for relief and got nothing in return,esp. from the US. In Sri Lanka,it was the people of Sri Lanka who threw out the Rajapakses just as the people of India threw out the dynasty at our last election! India may certainly be happy about the result,which has put paid to Chinese corruption of the Lankan political system, but it is absurd to conjecture that we were responsible for Rajapakse's defeat.His monumental greed ,nepotism, gross indulgence in crony capaitalism and serious instances of abuse of power,violence against his political opponents and the media,where many 'disappeared'saw the Lankan people boot him out at the first opportunity.

India is now giving another major "push" in its foreign policy,a maritime slant to key nations in the IOR,with Mr.Modi's visits to the Seychelles,Mauritius and Sri Lanka.The planned visit to the Maldives has been put off because of the Maldivian govts. arrest and treatment of former pres.Nasheed,which appears to be a deliberate act to sabotage Mr.Modi's visit.

Modi Touring Indian Ocean to Keep China’s Submarines at Bay
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... nes-at-bay

by hidden line after 'By'David Tweed
March 10, 2015

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a commissioning ceremony for the warship INS Kolkata in Mumbai on Aug. 16, 2014. India is starting to bulk up its naval forces to assert control in waters that carry most of the world’s oil trade. Photographer: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a tour of three Indian Ocean countries today as he seeks to prevent China from establishing a military foothold in a region his nation has dominated for decades.

Modi will visit Seychelles and Mauritius before ending the trip in Sri Lanka, the first visit by an Indian prime minister in 28 years, and where a January election produced a new government vowing to reduce dependence on China. During the stops, he’ll look to expand military as well as economic ties -- something that India had avoided until recently.

“India attaches paramount importance to strengthening relations with this region, which is vital for India’s security and progress,” Modi said in a statement today prior to his departure to Seychelles.

India is starting to bulk up its naval forces to assert control in waters that carry most of the world’s oil trade, underscoring its growing discomfort after a Chinese submarine docked twice at a Chinese-built port in Sri Lanka last year. The visits fueled doubts that China’s strategy of building ports in the Indian Ocean was purely economic.

“Modi’s visit to the Indian Ocean reflects the heightened strategic significance of these island states in Indian thinking,” said David Brewster, a specialist in Indo-Pacific security at the Australian National University in Canberra. “India takes great exception to the presence of extra-regional powers in the Indian Ocean and the reaction of New Delhi to the sub visits was an indication of that.”

China Strength

India last month increased its defense budget by 11 percent to $40 billion and approved the building of six nuclear-powered submarines, triple what it currently has in service, as well as seven new frigates. The navy unveiled its first home-built anti-submarine warship in August, when Modi vowed to ensure that “no one dares to cast an evil glance at India.”

Even with the new kit, India’s navy will be dwarfed by China’s fleet of about 49 frigates, 24 destroyers, eight corvettes and about 60 submarines. As China’s navy has modernized, its ships have ventured further afield, showing up earlier this year in ports in the U.K., Germany and Greece.

“The Navy has to be built up,” said Vivek Katju, former Indian ambassador to Afghanistan, Myanmar and Thailand. “As India’s global role will increase, it’s inevitable that India will have to pay far greater attention to the Indian Ocean region, which includes the eastern sea board of Africa.”

Mending Ties

China over the past decade has strengthened economic ties with Indian Ocean countries, and in 2013 was the second-largest trading partner to Sri Lanka and Mauritius behind India, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In Sri Lanka, China’s share of total trade rose to 11 percent from 3 percent a decade earlier, outpacing India.

Modi will be the first Indian leader since 1981 to visit Seychelles, where he’ll sign an agreement to help map its water, according to Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar. In Mauritius, an island nation near Madagascar, he’ll attend a national parade and commission an Indian-built offshore patrol vessel.

Sri Lanka is India’s biggest Indian Ocean neighbor, and its most crucial partner. Modi has sought to mend relations that suffered during the decade-long regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who courted Chinese investment highlighted by a $1.4 billion project to build a city on reclaimed land off Colombo, the capital.

‘String of Pearls’

After taking power two months ago, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena suspended the project and sought to rebalance ties with India. On a trip to New Delhi last month, he signed a deal to receive training for Sri Lanka’s civilian nuclear program.

India’s state-run National Thermal Power Corp. is awaiting environmental clearances before starting work on a 500 megawatt thermal power plant in Trincomalee, a port on the eastern coastline, Jaishankar said on Monday before the trip.

Modi is concerned that China wants to expand its military presence in the region by establishing naval bases in key Indian Ocean ports. This is the so-called “string of pearls” theory first expounded by U.S. consultant Booz Allen Hamilton in a 2005 report for U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

President Xi Jinping rekindled those worries among Indian analysts last year when he visited Sri Lanka and Maldives, and met the president of Seychelles in Beijing, to promote his so-called Silk Road trade route rejuvenation project. The initiative is backed by a $40 billion infrastructure fund and includes a maritime route through the ocean states.

Access Key

China argues that its interests are purely economic, and that it wants to protect vital sea lines of communications that bring it energy supplies from the Middle East. Forty percent of its oil imports pass through the Straits of Hormuz, and that figure doubles to more than 80 percent in the Malacca Strait on the other side of the Indian Ocean.

“Access, rather than bases, is what the Chinese navy is really interested in,” Zhou Bo, an honorary fellow with the Center of China-American Defense Relations at Academy of Military Science of the People’s Liberation Army, wrote last year.

In 2011, India reached a trilateral maritime security agreement with Sri Lanka and the Maldives that included sharing radar coverage of the sea. Mauritius and Seychelles sent representatives to the latest meeting a year ago.

Modi has sought to build closer ties with Japan, Vietnam and Australia, all countries that share concerns about China’s maritime actions. During U.S. President Barack Obama’s trip to New Delhi in January, the two leaders pledged to uphold freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

While China’s naval prowess poses a direct threat to nations with competing territorial claims close to its eastern seaboard, Beijing’s leaders will struggle to overcome a geographic disadvantage in the Indian Ocean, according to Brewster at Australian National University.

“China has a huge strategic vulnerability in the Indian Ocean that it can partially mitigate but never get rid of,” he said. “That’s not going to change even if there are a handful of Chinese vessels hanging around.”

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 18 Mar 2015 16:52

A favorable assessment of India's foreign policy:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wa ... 84358.html

For the time being, India and China will continue their respective economic and political ascent relatively harmoniously, as there is plenty of scope for both countries to flex their muscles in their own neighborhood. China's main allies in the region have been ill-chosen, with North Korea, Myanmar, and Pakistan all being perceived as bad boys for one reason or another.

India, on the other hand, has aligned itself with countries where it appears to have more to gain than lose (Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, among others). India also appears to be making more headway than China in the battle for hearts and minds, which bodes well for the long-term future of Indian relations throughout the region. This suggests that India has the upper hand in the medium-term. However, while China's rise has been met with suspicion and in some cases alarm, it remains many Asian countries' largest trade partner, donor, and source of investment.

Anyone who underestimates China's ability to learn quick lessons and adapt to dynamic investment climates will be disappointed. China has proven itself to be a shrewd and cunning competitor in the global economic and political landscape, and its ability and willingness to hurl money at countries yearning for assistance will continue to enhance its influence throughout the region for many years to come.

By the same token, no one should underestimate India's strategic capabilities and commitment to gaining even greater regional and global influence in international affairs. As one of the few giants of the developing world, India shares a unique space and responsibilities. Ultimately, the question becomes how well it can leverage its comparative advantages in a manner that will ensure its future security, while concurrently promoting economic growth.