India welcomes Rousseff’s re-election
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quickly off the blocks with a tweet congratulating Dilma Rousseff on her re-election as Brazil’s President, the first woman in the country to hold that office. He said he looked forward to working with her to strengthen India-Brazil ties. Portuguese-speaking Brazil is South America’s largest country with a population of 70 million. Famed for the Amazon rain forest, legendary soccer icons, Samba music, mineral wealth and human capital, Brazil emerged from the dark shadows of military rule – a common feature of the entire continent, in the 1970s, from Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Bolivia, when US-backed dictators or oligarchs, gave US companies free rein to do as they pleased, to remain a law unto themselves. The placemen were studiously obedient to the dictates of their American overlord on international issues. A democratic wave swept across South America, elections were held and leaders emerged who were accountable to their own people and not to Washington. Dilma Rousseff’s predecessor, the remarkable Luis Inacio Lula da Silva broke the mould of Brazilian politics in 2003 with an ambitious programme to reduce the country’s crippling poverty and unemployment. Such was its success that overall poverty during his 8 year term in office came down by an astounding 55 per cent, while the 9 per cent unemployed was reduced to 4 per cent. At the point of his departure as president, Lula da Silva’s approval rating stood at a staggering 73 per cent. Leaders from the Third World have flocked to Brazil to study the Brazilian model and apply some of its lessons in their own countries. Dilma Rousseff continued with these policies of social and economic empowerment, which won her a second term, if only by a narrow margin of 3 per cent.
Under President Lula, Brazil joined a new transnational grouping that also included Russia, India and China, with South Africa coming in later. BRICS seeks to break the financial stranglehold of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) set up towards the end of the Second World War at Bretton Woods, USA. Its heads by decree would be restricted, respectively, to an American and European. Loans and grants were strictly regulated to conform to the economic principles fashioned by the historical experiences of North America and Western Europe. These, frequently, were at variance with the needs and aspirations of developing nations. The popular definition of “international community,” in the Western media and its use by mainstream Western politicians have been trimmed to fit the narrow circle – a Lakshman rekha, if you will - of the United States and its European satellites. The vast ocean of humanity across the continents are excluded from this definition, underlying an unwritten apartheid concept in the Western-promoted global order. BRICS is gradually finding its feet. It has established a lending facility, the newly established BRICS Bank, with a startup capital of R100 billion that will administer financial help to nations in need of such aid at easier rates of interest offered elsewhere. India was anxious that Brazil remained in step with the foreign policy established under ex-Pesident Lula. Dilma Rousseff’s re-election as Brazil’s President means the country will keep faith with its BRICS partners, also with the trilateral sub-group of India and South Africa. These institutions must continue their work If there is ever to be a multilateral world order. The BRICS nations will have to pull their weight by fulfilling their responsibilities, singly and collectively. This is the only realistic roadmap to a future that works.
India’s friend in need
During his talks with President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the help Russia had rendered India in times of its greatest need. The US sanctions regime on the export of high technology to India in the aftermath of Pokhran I and II nuclear tests, had no effect on Moscow; and the way Moscow had stood by New Delhi during the 1971 war, when the US and China resorted to coercive measures against India in support of their ally, the military dictatorship of Pakistan, war recalled. Russia occupied a niche of its own in Indian policy and in the sensibility of the Indian people, said Mr Modi. So much for the past. Now, Russia is in a spot of bother with the imposition of US, EU-led sanctions. It is turning to India in its time of need. Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister with special responsibility for relations with India will be arriving in New Delhi this week for high-level talks with the Indian leadership including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Rogozin will be seeking to upgrade investment and commercial ties between the two countries, among other things, and reinforce ties in the defence sector, where the relationship is especially strong. The agreements reached in New Delhi will not be made public until President Putin comes to India for the annual India-Russia summit, when he is expected to affix his signature to the deals. There are already critical subjects in the pipeline, such as a free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (in which Russia is the driving force) and India. Vietnam and Israel are also in the queue for a similar arrangement. The possibility of using the rupee and ruble in trade should not be ruled out. With the Western economic boycott, this is a moment of opportunity for India to enter the Russian market as a major player in multiple sectors. “These are tough times, and in such times -, you turn to friends in hope. These are also times when friendship is tested,” said a Russian official to an Indian reporter. “I think we’re happy to help in any way we can,” an Indian official told the same reporter. The welcome that awaits Mr Rogozin, continued the official, demonstrated India’s commitment to Russia. India has a vital geostrategic interest in sustaining Russian authority and power in the Eurasian heartland. This historical presence should continue in the interests of durable peace and stability. A US-led NATO expansion here would be fraught with uncertainty, remembering the role Washington played in the recrudescence of militant Islam for its own shortsighted goals. With over 700 US military bases straddling every continent there is surely no need for more. The Middle East is meltdown largely because of failed American policies in the region. Central Asia should not be made a playground for the new Great Game. The future well-being of India depends as much on its security interests as it does on its economy.
JLR opens new UK plant
The Queen opened the Tata Group’s first Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) first engine manufacturing plant, worth 500 million pounds, in Wolverhampton. The high profile event was attended by Ratan Tata and leading British politicians and the plant’s 300 workforce. “It’s a very significant step in our global growth,” said JLR Executive Director, Mike Wright, at a roundtable discussion prior to the launch. Producing the lightweight efficient engines presents the company with an opportunity of attracting a whole new generation of customers. “For the first time we have strategic control of the design and engineering and manufacture of engines. And for any automotive player, that is a very important strategic step,” said Mr Wright. The significance of the occasion was underlined by Ralf Speth, CEO of JLR. “It represents the revitalization of Jaguar Land Rover that has taken place under the stewardship of the Tata Group, he said. “The engine is at the heart of every car, and manufacturing engines in-house will help us meet our very ambitious cycle plan commitments,” said Wolfgang Stradler, Manufacturing Director, during a presentation at the launch. “We are now ready to deliver.” The plant measuring 100,000 square metres is the size of 14 football pitches and includes an engine testing facility, manufacturing and separate assembly halls for diesel and petrol engines. At full capacity, the plant is expected to create 1,400 jobs. It could also provide 5000 jobs in the supply chain. The facility will be supported by 2000 JLR power-train engineers. Around 30 per cent of 71 suppliers are based in the UKI, with rest coming from Continental Europe. The plant is located between three JLR’s three other manufacturing sites at Halewood Castle Bromwich and Solihull, an area long associated with the automotive industry. JLR recently opened its first overseas plant in Changshu, China, in a joint venture with Chinese automaker Cherry. JLR has an annual production capacity of 130,00 units per year. Its Brazil branch is expected to come on stream in 2016, where its production line should reach an annual 24,000 units per year.
