It was a rare occurrence to witness good news subsuming the bad. The Indian media awoke to the significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel, where he was accorded a red carpet welcome by Israel’s great and good. An embrace from Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu set the scene. It had taken 70 years for an Indian prime minister to set foot on Israeli soil, but as Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked, it had taken 2,000 years to create a Jewish homeland.
Landmark event
The international media scrambled to cover the story, realizing somewhat belatedly, that a diplomatic game changer was unfolding before their eyes. Israel, small in size, but expansive in matters of the mind, had waited patiently for this moment of true triumph. The Israeli leadership well understood that the coming together of the two nations and peoples would leave an abiding impact on the region like no other.
The Times of India (July 4) published a joint article by the prime ministers on its editorial page to mark the occasion. In January 1992, India and Israel established formal diplomatic relations and their relationship has gone from strength to strength ever since. In their article, one passage stands out for ready reference: ‘The combination of India’s and Israel’s human resources and ingenuity will provide more effective and more affordable solutions for us in diverse fields that are priorities for both our governments: agriculture, water, health, environment, education and security.’ Namaskar, Shalom!
Bengal in turmoil
The Gorkhaland agitation for a separate state in the sub-Himalayan Darjeeling district has resulted in serious economic disruption and brought normal life to a standstill. But the sudden explosion of communal violence in the town of Baduria, in the Bashirhat district of North 24 Parganas, took the public by surprise. It was a Facebook revelation of a local Muslim demonstration calling for the expulsion from Bengal, if not India, that awoke the Indian public. The picture went viral and overnight hit the headline, from print media to television. The local police force, outnumbered and clearly demoralized, as police vehicles were set ablaze and police stations attacked, stood by helplessly. West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi rightly alarmed at the breakdown of law and order, spoke to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about the deteriorating situation. She said she was insulted and humiliated. The Governor issued a robust denial. Latest reports suggest a lessening of this antagonism, but the issue cannot be swept under the carpet. The Chief Minister has a case to answer. (Telegraph, Times of India, Hindu, July 4-6).
India-China standoff
There is heightened tension along the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet border between Indian and Chinese troops. At Bhutan’s urgent request, (Bhutan having no diplomatic relations with China) Indian troops have prevented a Chinese military unit from building a road on the tri-junction of Sikkim-Bhutan and Tibet. The Chinese Communist party publication, The Global Times, published a minatory warning to India to learn the lesson of 1962. It subsequently threatened India with the possibility of a Chinese withdrawal of recognition of Sikkim’s status as an Indian State by calling for its independence. This would reopen India’s recognition of Tibet as part of China.
Ambassador issues ultimatum
India’s Defence Minister, Arun Jaitley, replying to Chinese media taunts, said that the India of 2017 wasn’t the India of 1962; neither was China was the riposte, with a stream of abusive pieces boasting China military superiority over a weak and backwards India. Whereupon the Chinese Ambassador in New Delhi, in an interview with the Press Trust of India, issued an ultimatum: India must withdraw its troops from the contested territory or face the consequences of a possible war. The line dividing calculation and miscalculation is often perilously thin. The standoff continues.(Hindu, Times of India, Telegraph, TV July 3-6).
Modi-Xi Jinping talks
China ruled out the possibility of any meeting between President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G 20 economic summit in Hamburg unless India made a prior withdrawal of troops. However, President Xi and Prime Minister Modi did engage in a friendly conversation on the sidelines of the summit (Times of India, Hindu, Telegraph July 8).
Vietnam call to India
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh said, during a visit to New Delhi, that India should play a bigger role in strategic and security issues affecting the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). He was speaking at the Delhi Dialogue IX, a platform for India-ASEAN discussions on subjects of common interest.
Freedom of navigation
Minister Minh’s statement reads: ‘ASEAN supports India to play a greater role in the political and security domain, and create a regional rule-based region. We hope India will continue to partner our efforts for strategic security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea on the basis on International law and legal conventions.’
Vietnam-India talks
The Vietnamese leader, who is also his country’s Foreign Minister met with India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and his statement, even as tension rises along the Sikkim-Tibet border between Chinese and Indian troops.
Following these talks, Foreign Minister Minh, issued a second statement, which reads: ‘India and Vietnam share political and economic interests. As the future unfolds we have reason to be optimistic. ASEAN will benefit from India’s experience of resolving maritime issues in a peaceful manner.’
Minister Swaraj replied that India-ASEAN ties were at the heart of India’s ‘Act East’ policy, and central to India’s dream of an Asian century.
Minister Minh also called on India’s Defence Minister Arun Jaitley for talks on increased Indian military cooperation with Vietnam. India’s military ties with Indonesia and Singapore have also deepened. China is the common concern (Hindu, Times of India, July 5).
India-US-Japan Malabar naval drill
India, the US and Japan launched the Malabar naval exercise on the high seas. They have deployed a formidable array of battle ships, submarines, surveillance aircraft and helicopters. There has been an unusual surge in the Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean in the past two months. The setting of Malabar is significant too, with the India-China standoff on the Sikkim-Bhutan border and the visit to New Delhi by Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and his robust statements of support for India.
The Indian flotilla includes seven frontline destroyers, a Kilo=class submarine, is led by the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, with its MiG 29Ks warplanes , will participate in a fully fledged combat exercise. TUSS is fielding its 100,00 tonne nuclear powered super carrier Admiral Nimitz with its F/A 18 fighters. In addition, there is a helicopter carrier. Japan provides a 27,000 tonne helicopter carrier , Izumo, and another warship. The goal of the exercise is submarine hunting.
India’s ‘Rukmini’ keeps eye on China
India’s ‘eye in the sky’ GSAT-7, named ‘Rukmini,’ is the navy’s own dedicated military satellite – launched in September 2013 - to monitor Chinese movements in the Indian Ocean within a surveillance range of 2000 nautical miles. It is also equipped for communications. A second satellite, GSAT-8, is being built for the exclusive use of the Indian Air Force (Times of India July 5).
Moody’s positive take on GST
International credit rating agency Moody’s has given a thumbs up for India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying that it would have a positive fallout for the country’s credit profile as it will contribute to improved productivity and a higher GDP growth. Furthermore, it would also lead to higher government revenue collection through improved tax compliance. William Foster, Vice President, Sovereign Risk Group, Mood’s Investors Service, said: ‘Over the medium term, we expect that the GST will contribute productivity gains and higher GDPP growth by improving the ease of doing business, unifying the national market and enhancing India’s attractiveness as a foreign investment destination’ (Hindu July 3).
IndiGo no to Govt as partner in AI
IndiGo, the low cost airline that operates within India and dominates the domestic market, has evinced interest in acquiring the national carrier Air India, but is opposed to the government as a partner in the deal. ‘We would look at acquiring all of AI’s international operations and AI Express,’ said IndiG founder Rahul Bhatia. IndiGo has sent a formal letter to the government expressing interest in acquiring the international operations of Air India and Air India Express. The ball is in the government’s court (Times of India July 6).
Pune Metro gets European funding
The Pune Metro project, drawn up by the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation, is to receive 600 million euro from the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank. The total sanctioned cost of the Pune metro project is Rs11,400 crore (Business Line July 4).
Haryana’s cotton sowing surge
Driving through four major districts of Rohtak, Hisar, Fatehbad and Sirsa entails travel along a 403 kilometre-long expressway. On one side of the road are rice-growing paddy fields, on the other is cotton. The availability of water has played no small part in the transformation. The cotton belt of Haryana has, and is, witnessing record cotton, on 63,000 hectares of land, as opposed to the 50,00 sown last year (Business Line July 4).
Vice Admiral J.P.Aucoin, Vice Admiral B.K. Verma and Vice Admiral Yutaka Murakawa of the US, Indian, and Japanese Navies respectively, were in charge of the Malabar exercise (Times of India July 5).
