AIR World Service English

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the government would take India to new heights and sought cooperation from the opposition to move ahead with the idea of One Nation - One Election. He was replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the Joint Sitting of both the Houses. He also appealed to the opposition to ensure the smooth functioning of Parliament. He said India should not lose any opportunity to move ahead to ensure its progress and prosperity. The Prime Minister expressed hope that both the government and the opposition together can deal with all the challenges facing the country. He gave a call for making a strong, safe and inclusive India. Touching upon various issues like corruption, farmers and employment, he asserted that there is no place for corruption in the country and his government will continue its fight against it. Referring to water crisis in the country, he said providing water to every household...

The Heads of State and Government of Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), met on the margins of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Japan for the G20 Presidency and appreciated the priorities chosen by Japan, including trade, science, technology and innovation, infrastructure, climate change, universal health coverage, aging populations and sustainable development The BRICS leaders felt the world economic growth appears to be stabilising and is generally projected to pick up moderately later this year and into 2020. However, the strengthening of growth remains highly uncertain, with rising trade and geo-political tensions, commodity price volatility, inequality and insufficient inclusive growth and tighter financial conditions adding to the risk. BRICS stressed t...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Delhi and his meeting with the Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and National Security Advisor were very significant. The bilateral differences between the United States and India on a few critical areas, such as tariff and trade, Iran sanctions, lifting of US preferential treatment to Indian goods, H1B visa for Indian techies, energy trading with Venezuela, and arms purchase from Russia had generated certain amount of stress that needed direct conversations by the leaders of the two countries. The reason necessitating Mr. Pompeo’s India visit was the need for preparations to facilitate bilateral conversations between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G-20 meeting in Osaka, Japan and trilateral JAI (Japan America India) meeting among the US President, Indian Prime Minister and the Japanese Prime Minister on the side-lines of the G-20 meet. This visit was also significant because it was the first visi...

Into his second term in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed to the world that welfare of the poor and developing modern infrastructure would be his government’s twin agenda. The Prime Minister spoke about this in his reply to the motion of thanks to the President’s address to the joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament. Mr. Modi elaborately spoke about what suits the country and people’s interests. Highlighting the vision of the Union Government, Prime Minister said the government believes in public welfare and modern infrastructure. He said that the government never diverted from the development path, nor diluted the development agenda. “It is important that the country progresses, every Indian is empowered and our nation has modern infrastructure.” Mr. Modi added. In the last five years, numerous schemes were launched, including for farmers and people working in the unorganized sector. However, the government took India to the path of modernization also. The numbers ...

Buoyed by the landslide mandate to power at the Centre for the second consecutive term, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government is now gearing up with renewed vigour to put the Indian economy on the trajectory of higher growth to meet the twin objectives of generating employment and improving the standards of living of the people at large. Prime Minister NarendraModi has made it abundantly clear that his government is determined to undertake reforms in wide range of economic activities to boost growth momentum. At an interactive meeting with a group of economists and experts organized by the NITIAayog, he highlighted the need to make Indian economy competitive to woo Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This interactive meeting with experts drawn from areas such as labour and employment, farm sector, health and education assumes significance as it has been held in run up to the presentation of the first full Budget of the new government slated for July 5. Significantly, attendee...

The United States has once again laid bare its hypocrisy in asserting its questionable moral authority to criticize India’s record of religious freedom. The American government’s annual report on international religious freedom has yet again resorted to its hackneyed policy of sitting in moral judgment on other countries’ religious freedom credentials. The report has said that “mob attacks by violent extremist groups against minority communities continued” throughout 2018. The Indian Government has sternly rebuffed the report saying the US has “no locus standi to pronounce on the state of our citizens”. It has further said that “India is proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and a pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion”.  Curiously, Mr. Tenzin Dorjee, Chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, has given a dissenting view saying “India is an open society with a robust democracy and judic...

The six-day-long Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary held last week in Orlando, USA, concluded with a severe indictment for Pakistan to honour its commitments to the global financial watchdog by October, or risk downgrading its position from the existing ‘grey list’ to the eventual ‘black list’. It has been a year since Pakistan made a commitment to work with FATF and the Asia Pacific Group (APG) to strengthen its anti-money laundering (AMT) and counter-terror financing (CTF) regime and address its strategic “counter-terrorist financing related deficiencies”. Islamabad’s record in this regard has been dismal. Apart from taking few cosmetic steps, it has done nothing significant to make it impossible for the known terror outfits to operate out of its soil. Notably, the FATF marked its 30 th  anniversary and celebrated its enhanced stature and reputation as a group leading ‘global action against money laundering, the financing of terrorism and proliferation’, committed ...

President Ram Nath Kovind has said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is moving towards building a strong, secure, prosperous and inclusive India in line with the aspirations of the people. He said the journey is inspired by the spirit of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas’. Addressing the Joint Sitting of both the Houses of Parliament -- the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha - in the Central Hall of Parliament, he said, from day one, the government is committed to improving the lives of people by removing their sufferings from mis-governance and providing all the necessary facilities. The Indian President said, people after evaluating the government's performance in the first term, have given a stronger support for the second term in the Lok Sabha elections. He said nearly half of the MPs have been elected for the first time and the largest number of women MPs won the polls making a history. Mr. Kovind said the government's ...

The withdrawal of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) benefits extended to India by the Trump Administration and the decision to increase tariffs on about twenty-eight products being imported from the US, within days of the second term of the Narendra Modi government have hogged the headlines. However, the two sides are on the same page so far as their “Stategic partnership” is concerned. Just before the G20 Summit in Osaka Japan, The U.S. Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo will be visiting India from 25 to 27 June 2019. This will be the first high level engagement with the US after the elections in India. During his visit, he will hold talks with the External Affairs Minister and call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries on the Government of India. Secretary Pompeo's visit will be an important opportunity for both sides to explore ways to further strengthen the India-U.S. Strategic Partnership, and continue the high-level engagement on matters of ...

In response to the attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week; the US Department of Defence announced that it is sending an additional 1,000 troops to bolster security in the Persian Gulf. This comes amidst the escalating tensions in the region following US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPoA) in May 2018. The US also re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran and last month ended all waivers for Iranian oil imports. President Donald Trump further decided to impose new sanctions and warned of secondary sanctions on individuals or entities doing business with Iranian industries under sanctions. Iran too had responded with warning other signatories of the JCPoA, especially UK, France and Germany, to do more to ease the impact of sanctions on Iranian economy failing which Tehran will be forced to retract from the deal. This prompted the US to send additional troops including Arlington and a Patriot missile battery. At ...

Pakistan is in the midst of a political upheaval; as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government is tightening the noose over anti-government voices. From silencing the opposition by arresting leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party, Asif Ali Zardari and Hamza Shahbaz of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and cracking down on groups such as the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), the Imran Khan led government is strategically silencing dissent. The arrest of self-exiled Pakistani politician and leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain by the British authorities appears that the Pakistan government was behind it. Islamabad seems to be working as per the Pak army to stop criticism coming from any quarter. However, the iron hand policy in dealing with opposition and voices of dissent could backfire. The arrest of the opposition leaders under the guise of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB); supposedly on charges of corruption was very strategically made during the Pa...

The fifth Summit meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, commonly called as CICA, was held at Tajikistan last weekend. The First President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev is considered as the Founder of CICA as he had proposed the idea of CICA in his United Nations General Assembly speech in 1992. The Secretariat of CICA was established in 2006 and it is located at Astana, which is now known as Nursultan – the capital of Kazakhstan. CICA has more than 30 members from Asia and various international organizations are also represented as observers in the forum. So far, Kazakhstan, Turkey, China and Tajikistan have held the chairmanship of the organization.  The first CICA Summit was held in 2002 at Almaty, Kazakhstan, where its charter was adopted, which is also known as Almaty Act. The then Prime Minister of India, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had participated in the first summit. India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas represe...

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s getting re-elected to office; India’s China policy is likely to remain consistent while leveraging on the fluctuations in global politics involving United States-China trade war. After the Doklam stand-off of 2017, both countries invested resources on managing their differences. The Wuhan informal Summit in 2018 was an outcome of such an approach. The Wuhan Summit and informal dialogue acted as a confidence building measure. There have been positive developments in the Sino-Indian relations. Not only China agreed to designate the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist in the United Nations Security Council after vetoing it four times in the past, the relations are now driven by the ‘Wuhan Spirit’. After coming back to power, Prime Minister Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping for their first bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Both leaders will mee...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after being elected for a second term, visited Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on 13 & 14 June. He met with Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov in a bilateral meeting. The Indian Prime Minister’s meeting with President Jeenbekov can be hailed as special and strategic. President Jeenbekov was one of the leading guests present during the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi on 30 May 2019. During the SCO Summit in Bishkek, Prime Minister Modi along with President Jeenbekov jointly addressed the first India-Kyrgyz Business Forum meeting. It was hailed as successful and significant. India and Kyrgyzstan give final shape to the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and the bilateral investment treaty. These would help in creating a proper atmosphere for bilateral trade. The bilateral investment treaty would help in preparing a five-year road map to increase the trade between the two countries. The bilateral trade between Indi...

The Budget Session of India’s Parliament will begin from 17th of this month following the constitution of the 17th Lok Sabha after the Naendra Modi led NDA government swept to power for the second term in the general elections held last month with the slogan ‘ Sab ka Saath-Sab ka Vikas - Sab ka Viswas’ . During the hectic electioneering across the country braving the hot summer, the star campaigner Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the people of many more welfare schemes. The new House of People (Lok Sabha) is scheduled to elect its Speaker by 19th of June. The Pro-tem Speaker will conduct the proceedings of the House till the new Speaker is elected. President Ram Nath Kovind will address the joint sitting of both the Houses --Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha -on 20th of June after the completion of the ceremonial oath-taking by the elected members. The Union Budget for 2019-20 will be presented in the Lok Sabha on 5th of July. Later, the House will take up discussion on the ...

In a major foreign policy outreach after his resounding electoral victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit at Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek. Addressing the summit, the Indian Prime Minister said that nations which provided encouragement, support and financial help terrorism needed to be called out. He also said unilateralism and protectionism had not benefitted any one. He encapsulated the motto of SCO in the acronym HEALTH-health for cooperation, energy cooperation, alternative energy, literature and culture, terrorism free society, humanitarian cooperation. Mr. Modi emphasised on the need for connectivity in the region and alluded to the efforts by India. Speaking on the imperatives of peace and stability in Afghanistan, he reiterated that it has to be Afghan led, Afghan controlled and Afghan owned. While the SCO summit has its own strategic significance for the region in particular, and the world at large, the bila...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the 45th G-7 Summit to be held at Biarritz in South France from 24th-26th August, 2019. India has been invited as a ‘Special Invitee’ along with Australia, Chile and South Africa by French President Emmanuel Macron. G-7 usually engages key leaders from the world community through its outreach sessions during summits for frank discussions on pressing challenges confronting the globe. The invitation is acknowledgement of the rise and increasing profile of India as a significant economic and political power, a manifestation of the expanding and deepening strategic partnership between India and France, and testimony to the personal rapport and chemistry between Prime Minister Modi and President Macron. While extending the invitation, President Macron referred to India’s key role in promoting globalisation and protecting the environment. Mr. Modi had launched the International Solar Alliance (ISA) on the side-lines of the COP21 Meet...