AIR World Service English

The successful launch of India’s 41st communication satellite, the GSAT-30 early on 17th January, 2020 was a crucial step to ensure uninterrupted communication services when the 14-year-old INSAT-4A ceases to function at the end of its working life very soon. INSAT 4A is being used by Indian cable operators for broadcasting their programmes overseas. GSAT-30 would allow them to continue these services for 15 more years over an extended area. GSAT-30 was launched by the Ariane-5 rocket of Arianespace from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. GSAT-30 is the 24th Indian satellite to be launched by Arianespace, which had launched India’s first communication satellite ‘APPLE’ back in 1981. In the latest flight, Ariane-5 also carried the EUTELSAT KONNECT, a new generation satellite that will provide telecommunication services across Europe and Africa. With a mission life of 15 years, GSAT-30 is a "high power" communication satellite of Indian Space...

In yet another exercise that back-fired, China called for “informal consultations” at the UN Security Council on the Kashmir issue. The move was backed by Pakistan. However, majority of the Security Council members dismissed the move. This was the third attempt by China to raise the issue of revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. India’s External Affairs Ministry said that Beijing should draw ‘proper lessons’ from these attempts. Most members of the UNSC feel that it is a bilateral issue. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin said, “Pakistan’s practice of using false pretences to distract the malaise that affects that country has run its course. Diplomacy is not about crying wolf. It is about taking tough but realistic steps, steps that can even be small. And that small step has to be where we were on August 5," added Mr. Akbaruddin In fact, key permanent members of the Security Council; US, UK, France and Russia had backed India’s move. The f...

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Ms. Alice Wells, and Deputy National Security Advisor Deputy Matthew Pottinger were in India to attend a series of bilateral meetings and take part in the 5th Raisina Dialogue. Ms. Wells’ visit to the sub-continent also included stops in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In a significant riposte at the Raisina Dialogue, Mr. Matthew Pottinger said the Indo-Pacific is a "principled vision". He described Indo-Pacific as “a community of countries that respects the rule of law, stands up for freedom of navigation in the seas and skies above, promotes open commerce, open thinking and above all, defends the sanctity of each nation's sovereignty. So, it is free and open, does not exclude any nation, but does ask each nation to respect and promote those principles we hold in common. The US Deputy NSA added, countries that support the notion of a free and open Indo-Pacific are those that have citizen-centric visions, rather than reg...

As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, the world is witnessing multiple global challenges and major power shifts. While new powers are on the ascendance, some old powers have begun to experience erosion in their global standing. Two types of historical power shifts are taking place—power transition and power diffusion. China’s phenomenal rise has shaken the world. But India, too, looms large on the global radar screen. Asia has emerged as a global centre of economic gravity, as a theatre of increasing security tensions and as a source of decisive influence in global environmental change. Innovation is the calling card of the future. The history of innovation is the story of ideas. If you don’t innovate, you sleepwalk into oblivion. This is equally true of foreign policy and promotion of strategic interests. The new complex world poses serious challenges but also opportunities. With the centre of the world moving East, the West’s long run as top dog is ending, but the c...

The visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to New Delhi to participate in the “Raisina Dialogue”, provided an opportunity for reviewing the excellent state of bilateral relations between India and Russia. Mr. Lavrov had in-depth discussion with the Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar on the current regional situation which also included Iran, Libya and Syria. Later, the Russian Foreign Minister called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held talks. During the meeting with Mr. Lavrov, Prime Minister Modi said that several important decisions and outcomes were reached last year and suggested that the year 2020 which is also the 20th anniversary year of the establishment of Strategic Partnership between New Delhi and Moscow, should be treated as the year of implementation of those decisions. During the foreign minister level deliberations, both Dr. Jaishankar and Mr. Lavrov discussed the rising tension in the Middle East that could lead to heightened escalation;...

The official visit of the Foreign Minister of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics to India carries forward the recent momentum in India’s bilateral relations with Latvia. In September 2016, India’s Minister of Information Technology and Law and Justice, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad had visited Latvia. The Prime Minister of Latvia made a historic first visit to India in November 2017. India’s Vice President Mr. M Venkaiah Naidu travelled to Latvia in August 2019. India’s relations with Latvia go back a hundred years. On 22 September 1921, Latvia became an independent member of the League of Nations. As an original founder-member of the League since 10 January 1920, India supported Latvia’s membership of the world’s first multilateral organization. Educational and cultural cooperation was an area where India and Latvia developed initial contacts in the League. Latvia’s National Committee for Intellectual Cooperation was established in the University of Riga in 1923 with the help of the Latvian Foreign M...

Marking the end of an era, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said who ruled Oman for five decades passed away on January 10, after a long ailment and paved way for the change of guard in the important Gulf state. Sultan Qaboos was a ruler of tall stature and was respected globally. The 79 year old Sultan provided stability and independent foreign policy to Oman while balancing the regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran. After deposing his conservative father, Said bin Taimur in a bloodless coup in 1970, Sultan Qaboos crushed the Dhofar rebellion, abolished slavery, led Oman to a path of modernization, presented the first written constitution in 1996 and encouraged women empowerment through their involvement in politics, business and sports. The Father of modern Oman is widely known for his mediation efforts owing to his crucial role in signing of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and his role as a mediator in bringing together the warring parties in Yemen. Speculations of difficult success...