AIR World Service English

The “Neighbourhood First” policy has been a key component of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government’s foreign policy. Since assuming the Prime Minister’s office in 2014, his focus has been on India’s neighbouring countries – particularly India’s immediate eastern neighbours. Prime Minister Modi’s neighbourhood diplomacy is not just aimed to ensure friendlier relations among neighbours; it also strives to bring hard infrastructure (road, rail, air) and soft (economic, people–to–people, and digital) connectivity at the sub – regional and regional levels. A range of hard and soft connectivity projects are in process between India and its neighbours. The BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) sub-regional connectivity initiative holds significance in meeting such objectives. The stated goal of the BBIN is to ensure seamless connectivity through an effective regulatory mechanism for private and cargo transport vehicles among the signatory count...

The first India-Africa Defence Ministers’ Conclave was held in Lucknow in conjunction with ‘DEFEXPO INDIA’. It was a major initiative by India to enhance defence cooperation with countries in the African continent. It also provided India a platform to create fresh opportunities for exporting India made equipment to African continent in keeping with long standing defence partnership since the 1950s. Over 154 delegates from Africa including Defence Ministers from 14 African countries, Members of Parliament, 19 Defence and Service Chiefs and 8 Permanent Secretaries from African countries participated in this Conclave attesting to the high priority accorded to India-Africa engagement in defence and security. Peace and security are currently a key priority for the African countries. “Silencing Guns: Creating conducive conditions for African Development” is African Union’s theme of the year. The African Union’s road map for attaining this vision acknowledges the linkage between peace, secu...

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse visited India with a high-level delegation and held discussions with the Indian leadership. Mr. Rajapakse called on President Ram Nath Kovind. He held wide-ranging discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar also held talks with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister. Prime Minister Modi said, India and Sri Lanka are neighbours since time immemorial, and also close friends. The history of our bilateral relationship has been woven with countless colourful threads like culture, religion, spirituality, art and language. Whether it is security or economy or social progress, our past and our future are connected to each other in every region. Stability, security and prosperity in Sri Lanka are not only in interest of India, but also in the interest of the entire Indian Ocean region and therefore, our close cooperation is valuable for peace and prosperity even in the Indo-Pacific region. In line wit...

With the Union Budget over, both houses of Indian Parliament saw important business. The ongoing budget session as expected was stormy sometimes, in light of the stance of several opposition parties against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The government has said that it is willing to discuss all issues permitted by the Chair. The government's legislative agenda for this session includes 45 bills and seven financial items. The opposition parties have geared- up to corner the government in Parliament over several issues. The Rajya Sabha (Upper House) was adjourned following ruckus by the Opposition over the Citizenship Amendment Act, NPR and other issues. When the House met again, the Members from Congress, Left, TMC, DMK, SP and others trooped into the well raising slogans. Deputy Chairman Harivansh tried to take up discussion on Motion of thanks to the President’s address to the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, amid noisy scenes. Leader of the House Thawar...

The US Presidential election is almost a year long process where candidates of the two major political parties begin campaigning for getting nominated as the Presidential candidate of their respective parties. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party are the two major political parties in the US. Since the incumbent President is Donald Trump, a Republican, it is almost certain that he will be the Presidential candidate of the Republican Party. Thus, for the November 2020 Presidential election, several Democratic Party members are vying for the nomination from the Party. Nomination of the Presidential candidate is finally done in the National Convention of the Party, where party delegates elected in various primaries and caucuses assemble and decide who will be their party’s nominee. In the American system of election, there are primaries and caucuses. In the primaries, the party members assemble in various states and select a certain number of delegates for the Natio...

The Afghan peace process has reached its most critical phase with both the US and the Taliban putting different timelines for a temporary ceasefire before sealing a peace agreement. The ceasefire will test the level of trust between the two sides who have been through many ups and downs together since President Donald Trump appointed Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad for the delicate job of engaging the Taliban. However, both sides remained caught in combat on the ground in Afghanistan. The United States has been maintaining there should be a ten day period for ceasefire which has been contradicted by the Taliban which asked for seven days. Such bargaining has been a part of the difficult process of engagement. The peace talks had progressed to a dramatic turn when in September 2019, President Trump agreed to host both the Taliban political negotiating team as well as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in the United States. However, the initiative failed as an attack from the Taliban...

At this juncture when the growth momentum of the Indian economy has come under pressure due to the impact of ongoing global recession the surge in the country’s key manufacturing sector in January this year on the back of rising demand is no doubt a healthy and positive development in India’s economic landscape. As per the survey conducted by the HIS Markit—a leading market and economic research body—India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose from 52.7 in December to 55.3 in January this year-- the highest in nearly eight years—thus reflecting bright patches that are beginning to show up again in the Indian economy. Purchasing Managers’ Index data are compiled by IHS Markit for more than 40 economies worldwide. The monthly data are derived from surveys of senior executives at private sector companies. The PMI dataset features a headline number, which indicates the overall health of an economy. A PMI above 50 indicates expansion. The consumer goods sub-sector again shin...