AIR World Service English

Japan hosted the 2nd India-Australia-Japan-US Quadrilateral (Quad) Ministerial meeting. India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar along with the US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, Australian Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu met in Tokyo to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the post Covid-19 international order. The meeting holds importance given the strategic backdrop of an ongoing pandemic, uncertain global economic outlook, intensifying US-China competition and escalating regional tensions. The first India-Australia-Japan-US Quad ministerial meeting was held in the US on the side-lines of UN General Assembly meetings in September 2019 with the objective of advancing openness and economic prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. The focus was on supporting a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. As the ministers gathered in Tokyo, the agenda was to develop a coordinated response to deal with the post-pandemic challen...

Considering the high priority India attaches to its relationship with Myanmar, in accordance with its “Neighbourhood First” and ‘Act East’ policies, very senior Indian authorities engaged with the top brass of Myanmar government and armed forces to further deepen the relationship of trust and cooperation in the economic and security arenas. Despite the prevailing atmosphere due to the Covid-19 pandemic; the Indian Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla visited Myanmar. The visit provided an opportunity to review the sustained progress achieved in recent years in bilateral relations. Both countries have over the years developed strong bonds in development and economic cooperation to security to energy sectors, besides cooperation in regional multilateral organisations like ASEAN and BIMSTEC. The joint visit of the Indian Army Chief and Foreign Secretary was also significant from the strategic angle. Both India and Myanmar have been victims...

The Vaishvik Bharatiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Summit 2020 got off to a great start with more than 3000 overseas Indian origin academicians and scientists from 55 countries participating in it, virtually. About 10,000 Indian scientists, researchers and students too are taking part in it. VAIBHAV Summit 2020 has been organized by 200 Indian academic institutes and S&T departments, led by Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India. Around 700 overseas panellists from 40 countries and 629 resident panellists from eminent Indian academia and S&T departments will deliberate on 18 different verticals with 80 sub-topics in 213 sessions. The deliberations are being held from 3rd October to 25th October 2020, with consolidation of outcomes on 28th October. The summit will conclude on the occasion of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Jayanti i.e. 31st October 2020. The initiative involves multiple levels of interactions among the overseas experts and Indian counterparts over a month-long seri...

By all accounts, the Indian economy is cruising on a firm V-shape path to the pre-Covid19 normalcy. Manufacturing is pacing ahead, with demand in the economy spurring normalization. Exports after six months expanded to demonstrate the world's faith in India’s position in the global supply chain. Sales of two-wheelers, four-wheelers, and tractors have pleasantly surprised many, giving hints of inherent resilience of the Indian economy. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection, seen as a credible indicator of the health of the economy, expanded last month after declining for six months, reflecting the cost of the economic disruptions. In September, the GST collections clocked a healthy four per cent rise. This indeed gives hopes that the steps taken to unlock India will be further reflected in normalization of the GST collections. Mirroring an across the board economic recovery, exports for the first time expanded since February this year, registering a growth of 5.3 per cent. Thi...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa held a Virtual Summit, during which they discussed the bilateral relations and regional & international issues of mutual concern. The two neighbouring countries share friendly and cordial ties since millennia. Both the leaders recalled the successful State Visits by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to India in November 2019 and February 2020, respectively. These visits gave clear political direction and vision for the future of the relationship. Prime Minister Rajapaksa commended the strong leadership shown by Prime Minister Modi in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic based on the vision of mutual support and assistance to the countries of the region. Both leaders agreed that the current situation presented a fresh opportunity to give added impetus to bilateral relations. The Indian Prime Minister reaffirmed New Delhi’s continued commitment for all possible support to ...

Ever since 2007, when the United Nations adopted 2nd October, the birth day of Mahatma Gandhi, as the ‘International Day of Non-Violence’; it is celebrated the world over to commemorate the Mahatma’s enduring contributions to peace and non-violence. The day also aims to create awareness about the imperatives of non-violence. Emphasising the significance of the day, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres observed, “Gandhi constantly highlighted the gap between what we do, and what we are capable of doing. On this International Day of Non-Violence, I urge each and every one of us to do everything in our power to bridge this divide as we strive to build a better future for all.” According to the UN General Assembly Resolution, the International Day is an occasion to “disseminate the message of non-violence”, through education and public awareness. The resolution reaffirms, “the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence” and the desire “to seek a culture of peace, tolerance,...

At long last, the opposition parties of Pakistan showed some semblance of unity and came together recently in Islamabad, at the invitation of Bilawal Bhutto, Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), to hold an All Party Conference (APC), and set an agenda for joint action for future. The Jamaat-e-Islami distanced itself from the show, even as 12 other opposition parties attended it. This was the fourth time since the July 2018 elections that the opposition parties are holding an APC. The first APC was held on 28 July 2018 three days after elections, where all opposition parties alleged widespread rigging to tilt the results in favour of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party. The other two convened by JUI-F, in June 2019 and June 2020; were poorly attended and did not go beyond issuing tame statements about the poor performance of the government. In contrast, this APC, called Multi-Party Conference (MPC), showed some sign of resolve to take on the Pakistan government. The ...