Editor's Note
The new edition of Diplomatist in 2009 is packed with powerful articles of topical importance. The Cover Story on Global Economic Crisis spread in three parts looks at the impact of the down turn and its ramifications for the Indian industry and trade. Barak Obama’s Presidency of the United States is discussed in two separate articles with emphasis on the possible changes in the diplomatic arena, both from an international as well as Indian perspective.   Read the Note.  
 

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO INDIA
Strategic Partnership Reaffirmed
“The signing of the agreement on civil nuclear cooperation with Russia marks a new milestone in the history of our cooperation with Russia in the field of nuclear energy” – Medvedev   Read the Article.  
 

BIMSTEC Summit in New Delhi 
From Concept to Decisive Action
The Summit was attended by Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh; Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Fakhruddin Ahmed;Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigmi Y Thinley; Prime Minister of Myanmar, Thein Sein; Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’; President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa; and Prime Minister of Thailand, Somchai Wongsawat.   Read the Article. 
   

Obama's Agenda
Not at variance with India's Interests   
“American democracy has changed a lot. We can see a cultural influx there. White population has come down from 85 percent to 74 percent Today you have Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and many other communities as part of American population. Obama is an outcome of that. He reflects change in America.” – Adhikari Read the Article.  
 

What is Expected of President-elect Obama  
“The US economy is already staggering under a foreign debt of 11 trillion dollars. The Bush administration had undertaken a rescue mission of US$700 billion. It is unlikely to revive the US economy, which is in for a recession that could last up to five years or more. Similar packages that the incoming Obama administration administers to boost the economy could simply be throwing good money after bad. Read the Story.
  

INDO-PAK RELATIONS
Terror Terminates Bonhomie
“All terror attacks are originating from Pakistan and blaming only Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for such attacks will be erroneous. ... There are visible training camps and all attacks are being carried out with meticulous planning.” – Gen V.P. Malik  Read the Article.      
     

INDIAN PM's VISIT TO JAPAN
Business Ties Get a Thumbs Up
The two Prime Ministers welcomed the cooperation in the field of security between the two countries and issued a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between Japan and India. Japan has inked a maritime cooperation agreement with India similar to the one it signed with Australia.  Read the Article.  
 

Beijing on Business
with a Little Sightseeing on the Side  
Tiananmen Square is a large plaza near the city centre. It is named after Tiananmen (meaning Gate of Heavenly Peace,) the building at the northern edge of the square separating it from the Forbidden City. The Tiananmen Gate was first built in the 1420s in the Ming Dynasty. The Forbidden City, which now houses the Palace Museum, was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty (1450 AD) to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1912 AD). Read the Article.
   

BILATERAL NOTES
European Commission-India Policy Dialogue on Education
Multilingualism and Intercultural Dialogue in Globalization
Visit of Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss to Stockholm 
Danish Business Delegation in Agrotech 2008
Polish Cultural delegation in India
Tobias Billstrom of Sweden visits India
   Read the Notes.
   

Diplomatic News
UN Secretary General hails India's Contributions
Ecuador Foreign Minister Visits India
German Vice Chancellor in India
India-Myanmar Consultations
Polish Defence Minister visits India
Minister President of Baden-Wuerttemberg visits India
Canadian Minister Ms Diane Finley visits India
   Read the News.  
 

Waiting to hear the footsteps of a Global Regulator...
World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report predicts slip in global GDP growth from 2.5 percent in 2008 to 0.9 percent in 2009. Growth of developing countries may decline from 7.9 percent in 2008 to 4.5 percent in 2009.  Read the Article.  
 

G20 Conference in Washington
Outcome Raises Hopes
There is a common understanding that all of us should promote pro-growth economic policy. There is more work to be done and there will be further meetings, sending a clear signal that a meeting is not going to solve the world’s problems.” — George Bush    Read the Article.  
 

Bloating Deficit can Injure Indian Economy 
Recession has hit Indian exports and investment, its severity may harden in the coming quarters. The liquidity shock is palpable in India too. Surging outflow of foreign institutional investors (FIIs); vanishing external trade; liabilities of Indian bank branches abroad drying up and needing credit lines from home base and external financing for ambitious foreign acquisitions by corporates are increasing. All these are putting up pressure for domestic credit.   Read the Article.  
 

Indian Economic Summit 2008
A Test on India's Fiscal Strength and competitiveness 
“India’s young population is an added advantage and a future asset, as they are the reservoirs of skilled talent that can be used to run lean manufacturing plants” — Joerg Mueller Read the Article.  
 

Canada-India Relations
Set to Embrace More Sectors: H.E. Mr. Joseph Caron  
In an exclusive interview with Diplomatist, H.E. Mr. Joseph Caron, High Commissioner for Canada to India, speaks about the deepening relations between the two countries.  Excerpts.  Read an Interview.
 

Belgian King Visits India
Belgium is an important trading partner for India and is one of the top 5 trading partners in the European Union. Belgium is the third largest trade partner of India in the EU with annual bilateral trade turnover exceeding US$8.6 billion  Read the Article.
 

Disaster Management
Public-Private Partnerships in Progress  
“The private sector provides value for minimizing vulnerability while safeguarding communities in their vicinities. The collective involvement of the partners of this conference will bring a symbiosis of value to the emergency needs to support the government operations. There is a need to engage in dialogues for continuity of plans” — J K Sinha  Read the Article.
 

Colombia Enthralls with Cultural Week   
The cultural czars from the land of famed writer Gabriel Gaza Marcues literally stormed Indian metros with their wonderful cultural expressions in the last week of October, when the Colombian Embassy in India hosted a weeklong cultural retrospective in India. Held in four Indian metros of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkota and Chennai the cultural feat and had four major components-Exhibition, Music band and concerts, Film Festival and a conclave of eminent writers from Colombia.  Read the Article.
 

Egyptian President's Visit
Old Friends Decide to Intensify Ties  
INDIA EGYPT JOINT BUSINESS GROUP: An Indo-Egypt Joint Business Group (IEJBG) was formed in October 1997 at the instance of the then Prime Ministers of India and Egypt to increase economic and industrial cooperation between the two countries with involvement of private sectors. The IEJBG which enjoys support of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and the Ministry of International Cooperation, Government of Egypt, has held three meetings so far, one in Cairo in 1999 , the second in Bangalore in January, 2002 and latest being in December 2004 at New Delhi.  Read the Article.
  

Indo-Arab Forum Summit, New Delhi
Deeper Cultural Ties to supplement Economic Relations  
“We are taking an important step in our relations with the launch of the India-Arab Cooperation Forum. We believe that this Forum will emerge as a mechanism to strengthen and diversify our relations in various fields including, culture, trade, energy and human resources” — Pranab Mukherjee  Read the Article.
  

PM's Gulf Visit
Indian Signs Pacts on Energy and Investment  
“The Gulf region is an area of great importance to India as it is part of our extended neighbourhood, and home to five million Indians. It is the largest source of our energy supplies. We have active trade and investment interests” — Dr. Manmohan Singh  Read the Article.
 

World Energy Day
Need for Energy Conservation in Emerging Economies  
World Energy Day is celebrated on 14th December to underscore the importance of energy consumption and its use in our day-to-day life, its scarcity and its impact on sustainability of global eco systems. It focuses attention on critical issues facing the future of mankind with respect to energy.  Read the Article.
 

Turkey PM Visits India
Gas pipeline through Israel discussed  
“The global financial crisis has highlighted the urgent need for reform of international institutions. It is also an opportunity for India and Turkey to leverage their mutual complementarities to infuse dynamism into the global economy”. — Dr. Manmohan Singh  Read the Article. 
 

Democratic Change in Zambia and Expectations of Investors  
The Presidential election in Zambia on 30th October 2008 ushered in a multi party system which is a big development in the political history of Zambia. The victory of Rupiah Bwezani Banda also stood out for the transparency of the election process. ‘The transparency of the election, Zambia’s fifth since the end of one-party rule in 1991, was enhanced by the results from each polling centre being posted outside the building once the counting was over, and before the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) had officially announced them.’  Read the Article. 
 

World AIDS Day in India
Focus on Community Efforts  
The Red Ribbon Express project is the largest ever, mass mobilization project in the world against HIV and AIDS.  Read the Article.