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PUBLISHER’S NOTE/EDITORIAL

“No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow”, says an ancient proverb. Spring is finally here, brimming with hope and blossoming with cheer. It is this sense of hope that pervades the preparations for the highly-anticipated EU-India Summit, scheduled for February.

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India and Bangladesh So Close Yet not There

Indeed, energy cooperation, the first project to be initiated at Palatan, Tripura, portends huge potential for mutual development. This, along with the implementation of the other agreements that will increase connectivity through land and water, has the likelihood to generate enormous economic gains, not only for India and Bangladesh, but for the entire region. In fact, once these are in place, the two neighbours could expand their bilateral cooperative framework to include a broader regional cooperation. New Delhi and Dhaka will then no longer be hostage to the political see sawing that has been the trend so far. The implementation of the bilateral agreements signed will effectively ensure that geography will be the fulcrum of greater opportunities and history becomes a positive legacy to repose faith in each other

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The third India-Pakistan War during December 1971 was historically significant as it liberated erstwhile Bengali East Pakistan from decades of oppression by the ruling military government of West Pakistan, culminating in horrific genocide by the Pakistan army and the birth of a new nation, Bangladesh. On 25 March 1971, the liberation war was launched by the Mukti Bahini (Liberation Army), as Pakistani soldiers aided by local collaborators, had reportedly killed an estimated 3 million people, raped 2,00,000 women and forced millions of people to flee to India.

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The partnership builds on the pillars formed by the late Vietnamese President Ho Chin Minh and Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. The partnership has been developed in all fields including politics, security and defence, trade and investment, culture, tourism and human resource development. India’s plan to formulate a “Look East” policy as early as 1991, to capitalize on East Asia’s economic growth, helped both the countries to build a strong relationship in the last four decades

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May 2011 will remain etched in Pakistan’s history, as a month during which a series of developments related to its military-sponsored terrorism, pitched it into a spiral of turmoil. While the killing of the world’s worst ever terrorist Osama bin Laden on 2 May 2011 in a surprise-attack by US Special forces on his mansion-hideout at Abbotabad exposed yet another major deception of Pakistan’s military, the late Syed Saleem Shahzad’s book ‘Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11’ (Pluto Press/distributed in India by Pentagon Press, 2011) released soon afterwards, exposed much more about the various nefarious connections of both the army and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

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Myanmar’s Tryst with Popular Democracy

H.E. Zin Yaw, Ambassador, Republic of the Union of Myanmar came across optimistic about all issues including pro-democracy developments, economy, trade and business, and top of it all, his country’s dalliance with US led Western sanctions over the past many years. In his interview with our editor, Akhilesh Sourav, H.E. stressed the vibrant India-Burma relations.

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India-EU Summit 2012 Valorising Untapped Potential

The EU-India Strategic Partnership has clearly broadened their areas of cooperation, which correspond to shared concerns and complementarities. High on the list of stronger cooperation are non-conventional threats, such as the fight against piracy, counter-terrorism and cyber-security

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The EU-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations were launched in July 2007 and even though there have been 13 rounds of negotiations, it has not been signed. EU is one of India’s biggest trade and investment partner and simulation models have shown that there would be an increase in overall exports and imports for both EU and India and bilateral trade would grow to €160.6 billion by 2015.

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The West, particularly the US and the EU, should learn from both India and China on how to deal with economic fundamentals of the economies. During the past half a decade, India has shown the world how to remain largely unaffected by the bearish sentiments and sluggish growth in the large part of the western economies. Now they seem to understand that only uncontrolled and hyper globalization cannot be the panacea for offsetting the fall out of bad policies. Now the West tends to resort to more of protectionism instead of pragmatic capitalism

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Will the India-EU FTA put the Brakes on India’s Auto Industry

India has recognized the role that the automobile industry could play in driving economic growth. In the year 2002, the Government of India came out with the Auto Policy 2002. Accordingly, a framework for policy was put in place to promote growth of the industry in the country.

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The paradox of Iranian missile tests, ostensibly threatening the stability of the Persian Gulf, is that it also increases pressures on oil prices in world markets and allows Iran to reap even more financial gains. Tehran knows very well that regardless of French, British, or American sanctions and military threats, China and Russia, for economic and political reasons, have backed a softer approach toward Iran

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Clash between Modernity and Islam in Algeria

While the current round of unrest in Algeria undoubtedly has its stimulus in poor living conditions for the common man as also the high cost of living, the roots of the unrest lie much deeper. Modernity (as represented by the government which has consciously attempted to reject the influence of religion) has come into conflict with traditional Islamic values (as represented by the orthodox Islamic lobby) which automatically tend to reject “secular” values of the former as unfamiliar and unIslamic

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Nigeri Faces Fundamentalist Fury

Nigeria’s religious violence is a cause of global concern because of her demographic, territorial and economic strength. These violent events have shattered the western world’s dream of turning Nigeria into a peaceful, oil-rich alternative of the troubled Emirate states. Washington has stopped calling Nigeria’s Gulf of Guinea ‘the Next Gulf’. The West is worried of losing Nigeria to religious extremism, because it is the most populous nation and a natural leader of black Africa

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India-Denmark ‘Sailing High’

In 2012, Denmark chairs the European Union (EU) for the seventh time, as they previously held the Presidency in 1973, 1978, 1982, 1987 and 1993, and most recently in 2002, when the major enlargement of the EU with 10 countries was negotiated into place. However, many things have changed since then and Denmark will need to lead with a new perspective.

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“Denmark wants India to be a Permanent Member of UNSC”

H.E. Mr. Freddy Svane, Ambassador of Denmark, firmly believes that India must be part of any equation of development and growth around the world. In talks with our editor, Akhilesh Sourav, H.E. says that Europe values India as a strategic partner and as one of most important engines of growth for the global economy.

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Europe in 2012 Optimism of Better Times

The present Euro zone debt crisis has produced the deepest tensions in the memory of the Union. Since the fall of 2009, the European Union has been struggling with a slow-moving but unshakable crisis over the enormous debts faced by its weakest economies, like Greece and Portugal, or those most battered by the global recession, like Ireland. A series of negotiations, bailouts and austerity packages have failed to prevent the declining investor confidence or restore the growth needed to allow these struggling economies a way out of their debt traps

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Eighth WTO Ministerial Conference...and the Way Ahead

There exist some other critical issues which require utmost global attention, and that too, through a pragmatic approach to rule-making in the WTO. Concerns related to Russia’s accession, climate change, or the Doha Agenda, to name a few, have been the peripheral issues surrounding the academic and policy discourses prior to MC-8. However, they are not the only means of strengthening multilateralism, especially for those countries which are facing some of the most serious rudimentary challenges of human development, ranging from poverty to maternal health, and from social exclusion to lack of infrastructure for primary education

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‘The Indian Ocean is Fundamental to UK Interests’ - Admiral Sir Trevor Soar

Under pressure from unprecedented defence budget cutbacks and perennial operational deployments, the Royal Navy today is confronted by escalating demands on its limited resources. In this context, Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, the Royal Navy’s Commander-in-Chief Fleet, spoke with Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe, and addressed matters such as the changes in the Royal Navy over the last decade; its contribution to the wars in Iraq; Afghanistan and Libya; the importance of the Indian Ocean as a theatre of operations; the implications of defence budget reductions; and, the growing importance of coalition interoperability. 

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Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2012

Pursuant to the law that was enacted to enable Non-resident Indians to vote in our national elections, the government has issued notifications for registration of overseas electors under the Representation of People Act, 1950, this constitutes the first major step to enable Indian residents abroad to participate in our election process,” the prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh said while addressing the 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas on 07 January 2012 at the Birla Auditorium. This annual conclave of Indian Diaspora was jointly organized by Ministry of Overseas Indian (MOIA), CII and Government of Rajasthan.

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After holding talks for the 15th round of boundary negotiations in New Delhi on 16-17 January, China’s State Councillor, Dai Bingguo, and India’s National Security Advisor, Shivshankar Menon, signed the ‘India-China Agreement on the Establishment of a Working Mechanism for Consultation and Co-ordination on India-China Border Affairs,’ which will be headed by high-level diplomatic and military officials from each country.

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ICCC and Town of Markham are committed to enhancing bilateral trade between Canada and India to reach the targeted $15 billion per year in the next five years. Currently, two-way trade between the two countries is around $5 billion annually

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The only point of solace the Indian banking system, which remains a safe bet. As a matter of fact, India’s exposure to systemic risk (the risk of collapse of a behemoth) remains significantly low at 0.89 percent of GDP, though the figure has increased since 2009

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The state of Haryana may be located on the outskirts of the National Capital Region (NCR), but it has emerged at the forefront of the nation’s industrial revolution. In fact, the state’s rise to the pinnacle of economic development began as early as 1966, its formation year, when it heralded a new chapter in the economic development of the country. Today, the state that has successfully combined growth with equity with minimum gap between rural and urban prosperity, has many achievements to its credit.

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Kite-flying has been a passionate pastime for nearly three millennia. Flying kites was also useful in scaring away birds from farms and learning about weather changes in a predominantly agrarian society. In modern times though kite flying is essentially associated with seasons and religious festivities. It is also gaining popularity as a sporting event, paving the way for kite festivals on a grand scale and size in different parts of the world.

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The festival also promises a visit to the 72 awe-inspiring inalayas holy to the Jains, the palace of Maharao Vijay Singhji, ruler of the Kutch in the 1940s, and the Shyamji Krishna Varma Memorial which houses relics from the life of the well-known freedom fighter. One of the most attractive locations is the Prag Mahal, which was home to King Pragmalji in the 1860s

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Congratulating ICC for successfully organizing the North East Business Summit for the 7th time, in his address as the Summit Chairman, Union Minister of DoNER and Mines, Paban Singh Ghatowar said “courtesy the relentless efforts undertaken in projecting the North East’s investment potential, Rs 12,000 crore worth of investments have been realized in the region till date; truly a remarkable achievement