Editor's Note
welcome to the August edition of Diplomatist. The visit of UK Prime Minister David Cameron to India was a high point in recent bilateral diplomatic parleys of India. The EU-India Summit is in the cards and expected to take place in Brussells under the Belgium chair, by end of this year. In this context, the Interview with Ambassador of Belgium to India, Jean M. Deboutte can be noteworthy for its interesting insights.   Read the Note.  
  

British PM David Cameron’s Visit to India
The British Prime Minister used a ‘Davos-style’ forum in New Delhi, in front of hundreds of UK and Indian businessmen to spell out exactly how the two countries can forge closer business links. “We have some of the best universities in the world, we have one of the strongest science bases in the world, we have got excellent civil nuclear power, we are a very strong defence industry, and we have a strong financial, insurance and banking services industry”, Cameron said.  Subscribe to Read.   
  

Interview: Belgium’s Ambassador to India
Belgium-India relations are intensifying. At the EU-India front also, relations are broadening; but I see more scope in expanding people to people contacts and exchange programmes. Programmes of EU like Erasmus Mundus can be effectively used as tools of cooperation in knowledge-sharing and enhanced people to people contacts. Subscribe to Read.  
  

Indian Ocean Rim and Strategic Potential  
The four key components of the IOR-ARC roadmap include trade liberalisation, trade and investment facilitation, economic and technical co-operation and initiating trade and investment dialogue. The association holds a Council of Ministers meeting every other year. There are three different working groups--trade and investment, business forum and academic group that engage in a variety of projects and work programmes.   Read the Article. 
   

Vibrant Gujarat 2011: Interview with Gujarat Minister
“Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2011 will be more than a conference just showcasing the opportunities for investment in Gujarat. It has already been recognised that Gujarat is the most dynamic state in India to invest. Gujarat has posted unprecedented growth in the last eight years. So in 2011, unlike the previous events our ambitions are sky high: we see Vibrant Gujarat as South Asia’s premier platform for discussion of the issues affecting the entire investment ecosystem”.   Subscribe to Read.  
 

Brand Gujarat as Pillar of Investment Summit
Gujarat’s progress in converting its biennial Investment Summit (Vibrant Gujarat) into a Davos-like International Business Summit in the coming edition of 2011 (see the Minister’s Interview), speaks volumes about the success of its managers in building Brand Gujarat. According to a Deutsche Bank Research report, Gujarat ranks first in the ‘regional scoring tool’ among 27 States in the country. With a 50 million population and an area of 1.96 lakh sq km area (6.2 per cent of the country), Gujarat has a Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of US$45.3 billion, and a per capita income of US$915 at current prices.  Subscribe to Read.      
     

BILATERAL NOTES
India participates in 15th African Union Summit in Kampala
India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting
ICCR Chair at Lund University, Sweden
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial meeting held in Hanoi
ICCR Chair in Mauritius
Kazakhstan-India Economic Cooperation is growing
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Challenges to India’s Civil Nuclear Energy Programme
India’s civilian nuclear programme has been lagging over the past few years for reasons other than the lack of foreign assistance. Long delays in construction times are not uncommon – a fast breeder reactor expected to be producing power in 2011 has been delayed by over a year. Efforts to mine uranium– a critical fuel which Indian reactors have lacked in recent years – have been stymied in places like Jharkhand, Meghalaya and Andhra Pradesh, either because of vehement political opposition or the difficulty of working in Maoist insurgency-wracked areas.    Subscribe to Read..  
   

India-Myanmar Relations
India and Myanmar relations are entering a new phase with the 4 day State Visit of the military leader and ruler General Than Shwe’s to India from 25-29 July. Myanmar is of great strategic significance to both India and China, thanks to its location and long borders with both countries. Myanmar is the only ASEAN member with which India shares a border. India’s FTA with ASEAN means a lot for the prosperity of north east region that shares border with Myanmar. Subscribe to Read..
  

India’s Africa Policy 
The Indian sponsored Pan-African e-Network (in partnership with the African Union) links 53 countries through tele-medicine, tele-education and tele-governance, and plays a crucial role in fostering skills and human resources that are critical for Africa to develop in a sustainable way. These projects require considerable investments but, in the long term, they will pay off as African countries start to recognize India’s added value in contributing not only to the quantity, but also to the quality of their economic growth.   Subscribe to Read.  
 

Indo-Japan Cooperation
A host of factors have led to a change in the way India and Japan perceive each other. These include factors like the slowdown of the Japanese economy, the rise of China, the growing economic and military might of India and a desire to move away from dependence on the US security umbrella. Like India, Japan too is heavily dependent on energy supplies from the Middle East, and the safety of sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) are a vital security interest. Given this scenario, Japan is in need of India’s support to keep its SLOC’s safe. Maritime cooperation is one of the most promising areas between India and Japan.  Subscribe to Read.
 

Asia’s rising Profile in World Economy
As the global economy becomes increasingly interconnected, spillovers between countries are playing an increasing role. Policymakers around the world—including Asia—are seeking to deepen their understanding of these spillovers. The IMF’s analysis can play a useful role in this regard. Looking forward, as Asia takes on the challenges of the post-crisis period, the IMF stands ready to serve as a partner. Let me mention three areas in particular where our work can support the region’s interests: analysis of economic and financial risks; improving international policy coordination; and enhancing the global financial safety net.  Subscribe to Read.
 

Electronics Sector
The switch from analogue to digital products led to significant changes in the structure of the Indian consumer electronics market. During the review period, mobile phones replaced analogue televisions as the single largest product in the market. Emerging product sub-sectors, like portable multimedia players, digital TVs and projectors, saw volume sales increase significantly in 2008 over previous year as falling retail prices enticed consumers to buy these once-expensive new products.    Subscribe to Read.