INDIA & THE WORLD BILATERAL AFFAIRS DECEMBER 2016
- Obama signs defence bill; boosts security coop with India
US President Barack Obama has signed the National Defence Authorisation Act 2017, which asks US Defence Secretary and Secretary of State to take necessary steps to recognize India as America's major defence partner.
The Act, asks the US administration to designate an individual, within the executive branch, who has experience in defence acquisition and technology, to ensure the success of the framework for US-India Defence Relationship. The Act will also help resolve remaining issues impeding US-India defence trade, security cooperation, and co-production and co-development opportunities.
The Act which enhances security co-operation between India and US also creates a condition that nearly half of the funding to Pakistan to be released on a certification that it is taking demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network. - India, Indonesia decide to strengthen defence, maritime relations
India and Indonesia on 12th December decided to strengthen their defence and maritime security relations and resolved to effectively address the issue of terrorism. The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations in the strongest terms, emphasizing zero tolerance for acts of terror.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo had delegation level talks in New Delhi and called upon all countries to implement the UNSC Resolution and other relevant resolutions.
The two countries signed three agreements in various areas including youth affairs and sports, fishing and standardization to enhance strategic partnership.
The two countries agreed for an early implementation of India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in Services and investment, and finalization of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
The two sides decided to speed up establishment of Chairs of Indian and Indonesian Studies in each other's universities to encourage research on historical connections. They also agreed to enhance their scholarship and training programmes.
The countries emphasised the importance of pluralism, democracy, and rule of law as important values to achieve peaceful co-existence. They also agreed to have annual Summit meetings, including on the margins of multilateral events. - Venkaiah Naidu inaugurates 6th Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on 14th December inaugurated the sixth edition of Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development in New Delhi. According to Venkaiah urbanization has become irreversible and ensuring disaster resilience in urban area is the key.
He mentioned that housing is one of most important component of civilization and fostering competition among cities, ranking of cities, comprehensive planning have resulted in a new urban renaissance is taking place in India. - Indo-Russian naval exercise begins in Bay of Bengal
India and Russia on 14th December started their naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal with an aim to increase interoperability and strengthen security cooperation between the two maritime forces.
The 9th edition of INDRA Navy-16, a bilateral exercise between the navies of the two close allies, will continue till December 21. Initiated in 2003, INDRA Navy epitomises the strong long-term strategic relationship between the two countries.
The primary aim of the exercise is to increase interoperability among the two navies and develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations. Its scope includes wide-ranging professional interactions in harbor and a diverse canvas of operational activities across a spectrum of maritime operations at sea.
During the eight-day long military maneuver, the Indian Navy is being represented by INS Ranvir, a guided missile destroyer, INS Satpura, an indigenous frigate, and INS Kamorta an indigenous Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) corvette.
In addition, an Indian submarine, P8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft, Dornier short range maritime patrol aircraft, Hawk advanced jet Trainer and other integral rotary wing helicopters are scheduled to participate in the drill. India, ASEAN set target of $100 billion trade to be achieved by 2020
India and ASEAN have set a target of trading at 100 billion dollar to be achieved by 2020. Currently the trade between ASEAN and India is 57 billion dollars. According to the Deputy Secretary-General, ASEAN Mr. A.K.P. Mochtan, India is one of the most important powers in the region and will be a significant dialogue partner.
ASEAN and India will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2017, which will be attended by the head of states of all the ASEAN countries. Mr. Mochtan also said that in view of the anniversary, India and ASEAN are planning to enhance people to people contact.- India, Tajikistan decide to strengthen Cooperation
India and Tajikistan have signed four agreements in areas including on double taxation avoidance, money laundering and counter-terrorism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon witnessed the exchange of MoUs in New Delhi following delegation level talks.
Both leaders reaffirmed their resolve to work for early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism by the UN General Assembly. They called for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process and national reconciliation for Afghan peace and prosperity.
The two leaders called for exploring the possibility of increasing flight operations between the two countries. They also agreed to explore ways for easier business, medical and tourist and other visas to promote people to people exchanges. - India- Bangladesh discussed to prevent cross boarder illegal activities
India and Bangladesh on 5th December discussed institutional arrangements and cooperation to prevent illegal activities along the borders. During the Home Secretary level talks between the two countries in New Delhi, both sides also deliberated on border management and security issues. Indian delegation was led by Home Secretary Rajiv Maharishi while Senior Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs, Bangladesh, Dr. Md. Mozammel Haque Khan led the neighbouring country.
- India to strengthen defence ties with Vietnam
India on 5th December reiterated its resolve to strengthen defence ties further with Vietnam saying the country is a key pillar of its act east policy.
During his meeting with visiting Defence Minister of Vietnam, General Ngo Xuan Lich in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that the two countries have a longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship in the field of defence.
He said the closer cooperation between the two sides in all sectors will contribute to the stability, security and prosperity of the entire region. Mr. Modi recalled his visit to Vietnam in September this year during which the bilateral relationship was upgraded to the level of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. - BRICS nations pledge to share tax information
BRICS nations 6th December pledged to share tax information automatically and adopt global standards on tax transparency to check cross border tax evasion.
According to an official statement, BRICS nations resolved to start exchanging information automatically with each other by 2018 and also support other developing nations in increasing their tax administrations capacity to implement the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development standard on Automatic Exchange of Information.
BRICS nations expressed deep concern with the process of erosion of the tax base by aggressive tax practices. They urged timely and consistent implementation of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project across as many tax jurisdictions as possible. - US designates India as major defence partner
India has been designated as a major defence partner of the United States; this was announced in the India-US joint statement on US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter’s visit to New Delhi.
The designation is a status unique to India and institutionalizes the progress made to facilitate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level at par with that of the United States’ closest allies and partners, and ensures enduring cooperation in future.
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter made an official visit to India on 7th December at the invitation of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, marking the seventh interaction between the two leaders.
A joint statement issued in New Delhi, both leaders reviewed the progress made in bilateral defence ties and discussed the immense promise for the future of India-US security cooperation. Both sides exchanged views on regional security issues including the threat posed by terrorism. - India-UK Conference on Ease of Doing Business inaugurated in Delhi
The India-UK Conference on Ease of Doing Business has been jointly inaugurated on 8th December by Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ramesh Abhishek and British High Commissioner Dominic Asquith in New Delhi.
The two day conference will act as an opportunity to enhance the strategic bilateral partnership between the two countries to the next level.
Both countries partnership on Ease of Doing Business is important because of the role that the business environment plays in encouraging trade, investment, innovation and economic growth. - India-Vietnam sign civil nuclear cooperation agreement
India and Vietnam signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement. The agreement was signed in New Delhi in presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and visiting President of Vietnam's National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan after their talks on enhancing the ties.
The MoU on civil nuclear cooperation was signed by Sekhar Basu, Secretary of Department of Atomic Energy, and Pham Cong Tac, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam. The civil nuclear agreement with Vietnam comes close on the heels of India signing a similar pact with Japan. Vietnam is the 14th country with which India signed the civil nuclear deal.
The two countries also signed three other agreements to enhance aviation links, to jointly work in the area of energy efficiency and promotion of parliamentary cooperation. - India-US ink Rs 5000 cr deal for 145 M777 Howitzer guns
India and the US have inked a nearly Rs. 5,000 crore deal for 145 M777 ultra-light howitzers, which will be mostly deployed near the borders with China. Letter of acceptance on M777 Ultra Light Howitzers has been signed.
- India, Qatar sign four agreements including cyber security & visa relaxation
India and Qatar signed four agreements in the fields of cyber security, visa relaxation, and investments in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani in New Delhi on 3rd December. Another MoU aimed at encouraging greater collaboration and exchange in field of national ports management of India and Qatar has also been signed.
This is the first visit of Sheikh Abdullah to India and the third high-level bilateral engagement between the two countries in the past two years, which underlines India’s growing ties with Qatar.
India's close and friendly relations with Qatar are based on mutually beneficial commercial exchanges and extensive people-to-people contacts. Qatar is not only an important trading partner for India in the Gulf region but is also the largest supplier of LNG to the country, accounting for 66 per cent of our total imports in 2015-16. Indians form the largest expatriate community in Qatar.
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