INDIA & THE WORLD BILATERAL AFFAIRS JUNE 2016
- India-Nepal border pillars to be GPS-enabled
More than 8,000 pillars along the India-Nepal border will be linked to a Global Navigation Satellite System, allowing authorities for the first time to effectively manage the over 1,700-km-long porous boundary.
Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Nepal-India Boundary Global Navigation Satellite System (NIB GNSS) will be used for the boundary pillars. The decision in this regard was made at the third meeting of Nepal-India Boundary Working Group (BWG). - Cabinet approves pact for avoidance of double taxation with Belgium
The Cabinet on 22nd June gave its approval to the signing of a Protocol amending the Agreement between India and Belgium for avoidance of double taxation. The amendment in the Protocol will broaden the scope of the existing framework of exchange of tax related information between the two countries, which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.
The Protocol will also revise the existing treaty provisions on mutual assistance in collection of taxes. - India, Ghana sign three agreements
India and Ghana on 13th June signed three agreements, including one for visa waivers for holders of diplomatic and official passports and one for setting up a Joint Commission. These were signed after delegation level talks between visiting President President Pranab Mukherjee and his Ghanaian counterpart John Dramani Mahama.
- India-Mauritius DTAA: Govt sets up working group
The government has constituted a working group to examine consequential issues arising out of amendments to India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and related issues.
According to the Finance Ministry, the working group to be headed by Joint Secretary in the Central Board of Direct Taxes, CBDT will be comprised of departmental officers and representatives of SEBI, custodians, brokerage firms and fund managers. The Group has been asked to submit its report to the CBDT within 3 months, after examining the relevant issues. - India, Ghana agree for greater security and defence cooperation
India and Ghana have agreed for greater security and defence cooperation. President Pranab Mukherjee and his counterpart John Mahama said in a joint press statement that international terrorism is a scourage and a threat to the entire civilized world. They called for greater exchanges between the two countries in dealing with these challenges.
Both the leaders expressed satisfaction that bilateral trade and investments have been steadily growing. However, they observed that these were still below the existing potential. They acknowledged the need to take mutually beneficial projects such as joint fertilizer plant with an emphasis on greater value addition. - India-US sign pact for hassle-free US Entry for Indians
From August 2016, Indian citizens will be able to apply for entry into Global Entry, a US Customs and Border Protection programme that permits speedy clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travellers upon arrival in America.
The facility will be offered to Indians as per an agreement signed by India and the US last fortnight to facilitate hassle-free entry of Indians into America at selected airports. The final decision on taking an Indian into Global Entry is the prerogative of the US authorities, which screen the background of each applicant before allowing the entry.
High dignitaries like former presidents, former prime ministers, former Union ministers, film stars, top industrialists and frequent flyers are expected to be enrolled under at the beginning.
Initially, the names of around 2,000 prominent Indians could figure in the coveted list, which would be expanded gradually after proper background checks of each individual. - India, Thailand to firm up maritime security cooperation
India and Thailand are set to firm up cooperation to combat terrorism, and boost maritime security, defence ties and trade during Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha's maiden visit to India
The Thai premier will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his three-day visit beginning on 16th June.
The two countries will issue a joint statement later, expressing their expectations to increase maritime security, double trade in five years, push the India-Myanmar-Thai road project, cooperate in civil aviation, fight cybercrime and promote people-to-people cooperation, said Maj-General Werachon Sukondhapatipak, a deputy Thai government spokesman. - US Senate approves enhanced military cooperation with India
The US Senate has unanimously approved a move to enhance military co-operation with India for developing threat analysis, military doctrine, force planning, logistical support and intelligence collection and analysis.
An amendment titled to authorise military-to-military exchanges with India was agreed in the Senate by a voice vote as part of the National Defence Authorisation Act -2017. - India-Bangladesh transit facility becomes operational
India-Bangladesh transit facility, under the revised Inland Water Transit and Trade Protocol, becomes operational on 16th June. It was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in June last year. A ship from Kolkata carrying 1000 tonnes of steel and iron sheets reached Ashuganj river port in Bangladesh.
From there it will transit throughout Bangladesh territory to reach its destination in Tripura. The transit facility with provision of third country access was formally inaugurated
The Kolkata-Ashuganj-Tripura transit through a river route and land route crossing Bangladesh territory cuts the Kolkata-Agartala distance via Siliguri's 'chicken neck' from 1600 km to 800 km. The reduced distance cuts the transportation costs from mainland India to the northeastern region from 67 US dollars to 35 US dollars per tonne, and the time from 30 days to just 10 days. India pays transit fees of 192.25 dollars per tonne as negotiated between the two countries.
With the formal inauguration of the transit facility between India and Bangladesh, both friendly neighbours sharing a strong historical and cultural bond have crossed yet another milestone in their bilateral relations.
The Kolkata-Ashuganj-Tripura tranist route gives mainland India easier and cheaper access to the seven northeastern states. The revised Inland Water Transit & Trade Protocol under India-Bangladesh Bilateral Trade Agreement gives India and Bangladesh the right to each other's territory for transiting goods to third countries. - Namibia invites Indian companies to directly mine uranium from the country
India and Namibia on 16th June signed two MoUs, including one on capacity building for civil servants of Namibia and the other on setting up of centre of excellence in ICT. The agreements were signed after one to one dialogue with visiting President Pranab Mukherjee and his Namibian counterpart Hage Geingob which was followed by delegation level talks in Windhoek.
A high level expert team from India will visit Namibia to explore possibilities of mining Uranium in the country. Namibia is the fourth largest supplier of Uranim and both the countries signed an agreement on nuclear energy in 2009.
However, a treaty of African Union called Pelindaba treaty prohibits implementation of the agreement as India is not the signatory of Nuclear Non Proliferation treaty. Both the countries also discussed on the urgent need for UNSC reforms and the host country supported India's bid for the permanent membership. Mr Sinha also said that a defence agreement to train Namibian military officials is also likely to be signed during the visit. - India, Thailand agree to forge closer partnership in defence, maritime cooperation
India and Thailand have agreed to forge a closer partnership in the fields of defence and maritime cooperation. The two countries also inked two agreements in the area of culture and education.
After delegation level talks with the visiting Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said close security partnership would help both the countries to secure people from rising threat of terrorism.
India and Thailand agreed to further deepen security engagement in the fields of cyber security, narcotics, transnational economic offences and human trafficking.
Prime Minister Modi said, India and Thailand have prioritized completion of India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral highway and early signing of the Motor Vehicles Agreement between the three countries.
Mr Modi said, improving access to Southeast Asia from Northeastern States benefits people of the both sides. He said, early conclusion of a balanced Comprehensive Economic and Partnership Agreement is a shared priority for both the nations.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha said, he and Mr Modi agreed to encourage Indian and Thai businessmen to invest in each other's countries. He also said there is a need to expedite negotiations regarding free trade agreement between India and Thailand to increase volume of trade. - India, Ghana agree for civil nuclear cooperation
India has, in principle, agreed to look into Ghana's request for cooperation in civil nuclear energy field. President Pranab Mukherjee returned India after a six day visit to Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia
Namibia, India expressed readiness of its private and public enterprises to partner with Namibia in sustainable development of its mining sector.
Namibia has assured India that it will look into "legal ways" of supplying uranium for peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Taking bilateral relations to new highs, India and Namibia have agreed on cooperation on many issues including nuclear energy.
Resource-rich Namibia has assured India that it will look into "legal ways" for supplying uranium for peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Namibian President Hage Geingob (Hah-gay Gayn-gohb) has said that Namibia commends India's commitment towards peaceful use of nuclear energy.
At present Namibia, has to abide by a regional nuclear non-proliferation regimes,the Pelindaba Treaty, which prohibits nuclear trade of Namibia with countries which have not signed the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty. There are a total of 12 countries with whom India has entered into agreement for the supply of nuclear fuel.
These include Australia, Sri lanka, Argentina, Russia, Japan, Canada, South Korea, France etc.
The offer from Namibia which also happens to be the fourth largest producer of Uranium, would greatly help India to increase the component of nuclear power in its energy mix, provided the legal hitches were removed.
An Indian team will soon visit Namibia to explain the Namibian authorities the feasibility of nuclear cooperation between the two countries.
During this visit, India has gifted various grant in aids to Namibia. Important ones being- 1000 tonnes of rice for drought hit people
- 100 tonnes of medicine, including ARvs
- USD 20000 for Indira Gandhi Maternity Clinic
- Increase in ITEC scholarships from less than 100 to 200
- Assistance in Solar Power projects
- India, South Korea launch platform to promote investments
India and South Korea pm 18th June launched a platform to promote and facilitate investments from the east Asian country. The platform 'Korea Plus' was launched by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her South Korean counterpart Joo Hyunghwan in New Delhi.
The commerce and industry ministry, in a statement said it is a special initiative to promote and facilitate Korean Investments in India.Korea Plus comprises a representative each from the South Korean Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy and Korea. - India and Qatar sign 7 key agreements
India and Qatar on 5th June signed 7 important agreements including investments, skills, health and tourism. Agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a round table meeting with the leading businessmen of Qatar.
He addressed business leaders and praised the role of Emir of Qatar in promoting India Qatar business ties.
Prime Minister Modi assured the business leadership that he will address the bottlenecks identified by them.
Qatar is 4th west Asian country Prime Minister Modi visited within a year. India Qatar trade is worth 10 billion dollars, Qatar is India's biggest LNG supplier. India imports 65% of its LNG from Qatar. 6 lakh 30 thousand Indians are living in the gulf state. India is Qatar's third largest trading partner, while Qatar is the eleventh most significant trading partner of India.
Prime Minister Modi met Indian workers in Qatar, gave an inspiring speech to boost the spirits, but the most inspirational moment came after he finished his speech.
Prime Minister Modi interacted with the workers, walked up to them and personally spoke with them and then actually sat down to break bread with them.
FIFA 2022 World Cup also came up for discussion. The country will be hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 2022 FIFA World Cup presents an opportunity for Indian investors to increase business and other exports to Qatar. - Obama, India’s PM Modi promise future deal on climate change and energy
The leaders of India and the United States on 7th June vowed to ratify the Paris climate accord this year, pledged to nail down terms for limiting a potent greenhouse gas used as a refrigerant in air conditioners, and set a one-year deadline for concluding a deal for six commercial nuclear power plants.
But the two sides provided few specifics about how they would achieve those goals beyond saying that President Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who were meeting at the White House, share the same objectives and have established time frames for resolving differences.
Even without the agreed deadlines, the recent pledge by Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump to renegotiate the Paris climate accord if he is elected has added a sense of urgency among world leaders to make sure the accord goes into effect before the end of the year.
When at least 55 countries, who account for at least 55 per cent of global emissions, have all moved to join the agreement, the Paris accord then enters into force after a 30-day wait period.
India accounts for 4.1 per cent of global emissions.
India is a key country for the United States, given tensions with Pakistan and its status as a bulwark against China in South Asia. But Obama has put climate and energy issues at the forefront of relations with Modi.
The focus among negotiators leading up to meeting has been an effort to work out details for restricting hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs, by adding them to the existing Montreal Protocol, the global treaty adopted in 1987 to address ozone depletion.
The two nations agreed on that they would link increased financial support for India from a multilateral fund with what Obama adviser Brian Deese called “an ambitious approach to phase out HFCs altogether.” - India, US pledge to pursue new opportunities to bolster economic growth, peace and security
India and US on 8th June pledged to pursue new opportunities to bolster economic growth and sustainable development, promote peace and security.
In a joint statement both countries reiterated their commitment to strengthen inclusive, democratic governance and respect for universal human rights.
Both the leaders welcomed the start of preparatory work on site in India for six AP 1000 reactors to be built by Westinghouse and noted the intention of India and the U.S. Export-Import Bank to work together toward a competitive financing package for the project.
Once completed, the project would be among the largest of its kind, fulfilling the promise of the US-India civil nuclear agreement and demonstrating a shared commitment to meet India's growing energy needs while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
Both sides welcomed the announcement by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. and westinghouse that engineering and site design work will begin immediately and the two sides will work toward finalizing the contractual arrangements by June 2017.
The joint statement said, United States and India share common climate and clean energy interests and are close partners in the fight against climate change.
The United States and India also announced creation of a $20 million US-India Clean energy Finance (USICEF) initiative, equally supported by the United States and India, which is expected to mobilize up to $400 million to provide clean and renewable electricity to up to 1 million households by 2020.
The Statement said United States and India will work together to combat the threat of terrorists accessing and using chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological materials. Recalling their shared commitment to preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, the leaders looked forward to India's imminent entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime. - India to open new consulate in Seattle
India will soon open another consulate in Seattle to cater to the needs of large number of Indian-Americans living in the northwestern part of the United States.
This was stated in a joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama at the White House on 7th June.
According to the Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, both sides committed to open additional consulates in each other's country. India will be opening a new consulate in Seattle and the US will open a new consulate at a mutually agreed location in India. The two countries also announced a series of measures to encourage people-to-people contacts. - Mexico backs India's bid for NSG membership
Mexico support to India’s membership to the Nuclear Supplier Group and working towards elevating relationship from Privilege Partners to Strategic Partnership were two important outcomes of the bilateral talks held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico city on 9th June.
At a joint media interaction with Mr Modi, Mr Nieto said that Mexico supports positively and constructively India's membership of the Nuclaer Supplier Group. On his part, the Prime Minister thanked Mexico for its support and called the country an important partner for India's energy security.
Mexican President welcomed investments from India in steel, pharmaceuticals and automobiles sector. Clean energy, agriculture best practices and Science and Technology were other areas pointed out by Mr Modi for greater cooperation between the two countries.
The Prime Minister's five nation trip concluded with a short working visit to Mexico on 9th June, affirming greater and stronger ties between both the countries. - Swachh Yug campaign to make villages located along Ganga open defecation-free
As part of its efforts to make villages located along Ganga open defecation-free, Government has launched a campaign ‘Swachh Yug’, a collaborative effort of three Union Ministries, to bring about behavioural change among people staying in villages along the holy river.
There are 5,169 villages located along Ganga falling under 1,651 gram panchayats (GPs) in 52 districts of five states - UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal from where the holy river flows through. The Union Ministries of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Water Resources and Youth Affairs are working on the campaign in a collaborative manner.
As part of the campaign, the Ministry of Youth Affairs, under the coordination of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, will enlist support of youth agencies such as the Bharat Scouts and Guides, Nehru Yuva Kendras and National Service Scheme.
These organisations will be called upon to provide a large number of local youth volunteers to support a behaviour change campaign in the 52 districts under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
To take this initiative forward, a nodal officer has been identified for each district to work on making area under their jurisdiction open defecation free (ODF) in a “mission mode” as well as to focus on cleanliness at village through proper solid and liquid waste management.
As part of the same, the first virtual classroom will be launched tomorrow in 12 districts of Bihar, where five-day training will be provided to 50 youth volunteers in each location, connected to the trainer virtually.
The districts and states have been assured of full support from Central government in these efforts. The state teams have, in turn, expressed their enthusiasm for and commitment towards the initiative, the statement said. - Centre announces new Print Media Advertisement policy
Information and Broadcasting ministry today framed a New Print Media Advertisement Policy for Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) with the objective to promote transparency and accountability in issuing of advertisements in print media.
The policy focuses on streamlining release of Government advertisements and to also promote equity and fairness among various categories of newspapers and periodicals.
The Ministry in a release said, for the first time the policy introduces a New Marking System for newspapers to incentivize Newspapers who have better professional standing and get their circulation verified by ABC and RNI. This will also ensure transparency and accountability in the release of advertisements by DAVP.
For payment and adjustment of Bills, the policy framework mandates that DAVP will release payment of advertisement bills in the name of newspaper or company account directly through ECS or NEFT.
The policy has classified newspaper and journals into three categories namely small, that is upto 25,000 copies, medium between 25,001 and 75,000 copies and big, 75,000 copies or more, per publishing day.
DAVP is the nodal agency of the Government of India for advertising on behalf of various Ministries and Departments which are funded by the government. - India, UK join hands to study monsoon variability
India and the UK have joined hands to start an observational campaign from June 8 till end-July to better understand small-scale processes that drive monsoon variability and predictability.
The Rs. 50-crore project, the cost of which is being shared by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the UK Met department, will involve the deployment of UK’s BAe-146-301 atmospheric research aircraft with sophisticated scientific instruments and India’s Sagar Nidhi and Sindhu Sadhna research ships during May-July
This joint effort is part of the implementation agreement signed between the Ministry and Natural Environment Research Council, UK, entailing three research projects. - AP inks pact with Chinese firm for incubation centre
The Andhra Pradesh Information Technology and Communication Department and ZTE Soft, a fully-owned subsidiary of ZTE Corporation, a leading telecom services provider, have inked a pact for setting up an incubation centre and an innovation hub for smart cities in Kakinada.
The Innovation hub will be a 85:15 venture between the AP government and Qianhai Authority and ZTE Soft. Initially, AP will invest Rs. 13.60 crore and ZTE Rs. 2.4 core. The centre will be known as AP-Shenzhen Joint Incubation Centre and Smart City Innovation Hub.
The ZTE Soft Technology Ltd and the Qianhai Authority of China proposed a three-year programme with Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society to establish a facility and create the support infrastructure needed for a world-class startup eco-system. The incubation centre will serve as a model for economic development. According to Palle Raghunath Reddy, State Minister for IT and Communications, the hub would generate 670 direct jobs and 2,500 indirect ones over the next three years.
As a part of the agreement, AP will open an extension office in the Quinhai Innovation Centre to serve as a facilitator for other investments. - India inks pact with US to enhance cooperation in energy security and other areas
India has inked a pact with the United States to enhance cooperation in energy security, clean energy and climate change. Power ministry on 2nd June said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in New Delhi with an aim to promote sustainable growth. Power Secretary P K Pujari and US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma signed the MoU.
The pact will boost energy ties between the two countries through increased bilateral engagement .It also intended to increase incentives for innovation including research and development, and mutually-agreed technology transfer, as well as the deployment of clean energy technologies in both countries.
The priority initiatives under the MoU would be US-India Energy smart Cities Partnership, greening the grid and promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy (PEACE) expansion among others. - Singapore Arbitration Centre to open India office
The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) will establish a representative office at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) to resolve international commercial disputes.
An international arbitration centre or IAC is a centre where disputes arising out of commercial agreements from sectors like insurance, shipping, construction, private equity and other trades are handled. Arbitration is different from court litigation and is typically less time-consuming as it is done in private between the lawyers representing the aggrieved parties.
SIAC has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Limited (GIFTCL) and GIFT SEZ Limited (GIFT SEZ), according to statement issued by GIFT City.
As per the terms of the agreement, GIFTCL, GIFT SEZ and SIAC will collaborate to promote the use of arbitration, mediation and other dispute resolution mechanisms, including the innovative 'Arb-Med-Arb' service offered by the SIAC and the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC)
Further, SIAC will establish a representative office at GIFT City to promote its international arbitration services to Indian users. Indian parties are among the top five foreign users of SIAC in the last five years. It was the top foreign user of SIAC in 2013 and 2015. - India, Singapore agree to enhance scale of military interaction
India and Singapore on 3rd June held the first dialogue between their defence ministers as they agreed to enhance the scale of existing bilateral military interaction.
After holding dialogue with his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen in Singapore, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told that the two countries have agreed on expanding the interaction between the armed forces .
The agreement will also see Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) working with a Singapore research agency on research-oriented projects. Mr. Parrikar further said the two sides also agreed to collaborate between industries under 'Make in India' initiative.
A joint statement issued after the meeting said both ministers strongly condemned terrorism, and renewed their commitment to cooperation in counter terrorism efforts, emphasised the importance of safeguarding maritime security in international waterways. - India and Tunisia ink two MoUs
India and Tunisia sign two MoUs on promotion of handicrafts and IT and and digital economy; In the final leg of his two-nation trip, Vice President Hamid Ansari held talks with Prime Minister Habib Essid; both leaders discussed issue of spreading terrorism.
In an effort to increase mutual cooperation, India and Tunisia have signed two MoUs on promotion of handicrafts and IT and communication and digital economy.
Vice President Hamid Ansari met Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid and held one-on-one talks which were followed by the delegation-level talks between the two sides. Both leaders discussed a range of issues of mutual and regional interests.
The two sides also discussed the issue of spreading tide of extremism and terrorism. India will also train 350 Tunisian students in next five years.
The two sides will promote each other's traditional handicraft and increase mutual cooperation in the IT and related sectors, including digital economy. Vice President appreciated Tunisia's support for India's candidature to the UN Security Council.
Tunisian Prime Minister also highlighted India's relations with his country in various fields including auto-sector, agriculture and IT. He said that the meeting of the India-Tunisia Joint Committee will be held later this year.
The Vice President also visited Zaitouna Mosque, Bardo Museum and the House of Representatives. Zaitouna Mosque is the oldest one in Tunis. Tunisia has has suffered major terror attacks. As a mark of solidarity Vice President visited the Bardo museum which was under attack last year in March.
The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the incident that left 24 people dead, including 20 foreign tourists. - PM Modi, Afghanistan Prez Ghani jointly inaugurate Afghan-India Friendship Dam
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on 4th June jointly inaugurated the Afghan India Friendship Dam, earlier know as Salma Dam in Herat.
Prime Minister Modi thanked President Ghani for naming the dam as Afghan-India Friendship Dam. Mr Modi said, brave people of Afghanistan are sending a message that the forces of destruction and death, denial and domination shall not prevail.}
The Prime Minister was also conferred with the highest civilian honor of Afghanistan, Ghazi Amanullah Khan medal. - India, Singapore agree to enhance scale of military interaction
India and Singapore on 3rd June held the first dialogue between their defence ministers as they agreed to enhance the scale and complexity of existing bilateral military interaction, at a time when freedom of navigation in international waterways has emerged as a major concern.
The first Defence Ministers' Dialogue (DMD) between Manohar Parrikar and his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen marked raising of bilateral defence cooperation to the highest level. Both countries had very detailed discussions and have have agreed on expanding the interaction between the armed forces and defence R&D and industry participation under (the) 'Make in India' (initiative),"
"Under (the) 'Make in India' initiative, the industry-to- industry cooperation has already begun and it is showing positive response.
The agreement will also see Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) working with a Singapore research agency on research-oriented projects.
A joint statement issued after the meeting said both ministers committed to enhance the scale and complexity of existing bilateral exercises between the militaries. The minister emphasised the importance of international cooperation in tackling transnational security threats.
In particular, both ministers strongly condemned terrorism, and renewed their commitment to cooperation in counter terrorism efforts besides emphasising the importance of safeguarding maritime security in international waterways.
Freedom of navigation in international waterways like the disputed South China Sea has emerged as a concern for many countries including the US, which has sent warships and military planes to challenge territorial claims by China over the strategic waters. In response, China has deployed fighter jets and ships to track and warn off US ships. Looking at the region, Parrikar also stressed India's stand on disputes in the South China Sea, saying "solutions should be found peacefully.
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