politicodiary

Ruchika Kamboj has done India proud as she holds the top position as an Indian representative in the United Nations. Earlier she tweeted: “It is my deepest honour to serve my country in this new position.” Kamboj has a crucial role to play at the Security Council as India has a precarious balancing act to do as a neutral party towards Russia, without taking any sides. As the Indian envoy, she will have to deal with the intense pressure the country is facing from all sides over its independent stand on Ukraine, neither backing Russia nor unequivocally condemning it, and having to frequently reiterate the position in speeches and votes at the UN. Kamboj is scheduled to preside over the Security Council in December. On Security Council reforms, an important issue for  India , she has special expertise having been a member of the team of G4 made up of India, Brazil, Germany and Japan that work together on expanding the Council's permanent membership. Kamboj has been former High...

At a time when the world is crying out loud for zero emissions and renewable sources of energy consumption, India has some 31 companies submitting their bids for coal mining and management. There are some 15 coal mines lined up with 28 coal mine auctions in place. This is the fifth tranche of auctions. Under the second attempt of the third tranche, a total of nine coal mines were put up for auctions and six bids have been received against six coal mines. It will still take India time to switch off coal and completely move onto more renewable sources of energy. “The bids will be evaluated by a multi-disciplinary Technical Evaluation Committee and Technically Qualified Bidders would be shortlisted for participation in the electronic auction,” the ministry added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in 2020 launched the auction of 41 coal mines for commercial mining, saying this is a major step in making India self-reliant in the energy sector. On the flipside, India is also moving towards de...

  A Russian crude oil provider Rosneft is holding back its hand to shake with two eager Indian buyers, sources have confirmed. As Kremlin entered into the so called ‘special military operations’ in the Ukraine, defying all Western warnings, it has been severely hit by sanctions and the world isn’t buying crude from this world’s largest seller. Now India seems to be facing empty barrels as Russia is retracting from selling it more crude. Drawn to the discounts offered, three Indian state refiners – Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum – opened negotiations with Rosneft earlier this year for six-month supply deals. Apart from IOC, the other two are not being entertained. The reasons being given are that Russia is not interested in levying any kind of rebate or concession on its crude as it has found various other means to get it out in the world on better pricing. India largely buys Russian Urals crude, but the most recent IOC deal includes an option...

  Deepika Padukone has done India proud by being called at the Cannes Film Festival. The prestigious originally French festival is considered one of the most popular one. Padukone was selected on the panel of judges where she went onto to say something that has left the social media buzzing, besides her 70s dressing look and bold dark kohled eyes that went along well with a Sabyasachi saree.  She landed up saying, "We are here without the pressure of performance on stage." Indeed, the actor who has struggled at one point of depression was as straight as she could be, expressing in a few words how much stress and depression that actors can go through.  The actor   is serving on Cannes jury alongside  actor-filmmaker Rebecca Hall, Noomi Rapace and Italian actor-director Jasmine Trinca, as well as directors Asghar Farhadi, Ladj Ly, Jeff Nichols and Joachim Trier. The jury will decide which film wins the Palme D’Or.   She is one of the few actors who speaks tru...

 Sri Lankan economic crises is not getting any better by the passing day. Residents are now reeling under severe power cuts, shortage of medical equipment and medicines to name a few issues facing the country. What has led to this mayhem is a critical lack of foreign currency that has crippled their economy, forcing them to miss out of payments for vital imports, leading to dire shortages in everything from life-saving medicines to cement. Troubled over long lines for fuel that start forming before dawn, Sri Lankans are now complaining bitterly about government mismanagement and are fretting over how to feed their families as food prices skyrocket. Meanwhile, India has come to their rescue, as hospitals are going without medicines and facing medical crises. Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs are already reached out to Sri Lankan government offering help in life saving surgeries. Many hospitals have suspended surgeries due to lack of medicines in Sri Lanka. Trucks at the por...

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) might not be a conflict zone anymore. As India and China have agreed to come on mutually acceptable conditions, the tension on the Indo-China border might be a thing of the past, after all. In order to maintain stability on ground, both the countries will maintain military and diplomatic channels to discuss a way forward. This will also help them reach a conclusion on the remaining issues amongst themselves. This has been marked as the 15th round of diplomatic talks between the nations. The Corps Commander-level meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border on the Indian side, nearly two months after the last round of talks took place. While both the countries will hold further talks to resolve the row in eastern Ladakh, it was decided to maintain the stable position in the western sector. The two sides "agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the western sector in the interim. They agreed to maintain dialogue via military and dip...

India now seems to be in a position of handing off loans as it helps Sri Lanka in its darkest hour (literally). With reeling power cuts and shortage of oil, the country has been troubled over scarce electricity. The island has now secured a $500 million loan from India to save its sinking economy. Indeed, the island is looking cash strapped.   No wonder, this has left their thermal power generators dry, with the country finding it difficult to keep the lights on, disrupting transport networks as well. Even traders are seen running desperately low on foreign currency to fund imports. The country still uses fossil fuels to fire its thermal power plants. There have been frequent breakdowns at a huge coal power plant too. Blame it on lack of coal supply as well. So, the unannounced electricity power cuts and understandable. Even cooking gas and kerosene is not easily available to households. Officials said a formal agreement was being signed after two weeks of talks, in addition ...

  The trade relations between India and South Africa have done exceedingly well recently. The target set by the leaders of both countries was USD 10 Billion. The actual numbers have exceeded to USD 11.6 billion. Consul General Anju Ranjan announced the results at the reception on the occasion to celebrate the 73rd Republic Day of India. "India-South Africa trade has crossed the landmark. We have achieved the 100 per cent target and now it has increased from USD 10 billion to USD 11.6 billion," Ranjan said. The exemplary results have been achieved despite the restriction posed by the Covid-19 pandemic in India and South-Africa. In midst of the Covid-19 pandemic many commercial activities were organised at both countries to promote the trade activities, like organizing the virtual exhibitions and buyer-seller meets. Business activities in ceramics, telecom, agriculture, printing and textiles sectors were promoted as a part of the agreement between both countries to improve bi...

A penalty of one million euros has been imposed on European Missile Maker MBDA for offset delays in the Rafale aircraft deal. The penalty has been imposed on European missile maker for delays in fulfilling its commitments in the deal signed between India and France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. As per the sources, the main cause for imposing and collection of the penalty has been initiated to tighten screws on defaulting armament majors. MBDA is a weapon’s package supplier for the Rafale jets manufactured by Dassault Aviation in the inter-governmental agreement inked by India in September 2016. On one hand, India has signed the inter-governmental agreement with France and supply protocols for the fighters and weapons; and on the other, a major offsets contract with Dassault and a smaller one with MBDA. As agreed, half of the contract value (around Rs 30,000 crore) has to be ploughed back to India as offsets or re-investments, spread over seven years from the date...

After a huge gap, Kremlin has decided to make a visit to India. Indeed, everyone is seeing how the New Delhi-Kremlin bond is becoming stronger. Indian PM Narendra Modi has played his cards well, to keep the powerful on his side. Vladimir Putin is definitely one of those choices. Putin’s visit comes at the strategic time of Russia’s delivery of the S-400 air defense systems, a technology that was to attract secondary sanctions from America. But India knows where to butter its bread and has decided to shake hands with Russia over military partnership for the next decade as well. Let us not forget that Russia is dominated the supply of natural gas to many in the Western world. With India having made a bigul call of going completely green on its fuel consumptions through investments elsewhere, partnership with Russia could make sense in a later stage. Despite India’s increasing closeness to the West, a strong Russia and stronger India-Russia ties are important for India’s vision of a mult...

While China has been gaining control over its naval prowess with the help of Pakistan, India will need to double its power to match to enemies. The new battle ground is right in our backyard- the Indian Ocean. India has preparedness to handle Pakistan but China might be another ball game, all together. In a private commissioning ceremony, China delivered the PNS Tughril to Pakistan one of its most advanced state-of-the-art warships. Islamabad is definitely ecstatic to get support from the world’s most powerful economy. The focus point is in the Indian Ocean as India has solidified its position on its land forces. China is hell bent to break the fortress through water force now. Obviously, the Pakistani ambassador to China had reasons to say that adding the frigate to its collection of eight submarines that China will give to Pakistan in 2028, Pakistan’s stands to strengthen its service’s ability to respond to maritime challenges, ensure seaward defence, and maintain peace, stability an...

The growing closeness between China and Pakistan is a double whammy for India In a double-handed strategy, China has delivered the PNS Tughril to Pakistan in a commissioning ceremony in Shanghai , confirmed reports have said.   Said to be one of the largest and most advanced warships to be delivered to Pakistan, China has done so keeping its focus clearly on its biggest arch enemy at the moment, India. The dual strategy is to strengthen its naval presence with Pakistan on its side in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, all put together. The one-of-a-kind ship has been designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC) . Taking the delivery of the frigate, the Pakistani Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque said that this only creates a good balance in the Indian Ocean. He further added that the Tughril-class frigates will strengthen Pakistan Navy's capabilities to respond to maritime challenges to ensure seaward defence, maintain peace, stability and balance...

Photo courtesy: www.livemint.com India isn't turning its face away from the democratic mess that has resulted from Afghanistan. It is ready to fight and stand by its promise of help while most Moslem nations are wishing to steer clear of any trouble from a fellow Islamic nation.   In a recent move, India and Russia have both agreed upon a 2 way street for Afghanistan that will help counter dissemination of the terrorist ideology and the drug threat emanating from the territory of Afghanistan. While Taliban has completely taken control over the country, it is difficult to say how far this co-operation can actually go. Definitely, the Taliban are looking at getting a seat at the table. In the past, Iran has also been on the peace bandwagon for Afghanistan. This is again a time, when it has opened its doors to all those Afghanis who have fled their own land to find refuge elsewhere. No Moslem nation is agreeing to home then. Some are willing to only give a 15-20 day funnel period for ...

  Did US desert Afghanistan or what its exit good for Afghan's evolution? Picture courtesy: www.theallineed.com As the US sensibly decided to pull its hands back from Afghanistan, it is still trying to hold the fort for humanity. Taliban has wrecked havoc on the lives of civilians and there is no end to their plight. India is trying to do its bit as well. It is sensible to let the nation run its course. But whether Afghanistan can sustain its government is something that has come under questioning. As American troops have been withdrawn, it seems, Afghanistan has found it difficult to sustain itself. Taliban mercilessly has taken over the various cities, looting and plundering the women. It has been history repeating itself yet again. The so called war for religion has become a human rights nightmare, where young girls have been forced to marry the Taliban soldiers. We know it well as to why.  People are running for their lives. The scene of so many clinging to the wheels of U...

China is planning to ramp up its airbases near the Indian border. The signs of eminent war and threat to the sovereignty are clear; and China continues to try and build a kind of psychological pressure on Indians. It is massive for those staying on the border like Tibet, J&K and Arunachal Pradesh. Right now, work that was to go ahead for an Airport at Tawang has halted. Indian intelligence has confirmed that there is a likelihood of nothing less than 16 bases close to Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, and the crucial Indian-Nepal tri-junction. What goes against us as of now is the fact that we do share boundaries with Xinjiang (China), Pakistan and Afghanistan. Of these, China is playing a sly game of supporting Pakistan and Taliban in Afghanistan too; all to the discomfort of Indian sensibilities. Concern for the Northeast and Arunachal particularly are two new airports being developed close to its borders . The Tawang Airport would have actually been a more usable optio...

An Israeli spyware is said to have compromised personal phones of many important politicians and world leaders The military grade spyware known as the  Pegasus  has notoriously got into the lives of politicians, diplomats, business leaders and even journalists. The menace has been such that it has left the French President Emmanuel Macron no choice but to change his phone, his number and even order for an overhaul in cyber security protocols.  Pakistan has been busy blaming India for having let the mouse out of the box. The spyware is called  The spyware, called Pegasus. It was developed by an Israeli company which is now claiming its buyers were legitimate ones and vetted before it was sold to them.  The spyware actually ' enables users to infiltrate phones without being detected in order to record calls, control cameras, and extract messages and emails.' The company  NSO Group  has admitted to have sold it to so called "vetted government agencies" to...

Pakistan’s interest in Turkey isn’t good news for India. Earlier also, it was seen that Turkey was using Pakistan as a conduit to send its own to be trained and train personnel in military know how. Many South Indian unemployed youth were said to be trained by such allied Turkish forces within sleeper cells in the deeps of South India. In the latest, Pakistan is now seeking armed drones from Turkey. It continues to subtly but consistently deepen the already strong bilateral cooperation, especially in the defence arena. Another interesting point of interest between them remains Kashmir and Afghanistan. Both these associations can never be good for India that has been trying to resolve the Kashmir issue while trying to figure out a peaceful way to restore democracy in Afghanistan. India earned itself a place on the roundtable recently, when nations of influence were figuring out ways to restore democracy in Afghanistan. But confirmed intelligence has said that the possible procuremen...

India isnt in the good books of the European Union after all. This has become evident as the Indian version of the Astra Zeneca Oxford vaccine does not get clearance by EU.  The internal politics between the European Union and United Kingdom seems to be getting the better of India, where EU has decided it is not going to clear visa for those who have been administered with Covishield. Whether this is going to be the fate of Covaxin, only time can tell. The WHO has clared the Indian made UK formula but EU does not seem to be taking that seriously either.  Meanwhile Adhar Poonawala, the CEO of Serum Institute Of India (SII) has reassured through a twitter message that he will get this sorted as soon as possible. India has overwhelmingly used the vaccine and now people are finding themselves in a tight spot when it comes to chances of travelling to the European Union. Apparently, Poonawala has not even applied for a clearance by the European Medical Association, but the latter do...

As a large population, India will have to be vigilant to be not caught in the third wave too soon   According to a AIIMMS Director, Randeep Guleria has warned that the third wave will come in quicker than expected, unless we keep our security net tight and immunization happens far and wide. Many countries have prevented the spread and now controlled it to an extend that they can now go mask free. But that has taken some careful planning, strict hygiene protocols to be maintained and no social crowding at all. India, due to the virtue of having a large population has found it difficult to control the widespread infection in the second wave. We lost an unprecedented number of lives. The medical system could not handle to mass spread and the country’s medical infrastructure had come to a jolting halt. We cannot afford another such wave again. Apparently, children are at more risk this time that before. Vaccine candidates are trying to get clearance from the WHO to be administere...

  It is a test for India of unprecedented proportions. An old Buddhist teaching says that disasters hits a country one after another, if there has been deep disrespect to sanctity of life itself.  For India, this could not be more true. The country lost lives at an unbelievable speed as the second wave of Covid-19 gripped the nation by its throat. The other disaster hitting it is now the 'black fungus' infection, a mold and crusty growth that is forming on the nose and eyes and leaving people blind and without a jaw too.  While doctors are saying this is more to do with mold and fungus formation in the oxygenation systems in hospitals and affecting people with underlying disease or compromised immunity, it has been declared another epidemic for India. Cyclone Tauktae has already rocked the East side of India while West Bengal and Odissha brace for impact from another cyclone Yaas. The ordeal of the nation is unending and a testing time for PM  Narendra Modi...