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The Indian Express Date: Aug 01, 2020 AP, Should former Vice President Joe Biden win the White House in November, America will likely be in for a foreign policy about-face as Biden reverses, dismantles or severely curtails many of President Donald Trump’s most significant and boldest actions. From the Middle East to Asia, Latin America to Africa and, particularly, Europe, and on issues including trade, terrorism, arms control and immigration, the presumptive Democratic nominee and his advisers have vowed to unleash a tsunami of change in how the US handles itself in the international arena. With few exceptions, Americans could expect Biden to re-engage with traditional allies. Where the iconoclastic Trump has used blunt threats and insults to press his case, Biden, a former senator, would be more inclined to seek common ground. Historically, US foreign policy hasn’t changed drastically as the presidency shifted between Democratic and Republican administrations. Allies a...

The Indian Express June 24, 2020 Posted by Nalin Surie In one fell swoop, China, with Xi Jinping in the core leadership position of the CPC and with ultimate responsibility as the Chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, has effectively destroyed the edifice of bilateral relations so painstakingly built post the Chinese aggression of 1962. Hubris, internal insecurities in China, the COVID-19 pandemic and the complex and confused external environment have led to caution being thrown to the winds. Perhaps, the anticipated medium and long-term competition posed by India from the ideological, strategic and economic points of view began to loom larger and Beijing felt that this was a good opportunity to once again assert its self- proclaimed territorial claims in Ladakh. That may have been a grave error of judgement. Military adventures like the recent barbaric one unleashed by the Chinese in Galwan have a habit of ending up with nasty surprises. Paral...

Express News Service June 02, 2020 The agreement will allow the two sides to use each other’s military bases for logistical support. This will be one of the key items on the agenda during the summit, and the two sides have been negotiating the pact for some time now. Ahead of the virtual summit between Prime Minister  Narendra Modi  and Australian PM Scott Morrison on June 4, Australian High Commissioner Barry O’Farrell said on Monday that the mutual logistics support agreement is on the table. The agreement will allow the two sides to use each other’s military bases for logistical support. This will be one of the key items on the agenda during the summit, and the two sides have been negotiating the pact for some time now. The Australian envoy also advocated reforms in global institutions and representation of India and Australia in multilateral groupings, a day after US President Donald Trump called for expansion of G-7 and including India and Australia in the g...

Indian Express June 02, 2020 Udit Mishra On Monday,  Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) downgraded  the Government of India’s foreign-currency and local-currency long-term issuer ratings to “Baa3” from “Baa2”. It stated that the outlook remained “negative”. The latest downgrade reduces India to the lowest investment grade of ratings and brings Moody’s — which is historically the most optimistic about India — ratings for the country in line with the other two main rating agencies in the world — Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Fitch (see attached chart on the brief history of India’s sovereign rating). What is the reason for this downgrade? There are four main reasons why Moody’s has taken the decision. 1. Weak implementation of economic reforms since 2017 2. Relatively low economic growth over a sustained period 3. A significant deterioration in the fiscal position of governments (central and state) 4. And the rising stress in India’s financia...

The Hindu Published by : Suhasini Haidar The External Affairs Ministry has refused to comment on the U.S. House resolution on Jammu and Kashmir introduced by  Indian-American lawmaker Pramila Jayapal , even as the government stepped up efforts to ensure that the resolution is not passed, with officials reaching out to Congressmen and women as well as the Indian diaspora to mobilise support. Sources said India is also hopeful that U.S. House members of the India caucus will move the process in their favour, while former diplomats said the larger fallout of the resolution was in the optics, not in its substance. “I think [the resolution] has a lot of sensation value, because while a motion on human rights in the U.S. House or Senate is not uncommon, but one tabled by a person of Indian origin is rare, and countries like Pakistan will use this for their propaganda purposes,” said former Ambassador to the U.S. Lalit Mansingh I think we have enough support on Capit...

Hindustan Times December 04, 2019 Published By: Rezaul H Laskar This year’s edition of the talks, popularly known as the 2+2 dialogue, assume additional significance as they come months after India, Australia, Japan and the US decided to upgrade their interactions in the “Quadrilateral” format to the ministerial level in September. India and Australia are set to hold their third combined dialogue of the defence and foreign secretaries on December 9, with the Indo-Pacific and preparations for Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit next year expected to top the agenda. This year’s edition of the talks, popularly known as the 2+2 dialogue, assume additional significance as they come months after India, Australia, Japan and the US decided to upgrade their interactions in the “Quadrilateral” format to the ministerial level in September. Australia’s foreign secretary Frances Adamson and defence secretary Greg Moriarty will meet their Indian counterparts Vijay Gokha...