Category: Politics

There are also long-term visions shared by leaders on both sides that contributed to the spurt in ties. The emergence of India as the fifth-largest economy and the fastest-growing economy will certainly result in further quantum leaps in strategic relations.

Rajnath Singh and S Jaishankar met their Japanese counterparts Hamada Yasukazu and Hayashi Yoshimasa at the second India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Tokyo on September 8 to discuss all critical challenges to a rules-based global order, which is increasingly tying together the two countries and providing renewed energy to their unique global and strategic partnerships.

At the time of the meeting, tensions across the Taiwan Strait had risen as China launched five missiles into Japan’s economic zone, prompting then Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi to call it “a serious problem that threatens the safety of our citizens as well as our national security”.

According to Mr. Jaishankar, energy security and food security have become particularly pressing issues. India has extended humanitarian aid, medicines, vaccines, food grains, and many other forms of assistance tirelessly as a member of the international community.

In addition to demonstrating the commitment toward deepening bilateral security and defense cooperation, Jaishankar said the Dialogue also demonstrated the strength of the India-Japan special strategic and global partnership.

In Uzbekistan, Narendra Modi will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit scheduled for September 15 and 16. According to Indian Express (IE), this will be the first in-person summit since Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 2019.

PM Modi is expected to arrive in Samarkand on September 14 and return on September 16. The SCO presidency will be handed over to India for the next year until September 2023 after the 2022 summit. SCO’s next summit will most likely be held in New Delhi.

Ebrahim Raisi, Shahbaz Sharif, and Xi Jinping are among the leaders who have confirmed attendance. Sources cited in the IE report said Modi may meet with Putin and Raisi on the sidelines of the summit, although the government has not yet announced any bilateral meetings.

Last time PM Modi and Jinping met was at the BRICS Summit in 2019. This will be the first time the two leaders will meet since May 2020’s fallout between India’s and China’s armed forces in Ladakh. The troops have recently begun disengaging from the last friction point in the Gogra-Hot Springs region, Point 15. By September 12, the disengagement will be over.

A summit meeting with Uzbekistan’s president Shavkat Mirziyoyev is “certainly” on the agenda for PM Modi. The IE report stated that the leaders are likely to discuss the Ukraine conflict and the Taliban rule in Afghanistan at the summit.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday met with the Crown Prince Saudi of Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in Jeddah and notified him of the bilateral ties between the two countries. Jaishankar arrived on Saturday on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, his first trip to the Kingdom as India’s External Affairs Minister.

Jaishankar tweeted, “Honoured to call on HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah this evening. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi. Apprised him of the progress in our bilateral relations. Thank him for sharing his vision of our ties.”

Before this, Jaishankar met with the Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and jointly presided over the Political, Securit, Social and Cultural (PSSC) committee of the India-Saudi Partnership Council.

“The two Ministers will undertake a comprehensive review of the entire bilateral relationship and will discuss the progress under the four Joint Working Groups of the PSSC Committee, namely Political & Consular; Legal and Security; Social and Cultural and Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation,” the MEA had earlier stated. It added, “Both sides will also discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest, including their cooperation at the United Nations, Group of Twenty (G20), and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Jaishankar is also expected to meet other Saudi dignitaries and the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf.

Indian aircraft carrier Rafale jets will be equipped with French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation. But American fighter plane manufacturer Boeing is pitching for the new ship, offering F-18s. A 43,000-ton ship, INS Vikrant, was commissioned by India this week. There are 30 aeroplanes and helicopters that can be accommodated on the giant vessel, less than half the number of Nimitz class carriers in the US Navy.

INS Vikramaditya is equipped with Russian-made MiG-29s. In the beginning, INS Vikrant will be fitted with Russian-made MiG-29s. When the deal has been approved by the government, Vikrant will rearm with Western aircraft.

Officials RFI of India’s four-year quest for 57 dual-role combat jets for its two aircraft carriers that, “As of now, there is no one else in the race except Boeing and Dassault.”

In 2011, India purchased 45 MiG-29s in instalments, and nine years later, it ordered the import of 21 more and the modernization of 59 more. Captain Rajat Kumar, the commander of INS Vikrant’s air wing, is concerned about the MiG-29s that will be equipped with four 88 megawatt gas turbines on board.

On the brand-new carrier, which cost 2.52 billion euros and took 20 years to create, Kumar told the journalists, “The MiG-29 is a large aircraft – it was designed by the Russians and it is quite challenging to land on a deck,”

Nuclear cooperation between India and Russia got a boost with Atommash AEM Technologies, Volgodonsk branch (part of Rosatom Machine Building Division – Atomenergomash) completing welding of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Unit No. 5.

According to an official statement, 11,000 heat-exchange coils and preliminary components have been installed inside the steam generator. Over the course of seven days, the heads are automatically welded at a temperature between 120 and 250 degrees. In addition, 935 kg of flux and 660 kg of wire were required to weld the two welds.

As part of the assessment, specialists will fire welds locally and perform a full range of technical inspections, including manual check-ups, hydraulic tests, and eddy-current tests. As part of the reactor facility, the steam generator is a heat exchanger that belongs to the first safety class.

A 14-meter-long and over four-meter-diameter piece of equipment weighs 350 tons and is 14 meters long. Four steam generators are included in one NPP unit. Located in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India, Kudankulam NPP has VVER-1000 power units. Kudankulam NPP’s first power unit has been running at its design power level of 1,000 MW since February 2016.

The United States seeks to step-up maritime security cooperation with allies Japan and the Philippines, in the wake of China’s “increasingly hostile maritime actions” in the Indo-Pacific waters.

 The U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Raymond Greene said non-observance of international law and coercive actions by Beijing are aimed at increasing its control over the region. “Specifically, the increasingly hostile maritime actions by the People’s Republic of China threaten the safety of our waterways,” he said at a news conference before meeting officials from the three countries.

“No one nation should be able to dominate Indo-Pacific waters through coercion and outright intimidation,” he said. “Might does not make right, and we do not shy away from calling out Beijing’s provocative actions.”

He added China carried out the militarization of the East and South China Seas, bugging foreign fishing and other vessels, and using up maritime resources and the environment.

After the United States, China ranks second highest in military spending and is modernizing its forces at a brisk pace. It says its military is solely for defense and to safeguard its sovereignty.

Japan feels China poses a huge regional security threat and is concerned about escalating tensions surrounding Taiwan, which Beijing declares as its territory.

On Tuesday, Indian-origin barrister Suella Braverman became the UK’s new Home Secretary, succeeding her colleague of Indian descent Priti Patel. As a member of Parliament for Fareham in south-east England, who served as the Attorney General under Boris Johnson, she was among the first to put her hat in the ring to replace Johnson as Tory leader and Prime Minister.

The newly-elected Prime Minister Liz Truss has named Braverman as her Home Secretary. In addition to having two children, Uma is the daughter of Christie Fernandes, a Goan-origin father. During the 1960s, her father immigrated from Kenya to the UK, while her mother was born in Mauritius.

According to the BBC, Braverman will oversee projects such as sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda, a plan that has faced legal challenges. A prominent pro-Brexit member of the Conservative party who wants a clear break from Europe, including removing the UK from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Braverman said, “I want to embed the opportunities of Brexit and tidy up outstanding issues… and cut taxes.”

However, she was eliminated in the second round of the initial Tory MP ballot and threw her support behind Truss, who was rewarded with the highest office in government as Prime Minister.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in India on Monday on a four-day visit to meet the top leaders to further strengthen the multidimensional relationship and make a deal on at least seven bilateral agreements in areas like water management, railway, and science and technology.

The Prime Minister and her entourage took off from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and landed at Palam International Airport in New Delhi.

“This is a state visit and she (Hasina) is going to Delhi at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi,” Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen told a media conference on Sunday.

Mr. Momen said Sheikh Hasina will discuss a range of issues with PM Modi, some of which are security cooperation, investment, improved trade relations, power, and energy sector cooperation, water sharing of common rivers, water resources management, border management, and fighting drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Mr. Momen, who is also in India, said the agreements expected to be signed during the visit would be on water management, railway, science and technology, and information and broadcasting.

“After the (signing) ceremony, honorable prime Ministers of the two countries will issue a joint statement,” he said. He added Dhaka expects that the high-level visit would prove successful to “help achieve our goals”.

On Monday, a drawn-out election process resulted in Liz Truss being named the new leader of the ruling Conservative Party and new prime minister of the U.K. There was an 82.6% turnout, with Truss taking about 57% of the vote, while Sunak received 42%.

The country’s former finance minister Rishi Sunak was beaten to the top spot by Truss, until now the country’s foreign minister. In the last few weeks, Conservative Party members voted on their favorite candidate, 81,326 for Truss and 60,399 for Sunak.

In her speech, Truss thanked her supporters and ostensibly mentioned Boris Johnson, her “friend.” She said she would govern as a Conservative, stating that she would deliver on what she promised voters in 2019. Truss also stated that she would push for a “bold tax cut” and economic growth. In addition to dealing with short-term energy supply issues, she plans to deal with long-term ones. As for the upcoming election in 2024, Truss promised delegates that her party would win.

Liz Truss is the ally of outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who congratulated her on her “decisive” victory and said she had “the right plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, unite our party, and continue our great work of uniting and leveling up our country.”. Rishi Sunak, who defeated candidate leadership, echoed that sentiment. “Now is the time for all Conservatives to stand by her 100 percent.”

On September 6, Rajnath Singh met with Mongolian counterpart Saikhanbayar Gursed in order to boost defense cooperation between the two countries. His visit to Mongolia between September 5 and 7 is the first visit by an Indian defense minister to an East Asian country.

Mr. Singh is on a five-day visit to Mongolia and Japan beginning Monday with the aim of enhancing India’s strategic and defense ties with the two countries amid a shifting regional security matrix and geopolitical turmoil.

He tweeted, “Productive interaction with Mongolia’s Defence Minister, Mr. Saikhanbayar Gursed in Ulaanbaatar today. We had in-depth deliberations on adding further momentum to India-Mongolia defense cooperation.”

On September 8 and 9, the Mongolian Defence Minister will visit Japan for two days. On September 8, there will be a ‘2+2’ dialogue. Five months after Japan’s prime minister visited India for the annual Indo-Japanese summit, the dialogue is taking place.

The Defence Ministry announced Mr. Singh’s visit to Mongolia on Sunday, saying it will further consolidate defense cooperation and strategic partnerships between the two nations. A statement said that Mr. Singh would meet with Mongolia’s Minister of Defence Lt. Gen. Saikhanbayar as well as President U. Khurelsukh and the Chairman of the State Great Khural (parliament) G. Zandanshatar.