oppn parties Testing Time For Tightrope Diplomacy By India

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Testing Time For Tightrope Diplomacy By India

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-03-31 07:50:03

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

As the world grapples with the tensions unleashed by the war in Ukraine, the improvement in the Covid situation in India has meant that a host of foreign government big-wigs are making a beeline to Delhi for in-person meetings with the Indian government to discuss the situation. After the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (which was of course as per the norm between the two countries to hold an annual meet of the top leaders and was the first in-person meeting after two years), the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi came calling to invite Prime Minister Modi for the Brics summit in China later this year. The chasm between the Indian and Japanese positions on the Ukraine was hard to miss as PM Kishida asked India to adopt a tougher line against Russia. 

Currently, the German security and foreign policy advisor Jen Plotner is in Delhi holding discussions with foreign minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, US deputy NSA Daleep Singh and British foreign secretary will also be in the capital this week. Before this, the European Union special envoy for the Indo-Pacific region, Gabriele Visentin held talks with external affairs ministry. While India’s neutral stance on the war in Ukraine after it abstained from voting on all the resolutions moved against Russia in the UN has made EU, US and UK put pressure on it to change its stance and condemn the Russian attack, the Russians obviously are pleased with the situation and would like India to remain neutral.

But India's main problem is that if the war continues for long, as it seems it will after the Russians reneged on their word to scale down operations in Kyiv, and if more civilian lives are lost, India will have to take a stand against Russia sometime in the near future. That is why it is imperative that the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (the US has said that it is "deeply disappointed" with this visit at this point of time) is made aware of the pressures on India. He must also be told that the war must end and the issue should be resolved through negotiations, especially as Ukraine has made it clear that it is not going to join Nato.

Although the US and other western nations have till now said that they understand India's compulsions in remaining 'neutral', things will change if the war does not end soon. India will be under increasing pressure to support the US-led sanctions and suspend all business with Russia. Hence, India must use its good relations with the Russians to make them return to the negotiating table. The next few weeks will be a huge test for India's tightrope diplomacy. Although it is clear that the Russians want Volodymyr Zelenskyy to go and want to install a puppet regime in Ukraine, there can be a middle ground and all parties must strive to discover it to end the sufferings of the people of Ukraine. 

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