oppn parties Testing Time For Tightrope Diplomacy By India

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  • India–New Zealand free trade agreement takes effect on Vijayadashami, giving 100% of Indian exports duty-free access to New Zealand, according to the government’s announcement
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due in Mumbai today for talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, with trade, energy security, technology and defence cooperation among the key issues. He is also expected to pay tribute to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks
  • Three people were killed and three injured when suspected militants ambushed a group collecting firewood near the border of Manipur's Imphal East and Kangpokpi districts. The killings triggered protests in Imphal, where demonstrators placed two victims' bodies outside Chief Minister Y. Khemchand Singh's residence; markets and shops shut amid renewed security concerns
  • A Delhi court extended the judicial custody of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das by two days at the police's request for further questioning
  • India rejected a resolution on Jammu and Kashmir adopted at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting in Baghdad, describing its references to India as biased and false. The Ministry of External Affairs accused Pakistan of using the 57-member grouping to advance its position and reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India
  • Samyukta Kisan Morcha has decided to join the nationwide protest against the SIR, with the first rally on October 23
  • The government directed oil marketing companies to reduce sugar diversion for ethanol production to zero for the 2026–27 supply year, excluding ethanol made from sugarcane juice, syrup and B-heavy molasses from the latest tender. The move is intended to increase domestic sugar availability and ease prices, which have risen sharply ahead of the festive season, but it could reduce returns on sugar producers' ethanol investments
  • India's National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit warned of a rise in online financial fraud involving manipulated videos of the Prime Minister, finance ministers and chief ministers promoting fictitious government schemes. Fraudsters direct victims to fake websites or messaging accounts and demand processing fees or induce them to approve fraudulent UPI transactions, the unit said
  • The rupee closed almost unchanged at ₹94.925 against the US dollar on Monday after early gains faded as importers bought dollars and domestic equities weakened
  • Indian equities fell sharply on Monday, with the Sensex declining 876.37 points, or 1.17%, to close at 73,852.90 and the Nifty 50 losing 1.11% to finish at 22,888.95. Private-sector banks and information technology stocks led the decline as investors assessed quarterly earnings and elevated crude oil prices
  • India won 11 medals, including four gold, five silver and two bronze, on the opening day of the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Mona Agarwal won gold in the women's 10-metre air rifle event, Nishad Kumar topped the men's T47 long jump, Soumya won the women's 1,500 metres, and Rinku Hooda secured gold in the men's F46 javelin
  • Indian para-archer Sheetal Devi equalled the world record in the women's compound qualification round at the Asian Para Games, scoring 704 out of 720 and setting a new Asian record. The 19-year-old also helped India top the women's compound team qualification standings with a combined score of 1,379 alongside Payal
  • Ranji Trophy matches produced major batting performances on Monday, with Mumbai's Sarfaraz Khan scoring an unbeaten 139 against Himachal Pradesh and Delhi's Ayush Badoni making 217 against Gujarat after Priyansh Arya fell one run short of a double century
  • A new pressure group, calling itself Lal Hit Janata Party (reference to the cockroach repellant Lal Hit), held its first meeting in Delhi on Sunday. Formed to oppose Cockroach Janata Party and the Congress, the group said the CJP is destroying the nation's institutions
  • Kolkata Police arrested seven people, including office-bearers of the Chorbagan Durga Puja committee and private security personnel, in connection with Saturday's stampede that killed 19 people and injured 25. A case has been registered over alleged failures in crowd management, safety arrangements and the pandal's structural setup
Actor Tiger Shroff attacked: Unidentified gunmen on motorcycle fired 6 rounds at the car carrying Tiger Shroff, his driver and a fan sustained injuries /////// Tiger shroff escaped with minor abrasions /////// Lawrence Bishnoi gang members claimed responsibility
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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