China’s Xi pushes for balanced growth, more open economy
Setting the target for a “moderately prosperous society” and a “fully developed nation”, China’s President Xi Xinping has renewed the focus on the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics and focused on promoting balanced development at the 19th Party Congress of the CPC.
Mr. Xi has been a long- time proponent of a more open and inclusive Chinese economy, often facing flak from neo-Maoists who accuse him of moving away from Chairman Mao’s socialist agends. However, President Xi has been successful in consolidating his hold over the Party and has overseen a steady growth of the Chinese economy.
Laying out his strategy in 14 points that included diverse aspects like national security, elder care and reform, Mr. Xi was firm is declaring that “the party leads everything, everywhere”. A call for greater incentive to investment and serious market-oriented reform of its exchange rate as well as its financial system was made by the Chinese leader, while also emphasizing the authority of the state firms in the market. “Openness brings progress for ourselves, seclusion leaves one behind. China will not close its doors to the world, we will only become more and more open,” he said.
In the global scenario of increased protectionism and isolationist sentiments in the US, China is positioning itself as a major international player, aiding and assisting a host of infrastructural and development projects oversees and leading grand connectivity initiatives like the One Belt One Road. Proclaiming China as the future leader of the developing world, Mr. Xi attacked the pitfalls of the Western-style democracy claiming that “No country alone can handle all the challenges that mankind faces and no country can retreat into self-isolation.” “We have every confidence that we can give full play to the strengths and distinctive features of China’s socialist democracy, and make China’s contribution to the political advancement of mankind… We should not just mechanically copy the political systems of other countries,” he added.
Xi Consolidates Power as New China Leadership Line-up Revealed
As a five-yearly leadership shake-up is underway in Beijing, President Xi Jinping is expected to fill the ruling Communist Party’s apex of decision-making, the Politburo Standing Committee, with trusted allies.Xi’s line-up for his first term at the helm of the world’s largest political party was a compromise influenced by his two immediate predecessors. But China’s ongoing 19th party congress is seen as the new beginning for Xi, who is expected to enter his second term with a team stacked with trusted allies and followers.
World leaders hail Nobel Peace Prize for ICAN
Amid rising tensions of a nuclear threat from North Korea and the risks around the Iran nuclear deal, world leaders and peace activists have hailed the Nobel Peace Prize for the Geneva-based anti-nuclear advocacy group International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
The recognition follows the organisation’s decade long work which led to the recent signing of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
“The organisation is receiving the award for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement. “Through binding international agreements, the international community has previously adopted prohibitions against land mines, cluster munitions and biological and chemical weapons. Nuclear weapons are even more destructive, but have not yet been made the object of a similar international legal prohibition,” said Nobel Committee chairman Berit Reiss-Andersen announcing the prize. The UN treaty adopted in July has the support of 122 countries, which also includes Iran. However, major nuclear powers like the United States and Russia have stayed away from it.
US oil shipment opens a new chapter in Indo-US ties
India’s quest to broad-base its energy security received a major boost after the first shipment of 1.6 million barrels of crude oil arrived at Paradip port in Orissa on October 2, following US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agreement on a strategic energy partnership in June this year. The shipment is part of a cumulative order of 3.9 million barrel placed by the Indian public sector refiner Indian Oil.
Crude oil exports from the US were banned for nearly four decades, starting from the 1973 OPEC (Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil embargo to late 2015 when the then President Barack Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act. Since 2017, crude oil exports have surpassed more than one million barrels per day (BPD) on multiple occasions.
Mr. Sanjay Sudhir, joint secretary (International Cooperation) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, hailed the shipment as a “new chapter in the history of Indo-US trade” that will be able to guide price stability and energy security in India. He was present along with Ms. Katherine B Hadda, US Consul General in Hyderabad, and other officials from the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Oil at the ceremony to welcome the cargo. “MT New Prosperity, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), of capacity 2 million barrels of crude, left US Gulf Coast on 19th August and arrived at Paradip port today. Indian Oil will process the crude at its East-Coast base refineries, located at Paradip, Haldia, Barauni and Bongaigaon,” the press release said.
Protect interests of farmers, small industries: RSS chief
“To control corruption, the Central government has taken various policy decisions, yet there is requirement of an integrated policy. Policy should address needs of industry, trade, agriculture and environment which will safeguard interests of all. The biggest contribution to our economy is made by the small, medium industries and self-employed business. Our economic policies should […]
Human rights development with Chinese characteristics: China Foreign Minister
The past five years since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012 have seen an extraordinary journey by China. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core has led the people across the country in achieving tremendous progress in all fields, including the protection of human […]
We strongly condemn terrorist attacks : BRICS Leaders Xiamen Declaration
” We strongly condemn terrorist attacks resulting in death to innocent Afghan nationals. We, in this regard, express concern on the security situation in the region and violence caused by the Taliban, ISIL/DAISH, Al Qaida and its affiliates including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, TTP and Hizb […]
We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens : Trump
We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens, 9/11, the worst terrorist attack in our history, was planned and directed from Afghanistan because that country was ruled by a government that gave comfort and shelter to terrorists,Pakistan will have to change, A hasty withdrawal of army would create a vacuum for terrorists, including ISIS and Al Qaeda, would instantly fill just as happened before Sept. 11.Pakistan will have to change ,the country receives billions in US aid but continues to harbour militants.We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond.The Pakistani people have suffered greatly from terrorism and extremism.
Is the GCC Crisis De-escalating?
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Egypt had listed 13 demands on June 23, 2017, warning that there would be serious consequences if Qatar failed to yield by July 2.1 Qatar rejected the ultimatum and the four countries have not yet carried out their threats. Instead, they have softened their stand, vaguely signaling that it might be enough if Qatar were to accede to ‘Six Principles’. In short, there has been no escalation and we can clearly see a degree of de-escalation.
Rising India & Rising China: A medium-term projection
As two major countries in the Asian region in terms of population, territory, higher economic growth rates and growing aspirations, the role of India and China vis-à-vis each other, and at the regional and global levels, is significant. Medium-term prospects of these two countries point towards relative enhancement in their respective comprehensive national strengths, gradual vanishing of “buffer zones” that existed between the two in the Asian region and a coalescing equation so far conditioned by the “cooperation and competition” dyad. Nevertheless, overall stability in the political relations can be expected between the two Asian powers in the medium term.
Unlike in the past, India is also leveraging a wide variety of diplomatic and strategic partnerships with the US, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam at a time when Beijing is trying to expand its appeal through One Belt, One Road project and cobbling up semi-military alliances with Pakistan and others. At the ideological level, a rising India is increasingly speaking about its democratic experiment as a possible model for others to adopt.Traditionally, this has been a contentious – if not made explicit – issue between India and China in their appeal to Asian, African and South American continents. Thus, the stakes are expected to be high for India’s relations with China in the medium to long-term.