Belt & Road: China’s Xi pitches for open trade and shared prosperity, pledges &100 billion more
Unveiling his vision of “One Belt, and One Road,” a grand trans-regional connectivity project that seeks to link the four continents and encompass over 65 countries, China’s President Xi Jinping has made a robust pitch in the Chinese capital to the world to cooperate in his dream of shared prosperity.
Addressing the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on May 14, the Chinese president pledged around US$113 billion in extra funding for OBOR. He said that China’s Silk Road Fund will increase funding by 100 billion yuan, Chinese banks will extend 300 billion yuan in overseas capital, the China Development Bank will pledge 250 billion yuan, and the Export and Import Bank of China will add 130 billion yuan in special loans to Belt and Road projects.
Belt and Road initiative “a project of the century”: Xi Jinping
Chinese President Xi Jinping
said Belt and Road initiative focuses on the Asian, European and African countries,
In his opening address outlining China’s vision, Xi referred to ancient Silk Road and spoke about significance of various civilisations, including the “Indus and Ganges civilisations”. Without referring to India’s objections to the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC), Xi said, “all countries should respect each other’s sovereignty, dignity and territorial integrity, each other’s development paths and social systems, and each other’s core interests and major concerns.”
Xi said the Belt and Road initiative is “a project of the century” that will benefit people across the world. Denying any attempts to form a “small group” of nations taking part in the Belt and Road initiative of which CPEC is a part, Xi said China plans to build it as a road to peace and link his country to much of Asia, Europe and Africa
Ways And Means to Choke Maoist Finances
“Effective choking of fund flow to LWE [Left Wing Extremist] groups”, also known as Naxalites, and especially to the Communist Party of India (Maoist), or Maoists in short, was reportedly discussed and emphasised at a review meeting on LWE/Naxalite affected States chaired by the Union Home Minister in New Delhi on May 8, 2017.
It is estimated that the Maoists might be extorting anywhere between Rs 140 to Rs 160 crore annually from a variety of sources. These sources include government works and schemes, industry and businesses, social institutions, infrastructure, people, membership fees, supporters/sympathizers, revolutionary taxes in cash and kind, etc.
Through a consultative process involving various levels, the Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist) fixes the annual amount to be collected at the all-India level. The Zonal Committee appears to be the basic unit responsible for conveying the decision on the amount to be collected from each source. In effect, money is collected at all levels beginning with the Area Committee. In Jharkhand, there have been instances where the source has been informed of the amount to be paid, money left at the source itself, and collected at a later date, as and when the need arose. The Armed Squad need not necessarily go to collect the money. Usually, an over-ground member of the outfit is deputed for this purpose. These could be a member of the Krantikari Kisan Committee, Krantikari Mahila Committee, a contractor or an NGO, or any other designated person. At each level, there is a designated person who may be called treasurer in-charge.
A Defining Moment for France and Europe
The future of the French Republic and that of Europe in its present form as the European Union (EU) were at stake in the recent French presidential election. Emmanuel Macron and his movement (not a party as yet) have won. With a voter turnout of 75 per cent, Macron gained about 66.6 per cent of the vote in the second round of this election and his rival, Marine Le Pen, got the remainder.
But figures do not tell us the acute anxiety the French people felt at the time of the election. They felt that it was the future of their republic which was at stake. They voted in fair majority for Macron because they thought he stood for the values on which the republic was founded. Some, about 36 per cent, voted for Marine Le Pen because they thought that she stood for the French Nation whose security was threatened by Muslim immigrants settled in France and their ally, the Islamic jihadists.
In Kashmir shadow, India & Turkey join hands against terror, step up trade
India and Turkey, the two G20 economies, have raised the bar for their economic partnership and agreed to intensify their counter-terror cooperation despite differences over issues like the Kashmir dispute.
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrapped up his two-day visit to India on May 1, there was a clear-cut resolve to build on convergences, especially in the economic arena, and find ways to bridge differences through sustained dialogue.
Mr Erdogan held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the shadow of discords in the political relationship between the two countries when the Indian media splashed remarks by the Turkish leader in an interview to a TV channel in which he favoured a multilateral dialogue on the Kashmir issue that went against New Delhi’s consistent stand that the issue can only be resolved bilaterally with Islamabad. In response, India conveyed to Turkey that it is ready to resolve all bilateral issues with Pakistan, including Kashmir, said India’s Ministryof External Affairs spokesman Gopal Bagley when asked to comment on Mr Erdogan’s suggestion of a multilateral dialogue. The spokesperson added that India conveyed its position on Kashmir and stressed that it is essentially a terrorism issue.
With China on mind, fresh fuel to India-Nepal energy ties
With China at the back of its mind, India has agreed to deepen energy ties by renewing its fuel sale deal with Nepal by another five years and assist the Himalayan country in implementing a cooking gas-for-the-poor scheme akin to the one launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.
As per the agreement signed in New Delhi on March 27 by Indian Oil Corp. and Nepal Oil Corp. in the presence of Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Nepal’s Minister for Supplies Deepak Bohara, the state-owned Indian energy giant will supply about 1.3 million tonnes of fuel every year for the next five years. India has been supplying fuel to Nepal since 1974 under contracts that were periodically renewed. Indian Oil chairman B. Ashok, who was present on the occasion, said the renewed deal is for the period from April 2017 to March 2022 covering petrol, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel and liquified petroleum gas (LPG).
BJP’s UP victory a vote for development: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described his Bharatiya Janata Party’s stunning victory in assembly elections in India’s biggest state Uttar Pradesh as historic and underlined that it’s a mandate for “development and good governance.” In a series of tweets on March 11, he said: “I thank the people of Uttar Pradesh from the core of […]
Ahead of Sheikh Hasina’s visit, India, Bangladesh explore connect with northeast states
Ahead of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India next month, New Delhi and Dhaka are looking to step up connectivity between India’s northeast states and the neighbouring country. A conclave was held in Dhaka on February 22 which focused on opportunities for cooperation between Northeast India and Bangladesh in the horticulture sector and to also showcase the tourism potential of Northeastern states of India.
With China watching, India in talks to sell Akash missile to Vietnam
With China watching, India in talks to sell Akash missile to Vietnam
In a growing strategic embrace with Hanoi, India has said it is in talks to sell for the first time its home-grown short-range surface-to-air Akash missiles to Vietnam. The sale of missile, if it happens, will be deeply resented by Beijing which has been resentful of the burgeoning military ties between New Delhi and Hanoi.
“We are talking to a number of countries and one of them is none other than Vietnam,” state-owned Defence Research and Development Organization’s chairman S. Christopher told the media in Bengaluru on the margin of an air show where the DRDO is showcasing its missile programmes and other key projects, including a light combat fighter.
Dealing with Trump: India banks on US Congress
With strong bipartisan consensus for developing India-US relations, New Delhi is not worried about the course of this vital relationship under the Donald Trump presidency, and is set to leverage enormous goodwill in the US Congress. At a time when top leaders of Britain, Israel and Japan had rushed to Washington to have a measure of the change of guard in the White House, India is doing the same in a way different from top-down approach.
To begin with, a record number of 27 US Congressmen drawn from both the Democratic and the Republican parties will visit India beginning later this month, reflecting a long-standing bipartisan approach in Washington to further strengthening of relations with New Delhi.