SAARC Obituary: BIMSTEC becomes Most Favoured Regional grouping

September 24: By officially pulling out of the SAARC summit scheduled in Islamabad, New Delhi on Tuesday wrote an obituary for the regional bloc that has outlived its relevance. In the face of peevish Pakistan holding SAARC hostage by blocking all development projects, BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) has emerged as the most favoured regional grouping and India has decided to work bilaterally or trilaterally with Afghanistan.

Earlier India had refrained from official announcement on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the summit for the heads of states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). But as it becomes clear that Modi will not travel to Islamabad this could be a death knell for the regional bloc.
Member countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka are now working towards a more connected and integrated South Asia with visa free people and vehicle movement; and by making energy grids. Only one country will be left behind and that seems to be Pakistan.
In 2014, Pakistan had blocked a common Motor Vehicle Agreement for the SAARC countries to facilitate free transport movement in the region. But on August 28, as Islamabad was busy ratcheting up Kashmir issue, a cargo truck loaded with Garments started for India as part of trial run under the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA).  “For long the region’s potential has been curtailed due to one spiteful country, this showcase agreement has been long overdue,” said a senior diplomat.
Over next five years, 30 road projects will be constructed at a cost of $8 billion with technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank. A proposal is there to extend the project to other three members of the BIMSTEC namely – Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.
The South Asian region has been the least interconnected region in the world with internal trade amounting for only 5 percent of the total trade of the countries. India is also helping Afghanistan to construct rail and road tracks to get it accessibility to Chahbahar Port to reduce its dependence on Pakistan for trade. Most recently Pakistan has been dragging its feet to provide transit rights to India to export wheat required by Afghanistan, despite the “humanitarian” nature of the requirement.
“Afghanistan is now member of WTO (World Trade Organisation) and as such has rights including transit rights and other countries has corresponding obligation to provide transit rights. We all know that the concerned country also a WTO member does not have much respect for global rules whether it is trade in ordinary products or nuclear proliferation. The bottom line is Afghanistan’s right to access has been seriously infringed,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
On Afghanistan, India has formed India-Afghanistan-Iran trilateral to provide Afghanistan access to Central Asian market and explore alternate trade routes and is working in the India-US-Afghanistan trilateral for building military capability of the country.
This year a proposal for a single visa for the BIMSTEC countries on the lines of Europe’s Schengen visa was mooted. Negotiations are on for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between these countries that will cover 1.6 billion people with a total GDP of $ 3 trillion.
Pakistan has backed out of the SAARC satellite proposed by India that will provide range of services to all neighbours in the areas of telecommunications and broadcasting applications and disaster management. But enthusiasm on part of other countries, especially Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal; means the ISRO-developed satellite is likely to be launched by the end of the year.

India gets ASEAN to counter World Wide Web of Terror

The perils of radicalisation through cyber world came to light during the terror attack in the heart of Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave in July. India is getting together with ten member countries of ASEAN for the first time to hold a cyber dialogue to counter radicalisation.

Terrorist groups like the self-proclaimed Islamic State have become increasingly sophisticated at creating dense, global networks of support online, networks that are helping these groups run virtual circles around governments and communities. This was highlighted during the Dhaka terror attack where not only one Indian lost a life, another Indian - Islamic Evangelist Zakir Naik- had been instrumental in radicalisation of the young Bangladeshis, who belonged to the elite class of the country.

“We agreed to cooperate towards addressing traditional security challenges, including in areas of de-radicalisation, prevention of violent extremism and cyber crimes. ASEAN leaders looked forward to the convening of the first ASEAN-India dialogue,” sources said. The dialogue will take place in late 2016 in New Delhi. Zakir Naik’s sermons promoting fundamentalist strain of Islam are very popular in Malaysia and Indonesia. India has also launched a probe in the role of Zakir Naik and his organisation; and the probe is being watched closely by these countries.

The internet is playing an increasingly prominent role in radicalisation, extremism and terrorism.  Terrorists use websites as sources of ideological inspiration, to contact each other and for practical purposes, such as finding manuals on how to make explosives. The Islamic State has proven relentless in its violent campaign to rule and has aggressively promoted its hateful message, attracting like-minded extremists.

India has been seeking a concerted effort to counter terrorism and radicalisation at all international platforms. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Laos to attend the ASEAN summit, also tried to impress upon the member states on the threat posed by terrorism.

The countries have acknowledged terrorism as a significant threat to peace and stability in the region and have lent support to India’s efforts to have a universally accepted definition of Terrorism at the United Nations. “In addition, ASEAN and India support the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) currently under negotiation at the UN,” sources said. India has revived its two decade old proposal of CCIT and will be pushing for its adoption at the UN General Assembly this month.

India is said to have completed a draft taking into account objections of the three main opposition blocs: the US, the Organisation of Islamic Countries and the Latin American countries. The original draft that was tabled in 1996 and discussed until April 2013 will give a universal definition of terrorism, will make it imperative for all 193-members of the UNGA to adopt it in their own criminal law, and clamp down on all terror groups camps without distinction between good and bad terrorists.

India steams into Afghan border to counter Pakistan

Ditching its long-held worry of feeding into Islamabad’s insecurities by helping Kabul, India will start work on a 500-km-long rail track in the Hajigak region of Afghanistan, giving the country access to the Iranian port of Chabahar, just 72 km west of Pakistan’s Gwadar port that is being built with Chinese help.

Rail tracks from Khaaf in Iran reached zero point at the Afghan border and now the track-laying on Afghan side will begin. “Iran has finished its half. Now the first phase inside Afghan territory to lay 62 km in Ghoriyan district has been launched and will take around four months to complete,” sources said. Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra attended the ceremony at the Iran-Afghan border on September 7.

The rail link passing through the mineral rich region of Afghanistan will open a new trade route for India to Central Asia and will reduce Afghanistan’s dependence on Pakistan for trade. The track to Chabahar port will allow exploration of the vast mineral reserves in the region bypassing Pakistan, which has refused New Delhi land access to Kabul. Hajigak, 130 km west of Kabul in Bamiyan province, has iron reserves worth $3 trillion. Twenty-two companies have been shortlisted to mine these, of which  14 are Indian, including a consortium led by Steel Authority of India Limited.

While India has shied away from providing boots on the ground, it has seized the opportunity to provide strategic assistance to Kabul with helicopters and rail tracks to provide sea access to the landlocked country. The network, seen as an answer to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, will be the launchpad for India for greater economic and strategic engagement with oil-rich Central Asia. There are prospects of tie-ups with Iran and Russia to create a network to Central Asia and finally to Europe through the International North-South Transport Corridor.

Pakistan recently rubbed in the influence it wields in Afghanistan’s trade when it closed the Friendship Gate at Chaman Post for over two weeks, crippling Kabul’s exports. Afghan imports through Karachi port declined by more than 40 per cent in February, and Afghan-Indian trade volume could increase four-fold if a trilateral agreement materializes.

Ministry of External Affairs officials have indicated that the three countries have during the 2nd India-Afghanistan-Iran trilateral in Tehran decided to hold meetings between experts on aspects of the project. Recommendations will be discussed in the 3rd Trilateral meeting in Kabul.

Modi's Religion Diplomacy spreads wings in Vietnam

In sync with PM Narendra Modi government’s religion diplomacy, which plays a pivotal role in its foreign policy, India has offered help to Vietnam to restore a Hindu temple in the country belonging to the Champ civilisation.

The diplomacy comes at a time when Modi is visiting Vietnam capital Hanoi. The Myson temple has a striking resemblance to Indian temples built during the same period.

Former Ambassador to Vietnam and present Secretary East in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Preeti Saran said: “The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has already surveyed the temple located in the Quang Nam Province and would take care of the reconstruction work.” The project has an added significance as the present PM Tran Dai Quang hails from the same province and there is an “emotional commitment”. India’s efforts to project itself as a champion of Hindu culture and Buddhist heritage are aimed at contesting China’s projection of Buddhist heritage.

A “resurgence” of Buddhism has been experienced in the South East Asian country and India has lapped up the opportunity by training Buddhist monks and scholars in the country that has been involved in a simmering imbroglio with China over the South China Sea. New Delhi has been augmenting its religious soft power and has been stressing on its Buddhist cultural ties with Mongolia, Nepal, Japan, South Korea, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Modi’s cultural bonanza during his Hanoi visit has similarity to his religion diplomacy during his Nepal visit last year.

Modi had offered 2,500 kg sandalwood and 2,400 kg ghee at the Pashupatinath Temple; and had announced Rs. 25 crore for construction of lodging facilities in the temple complex. However, experts point out that such a donation to the Hindu temple had overshadowed India’s efforts to restore Nepal’s Buddhist sites.

The mixing of religion and diplomacy has its own perils as the mixing of religion and politics and it is reflected in Pakistan playing the Islamic card at international level. Despite its projection of itself as the keeper of the Islamic heritage, it has not been able to become leader of the Islamic countries, even as the mixing of religion with foreign policy and politics has boomeranged in the form of radicalism and extremism.

(The report was published on 4th September, 2016 in The Sunday Standard Modi's Religion Diplomacy spreads wings in Vietnam )

Road to Vietnam to be reality soon

Dreaming of a road trip to Vietnam via Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos? It might become a reality in the near future.

Against the backdrop of Beijing flexing its muscles after the South China Sea verdict, India is seeking to increase its last-mile connectivity to southeast Asia by extending the trilateral highway, planned by the six-member Mekong–Ganga Cooperation (MGC) group, to Vietnam via Cambodia and Laos. Earlier, the highway was to stop at Thailand.

“The Ministers welcomed the consultation between ASEAN Connectivity Coordination Committee and India and agreed to discuss the extension of the Trilateral Highway through Cambodia, Lao PDR and the new highway to Vietnam,” the MGC member countries — India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam —- said in a joint statement.

The highway would be pivotal to the Mekong-India Economic Corridor passing through the fertile river basins of the Brahmaputra and the Mekong.

The decision to construct the 1,360-km India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway was taken in 2004 at an estimated cost of $700 million. However, the project faced economic and political hurdles. The project gained some traction last year as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Motor Vehicle Agreement was signed. Presently, trade with Myanmar and Thailand is via sea and industry estimates see it growing to $100 billion in the next five years.

Amid the increasing Chinese influence in the region, the trans-Asian railway project under the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) to create an integrated freight railway across Europe and Asia has been already agreed upon by 17 countries.The Trilateral Highway would bring the land-locked Northeast of India closer to the mainland by increasing the connectivity with South East Asia and the ease of doing business. India has already built 160 km of this highway and invited a tender for upgrading bridges and roads.

New Alignments, not non-alignment for Indian foreign policy

New Delhi, September 6: The new alignment in India’s engagement with the World will get an evident twist this month as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while giving the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) Summit a miss; will be cementing New Delhi’s ties with the South East Asian countries as he head to second country in the region in a week. 

After making a pit stop at Vietnam enroute to G-20 summit in the Eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, will be embarking on a visit to Lao PDR on September 7th where he will be attending the 14th ASEAN-India Summit and the 11th East Asia Summit.

“This will be the third ASEAN (The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations) Summit to be attended by Prime Minister Modi. ASEAN is central to India’s Act East policy,” Secretary East Preeti Saran said while elaborating on the importance of the event.

The renewed diplomatic focus on the Mekong sub-region (comprising of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) stems from the fact that it links the Bay of Bengal with the South China Sea through land. The South China Sea is pivotal to Indian interests as 50 percent of its trade passes through its sea lanes. The Mekong sub-region, thus, has become an area of geopolitical rivalry between India and China. 

The Prime Minister will also attend the East Asia Summit of which it has been one of the co-founders. Connectivity and trade will be high on agenda.

The Laos visit will means that the Prime Minister has traveled to all the countries in the Mekong sub-region, barring Cambodia. The region has taken a centre-stage in India’s foreign policy as evident by the Prime Minister’s whirlwind tours to the countries – he reached Hanoi on night of September 2^nd and left for Hangzhou on September 3rd evening. He returned to India on September 5^th evening and shall be reaching Laos on September 7^th.

The visits have been highlighted as the Prime Minister will not be attending the NAM Summit in a departure from the tradition of Indian Prime Ministers attending the event. Top diplomats have been talking about how G-20 is a better representative of the present day world over without explicitly denouncing the relevance of NAM, founded during the Cold War era.

The South Block mandarins have been trying to downplay the turn of events citing Prime Minister Modi’s chock-o-block itinerary for foreign visits. But the subtle signal does indicate a major shift the way India will be conducting its diplomacy.

Tata's efforts for .tata domain hits Moroccan wall

The multi-billion dollar juggernaut Tata Group’s efforts to secure a domain name .tata has hit a Moroccan wall. A province in the African country bears the same name and has refused to give its endorsement to Tata’s bid.

Tata Group has now approached the government of India to open diplomatic channels to impress upon the Moroccan government not to obstruct its application to Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). “It is an example of issues faced in internet governance. The Tata Group has requested the Indian Government to take up the matter with the North African country through diplomatic channels,” sources said.

The group’s subsidiary TATA Motors has secured .tatamotors domain name. Officials privy to the case reveal that the events started in 2012 following Tata’s application to ICANN, an American non-profit organisation for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of databases of the name spaces of the internet. After years of deliberations and evaluations, ICANN changed the status of the industrial giant from “on hold” to “Will not proceed” in 2015. Experts say that this means a nudge to the company to withdraw its application.

The bone of contention is a province in Morocco with a population of about 150,000. This makes ‘Tata’ a protected geographic name, and the onus is now on the Tata Group to show ‘unequivocal’ endorsement or non-objection from the provincial government of Tata. Morocco has apparently written a letter to ICANN that it may want the .tata domain name for itself.

As organisation ICANN is fine-tuning its rules for internet governance, there have been instances of confusion previously. DotConnectAfrica’s application for .Africa first got an endorsement from an African Union representative only to be withdrawn later.

Officials say that the issue can be resolved amicably and building Tata province a new school may open the doors for the Indian conglomerate that has its presence from salt making to high-end luxury cars.