| Sreemoy Talukdar brings you the essential cheat sheet on foreign affairs covering India and the world |  | | The week was overshadowed, at least in this part of the world, by the bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan in the backdrop of SCO foreign ministers' meeting in Goa. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari tried to play a game of one-upmanship with S Jaishankar and got schooled in return. There were important pull-asides on the SCO sidelines between Jaishankar and Lavrov (pic above), Jaishankar-Qin Gang. We also track the outcomes of Rajnath Singh's visit to Maldives, French president's invitation to Modi for Bastille Day celebrations and implications of the Kremlin drone attack. | | TOP FIVE NEWS UPDATES | | On terror, Pakistan's credibility is depleting even faster than its forex reserves, says S Jaishankar | | Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari arrived in Goa on Thursday to attend the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (SCO-CFM) meeting, the first senior leader from the neighbouring country to visit India in almost 12 years. And expectedly, the SCO agenda was hijacked by the underlying tensions of bitter India-Pakistan rivalry. I am quoting extensively from an Indian Express report that manages to catch the sequence of events on a frantically eventful Friday when both Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers went hammer and tongs at each other in a seaside resort at Goa, the venue for the summit. External affairs minister S Jaishankar called his visiting Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari a "promoter, justifier and a spokesperson" of the terror industry. According to the Indian Express report, speaking after the meeting of SCO-CFM meeting on Friday, Jaishankar said, "As a foreign minister of an SCO member state, Bhutto Zardari was treated accordingly. As a promoter, justifier and a spokesperson of a terrorism industry, which is the mainstay of Pakistan, his positions were called out and they were countered including at the SCO meeting itself." He added, "victims of terrorism do not sit together with perpetrators of terrorism to discuss terrorism… So, to come here and preach these hypocritical words, as though we are on the same boat, I mean, they are committing acts of terrorism. And you know, I don't want to jump the gun on what happened today (referring to the attack in Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir in which 5 Indian soldiers were killed) but I think we are all feeling equally outraged. I will say Pakistan's credibility is depleting even faster than its forex reserves." The minister's savage attack on Bhutto-Zardari came, as the report says, "after the latter, through his media interactions, sought to play the victim card by pointing a finger at India, and raised the issues of the revocation of Article 370, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor." New Delhi apparently "took the call to respond to Bhutto Zardari after he turned the spotlight on bilateral issues, away from the focus of the visit which was the meeting of the SCO Foreign Ministers. After Bhutto-Zardari addressed a press conference around 5 pm – visiting Pakistani journalists were present but the Indian media was kept out – Jaishankar briefed journalists, including Pakistan's journalists and took a question from one of them, around 6.30 pm, and countered Bhutto-Zardari's statements with carefully-crafted responses." Jaishankar also slammed Bhutto Zardari's remarks at the SCO meeting on "weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring", saying it "unconsciously reveals" Pakistan's mindset. "What does weaponising something mean? It means that the activity is legitimate and somebody is weaponising it...That means they (Pakistan) think terrorism is legitimate, that we should not weaponise it," he said. According to Hindustan Times, "several factors were behind the tough stance taken by Jaishankar at his news conference, including the upcoming election in Karnataka, the deaths of the Indian soldiers at Rajouri, and Bhutto Zardari's efforts to bring up contentious issues in interviews with the Indian media and at his news conference with Pakistani journalists." Bhutto-Zardari gave interviews to select Indian media outlets, and later in a Pakistan media-only news conference issued an apparent threat to India as he spoke about the G-20 meeting being held in Kashmir. | | LAC impasse dominates Jaishankar's meeting with Qin Gang; Lavrov says rupee-rouble trade 'a problem' | | While India-Pakistan sideshow overshadowed SCO proceedings, Indian foreign minister Jaishankar also held talks on sidelines of the summit. Jaishankar said on Thursday that he had detailed discussions with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang on bilateral ties along with pull-asides with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and Uzbekistan counterpart Bakhtiyor Saidov. There was no bilateral with Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and even that suggestion from a member of the press was disdainfully shot down by Jaishankar. The minister tweeted after meeting Lavrov that he held a "comprehensive review of our bilateral, global and multilateral cooperation" and "appreciated Russia's support for India's SCO presidency. Also discussed issues pertaining to G20 and BRICS." In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said "a trust-based exchange of views on the main issues of bilateral relations, including the schedule of upcoming contacts, as well as topical issues on the global and regional agenda took place. The ministers praised the dynamics of cooperation in key areas of the special and privileged strategic partnership between our countries." The Print reports that Lavrov was asked to respond on India and Russia suspending talks to settle bilateral trade in rupees. "This is a problem because we accumulated billions of rupees in accounts in Indian banks and we need to use this money. But for this, the rupees need to be transferred to another currency. This is being discussed now," said Lavrov. Jaishankar's meeting on the sidelines with Chinese foreign minister Qin expectedly hit a few road bumps. Speaking to reporters later on the issue, Jaishankar said, "…issue is that there is an abnormal position in the border areas, along the boundary. We had a very frank discussion about it. We have to take the disengagement process forward. I have made it very clear, publicly as well, that India-China relations are not normal and cannot be normal if peace and tranquillity in the border areas are disturbed." In statement released by Chinese foreign ministry, Beijing said "Qin Gang (during his meeting with Jaishankar) pointed out that the China-India border situation is generally stable. The two sides should continue to implement the important common understandings reached between leaders of the two countries, consolidate existing outcomes, strictly abide by relevant agreements and protocols, work to ease and cool down the border situation, and maintain sustained peace and tranquility in the border areas." | | Defence minister Rajnath Singh hails India-Maldives ties after gifting two defence platforms to Malé | | Union defence minister Rajnath Singh has just returned home after a 3-day visit to Maldives ahead of crucial presidential elections in the archipelago. ABP Live reports, "India is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the current regime of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih remains in power in Malé. Singh on Tuesday handed over two critical defence platforms to the Maldives National Defence Forces in an effort to strengthen defence and security ties between the two countries. The Indian defence minister met president Solih Tuesday and discussed ways to boost the 'strong' defence cooperation between both countries under New Delhi's twin strategic policies of 'Neighbourhood First' as well as 'Security and Growth for All in the Region' (SAGAR)," the report said, citing a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence. "Excellent meeting with HEP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at the President's Office in Male. We discussed a wide range of issues to further strengthen the relations between India and Maldives," Singh said in a tweet. The minister described the handing over of the two 'Made in India' platforms as a symbol of the shared commitment of both nations and their objectives towards peace and security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), reports Hindustan Times. "India has emerged as a leading defence exporter in recent years. A defence manufacturing ecosystem has been created which has the advantage of abundant technical manpower. We produce world-class equipment to meet not only our own needs, but also for exports. India's commitment to supporting the Maldives will only get stronger with time," Singh had said during the handover ceremony which was also attended by President of Maldives HE Solih. | | Modi accepts Macron's invitation to be guest of honour at France's Bastille Day parade | | Prime minister Narendra Modi has accepted French president Emmanuel Macron's invitation to be the guest of honour at France's traditional military parade held during Bastille day on July 14, the French presidency said on Friday. In a tweet written in both English and Hindi, the French president said "Dear Narendra, I will be very happy to welcome you in Paris as the Guest of Honour at the parade of July 14." This is the second time that an Indian Prime Minister will be the Guest of Honour for the July 14 celebrations in Paris after former prime minister Manmohan Singh participated in the event in 2009, notes The Hindu. Thanking the French president, Modi replied, "Thank you my friend @EmmanuelMacron! I look forward to celebrating Bastille Day and our Strategic Partnership with you and the French people." A joint statement by France and India, published on the Elysée website stated: "To mark this important milestone, an Indian armed forces contingent will participate in the Parade alongside their French counterparts. Prime Minister's visit is expected to herald the next phase in the France-India Strategic Partnership by setting new and ambitious goals for our strategic, cultural, scientific, academic, economic cooperation, including in a wide range of industries. RFI, a French media outlet, said in a report that "Macron is probably most interested in strengthening ties with India to try and pull New Delhi away from Russia, which was a formidable partner of India during the cold war and still is regarded as a friend. India has also refrained itself from criticising Russia's invasion of Ukraine and continues to engage in weapon trade with Moscow, in spite of US sanctions. France and India already engage in joint military exercises that critics say are aimed at containing China, with which New Delhi is engaged in an uneasy relationship over unsolved border issues." | | Russia says Ukraine staged drone attack on Kremlin to assassinate Putin, blames the plot on US | | Dramatic news emerged this week from Moscow when Russia claimed that Ukraine tried to assassinate Vladimir Putin through a drone attack on Kremlin, and later accused the United States of involvement in the explosion, charges that both Ukraine and the US have since denied. On Wednesday, Russia's TASS news agency reported that "the Kiev regime (Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky) carried out an attempt to deliver a strike by unmanned aerial vehicles on the Kremlin residence of the Russian president. Two unmanned aerial vehicles targeted the Kremlin… As a result of timely actions taken by military and special services using electronic warfare systems, the drones were disabled… Their fall and the fragments scattered around on the territory of the Kremlin caused no casualties or material damage," the report stated, adding that the Russian president was unharmed. Putin wasn't in the Kremlin Wednesday night at the time of the attack and was at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow. Associated Press quoted Zelensky as saying "We don't attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We're defending our villages and cities." Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the claims could provide a pretext for Russia "to justify massive strikes on Ukrainian cities, on the civilian population, on infrastructure facilities." Moscow said Kiev (Ukraine) does what Washington asks it to do. According to New York Times, Putin's spokesperson Dmitri Peskov "repeatedly" told reporters in a daily conference call that the United States was behind the episode at the Kremlin. "We know well that the decisions about such actions and such terrorist acts are made not in Kyiv, but in Washington… Kyiv then does what it's told." The White House quickly rejected Peskov's accusations. John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, on Thursday said "Peskov is just lying there, pure and simple… We've been clear privately that we do not encourage, nor do we enable, them to strike outside Ukraine… I can assure you that there was no involvement by the United States in this." As usual there have been competing claims. While western media outlets say the drones were "likely launched from inside Russia", Moscow claims Russian intelligence has confirmed that Kyiv masterminded the attempt. | | | | | | | | | | TOP ANALYSES OF THE WEEK | | India will never join US in any military coalition against China | | India will never become America's comrade-in-arms during some future US-China crisis, writes Ashley Tellis in Foreign Affairs. | | US shouldn't expect India to take its side in every theatre | | The US should respect Indian priorities in Indian Ocean and other geopolitical arenas, not expect Delhi to take Washington's side in every theatre, Ram Madhav writes in Indian Express. | | SCO, another China-headed grouping where India has to fake smiles | | Shekhar Gupta writes in The Print that the SCO meeting held in Goa, more than any other lately, serves to underline India's current geopolitical predicament. It is forced to spend so much time and energy, invest so much political capital, and radiate fake smiles in a grouping where it has so many serious clashes of interest. | | As a rising power, India cannot afford to ignore SCO | | To argue that India's real diplomatic focus is on the QUAD, the engagement with the US and the G20, and that these are far more useful exercises than SCO meetings is to lose sight of the fact that India as an Asian country cannot opt out of a key Asian/Eurasian organization, argues former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal in News18. | | No meaningful change possible right now in ties with Pakistan | | Imran's dominance of street politics has severely limited the space for Pakistan civilian ruling coalition—which includes Zardari's Peoples Party and the Sharifs' Muslim league—to take bold new initiatives towards India, argues C Raja Mohan in Indian Express. | | Chinese discourse around SCO meetings in India | | Antara Ghosal Singh of ORF analyses Chinese discourse around SCO to write that Chinese analysts accuse India of "manipulating its presidency to bring China-India border conflict into the ambit of the SCO… so as to portray itself as a victim and slander China at a multilateral forum." | | Time to call the bluff on Europe's moral bluster over Russia | | Europe's talks of diversification away from China are either half-baked, unimplementable, or plain poppycock, Sreemoy Talukdar writes in Firstpost. | | Is the PLA competent enough to win war over Taiwan? | | A worst-case Taiwan scenario for Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be a major military operation in which the People's Liberation Army fails spectacularly or displays shocking incompetence akin to Russia's in Ukraine. Could this happen? Georgetown University professor Andrew Scobell analyses this question in War on the Rocks. | | Quest to turn Indonesia into a modern democracy has failed | | Indonesia has lost its way on corruption and freedom. Quest to turn nation into a modern democracy has failed, writes Rizal Ramli in Nikkei Asia who has served as Indonesia's coordinating minister for maritime affairs under president Joko Widodo. | | India can't afford to lose Maldives again | | India is a leading player in Maldives, it should not miss the forest for the trees. Losing a match on one's home ground is worse than losing to an opponent in a far-off place, writes Radhey Tambi in The Diplomat. | | PODCAST | | Is Erdoğan era set to continue, or end? | | President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been in power for 20 years but he faces a serious challenge in May's general elections. In this edition of FT's Rachman Review podcast, host Gideon Rachman speaks to Soner Cagaptay at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy about Erdoğan's psychology, his political following and how a united opposition could finally unseat him. | | | | Copyright © 2023.Firstpost - All Rights Reserved. | |
