Namibian President hails PM Modi's 'historic' State Visit
"To me personally it's very historic in the sense that since I took over as President of the republic of Namibia, on the 21st March this year, this is the first State Visit I am hosting and I don't take it very lightly," Nandi-Ndaitwah said in her remarks during the delegation-level talks with PM Modi.
Focusing on the opportunity to increase bilateral cooperation, Ndaitwah mentioned the growing trade and investment ties, technical cooperation, political as well as people-to-people relations between the two countries.
"The frequent high-level visit engagement and structured bilateral mechanism such as our Joint Commission of Cooperation and Joint Trade Committee have enabled us to deepen our relationship across many fields," she said.
The relations, she mentioned, have been diversified in areas of ICT, human resources development, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, as well as defence and biodiversity conservation.
Ndaitwah also mentioned the "successful" translocation of Cheetahs from Namibia to India.
"It is not just an act of ecological restoration, it's a global symbol of innovative South-South cooperation and sustainable partnership," she added.
The Namibian President welcomed India's proposal under the pharmacy of the world initiative to establish a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Windhoek, which would significantly enhance regional health security and align with Namibia's goal of strengthening domestic production capability in the health sector.
Expansion of trade and investment along with potential for scaling up cooperation in areas like green hydrogen and clean hydrogen, mining and value addition, oil and gas, infrastructure development, agriculture and food security, as well as tourism development was also discussed in detail during the one-on-one discussions between the two leaders and also the delegation-level talks.
Ndaitwah also suggested putting up a united front and maintaining regular consultation on vital issues such as the need for the reform of the UN Security Council and other multilateral institutions.
"We share the same conviction of a fairer equitable representation and democratic UNSC, reflecting the current geopolitical reality, and therefore should unite in order to ensure that the desired reforms take place sooner rather than later," she said.
The Namibian President also expressed strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestation, reaffirming the African nation's support for the right to self-determination of people living under foreign occupation and colonial domination.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
To become a strategic actor, Iran must shed its reliance on proxies
In April 2024, as Iranian missiles rained down across Israel and many were intercepted mid-air, analysts around the world took note of the sheer scale of Iran's ballistic reach. Many seasoned military minds could easily note what didn't happen — there was no Iranian 'air power' to speak of. Not a single Iranian fighter entered contested airspace, no attempt was made to suppress Israeli defences through air dominance, and not one sortie altered the course of events. The longstanding asymmetry in Iran's force structure — a missile-rich, air force-poor doctrine — was laid bare. This was, surprisingly, decades in the making. It's the reality of war that is making this dawn on us. I recall with clarity that in 1992, as someone who regularly tracked military developments, I closely monitored Iran's acquisition of North Korean Hwasong-5 and 6 missiles and the building of the architecture of Iran's burgeoning rocket programme. At that time, too, our assessment was blunt — without a matching air force, Iran could not hope to counter Israel in any meaningful way. There was — and still is — no shared land border. Yet, a set of strong conventional armed forces — army, air force and air defence — was imperative, besides the maritime force. What mattered was the ability to deliver precision strikes from the air, both to deter and to punish, while adequately defending the airspace. Even then, it was evident that Iran was betting on the wrong horse. Iran's defence posture since the 1990s has been shaped less by hard-nosed strategic logic and more by institutional interests — especially those of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC's progressively growing dominance over defence and foreign policy led to a doctrinal preference for asymmetric tools — missiles, drones, and proxy militias. This was driven by Israel's dominance of the conventional war environment in the Middle East and the reputation gained from major victories against Arab conventional armed forces. It led to Iran choosing to become the world's foremost practitioner of hybrid and grey-zone warfare, from Lebanon to Yemen, Syria to Gaza. Its missile arsenal expanded from basic Scud variants to precision-strike capabilities. Its drones progressed to become battlefield disruptors. But its air force — still operating pre-1979 US-made aircraft like the F-4 and F-14 — remained frozen in time. Why did Iran, despite close defence ties with Russia and access to Chinese systems, fail to modernise its conventional forces? The answers lie in a mix of structural and doctrinal blind spots. First, sanctions and isolation played their part. Western arms embargoes after the Revolution, followed by UN Security Council restrictions, effectively barred major transfers of combat aircraft. Even friendly suppliers like Russia and China hesitated, fearing diplomatic costs and technical dependency. This never applied to Pakistan, although one can presume that if the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had not taken place in 1979 and Pakistan had not acquired the status of a US frontline state, its fate, too, may have been similar. As late as 2016, Iranian negotiations for Russian Su-30s stalled due to international scrutiny and internal disagreements. Second, there was a cost-complexity trade-off, which probably applies more to any air force. A modern air force is expensive, not just to buy but to sustain. Pilots must be trained, platforms upgraded, and supply chains secured. In contrast, missile systems — especially those based on solid fuel and deployed from underground silos — offer lower operating costs, greater survivability, and rapid retaliatory capability. Creating indigenous capability for aircraft manufacturing of the modern kind is almost an impossible challenge. Missiles can still be researched and manufactured. The North Korean Nodong was Iran's most critical acquisition. It allowed Iran to target Israel and the Gulf with ballistic missiles for the first time. China's role was more discreet. Chinese entities were instrumental in helping Iran build its own production lines, especially for the Fateh-110, Zolfaghar, and later systems. Without these two sources, Iran's missile programme would likely have remained a tactical artillery force, not the strategic arsenal it wields today. For a regime obsessed with strategic messaging and revolutionary self-preservation, missiles were the attraction, especially because the Arab nations had invested more in conventional forces and failed. Missiles and rockets also ensured a quasi-multi-front capability, taking some other Arab nations as potential adversaries, too. Third, and perhaps most important, was strategic culture. The all-powerful IRGC probably viewed conventional force modernisation as secondary to its regional ambitions. Its influence on Iran's foreign policy ensured that Tehran invested in Hezbollah's arsenal, the Houthis' reach and Iraqi militias' resilience, while neglecting its own conventional balance. All of them proved effective in their conflicts, fighting as Iran's proxies, convincing the IRGC that its decision was right. Fighting through proxies was smart, but it was never going to be decisive. It could bleed enemies, not break them. That is the bane of asymmetric proxy war. The events of 2024-25 should force a review in Tehran. Iran's adversaries — especially Israel — have mastered the art of integrated deterrence: Layered missile defence, electronic warfare, and unmatched airpower. A revolutionary guard corps is an excellent mechanism for regime protection, internal security, and ideological enforcement. But when war calls for black-and-white outcomes — dominance, not deterrence — only conventional forces can deliver. Air power remains the centre of gravity in any future conflict, especially in the Middle East, where terrain and geography demand long-reach precision and rapid mobility. Perhaps now, more than three decades after it first chose rockets over wings, Iran will revisit that decision. The conflict dynamics have changed, but the fundamental truth has not: Strategic victory demands air superiority. No amount of missiles can substitute for it. Iran now faces the reality that asymmetry is being countered with global coordination — a major shift from the permissive environment it exploited earlier. Iran's strategic choice to privilege proxies and missiles has reached its upper limit. Israel is not its only adversary. Despite Chinese efforts at rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, the strategic competition in the Gulf remains unresolved. For Iran to transition from a reactive regional disruptor to a true strategic actor, it must reinvest in conventional power. Only then can it match ideology with capability — and rhetoric with reach. The writer is a former corps commander of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps and member, National Disaster Management Authority. Views are personal
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Caracal spotted in cheetahs' new abode
Caracal, the elusive and critically endangered 'flying cat', has recently been spotted at the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary of western Madhya Pradesh, which became the second habitat of African cheetahs in April 2025. Also known as 'syahghosh', the adult male caracal was seen in a camera trap installed in the Mandsaur forest division. The sighting of a shy, swift and generally nocturnal carnivorous animal is significant. Its presence shows that Gandhi Sagar's dry and semi-arid ecosystem is intact and balanced. The caracal is also described as a flying cat, for its impressive jumping ability to catch birds in their mid-air flight. Minister slams forest dept over 'lack of support' Kailash Vijayvargiya, a senior cabinet ministers of Madhya Pradesh, has publicly expressed unhappiness with the forest department. Addressing an event in Indore (graced by CM Mohan Yadav) recently, the local MLA and the state's urban development and housing minister, Vijayvargiya said the forest department wasn't cooperating with them in supplying saplings for the ambitious tree plantation exercise in Indore. 'We've planted seven lakh trees so far, and our target is to plant 51 lakh trees, but we're not receiving the expected support from the forest department. I request the CM to give proper instructions to the department before going abroad.' Protest outside BJP office over Sihora dist Residents of Sihora town recently staged a protest reiterating their long-standing demand for the establishment of a separate district, carved out from Jabalpur. The protest was held outside the ruling BJP divisional office in Sihora, with the people carrying placards that read, 'Who are Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Uma Bharti, Late Babulal Gaur and Smriti Irani?' Amid the sounds of conch, bells and cymbals, the protestors recounted that prominent BJP leaders, including the three former chief ministers of MP and an ex-union minister, had promised to create Sihora a new district. However, these promises remain unfulfilled. Anuraag singh Our correspondent in Madhya Pradesh
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
4 hours ago
- First Post
Trump's new plan: At 6 hours' notice, ICE can deport immigrants to third countries, safety not guaranteed
US immigration authorities can now deport migrants to other countries with as little as six hours' notice, under a new Trump administration policy aimed at speeding up removals. read more Advertisement US judge rules Trump admin violated court order in deporting migrants to South Sudan. File Image/US Department of Defense via Reuters US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could deport migrants to countries other than their own with as little as six hours' notice, according to American media reports citing a new memo from a top Trump administration official. Usually, ICE waits at least 24 hours after notifying migrants of their deportation to a 'third country.' But in 'urgent situations,' the agency can now carry out deportations much faster, said the memo dated July 9 from acting ICE director Todd Lyons. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Migrants could be sent to countries that have promised not to persecute or torture them, without needing further legal procedures. The new policy signals the Trump administration's intent to speed up deportations to countries around the world. In June, the US Supreme Court cleared the way for the administration to resume such deportations by lifting a lower court order that had blocked removals without first checking whether migrants feared persecution in the third country. Following that ruling, ICE deported eight migrants from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan, and Vietnam to South Sudan. Reports say the administration also recently urged officials in five African nations—Liberia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Gabon—to accept migrants being deported from other places. The Trump administration argues that the policy helps quickly remove people who should not be in the US, especially those with criminal records. However, critics warn that the policy is dangerous and cruel, saying it could send people to countries where they might face violence, lack connections, or not speak the language. Trina Realmuto, a lawyer representing a migrants' group challenging third-country deportations in court, said the new policy 'falls far short of providing the statutory and due process protections that the law requires.'
