Latest news with #NityaChakraborty
Arabian Post
7 days ago
- Business
- Arabian Post
Discussions On Draft Joint Declaration At BRICS Summit Showing Sharp Divide
By Nitya Chakraborty On the eve of the 17th BRICS Summit scheduled at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on July 6 and 7, the ongoing discussions among the senior officials of the member countries for the preparation of the draft joint declaration from the Summit, are showing big divergence of views on the two major issues- Trump's tariff war and the Israeli role in the latest war in West Asia. Right now, the tariff issue is the most important one of the majority of the BRICS members including India. The host country Brazil is interested in using strong words in the draft against President Trump's unilateral decision on reciprocal tariffs. The 90 day pause announced by the US President expires on July 9. Already, the US administration has started issuing letters to the trade partner countries who have till now not negotiated the deals. The BRICS declaration to be issued on July 7 will take into account the latest position after the issuing of letters and make its position clear in the draft decrying the unilateralism of the USA. Presently BRICS has eleven full members the first five China, Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa and the new six Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Ethiopia and Indonesia. Brazilian President Inacio de Silva Lula, better known as Lula is taking the leading role in the shaping of the declaration along with South Africa and other members. Indian officials are keen that a special mention is made of the threat of terror to India from Pakistan in the declaration in the context of the BRICS nations fight against terrorism. It is to be seen to what extent Prime Minister Narendra Modi can reshape the draft declaration and make it tuned to India's stand on terrorism and Pakistan. Chinese President Xi Jinping is not attending, China will be represented by the Prime Minister Li Quiang. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be physically attending but there is a possibility that he will address the BRICS Summit through a video call. Iranian President is not attending but Iran is represented by a very senior minister. Iran has already mentioned that it wants the draft declaration to incorporate strong language against both Israel and USA. But Egyptian and Saudi officials have suggested restraint. Indications suggest that the draft has to be finalized at the Summit level as lot of divergences are expected to remain in the draft before its consideration by the Summit leaders. As regards India, the officials taking part in the discussions for draft declaration, are finding the situation a bit delicate. Indian officials are at the final stages of discussions on trade deal. President Trump has already said that the deal will be ready shortly. It can be ready even before July 9. So India's relationship with USA and the present geo political position do not permit the Indian side to take a strong position against the US on tariff issue. India and many other members do not want to name the USA as the villain in the final declaration. The possibility is the US or Trump will not be named but the opposition to the unilateral actions will be conveyed strongly. In fact, the reality is that it is just not India or Egypt, even China and Russia also are not favouring a strong anti-US declaration. China has already concluded its trade deal with the US while President Putin is depending on President Trump to bail him out of Ukraine crisis. Iran's forceful participation in the discussion has made the task of choosing right line on Middle East crisis tougher. Sources say that Iran has taken very one sided position pushing for a very critical stance against the USA which the other countries are finding difficult to agree. Brazilian officials are trying their best to work on a common ground on Middle East crisis. If the differences still remain, it is up to the Summit leaders to fine tune the draft and make it acceptable to all. BRICS comprises a mix of emerging and developing economies, each with unique strengths and challenges. China has the largest economy within the bloc, while India, Brazil, and Russia also hold significant economic weight. South Africa, while smaller in terms of GDP, plays a crucial role in the African continent. BRICS economies collectively account for nearly half of world's GDP, with its rate of economic growth surpassing the global average. Two BRICS members China and India are the drivers of the growth of global economy. BRICS has emerged as a counterweight to the dominance of traditional economic powers, contributing to a more multipolar world order. Economists hold the view that BRICS economic profile reflects a dynamic and influential force in the global economy, driven by the collective strength and diverse capabilities of the member nations. China is the second largest economy in the world after the top performer USA. India is expected to be the third largest economy after USA and China by GDP is projected to be $ 2.75 trillion by 2028 making it the eighth largest economy in the world. Russia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia also have high prospects of growth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got an opportunity to dominate the proceedings at the Rio de Janeiro Summit as he leads the largest democracy in the world. Following the absence of President Xi Jinping, he will also be the most prominent head of state attending this Summit. It is to be seen how the Indian PM makes use of his clout to influence the deliberations and help in making the joint declaration favourable to Indian stand on terror and Pakistan. (IPA Service)
Arabian Post
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Arabian Post
Narendra Modi Has The Big Task Of Refurbishing India's Image In Global South At BRICS Summit
By Nitya Chakraborty Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a tough task in improving India's image as defender of the interests of Global South at the coming meeting of the BRICS at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on July 6 and 7 which he will be attending. The 17th BRICS summit will be hosted by Brazil and the focus is on the theme 'Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance'. Apart from this broad theme, the discussions will relate to global fight against terrorism and the Israeli genocide in Gaza which has been strongly condemned by most members of the BRICS, Initially comprised of Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China, and South Africa, the recently expanded alliance now also includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In the coming summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending. That way, Indian Prime Minister will be one of the most prominent leaders attending the summit apart from the presidents of South Africa and Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula. The Brazilian Presidency will focus on two priorities: the Global South Cooperation; and BRICS Partnerships for Social, Economic, and Environmental Development. Brazil also proposes to focus on six core areas global health cooperation, trade, investment and finance, climate change, artificial intelligence governance, multilateral peace and security architecture and institutional development. For India, especially the Prime Minister, the most important thing at the summit is to persuade the BRICS members to appreciate the Indian view on terror and the country's assessment of Pakistan's role. Pakistan is not a member of BRICS and the Chinese President's towering presence will not be there at the summit. So, Narendra Modi can do some proper spadework to remove the perception as victim that Pakistan has been able to create among the global south nations. At the recent conference of defence ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in China, India faced embarrassment as there was no reference to Pahalgam in the joint declaration while Balochistan was mentioned as a case of terror action. Out of ten SCO members, nine including China, Russia and Pakistan supported that declaration ignoring India. Though India did not sign that and it could not be issued, the isolation of India at the SCO meet revealed the failure of India's diplomatic efforts overseas since the Operation Sindoor which ended on May 10 in a ceasefire. Though the Indian external ministry officials have pointed out that the BRICS declaration in Brazil summit will reflect India's position on terror, this can not be taken as granted as Chinese senior minister still will be attending the meeting and most of the BRICS members do not subscribe to the Modi's three point near normal theory. Indian officials have to do a lot of spadework to ensure that this time in Brazil, no such embarrassment takes place as happened during SCO defence ministers meet in China last month. The declaration will be monitored by the host-the Brazilian president Lula. So a personal intervention by Narendra Modi with President Lula is needed to make the joint declaration incorporate the views of India on terror. The reality is that Narendra Modi has lost his personal image as a fighter for global south in the eyes of the BRICS members. In the last three years, the isolation of India from the common causes of global south has intensified with the Indian Prime Minister taking more interest in QUAD as against BRICS, SCO and even G-20. The QUAD foreign ministers are meeting on Tuesday July 1 in Washington being attended by the Indian external affairs minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. This will be followed by QUAD summit later this year, possibly in New Delhi. If that happens, President Trump will be attending. Both PMO and the external affairs ministry will be too busy working for the success of this meeting. This July meeting of BRICS is of crucial significance to the Indian Prime Minister as India will take over the next presidency of BRICS meaning that the 18th BRICS summit will be held in India. India's deep involvement in this summit and sharing of the interests of the global south will create confidence among the BRICS members as also the associates that India can be trusted to be among the major leaders of global south. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a golden opportunity this time to identify with the common interests of global south while taking care of the issues of India's specific interest. Prime Minister is also visiting Brazil on an official visit after the summit at the invitation of the Brazilian President Lula. This should help in further consolidating the political and economic relations between the two large economies. There are vast untapped opportunities of collaboration between the two countries. Agreements are likely to be signed in the areas of agriculture, renewable energy and defence cooperation. India and Brazil can collaborate in the application of artificial intelligence where India has a dominant role. Narendra Modi has to impart a new dynamism to the India-Brazil economic relations through this official visit. (IPA Service)
Arabian Post
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Arabian Post
India's Diplomatic Isolation Was Firmly Evident At The SCO Meet In Qingdao In China
By Nitya Chakraborty India's total diplomatic isolation was in show in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)'s defence ministers meet in Qingdao city in China on June 25 and 26 when a joint statement was prepared calling upon the members to jointly fight terror but there was no mention of Pahalgam killings on April 22 while taking note of attacks in Balochistan. The joint statement was prepared after discussions among the members including India and Pakistan at the meet presided over by China, the host nation for 2025 summit. Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh strongly spoke against terror during the deliberations focusing on the Pahalgam massacre and the consequent action of India to dismantle the terror camps in Pakistan through Operation Sindoor. But the joint statement on the final day did not incorporate Indian point on Pahalgam terror while the Pakistani point on Balochistan was included. Naturally, Singh did not sign this one sided declaration. The norm in SCO is that every resolution will have to be on the basis of consensus. So as a result of India's objection, the joint statement could not be issued. Pakistan is happy that India was alone in not signing. So it was a diplomatic victory for Islamabad which is engaged with India in a perception battle after Pahalgam killings and Operation Sindoor, to influence the global opinion. SCO has presently ten members- China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Indian officials claimed that the statement was tuned in favour of Pakistan by China. Fine enough. It might be true. But then what about the other seven members including Russia? It was a sheer failure of our foreign office that all the central Asian member states of the SCO did not come in support of India. Even Russia did not intervene to amend the statement to incorporate Indian view. In all in SCO, out of ten members, excepting India, no other country was against the statement. It was a clear 9-1 in favour of Pakistan. The SCO summit of head of states will be held later this year in Tianjin in China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the SCO summit, it is stated. He will be meeting there the Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as also the other leaders.. The issue of fighting terror will also figure at that summit like the latest meeting of defence ministers. What is Prime Minister of India going to do to ensure that the summit declaration finally contains the Indian viewpoint.? Even before that SCO summit later this year, BRICS summit will be held in Brazil on July 6 and 7. Indian PM will be attending that. At that meeting also, the fight against terror issue will come up. Pakistan is not a member of BRICS. That way that pressure from Islamabad which was there on the Qingdao meeting, will not be there in Brazil summit. But every country has taken some position and that does not change suddenly. It requires constant persuasion and presentation of facts. Rajnath Singh and his team totally failed at Qingdao meeting to convince the members of the SCO. That should not be repeated at the Brazil summit. Only few days are left for the BRICS summit. In these eight days, Indian diplomats have to make all efforts to meet the member countries and convince them of Indian position with full facts about the involvement of Pakistan with terror attacks against India. Brazil and South Africa are key members. They should be briefed properly to avoid any embarrassment at the summit As regards the coming SCO summit later this year, the deliberations will be highly important from the perspective of both security and economy of the region. Now in its 25th year, the SCO has expanded from its original six founding members into a 'big family' of 10 member states, two observer states, and 14 dialogue partners – stretching from the East European plains to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Rim, and encompassing nearly half of the world's population. SCO sources say that the SCO has become a mature platform for regional security cooperation, with continuously growing influence, cohesion and appeal. Over the past 25 years, this 'giant ship of security' has been riding the waves against terrorism, separatism and extremism, making outstanding contributions to regional security. The economic and trade dividends and people-to-people exchanges emerging from security cooperation have also been remarkable, significantly bringing the peoples of the member states closer together in all aspects. India has neglected the functioning of BRICS and SCO in the last five years out of its love for US sponsored QUAD. Now with the US President Trump humiliating Indian Prime Minister consistently by mentioning his decision on India-Pakistan ceasefire 18 times since May10 and entertaining Pakistan chief of army staff Asim Munir over lunch, our Prime Minister should give a relook to the foreign policy pursued by him in the last five years. This is time India should join hands with Brazil, South Africa and other developing countries to fight for Global South .The country's interests lie with Global South, that Mr. Narendra Modi should not forget. (IPA Service)
Arabian Post
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Arabian Post
Was Israeli Strike Against Iran A Part Of Donald Trump's Game Plan?
By Nitya Chakraborty Israeli missile strikes against Teheran and Iran's counter offensive entered its fifth day on June 17 Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump dramatically cutting short his stay in Canada for G-7 meeting for Washington indicating that he would be busy in peace moves in the next few hours for organizing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. French President Emanuel Macron also informed at the summit venue that Iran sought Trump's assistance for ending the war. If we look at the chronology of the developments since the early morning of June 13, we will see that the entire course from the beginning of the sudden Israeli strikes to the dramatic exit of Trump from G-7 meeting, was a part of a stage managed event prepared by Trump-Netanyahu duo to achieve the Trump objective of Iran coming to the next round of US-Iran nuclear talks with bended knees with virtually little bargaining power. Trump wants to emerge as a peace maker by bringing victorious Netanyahu and shattered Iranian leaders in the negotiating table. The sixth round of talks on Iran's nuclear programme was scheduled for June 15, Sunday in Oman. Trump wanted to precipitate the deal on his own terms, but he did not get positive signal. The Iranians with their nuclear programme monitored by some top scientists, were not in a mood to surrender to the US President's diktat. They were getting ready for hard bargaining which Trump could not tolerate. The missile strikes by Israel began two days before the scheduled meeting. In the last four days, the nuclear facilities have been damaged in a serious manner, nine top scientists have been killed. With Israel guaranteeing high tech protection to Tel Aviv's air defences, the Iranian missiles could not damage much. It was an uneven war between Israel and Iran in terms of missile quality and technology. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was candid when he said that the Israeli objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel. He even gave a call to Iranians to rise in revolt. In fact, the Israeli defence forces are still targeting Iran's supreme head Ali Khamenei who has been shifted to a secret shelter by the Iranian authorities fearing attack on him. Trump himself said that Israel had a plan to kill Khamenei, but he rebuffed that. This was a way of making it clear that he was not involved if by any chance the Iranian supreme leader got killed. Interestingly, Israel gave advance information to the US President after attack, after that only Trump said that it was Israel's war against Iran, the US had nothing to do with it. Days before, the US government warned its citizens in Israel and asked the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem embassies to be careful in the next few days and look for shelters. An analysis by Zaineb Riduoa for the Washington-based Hudson Institute says that , Israel prepared for its June 13 operation over years of sustained intelligence preparation, real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and deep infiltration. Israeli military planners achieved full-spectrum disruption by dismantling and infiltrating Iran's command and control networks, severing high-level communications, and injecting uncertainty into the regime's decision-making processes. As our IPA analyst Asad Mirza mentioned in his piece on June 16, by the time Tehran could react, the damage was already done. Its upper command was wiped out, and its defensive systems were disabled. Crucially, Israel did not rely on cross-border operations. It had pre-positioned remote-activated strike platforms inside Iran and deployed them with surgical precision. This shows its preparations and depth of its infiltration of the Iranian security apparatus. Israel combined a decapitation strike with cognitive disruption. The psychological warfare element – that the strike had come from Iranian soil – amplified the attack's kinetic effects, leaving Tehran paralysed. Unable to determine whether it had been infiltrated or outmanoeuvred, the regime's ability to respond took time to recover and initiate countermeasures. But these were inadequate to penetrate the highly sophisticated air defence system to protect Tel Aviv. In the last 48 hours, there have been intensive discussions about the possible US role in Israeli attacks. In US media, the right wing channels and podcasts have been showing how the Israeli defence forces have shattered the defence system of Iran and how Teheran has got isolated. Among the conservative whites, there is a sort of pleasure at the humiliation of a Muslim nation. Experts mention that the Trump-Netanyahu duo are planning for a regime change though officially, the US state secretary Marco Rubio has ruled that out. The leaders at G-7 however in a signed statement supported Israel's right to self defence and put the blame on Iran for bringing instability in Middle East. The G-7 leaders ruled out regime change as a solution in Iran but their identification with Israeli attack against Iran calling it right of self defence, makes it apparent that despite some high sounding liberal sentiments occasionally, they will go with Trump on Iran. Trump earlier wrote a post in his media platform saying that he had given Iran many chances to reach a nuclear deal with USA' He even said that he warned Iranian leadership that they are facing an attack that's much worse than anything they could imagine. What more is needed to prove that Trump and Netanyahu was in collusion? (IPA Service)
Arabian Post
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Arabian Post
India Abstaining During Voting On UN Resolution For Ceasefire In Gaza Is The Lowest Point Of Diplomacy
By Nitya Chakraborty On Thursday June 12, Indian diplomacy under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached its lowest ebb when India abstained in the United Nations General Assembly from a vote on a resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The 193 member UN general assembly passed the resolution overwhelmingly with 149 countries in favour, 12 against and 19 countries including India, once the real leader of the global South. India did not support this resolution at a time when Israel is engaged in genocide in Gaza and other areas of Palestine killing even the hungry and sick people who were going for food and medicines to the aid centres. Even the G-7 members excepting the U.S. have strongly spoken against the latest killings by Israel and they all excepting USA voted for the resolution. But India did not, it abstained. The 19 countries who abstained included apart from India, countries like Albania, Cameroon, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Malawi, Panama, South Sudan and Togo. These countries are not significant players in UN. All the leading members of the Global South including BRICS and SCO voted in favour of the resolution. USA and Israel, as usual, voted against the resolution. The Indian abstention from voting in such a critical situation when Israel is in its most aggressive form even without listening to the U.S. President Donald Trump, has triggered a big distrust among the leading members of the developing countries as also the two big powers Russia and China. The next summit of BRICS will be taking place in July this year in Brazil. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending that. Israel's action including its attacks against Iran on June 13 will also be on the agenda. How Can Indian Prime Minister face the other members of the BRICS at the summit on the issue of Israel and Gaza? In the explanation of vote on the resolution titled 'Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations', India's permanent representative to the UN, ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said the resolution comes against the backdrop of worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.. He then said India is deeply concerned at the deepening humanitarian crisis and condemns the loss of civilian lives but a joint effort should be directed towards bringing the two sides closer. So, India would abstain from the resolution. What an argument under the new normal Modi doctrine? Everyone knows what is the latest attitude of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to any bilateral talks? The immediate need is to save the lives of Gaza people and organize humanitarian aid for sick and hungry. The ceasefire is imperative for that. 149 countries out of the total of 193 members supported the resolution on the basis of this understanding. They wanted to stop the killings with immediate effect. The resolution demanded that Israel, the 'occupying power', immediately end the blockade, open all border crossings and ensure that aid reaches the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip immediately and at scale, in line with its obligations under peace international law and humanitarian principles. It seems that the Narendra Modi government has objection to the term 'occupying power' given to Israel. Even France, Britain are agreeing to this resolution, why not India? The resolution demanded that the parties fully, unconditionally and without delay implement all the provisions of Security Council resolution of June 2024, including an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, the return of the remains of hostages who have been killed, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes and neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. The UNGA vote came after the 15-nation Security Council failed to adopt a similar resolution last week after the sole veto by permanent member the United States. For the active members like South Africa and Brazil, there was no other way but to organize a fresh resolution for voting in the UN general assembly where the resolution is decided by voting and no veto power is allowed. On Thursday, the draft resolution was moved by Spain which is a member of the European Union. Prime Minister Sanchez belongs to the socialist part of the coalition and Deputy Prime Minister is Yolanda Diaz, a prominent leader of the Communist Party of Spain.. Spain could organize most members of the European Union in favour of the Resolution. The latest Israeli attack on Iran on Friday and the possibility of the war spreading with serious implications for the Middle East as also global peace poses another challenge to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM has cultivated special relations with Israel while Iran is very crucial from India's geopolitical strategy. It will be another big challenge to PM's diplomatic acumen. (IPA Service)
