| Sreemoy Talukdar brings you the essential cheat sheet on foreign affairs covering India and the world |  | | We start this edition with prime minister Narendra Modi's three-day tour of Europe that made clear India's growing closeness with EU (pic above shows the PM with leaders of five Nordic nations). We also track the wrangle in Europe over Russian energy as the war rages on, the abortion debate in the US, China's continuing struggles with Covid and the latest on Sri Lanka crisis. | | TOP FIVE NEWS UPDATES | | Modi returns after three-nation Europe tour featuring 65 hours of engagements with 8 world leaders | | Prime minister Narendra Modi returned home on Thursday after a hectic three-day tour of Europe where he visited Germany, Denmark and France, clocking over 65 hours of engagements with eight world leaders and 50 global business leaders apart from diaspora events with thousands of members of Indian community. In Germany, his first stop on Monday, Modi met chancellor Olaf Scholz and co-chaired the sixth Intergovernmental meeting. This was the prime minister's first IGC with Chancellor Scholz and it resulted in nine agreements including a JDI on 'Green and Sustainable Development Partnership under which Germany will provide India with an additional development aid of 10 billion Euros till 2030 to support New Delhi's 'green growth plan' of sourcing 50 per cent energy requirement from renewables and installing 500 GW of non-fossil fuel electricity capacity by 2030. The joint statement declared that both sides have agreed to create a biennial ministerial mechanism within the IGC framework to provide "high-level political direction" to the partnership. On Tuesday, Modi left Berlin for Copenhagen at the invitation of Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen, who received the Indian PM at the airport in a "special gesture" and both leaders "agreed to further strengthen the 'Green Strategic Partnership' with a focus on green hydrogen, renewable energy and wastewater management." The India-Denmark joint statement highlighted an MoU between India's ministry of Jal Shakti and the Danish environment ministry for safe and secure water. On Wednesday, Modi met prime ministers of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland and host Denmark for the second India-Nordic summit in Copenhagen and according to the joint statement, "discussions on key issues related to international peace and security, including the conflict in Ukraine, multilateral cooperation, green transition and climate change, the blue economy, innovation and digitalisation." On the sidelines of the summit, Modi also met four Nordic PMs in bilateral format. En route to his return, the prime minister made a brief stopover in France to meet his reelected French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. The visit of 'exceptional mark of trust and friendship' focused on "how France could continue to be India's partner of choice for attaining self-sufficiency in defence, technology, space and energy," reports Economic Times. "France and India expressed their deep concern over the humanitarian crisis and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine," Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement after they met in Paris for a working dinner. The end result of the visit was a better understanding of India's position in the European capitals and a tighter India-EU embrace. | | EU calls on 27 member states to ban Russian oil, Germany sets ball rolling, Hungary rejects proposal | | The European Union, which relies on energy exports from Russia more than from any other country in the world, called on the 27 member states on Wednesday to ban oil imports from Russia and target the country's biggest bank and major broadcasters in a sixth package of sanctions over the war in Ukraine, reports Associated Press. EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, proposed having EU member nations phase out imports of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year. If approved, says the report, the ban on oil imports would be the second package of EU sanctions targeting Russia's lucrative energy industry since the country invaded Ukraine on February 24. NPR says the "ban would hit at a pillar of Russia's economy and also put enormous pressure on EU member states to find new energy sources and to cope with whatever retaliatory moves Russia imposes in return. However, in a measure of discord within the EU, "Hungary has rejected the proposal as unacceptable and the Czech and Slovak governments want a transition period," reports BBC. Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said his country would veto it in its current form: "They exactly know that what they are proposing is against Hungarian interests... and if we do that we are completely going to ruin the Hungarian economy." The report quotes German economics minister Robert Habeck as saying that "the six-month transition period gives Berlin long enough to make the change but the problem for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic is that they are all landlocked and rely on their neighbours for fuel supplies." On Thursday, according to Reuters, Germany took steps to ramp up LNG imports, renting four floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) and choosing the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven as the first handling hub. Financial Times, however, quotes analysts who believe that EU's move will not deliver the intended blow to Russia's economy. Sergey Aleksashenko, the former deputy governor of Russia's central bank, believes the ban is "not very powerful" as a measure, as prices for crude have risen substantially, counteracting the costs of losing the European market. | | Raging debate, more polarisation in America over 'leak' of US Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion | | A leaked draft report of a majority opinion in US Supreme Court on women's right to abortion has set the United States on fire and deepened the political polarization ahead of midterm elections. The debate has both short and long term implications and is a measure of the crisis that American society finds itself in. According to American media outlet Politico, that obtained the draft majority verdict written by Justice Samuel Alito, the opinion is a "full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision — Planned Parenthood v. Casey — that largely maintained the right. "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," Alito writes, says the report. "We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," he writes in the document, labeled as the "Opinion of the Court." "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives." Expectedly, it has set America on fire. In a statement on Tuesday, US Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts confirmed that the leak was "authentic" and called it a "betrayal of the confidences of the court". He has directed the marshal of the court to launch an investigation. "This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the court and the community of public servants who work here," he stated. Hours after it was leaked, US president Biden vowed to fight to protect access to abortion. "We will be ready when any ruling is issued," he said in a statement Tuesday. Democrats are hoping to capitalise on the polarised climate ahead of midterm elections while Republican leaders are demanding "a full criminal investigation into the unprecedented leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion — calling it a dangerous attack on the rule of law." While a Supreme Court breach is "extremely rare", "denizens of social media lost no time theorizing who among a limited pool of suspects had the motive to make public a draft majority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn the constitutional right to abortion nationwide," says Reuters. | | Crucial CCP meeting endorses 'dynamic zero Covid' as European companies mull China exit | | In his Sinocism blog, Bill Bishop reports of a meeting held on Thursday of the Standing Committee of the CCP Central Committee that analyzed the current situation of COVID-19 prevention in China and doubled down on the dynamic 'zero Covid' policy. The readout of the meeting is here with automated translation. Meanwhile, Beijing residents tentatively returned to work on Thursday after a muted five-day Labour Day holiday devoid of the usual trips across the country or lavish family dinners, reports Reuters. The long break is usually one of the most lucrative times of the year for restaurants, hotels and other businesses in China. This year, travellers spent 43% less than in 2021, according to the report. In Shanghai, reports South China Morning Post, strict antivirus measures will remain after new data released on Thursday showed 34 new cases in non-quarantined areas in the past 24 hours. Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the National Health Commission, told a meeting of local officials on Wednesday that hidden transmission chains were still an "enemy within" as the mainland's commercial and financial capital battled against the outbreak amid a citywide lockdown in place since April 1, says the report. Meanwhile, the World University Games, which were due to start in Chengdu in late June, will be delayed until next year, reported SCMP quoting a source "in contact with the organising committee". Nikkei Asia reports that "nearly one-quarter of European companies in China are considering moving current or future operations to other markets because of Beijing's strict zero-COVID policy", quoting a survey. The survey, published by the European Chamber of Commerce in China on Thursday, "said that 23% of the 372 responding companies were mulling a shift, more than double the number in a January survey and the highest proportion in a decade." | | Rajapaksa govt wins key vote as India sends more fuel and critical medicines to Sri Lanka | | Sri Lanka's beleaguered government, under pressure to resign, won a key vote in Parliament on Thursday as a ruling coalition-backed candidate was elected deputy speaker, despite growing public pressure on the government amid the worst economic crisis in decades, reports Associated Press. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, who was backed by the ruling coalition led by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, defeated opposition candidate Imithiaz Bakeer Markar. Siyambalapitiya received 148 votes and Marker got 65 votes. Deccan Herald says the win puts the Rajapaksa government in a stronger position. Meanwhile, delivering his first special statement in Parliament, finance minister Ali Sabry said on Wednesday that "our liquid reserves, or usable reserves, are less than $50 million," in the government's latest admission of the dire situation of the Sri Lankan economy witnessing its worst downturn since Independence in 1948, reports The Hindu. The available reserves amount to a fourth of Sri Lanka's monthly requirement for essential imports, adds the report. While Sri Lanka has reported a drop in school attendance due to the fuel crisis police on Wednesday arrested 12 people for staging anti-government protest near the Parliament building and supporting the no-confidence motion against president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. India, meanwhile, has delivered over 760 kg of 107 types of critical lifesaving medicines, supplied nearly 40,000 MT of petrol, and the Union external affairs ministry has accepted a proposal from the Tamil Nadu DMK government to send humanitarian assistance to the island nation. The Indian High Commission in Colombo said Tuesday that India has committed more than $3 billion to the debt-ridden neighbour in loans, credit lines and credit swaps since January this year. Sri Lanka, however, has further sought from India the supply of fertilisers and the deferral of a payment of $2.5 billion to the Asian Clearing Union as part of efforts to cope with the island nation's worst economic crisis. | | | | | | | | | | TOP ANALYSES OF THE WEEK | | Modi's outreach to Europe's subregions is paying dividends | | In Firstpost, we argue that While Modi's visit covers Germany and France — the commercial and strategic engines of Europe — he has recalibrated India's foreign policy priorities, gone beyond New Delhi's template focus on Europe's traditional powers and reached out to the wider Nordic regions that enjoy high human development indices and are eager to partner with India in its development journey. | | Ukraine crisis has brought India, West closer | | ORF vice-president Harsh Pant writes in Hindustan Times that "in an ironic way, this (Ukraine) crisis has provided the means to both New Delhi and the West to come closer and to engage each other more substantively. From Washington and London to Berlin and Paris, India is being viewed as a strategic opportunity that has to be nurtured, not as a perpetual naysayer, that is a challenge." | | Europe understands India better than the US | | Mihir Sharma writes in Bloomberg that "given their own reliance on Russia for energy, Europeans have a more nuanced understanding of how mutual dependence can constrain national action than the U.S. does." | | India will take the right position at the right time on Dalai Lama | | In an interview to Prashant Jha of Hindustan Times, Penpa Tsering, the head of the Central Tibetan Administration who recently visited Washington to meet key Joe Biden administration officials, said "India will take the right position at the right time on the question of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. His comments come even as India has remained silent on the question." | | American Left's hypocrisy on women's rights is nauseating | | Joanna Williams weighs in on America's abortion debate in The Telegraph. She writes, "In my view, overturning Roe vs Wade represents a serious threat to women's rights. But we cannot just blame a handful of Republicans for letting this happen. Democrats – and Left-wing activists in the UK – have let women down badly. After all, if you cannot say the word 'woman', why should you be relied upon to defend women's sex-based rights?" | | China is not yet medically prepared to live with Covid | | Aidan Yo argues in South China Morning Post that China's decision to double down on 'zero Covid' policy when rest of the world is learning to live with the virus is not due to politics alone. He says China is not as prepared – from a medical standpoint – as many Western countries were before they made the policy change. While an early mover on vaccination, only slightly more than half of China's population has completed three shots so far. | | CCP's political legitimacy depends on Covid policy | | JNU professor Srikanth Kondapalli argues in Deccan Herald that "China insists on following its draconian Covid policies as it sees the political legitimacy of the Communist Party is increasingly being questioned." | | China is clearly unhappy with Pakistan over terror attacks | | Raffaello Pantucci, senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, writes in Nikkei Asia that "China is clearly unhappy (over the Karachi terror attack), and while they might be willing to absolve the new government for responsibility for this latest attack, the underlying problem is that Pakistan seems unable to bring the separatists under control." | | Quad should lend Sri Lanka a helping hand | | Akhil Bery of the Asia Society Policy Institute writes on Sri Lanka's economic crisis in Nikkei Asia that "US and India can work together to identify what food products Sri Lanka urgently needs and what each can provide. Success here could be a template for the growing Quad partnership that includes Japan and Australia and lay the foundation for a potential Quad working group on food security." | | China's Solomon Islands deal aimed at displacing US | | Euan Graham, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security, writes in IISS that "the primary driver behind the agreement is China's long-term strategy of displacing the US as the predominant power in the Western Pacific. It includes a clear ambition to break out of the maritime encirclement posed by the 'first island chain', which is composed mostly of 'offshore' Asian US allies and partners, to gain a foothold somewhere in the scattered archipelagos beyond. | | PODCAST WATCH | | ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific | | Lynn Kuok, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security, IISS, Singapore, discusses with ORF president Samir Saran ASEAN's view of the emerging great power rivalry in the Indo-Pacific, how it is viewed by the great powers, what role do players like Singapore have in guiding ASEAN's view of the world and will the continuing conflict over Myanmar divide the grouping, etc. | | | | Copyright © 2022.Firstpost - All Rights Reserved. | |
