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diplomacy Tag

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on June 29, 2017 1 Comment
Just days ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Israel, an Israeli-Indian partnership has announced the creation of a funding platform to help start-ups find investors in each other’s country. Israel’s equity crowdfunding firm OurCrowd and India's leading start-up platform LetsVenture have joined hands to create an 'India Fund' for Israeli and Indian start-ups, seeking to rope in big investors, family funds and OurCrowd’s own global network of investors. “India is a critical growth market for our business with a huge number of very exciting startup investment opportunities in a range of sectors,” OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved said.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 20, 2017 6 Comments
With the change of administration in Washington, the U.S. and India are strengthening their defense and strategic ties. National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior members of his government in New Delhi this week to talk bilateral cooperation in the defense sector and combatting global terrorism. “The United States and India reaffirmed a strategic partnership that involves not only a growing defense relationship but also shared perspectives of the region.” Indian newspaper Economic Times reported. Last month, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was in Washington to meet the U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis. These high level visits are expected to lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Modi's visit to the Washington later this summer. New Delhi-based Economic Times writes:
The United States and India reaffirmed a strategic partnership that involves not only a growing defence relationship but also shared perspectives of the region.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 07, 2017 4 Comments
In what is being described as the largest single defense deal in Israel’s history, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has secured a defense contract worth almost $2 billion from India. Under the contract, IAI will equip the Indian Armed Forces with long and medium-range missile defense systems that have been developed through a joint Israeli-Indian partnership. IAI has been supportive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to strengthen the Indian manufacturing base, also known as ‘Make in India’ initiative. "The current contracts represent an enormous expression of confidence by the Government of India in IAI's capabilities and advanced technologies which are being developed with our local partners as part of the Indian Government's 'Make in India' policy." IAI's CEO Yossi Weiss said.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 13, 2017 8 Comments
What undoubtedly could be the most significant political encounter of the year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Washington on Tuesday to meet President Donald Trump, the first meeting between these two world leaders. Ahead of German Chancellor's visit to the U.S., mainstream media is once again busy inflating the stature of their favourite European leader.  "The great disrupter confronts the last defender of the liberal world order," wrote The New York Times. London-based Financial Times declared in its headline, "The time for German leadership has arrived." However, a lot of Merkel’s political clout has been chipped away since President Obama endorsed her re-election bid while visiting Berlin last November.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 12, 2017 14 Comments
A diplomatic dispute between the Netherlands and Turkey has led to rioting by Turks in Rotterdam and a diplomatic crisis that could influence the Dutch elections that are just a few days away.

Thousands of Turkish immigrants rioted in the streets of Rotterdam early Sunday following the Dutch government's decision to bar two Turkish ministers from entering the country.

The Mayor of Rotterdam issued emergency orders late Saturday in an attempt to contain a demonstration supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan outside the Turkish consulate in the city which has turned into a rallying point for Turkish immigrants.

Today morning, pro-Erdogan rioters vandalised the consulate of the Netherlands in the Turkish city of Istanbul and took down the Dutch flag replacing it with a Turkish flag, French news agency AFP reports.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 06, 2017 5 Comments
What is being seen as a sharp departure from India's longstanding Middle East policy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be visiting the Palestinian Authority during his historic visit to Israel, the first ever by a sitting Prime Minister of the country.  "Contrary to expectations that Modi would include Palestine in his itinerary like many ministers did in the past, he will be travelling only to Israel", the leading Indian newspaper Time of India wrote. Prime Minister Modi is expected to visit Israel in July to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic ties between the two countries. According to the Times of India, the Palestinian Authority's (PA) envoy to India was 'shocked' at Modi government's decision to skip the customary visit to the Palestinian Territories. "Mr. Modi is not visiting Palestine on this occasion. Inshallah [By Allah's will], our President [Mahmoud Abbas] will be here this year," PA-envoy Adnan Abu Alhaija told the Indian newspaper.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on February 01, 2017 3 Comments
This week, India and Israel celebrate 25 years of bilateral diplomatic ties. On January 29, 1992, foreign ministers from Israel and India signed an agreement establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Jerusalem in June or July to highlight the significance of this growing bilateral relationship, India's envoy to Israel Ambassador Pavan Kapoor confirmed. "The time is ripe for our two countries to explore the full potential of commonality and the complementary nature of our respective economies and work in tandem for the mutual benefit of our peoples," Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv said in a statement marking this occasion. Israel's embassy in New Delhi also issued a statement marking 25 years of diplomatic relations:
Twenty-five years ago today, on 29 January 1992, the foreign ministers of Israel and India signed the agreement to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on December 05, 2016 3 Comments
Today, Israel’s Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis lands in India for a four-day visit aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology. Minister Akunis is accompanied by a high-profile delegation comprised of several senior Knesset members and government officials, including the head of Israel Space Agency, Avi Blasberger. The ministerial visit comes less than a month after Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited the South Asian country. Cooperation in technology and innovation has come a long way since both countries established full diplomatic ties nearly 25 years ago. In 2008, Indian space agency ISRO launched Israeli reconnaissance satellite TechSAR aboard its satellite launching vehicle (PSLV). A missile defense system (Barak 8) jointly developed by India's defense research agency (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has already been successfully tested.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 22, 2016 14 Comments
It’s official! Merkel will run for a fourth term as German Chancellor. After months of speculations, Chancellor Merkel has announced her decision to lead the Christian Democrats (CDU) in next year’s election. The chief architect of Europe’s open border policy, 62 year old politician has been at the helm of Germany for the last eleven years. President Obama dropped in to lend a helping hand. On the last leg of his presidency, U.S. President gave Merkel a “glowing endorsement” -- to quote London-based Financial Times -- as he toured Germany last week. Obama asked Germans to “appreciate” Merkel. “If I were here and I were German, and I had a vote, I might support her,” Obama told reporters in Berlin.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 17, 2016 2 Comments
With Israel's President Reuven Rivlin touring India on an 8-day visit, Ariel University is taking this historic opportunity to connect with Indian universities and tap into South Asian country's huge talent pool. Professor Yehuda Danon, President of Ariel University, is accompanying the presidential delegation, along with fifteen other heads of Israeli universities. Along with student and faculty exchange programmes, Ariel University hopes to set up a joint research fund aimed at promoting research projects with India counterparts. Ariel University, located in Samaria hills, is already home to many Indian research scholars, working mainly in industrial and technological fields. During my visit to Israel, earlier this year, I met few of the doctoral students from India and learned about the path-breaking work they were doing in collaboration with their Israeli teammates.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 15, 2016 2 Comments
Israel's President Reuven Rivlin received a ceremonial welcome at the presidential palace in New Delhi, earlier today. Prime Minister Narandra Modi and senior members of his cabinet where present at the occasion as the visiting Israeli Head of State was given a Guard of Honour by the three services of Indian military. Hundreds of Israeli and Indian flags could be seen waving side-by-side along the route taken by the presidential motorcade in New Delhi. The grand ceremony accompanied by a thundering 21-gun salute is a fry cry from the dead-of-the-night  incognito "stop over" by the then Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan on a tarmac in Delhi, 40 years ago. Israel-India bilateral contacts in those days sounded more like Cold War spy thrillers than everyday diplomacy. Diplomatic relations between the two countries have indeed come a long way.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 03, 2016 3 Comments
Israel's President Reuven Rivlin will visit India on a six-day tour starting November 15. Israeli President will be accompanied by a “delegation of unprecedented size comprising businessmen and university officials”, Indian newspaper The Hindu reports. President Rivlin will become the second sitting Israeli President to visit the South Asian country since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations almost twenty-five years ago. President Rivlin and his Indian counterpart, President Pranab Mukherjee, will preside over the signing of a number of cooperation agreements ranging from agriculture to national security.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 29, 2016 1 Comment
Prominent and ordinary Indians took to social media expressing their grief following the death of Israeli statesman and Nobel laureate at the age of 93:
“It was during his service as the minister of foreign affairs in the 1990’s that Peres also began his special relationship with India. He was the first minister of foreign affairs to visit India following the establishment of diplomatic relations,” wrote Ambassador Daniel Carmon, Israel's envoy to India, in an article published yesterday in India newspaper Hindustan Times. “He visited India several times in various capacities, visits to be remembered and cherished by all those who met him here.”

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on August 09, 2016 2 Comments
Today, around a million women work in India's Information Technology (IT) sector, with their strength expected to double in next couple of years. Engineering and technology sectors, previously regarded as male bastions, too have undergone change with 20-30 percent of engineering graduate now being women -- a rise from 2-8 percent back in the 80s. Despite such promising trends, women are still underrepresented among start up founders, tech entrepreneurs and corporate leaders in India. In IT sector alone, where women now make up 45 percent of all the new intakes, only 20 percent of the managerial positions are held by women. With series of initiatives in recent years, Israel is playing the role of a catalyst in fostering Indian women entrepreneurs and startup founders.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on June 09, 2016 8 Comments
As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Beijing this week, preaching the virtues of “peaceful resolution” of disputes between the neighbours in the South China Sea, fighter jets belonging to Chinese 'People's Liberation Army' carried out aggressive manoeuvres against a US plane. According to the U.S. Pacific Command, the reconnaissance plane was on a routine mission over the East China Sea when two Chinese J-10 fighters attempted an “unsafe intercept”, making it the second incident of this kind to take place in less than three weeks. Earlier in May, two Chinese fighter jets flew within 15 meters of a US reconnaissance plane flying over the South China Sea. As President Obama set about to reduce the U.S. footprint in the world and divert country’s military preparedness to chase the spectre of Climate Change -- seven years ago, Communist China has been investing in a massive project to build and militarise artificial islands beyond its recognised maritime borders. China now contests 80 percent of the South China Sea, staking its control over one of the busiest maritime route in the world.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 15, 2016 1 Comment
Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism, the movement that led to the creation of Israel, wrote in 1902, “Once I have witnessed the redemption of the Jews, my people, I wish also to assist in the redemption of the Africans.” Today, the State of Israel is fulfilling Herzl's dream in the continent of Africa. The chief architect of Israel’s Africa Policy, Prime Minister Golda Meir regarded Israel's support for Africa as a “Jewish imperative”. Since 1950s, Israel has been involved in areas like agriculture, water management, higher education, vocational training, healthcare and industrial development in several African countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. Now the Jewish State is seeking to renew its historic bond with the African continent.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 03, 2015 20 Comments
China has been a global hub for manufacturing counterfeit electronics and consumer goods, but as the Asian giant asserts its dominance in the Asian Pacific and beyond, its defense establishment is using the same approach to modernise its vast armed forces.  Despite its large standing and reserve army, Chinese Armed Forces technologically lags behind US, Russian and NATO forces. China has decided to manufacture ‘counterfeit’ high-end defense technology on a large scale to overcome its existing strategic weakness. According to a recent report published by the US Naval Institute, China is using military espionage and reverse engineering to build a modern army with “cloned weapons.” Using cyber espionage and by making secret deals with US arms buyers, China has managed to obtain advance US weapons technology. China is reportedly also targeting Russia in its quest for high-end military technology. The Chinese often buy single units of Russian advanced military systems on a “trial” basis and reverse-engineer the weaponry to produce a large-scale Chinese version:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 29, 2015 1 Comment
India’s largest corporate house Reliance Industries has announced its plans to make big and long-term investments in Israel. Reliance Industries, a Fortune 500 Company owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is the largest private sector company in India with a market capitalisation of well over $40 billion. Founded in 1966, Reliance Industries made its initial fortune in oil and natural gas sector. Recently, the company has invested billions of dollars in building a telecommunications network across India. The state-of-the-art nationwide cellular network build at the cost of estimated $15 billion opens new possibilities in retail, finance and healthcare. The company is looking for Israeli know-how and talent to fully exploit these possibilities, creating services for 100-200 million potential customers across the Indian sub-continent. Talking to Israeli media, managing partner of the company’s venture capital arm GenNext, Vivek Rai Gupta said that his company was working to build a nationwide customer base and there would be “no limit” on company’s investment in Israel. Israeli financial news website Globes Einglish quoted Gupta saying:
"We want to hook up to the Israeli ecosystem, and to discover more innovative companies that can enhance the value of the cellular network whose deployment we're completing right now," GenNext managing partner Vivek Rai Gupta, currently visiting Israel, said in "Globes" interview. "The network [mobile network reaching 800 cities] we're setting up is only a pipeline, and we're looking for interesting things through which we can provide value for our users in India."
Mobile-based technology carries the promise of improving everyday life for millions of Indians living in rural and remotely accessible regions -- from proving healthcare, vocational education, banking to even coordinating disaster relief.
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