INDIA AND CHINA

India and China agreed to increase their defence and security dialogue and work to take steps to ensure that the two countries achieve a 100 billion dollars trade target by 2015. The decision was taken on the sidelines of the Rio+ 20 summit at Rio De Janeiro. India also raised the border issue during the talks. India and China agreed that they would continue political dialogue at the political level. India and China also decided that the special representatives would work for preparing the joint record of their work so far, which was already announced in January 2012 and give directions for the future co-ordination between the two countries. The special represen-tatives of India and China would submit a report on the developments so far by January 2013. India would setup interministerial group on its side while China would have an official team that would periodically  exchange views on maritime issues relating to trade and security.

• India and China agreed to take the defence and security dialogue to a higher level and work to take steps to ensure that the two countries achieve a USD 100 billion trade target by 2015 on 26 July 2012. The dialogue of forty minutes took place on the sidelines of the Rio+20 Environment Summit by Indian Prime Minister India & The World Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabo. Post the dialogue, Prime Minister Singh invited Chinese investment in infrastructure in India. The two leaders also discussed the issue of trans-border rivers flowing in both the countries, India and China during which Beijing agreed to transfer of information in this regard to New Delhi. The two countries have agreed to establish strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity, they also reiterated their intention to promote regular ministeriallevel exchanges and make full use of the strategic dialogue and other bilateral dialogue mechanisms. Indian exporters can soon begin shipping basmati rice to China after both countries agree on a mutually satisfactory quarantine protocol. As far the trans border rivers issue is concerned, China has maintained that its hydropower project on Brahmaputra river in Tibet is not obstructing the water flow to India. It has also said that its dam is not big enough to affect the lower riparian regions like in India.

INDIA AND USA

US defense secretary Leon Panetta arrived India on a two-day visit on 5 June 2012. The visit was aimed at strengthening bilateral strategic and defense cooperation between the two nations. US specified the Indian role in the world politics and its significance as a link between East and West Asia and how the United States views India as a net provider of security from the Indian Ocean to Afghanistan and beyond. Panetta visited India as the part of his weeklong visit to Asia to formulate a new US defense strategy to allies and partners in the region. The strategy, which was released in January 2012, calls for a shift in US strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific. India over the past one decade has emerged as the key US ally in the Asian continent. As the time for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan is nearing, America seeks to establish a stronger strategic and defense tie with India, so that it could keep a tab on the region’s geopolitics even after the withdrawal of its troops. The  growing Chinese hegemony in the region has also prompted the two distant nations to come together in order to tackle any possible threat from the communist China. Many analysts believe that the Panetta’s visit is the part of Pentagon’s policy to team up with India against the growing Chinese assertiveness in the global politics. But many foreign policy experts are of the contrary view as they felt that India has always opted for a policy of non-alignment and this time too India will not compromise with the fundamental principles of its foreign policy. There may be some starkly differing voices among the experts over the India’s future course, but one thing that remains very clear that India’s interest lie with both China and US and given the present circumstances in the world politics it can not risk its relationship with any of them. Hence, It will be wise for India to pursue a neutral and non confrontational outlook with respect to both the super powers.

• In what came as a major disappointment for the Bhopal gas tragedy victims, a US Federal Court on 27 June 2012 absolved Union Carbide Corporation and its former chairman Warren Anderson of the Bhopal gas tragedy case. In his ruling US district Court Judge John F. Keenan  concluded that UCC is neither directly nor as an agent of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) liable for the mishap. While pronouncing its verdict the court invoked a 1998 court verdict in a case involving KFC, in which the court had observed that legally the mere assertion that a corporate parent is or was involved in the decision-making process of its subsidiary, or that it controlled the legitimate policies of its subsidiary, will not shift liabilities among distinct corporate entities.

Nearly 25000 people had lost their life in Bhopal Gas Tragedy, one of the worst industrial disasters of the world history. The  disaster occured following the leakage of poisonous methyl isocyanate gas from Union Carbide India Limited’s pesticides factory in Bhopal on 2-3 December 1984. The catastrophic gas leak,  immediately claimed the life of 3000 people, while the aftermath of the disaster had proved to be far more horrifying as thousands of people died subsequently due to illeffects of the toxic waste in the environment. The enormity of the damage can well be assessed by the fact that even today, after 27 years of the incident, the people of Bhopal are facing the wrath of the tragedy.

In a testimony to the long lasting catastrophic impact of the gas leak, a test conducted by the BBC in 2009 found that the water of the affected region contain 1000 times the World Health Organization’s recommended maximum amount of carbon tetrachloride, a carcinogenic toxin. The US court verdict, came in the favor of UCC, has substantiated its long held stance over the Bhopal gas tragedy. The company has long been in denial of all the charges made against it by the victims of the tragedy.

INDIA AND ISRAEL

India and Israel inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand the bilateral relation in the tourism sector on 24 June 2012. Israel, under the MoU, will open a tourism office in Mumbai and increase the frequency of flights to India. The MoU was signed between Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov and his Indian counterpart Minister Subodh Kant Sahai in Jerusalam in Israel. Israel is also set to invest 660000 dollar to draw more Indian tourists to the country. The MoU also set the foundation to establish a tourism development forum, which will seek the advice from various stakeholders including travel agents, hoteliers, tour operators and from the media, to expand tourism market in both the countries. The two countries have a great scope of tourism development by engaging into mutual cooperation as nearly 40000 Indian tourists visit Israel every year, and the same number of Israeli citizens come to India annually.

• India and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 2 August 2012 for starting a collaborative academic research programme. Under the Research programme both the countries will together work in areas such as medical, information technology, social sciences, humanities and arts. The MoU was signed by Professor Benjamin Geiger, Chairman of the Israel Science Foundation and Ved Prakash, Chairman of University Grants Commission. The agreement will exist for next five years, providing support up to 100000 dollar a research project for three years. The idea of collaborative academic research programme came into being during a recent visit of Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal to Israel. Sibal during the course of her visit had conducted dialogue with Israel’s Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Chairman of Planning and Budgeting Committee Manuel Trajtenberg.

INDIA AND IRAN

In a move that is likely to impact the crude oil supply to the country, India banned US sanctioned Iranian ships from entering its water. The decision to this effect was taken by the government. Earlier in July 2012, the government had allowed import of crude oil from Iran in ships arranged by Tehran. It had allowed Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and other state refiners to import oil from Iran on CIF (cost, insurance and freight) basis wherein Tehran was to arrange for ships and insurance. But the order was annulled within days and MRPL, the nation’s largest importer of Iranian oil, could hardly import a ship from Tehran. The US had imposed sanctions on the National Iranian Tanker Company and its 58 vessels on 13 July 2012, in a move aimed at forcing Iran to stop its illicit nuclear programme. Earlier European Union had also imposed a similar kind of ban on Iran’s oil. The decision to ban US-sanctioned Iranian ships will have far reaching consequences for India as Iran is the fourth largest oil supplier to the country. India has been largely dependent on Iran to meet its growing oil need. India imports nearly 12 percent of its entire oil requirement from Iran, and banning the Iranian ships could aggravate the situation in the country which has already been facing the high price of oil.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

The Defence Secretary level talks between Pakistan and India and on Siachen were held at the Ministry of Defence, Rawalpindi on 11 – 12 June 2012. The talks were held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere. The conclusion of the talks was that both nations reaffirmed their resolve to make serious, sustained and result oriented efforts for seeking an amicable resolution of Siachen. It was agreed to continue dialogue on Siachen. Both countries acknowledged that the ceasefire was holding since 2003. It was agreed that the next round of talks on Siachen will be held in New Delhi on mutually convenient dates, to be fixed through diplomatic channels. Both India and Pakistan want to demilitarize Siachen, the world’s highest battlefield. However, they have differences over the modalities. India wants the Actual Ground Position Line to be authenticated before withdrawal of troops from Siachen while Pakistan wants demilitarization first.

• Indian government on 1 August 2012 decided to allow investment from Pakistan with the objective of boosting bilateral economic relations. However, India kept out strategic sectors of defence, space and atomic energy from Pakistan. Pakistan can  explore sectors like cement, textiles and sports for investments in India. Besides, the FDI proposals from Pakistan need to be cleared from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). It is important to note that India had granted the MFN status to Pakistan in 1996. Although Pakistan had notified  granting the MFN status to India in March 2012, it is yet to implement it fully. However, Pakistan had partially liberalised its trade regime with India in March 2012 by shifting from positive list rules to negative. It means that barring 1209 items Pakistan will allow import of all other Indian goods. can explore sectors like cement, textiles and sports for investments in the country.

• India on 8 June 2012 announced to allow foreign direct investment from Pakistan. The move is aimed at strengthening the bilateral economic relations between the two countries. The decision will also facilitate the economic integration in the South Asian region. The Union Finance Ministry had received a proposal by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) seeking changes in Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to allow FDI from Pakistan. Under the present FDI policy, a Pakistani citizen or an entity incorporated in  there is not allowed to invest in India. The Government had earlier allowed investments from Bangladesh under the FIPB route. The bilateral trade between India and Pakistan for the year 2010-11 stood at 2.7 billion dollar. With 2.32 billion dollar exports, India dominated the trade, which grew at a rate of 47 per cent and also approaching forward to occupy 1 per cent share of Indian global exports.

• A nine-member Pakistani delegation has arrived in India to learn from its experience of polio eradication. Pakistan saw a manifold rise in polio cases this year, and is one of the three countries, along with Afghanistan and  Nigeria, where the infectious viral disease is still prevalent. India became polio-free in January this year, after one full year without a single case being reported. It has subsequently been removed from the WHO list of polio-endemic countries. Led by Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s special assistant on polio, the Pakistan team will call on officials of the Union Health Ministry here on Thursday.

The delegation, comprising health officials of districts along the Indian border, will also visit a polio camp. Altaf Bosan, National Coordinator of the Prime Minister on Polio, will accompany the team. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation, in a resolution, has impressed on member-states with polio virus transmission to declare it a “national public health emergency,” making polio virus eradication a national priority programme, requiring the development and full implementation of emergency action plans, to be updated every six months, till such time the virus transmission has been interrupted. The resolution declares completion of polio virus eradication a programmatic emergency for global public health, requiring full implementation of the existing and new eradication strategies, the institution of strong national oversight, and accountability mechanisms for all areas affected with the virus. The members have been asked to eliminate unimmunised areas and maintain very high population immunity against polio viruses through routine immunisation. Where necessary, they should supplement immunisation activities, maintain vigil for polio virus importation and emergence of circulating vaccine-derived polio viruses, and to make available urgently the financial resources required for the full and continued implementation, till 2013, of the strategic approaches to interrupt polio virus transmission globally, and to initiate planning for financing to the end of 2018 the polio endgame strategy. More importantly, the resolution asks the WH Director- General to undertake the development, scientific vetting and rapid finalisation of a comprehensive eradication and endgame strategy, and inform the member-states of the potential timing of a switch from the trivalent to bivalent oral polio virus vaccine for all routine immunisation programmes, and to coordinate with all partners including manufacturers to promote research, production and supply of vaccines to enhance their affordability, effectiveness and accessibility.

INDIA AND SOUTH KOREA

The Election Commission of India and South Korean Election Commission signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to strengthen institutions and processes for democracy. This was 13th MoU that India signed with Electoral Bodies. It will also strengthen India-South Korea bilateral cooperation. Both the nations will work together for the cause of the Asian electoral community and the larger global electoral fraternity.

INDIA AND MOZAMBIQUE

India and Mozambique signed an agreement on Bilateral Security Cooperation. The Minister of State for Home Affairs, India Shri Mullappally Ramachandran signed the Agreement with Jose Mandra, Minister of Interior, Govt of Mozambique at Maputo, Mozambique. The objective of the agreement was to discuss cooperation and both the countries decided to develop the relationship further in various fields for mutual benefit. Amongst the key highlights of the meet was that, Mullappally Ramachandran was on a three day visit to Mozambique. There is an estimation of almost twenty five thousand people of Indian origin living in Mozambique for generations. The relations between both the countries have remained warm and friendly. India was amongst the first countries to extend recognition to Mozambique after the later achieved independence in the year 1975. India and Mozambique have mutually rendered and benefited in the fields of industry, trade, mineral resources and culture.

INDIA AND DUBAI

India emerged as the largest trading partner of Dubai in the first quarter of 2012-13. The latest data of Dubai foreign trade released by the Dubai Customs in the third week of June 2012, shows the trade volume in the first quarter between India and Dubai to be worth 13 billion US Dollars. India was the number one exporting country with a volume worth 7 billion dollars. In terms of imports, India came second at 6 billion dollars after China. Dubai’s oil foreign trade registered a significant growth of 6.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2012-2013, which reflects the resilience and diversity of the economy. Gold was the number one product to be exported from Dubai in the first quarter of 2012-13.

INDIA AND BAHRAIN

India and Bahrain, inked a Tax Information Exchange Agreement to promote economic cooperation and joint investment between the two countries. The agreement is aimed at increasing bilateral trade that stands at 1.7 billion dollar. The agreement with its provision for effective exchange of information between the two countries, will help in reducing tax evasion and tax avoidance. The agreement was signed by Indian Minister of State for  Finance Namo Narain Meena and Bahrain’s Minister of Transportation and Acting Chief Executive of Economic Development Board Kamal Ahmed in New Delhi. The Bahrain delegation was led by Prince Salman Bin HamadAl-Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain and chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board. The two countries also inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to make the ties on technological front more effective. Under the newly signed MoU India will provide technical assistance to Bahrain and help it to develop its own IT sector in Bahrain. Besides Tax Information Exchange Agreement, several other commercial and economic cooperation agreements were also signed. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop business and commercial was signed between the industrial bodies of two countries. The two countries historically enjoy an intimate and friendly relation with each other. Indian Diaspora constitutes nearly a quarter of Bahrain’s entire 1.2 million population.

INDIA AND BELGIUM

India signed an agreement with Belgium for the modernisation of the Indian Railways and make some of the major railway stations in the country of global standard. Under the agreement the two countries would share design and current practices in railway infrastructure and deputation of experts in areas of mutual interest. The countries will also explore the new avenues of co-operation in the Railway sector. Belgian state run companies such as Euro Station and Euro Immostar have vast experience in developing stations. The companies have extensive expertise in transforming historical railway stations into the modern international terminals. Numerous Belgium or Belgium-based companies are already operating in India and have been involved in activities such as fastening and coating of rails to delivery of parts for train construction and software for safety and network management.

INDIA AND INDONESIA

India and Indonesia signed an agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. The agreement was signed by Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. R. M. Marty Natalegawa and his Indian counterpart S.M Krishna at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi. Apart from the agreement, both sides also signed the agreed minutes of thefourth Joint Commission Meeting between India and Indonesia.

Highlights of the Meet

• Both the countries, reviewed the entire state of bilateral relationship including trade and commerce.

• Two nations have also agreed to strengthen the bilateral relationship into a strategicpartnership

Both countries share a warm relationship on account of the solid foundation of historical and cultural ties. Both countries are also hopeful of achieving the trade target of 25 billion US Dollars by 2015

INDIA AND MONACO

India signed Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Monaco in New Delhi. It will allow the two countries to check tax evasion and money laundering. This was the ninth TIEA signed by India. Key features of this agreement are as following;

• It is based on international standard of transparency and exchange of information.

• Information must be foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the domestic laws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxes and tax matters covered by the agreement.

• The requesting State has to provide some minimum details about the information requested in order to justify the foreseeably relevance criteria.

• Information is to be treated as secret and can be disclosed to only specified person or authorities, which are tax authorities or the authorities concerned with the determination of tax appeal.

• It also provides for disclosure of information to any other person or entity or authority or any other jurisdiction (including foreign Governments) with the written consent of the competent authority of the requested Party.

• There is a specific provision that the requested Party shall provide upon request the information even though that Party may not need such information for its own tax purposes.

• There is a specific provision for providing banking and ownership information.

• There is a specific provision for Tax Examination Abroad where authorities of one State can present in the tax examination of taxpayer in the other State.

• Upon entry into force, the Agreement allows exchange of information forthwith.