Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

PM Narendra Modi meeting Business Leaders ( Image credits- Flickr/ Narendra Modi Official ) Source- The Diplomat Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi just completed his much anticipated trip to the United States, returning  to Delhi after a five day visit to New York and Washington, D.C. The enthusiasm, coverage, and according to some, hype, that Modi’s trip to the U.S. generated was enormous. Regardless of the actual policy accomplishments of Modi’s trip, many will regard it as a success. As many recent incidents and events have shown, Indians, especially the middle-class Indians who are most likely to influence public opinion, are prickly about India’s honor and pride. They want a leader who is seen as being a proactive advocate of India and is heard and respected by the international community and world powers. In other words, they want a leader who can generate buzz, and Modi accomplishes this. Marketing Of course, it would be problematic if Modi’s government only aimed

Image credits- Narendra Modi With the United States consumed by foreign-policy crises around the globe, many Americans are not according much importance to the  upcoming summit  between President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In fact, many Americans likely have no idea it is even happening. Americans should care about Modi’s visit because of the tremendous strategic significance of the country he leads. With over 1.2 billion people (a sixth of all humanity), the world’s third largest economy (on a purchasing power basis), the third largest army, nuclear-weapons capability, rocket technology to put a satellite around Mars at one ninth the NASA cost (and on the first try) and a deep reservoir of young, talented workers, India has the ability to help the United States tackle an array of major international challenges. High on this list is Islamist terrorism. On December 13, 2001, just three months after the United States experienced the 9/11 attacks,

Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Author WASHINGTON: With the mood in Delhi and Washington in harmony, India and the US can develop a genuinely strategic alliance, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared ahead of his first summit meeting with US President Barack Obama next week. "I have a one word answer: Yes. And with great confidence I say aye," Modi told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in a wide-ranging interview, his first since assuming office May 26, when asked if it is possible for the two countries to develop a genuinely strategic alliance. The interview was telecast Sunday. "Relations between India and America should not be seen within the limits of just Delhi and Washington. It's a much larger sphere," he said. "The good thing is that the mood of both Delhi and Washington is in harmony with this understanding," Modi said when asked if Washington genuinely wanted to try to substantially upgrade ties with India. "Both sides have played

Image credits- Narendra Modi Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s five-day visit to Japan was a resounding success. Both the Indian and Japanese press have lauded the visit and its accomplishments—notably, the  elevation  of the India-Japan relationship to a “special” strategic and global partnership, and the big-ticket investments in Indian infrastructure announced to the tune of U.S. $35 billion in assistance over five years. From a Washington perspective, the India-Japan relationship is a positive development and one that the United States has fully  supported . What the visit also shows, however, is the way the state-directed economic policy tools countries like Japan (and China as well) are mobilizing to further their relations with India substantially exceed comparable U.S. approaches. Virtually every account of the Abe-Modi summit emphasizes the Indian interest in attracting greater foreign investment for India’s enormous development needs. Infrastructure has been a par

When you talk about a security in Asia, the first name that one consider is the United States. Th Americans has been the predominant power in Asia.  The corner stone of the American power projection is it's network of time tested allies and the security alliance with them. Such alliance has ensured peace in Asia for many decades. But it is this alliance that is now challenged by the rise of China. The Chinese it seems are getting ready to take on the United States and challenge their position of dominance in Asia. But such policies is met by the United States by re positioning major defence assets to Asia and the Pacific. America also has many bases in Asia and Indian ocean by which they can project power. Their relationship with India is also growing with years of careful nurture that ensures the containment of China should a circumstance arise.  When we talk about the 21'st century, the first thing that comes to our mind is China. China which liberalized it's ec

Indian Prime minister with the American President ( Image courtesy- Wikimedia commons and The White House) (The original work by Divya Srikanth as appeared in the E-International Relations Students website. All credits goes to Divya Srikanth for such a well researched work. The original copyright of the owner is acknowledged) Introduction: Brief Significance of Indo-US and Sino-Indian Relations Since 2001, there has been an upswing in US-India relations, greatly facilitated by the Bush Administration’s reversal of the decades-long US policy of indifference towards India. The signing of the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) between the Bush Administration and the Manmohan Singh government heralded a new beginning to Indo-US relations and cemented India’s growing rising power status. The 2005 civilian nuclear deal, which facilitated US technology assistance to India’s civilian nuclear program and allowed the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to trade with India, a non-si

India imported $1.9 billion of military kit from the U.S. last year, making it the biggest foreign buyer of U.S. weapons, according to research from IHS Jane's. The U.S., which remained the largest exporter of military equipment, displaced Russia as India's biggest arms supplier. In total, the U.S. exported $25.2 billion of military equipment in 2013, compared with $24.9 billion the previous year................... http://www.cnbc.com/id/101438440