Comment & Briefs

Howsoever much others may want to distance India from mlitary-ruled Myanmar, the widespread devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis has brought India into the spotlight. That it occurred barely a week prior to Myanmar’s proposed constitutional Referendum on May 10 brought this out in bold relief.

National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan’s announcement at an international seminar that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be converting what was originally meant to be a refuelling stop into an official stop-over in New Delhi on his way home from Sri Lanka generated much speculation about the reasons for and timing of the visit.

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, led a high-level team of nine European Union (EU) commissioners to Beijing on April 24 and 25, 2008, and met the Chinese leadership. Notable amongst the commissioners who accompanied him were the Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.

India’s Space Programme has been contributing a lot towards bestowing ‘Soft Power’ status to the country over the last couple of years. The success of the PSLV-C9 mission on April 28, 2008 is the latest in this regard. In this mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) succeeded in placing ten satellites in space by using a single booster. This is a record given that till date no other country has put a cumulative weight of approximately 825 kilograms spread over ten different satellites in a single attempt into space.

Normal life in Manipur was drastically affected between March 17 and 19, 2008 when 15 migrants were killed by unidentified armed militants. While there have been accusations that local militants might have been behind the killings, militant groups have categorically denied their involvement. There is likelihood that foreign terrorist groups were involved in the killings to create ethnic apprehension and conflict between migrants and natives.

“There will never ever be change in Zimbabwe. We shall never reverse the gains of the liberation struggle. Zimbabwe will never be a colony again.” – Robert Mugabe (2008).

The KMT’s victory in the March 2008 presidential elections can be essentially attributed to the promises it made to improve economic ties with Mainland China and assure good governance. Ironically, these were partly the same promises that had brought the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) to power in the historic 2000 presidential election. There was no element of surprise to the election results in which Ma Ying-Jeou defeated his DPP counterpart Frank Hsieh. The KMT’s victory does not mean that Taiwan will begin supporting unification with the Mainland.

Vice President Hamid Ansari’s visit to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan from April 4 to 10, 2008 opened up new vistas between India and the Central Asian Republics (CARs). During his visit, Ansari asserted that greater engagement between India and CAR would not only prove beneficial for both but will also help to enhance the strategic significance of the region. The Vice President’s visit has opened up new hopes for cooperation especially in the hydrocarbon sector, mainly with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s recent visit to China from April 10-16 revealed the depth and confidence that highlight Pakistan-China relations. The much repeated refrain of an “all-weather friendship” between the two countries is now transforming itself from the erstwhile “purely defensive and strategic” in nature to one of deep economic engagement.

One of the biggest achievements of Musharraf’s rule, according to him, was that he turned around a tottering economy. Rescuing it from the verge of default, he brought it to a state where it was declared a success story by the International Financial Institutions. GDP was growing at a healthy rate of 6.5 to 7.5 per cent and even touched nine per cent in 2005. ADB projected a 6.5 per cent GDP growth for 2008 in its report released in December 2007.