India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion made a historic decision last month by removing the six-decade old ban on Pakistani investment in that country. India’s new finance minister Chidambaram thinks that “shared economic ties will work as a bulwark against war”, after the Indian commerce ministry issued a statement that all Pakistani citizens and corporations are now permitted to invest in any Indian economic sector, except defence, space and atomic energy. Removing trade barriers seems like a logical step forward towards improving bilateral relations.
The army’s defences on the China border will get a major offensive boost with the impending deployment of two tank brigades, one each in Ladakh and north-east India. This is the first time that India will deploy armoured formations on the China border. Such formations, equipped with main battle tanks and BMP-II infantry combat vehicles, are traditionally used for striking into enemy territory.
President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan has upped his rhetoric against neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, warning that their efforts to build hydroelectric power stations on rivers upstream could spark war.
More top-tier energy companies are likely to join the race to explore for oil and gas in Afghanistan after the world’s biggest publicly traded firm, Exxon Mobil, changed perceptions of what the country may hold by showing interest in drilling.
Infrastructures, railways, are not only an internal stake for India but also a matter of regional economy and policy. Filling some gaps would allow India to export by railways its products towards Central Asia, Central Europe and thus Europe bypassing straits.
Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images – Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s second term in office has been damaged by corruption scandals and policy paralysis.
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh helped set his country on the path to modernity, prosperity and power, but critics say the shy, soft-spoken 79-year-old is in danger of going down in history as a failure.
Alongside its activities in the Mediterranean and exploring for shale gas in Diyarbakır, Dutch Shell is also interested in oil and gas exploration in Turkey’s Black Sea.
Royal Dutch Shell and Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) began exploring for shale gas last week in the eastern province of Diyarbakır’s Sarıbuğday-1 natural gas field, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız announced yesterday.
Nonaligned seating: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, attending the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, is received by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is leading a large delegation to the summit meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran this week. A foreign policy of nonalignment – friends to all – is tempting for any state, but particularly for a populous democracy like India. Under Jawaharlal Nehru, India navigated the Cold War with such a policy of nonalignment, balancing ties and trade with both the US and the Soviet Union. But in a more complex and multipolar world, India faces potential threats, even from close neighbors.
The Arctic is melting faster than almost anybody expected. It has just been reported that the area of sea ice has never been smaller. And having already surpassed previous annual low points in August, it will shrink further in September. Since 1951 the Arctic has warmed roughly twice as much as the global average. So the latest record is a frightening milestone in the advance of climate change. Yet for many in Asia, in the short term, greed trumps fear. The thawing of the north offers the prospect both of access to untold mineral wealth and drastically shorter shipping routes to the Atlantic.
