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TZID:Asia/Kolkata
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DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20081208T053000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20081208T053000
DTSTAMP:20261105T190734
CREATED:20231223T222532Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231224T130743Z
UID:63739-1228714200-1228714200@idsa.in
SUMMARY:Brazilian Foreign policy and IBSA
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Marco Antonio Vieira\, a Brazilian academician\, currently Visiting Lecturer at Kings College London\, visited IDSA on Monday\, December 8\, 2008 for a round table on “Brazilian foreign policy and IBSA.” Dr. Vieira spoke on current Brazilian foreign policy trends. He opined that Brazil would like to be perceived as a responsible emerging power. Under President Lula\, Brazil has focused on a policy of regional engagement. It has followed a strategy often dubbed as “policy of generosity” to win over its neighbours. As a regional power Brazil has sought to increase its influence through soft power as opposed to hard power. This is visible in its efforts towards peaceful resolution of conflicts in the region. Brazil’s relations with the United States are an important part of its strategy of regional engagement. While there has been growing co-operation between Brazil and the US particularly in the area of bio fuels\, there has also been concern in Brasila over increasing US presence in Colombia as it threatens Brazil’s sovereignty over the Amazon region. Brazil has appreciated Russian’s increasing presence in Latin America. However\, the recent moves by Russia to intervene in the Colombian conflict and its growing military ties with Venezuela might exacerbate regional tensions. In the multilateral arena\, Brazil is investing in South-South Co-operation. The IBSA trilateral dialogue forum forms an important part of Brazil’s foreign policy. Nevertheless\, at present there is lack of support for Brazil’s leadership within the region. Recognition of this trilateral cooperation at the global and regional levels will go a long way in legitimizing Brazil’s leadership role. \nIn the ensuing discussion the following issues were highlighted: \n\n In recent years India–Brazil relations have been enhanced. The trilateral IBSA partnership has helped in giving the boost to this relationship. The growing volume of bilateral trade (around $ 2.5 billion in 2007) is an indicator of this change. Both India and Brazil have a lot of similarities that have brought them together. They are emerging powers\, have an agenda of reform of global governance institutions and South–South cooperation as a distinct foreign policy agenda. Further they have suffered from the problem of “gigantism” in their respective neighbourhoods.\nThere was concern over emerging defence ties between Pakistan and Brazil. Particularly\, the recent news of Brazil supplying anti-radar missiles to Pakistan. Such incidents negate the efforts towards building a strategic partnership with Brazil. It was suggested that Brazil should understand India’s regional security concerns and efforts should be made to speed up Indo-Brazil defence co-operation.\nCo-operation in the energy sector\, given Brazil’s dominance in biofuels\, was proposed.\nConcern was also expressed over the growing Chinese presence in South America. Current trade figures surpass those of China-Africa trade\, another region where China has been making inroads. In particular\, Brazil-China trade has tripled in recent years. But Dr. Vieira perceived that South American nations are not worried about the Chinese presence and have welcomed its interest in the region.\nFinally\, it was proposed that not only a top down approach but also a bottom up approach was needed in order to augment co-operation between India and Brazil. This entailed encouraging people to people contact and supporting academic exchanges among think tanks of the two countries.\n\nPrepared by Ruchita Beri\, Research Officer at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses\, New Delhi.
URL:https://idsa.in/idsa-event/brazilian-foreign-policy-and-ibsa
CATEGORIES:ROUND TABLES / WORKSHOPS,EVENT REPORT
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DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20081211T053000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20081211T053000
DTSTAMP:20261105T190734
CREATED:20231223T222442Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231224T130743Z
UID:63738-1228973400-1228973400@idsa.in
SUMMARY:Exploring India – Kazakhstan Transport Linkages
DESCRIPTION:A Roundtable was held on December 11\, 2008 against the backdrop of increasing demand for transport connectivity between India and Central Asia. Among the many points discussed the following stand out as important. \n\nEconomic growth in the Asian region and emerging opportunities for interregional trade are creating a demand for viable transport connectivity\, land-linking arrangements\, and important transit services.\nDue to geographical and geopolitical attributes\, India and Central Asia are confronted with a range of constraints that have hitherto inhabited a full realization of two-way trade and commerce. The problems of distance were substantially compounded by the instability factor in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The situation was unlikely to change in the near and medium term.\nThe discussion focused on the importance of restoring the ancient Silk Route that traditionally linked Central Asia and India through China’s Xinjiang province\, while it also emphasized on the need for developing the North-South Corridor or road connectivity through Iran and Afghanistan.\nIt was realized that any viable future long-distance transport grids\, including energy pipelines from resource rich Siberia and Central Asia to India were not possible without them transiting through Western China. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) becomes the hub for any mode of transportation to be developed in the future.\nParticipants underscored the point that China and Central Asian countries have facilitated various transit transport systems to overcome their interregional trade problems. A web of transport connectivity has been developed by XUAR\, which has 16 Class A ports and 11 Class B ports connecting with eight countries.\nAccording to experts\, different variants of transport connectivity are realistically attainable while adopting a schematic approach. Among the several inchoate thoughts\, the route that directly followed an alignment in a north-south direction along the existing railway lines and roads in Kazakhstan\, Western China and India included: Almaty\, Korgas\, Yinning\, Kuqa\, Aksu\, Kashgar\, Yarkand\, Yecheng (along the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway No. 219) Mazar\, Shahidulla\, Sumxi\, Derub\, Resum\, Shiquanhe\, Gar\, Kailash\, Burang\, Lepu-lekh. The total distance would be less than 3\,000 kilometres. Importantly\, the route under consideration already existed and it is only a matter of cross-border connectivity.\nA linkage through Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir is arguably the shortest\, but China’s sensitivity to any engagement in Jammu & Kashmir may rule out the option.\nFrom India’s perspective while considering the topographical factor\, Lipu-Lekh Pass in Uttarakhand (opened for border trade with China since 1992) is considered a feasible entry point. Refurbishing of the road connecting to Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh and Lipu-Lekh in Uttarakhand are already in progress under the Special Accelerated Road Development Project (SARDP). \n\nOn the positive side\, the experts cited\, inter alia\, the following points: \n\nThe proposed route involved only one country (China) as a land-link between India and Central Asia\, as compared to the longer western routes traversing through Iran and Afghanistan.\nThe proposed route was seasonal\, but its reactivation had a symbolic significance\, essentially for reviving the traditional Silk Route that was vibrant until 1947.\nImportantly\, the route passed through relatively stable Xinjiang as compared to the turbulent areas of Pakistan\, Afghanistan\, and South Central Asia. Additionally\, India is not viewed as a factor of instability and therefore posed no threat to Xinjiang in terms of religion or ideology.\nSignificant trade volumes existed for markets in India\, China\, and Central Asia. India-Kazakhstan trade value has increased to US $370 million this year. Kazakhstan’s annual trade with Western China was over $10 billion.\nIf implemented\, the route will cut down transportation costs of food/fuel supplied to India’s forward areas. Similarly\, it would reduce the delivered costs of imports in Western China. Besides\, China could earn considerable revenue from transit fees. Conceivably\, arrangements for swap deals with China could also be worked out.\nThe above route was viewed as an important counterpoise for Pakistan’s plan for an 800 kilometre long railway from Gawadar to Kashgar. \nAdditionally\, India was to gain an alternative access to the transcontinental transport corridors Western Europe – Western China being developed by Eurasian countries under various facilitation agreements.\nAny resulting gains and prosperity could only trigger major development actions in the pockets of discontentment i.e. Tibet\, Xinjiang\, Kashmir.\n\nOn the negative side\, participants expressed the following apprehensions:\n\nThe feasibility of the above route in terms of geopolitics\, especially China’s willingness to co-operate\, was viewed as a major factor. The issue of territorial disputes between India and China as a factor was also discussed at length\n.  \nNotably\, the Kazakh Ambassador welcomed the proposed route and had agreed to take up the matter with the Chinese authorities on a priority basis. The Ambassador also indicated Kazakhstan’s willingness to exercise its leverages vis-à-vis China should it become necessary.\n\nRecommendation and Action Plan\n\nThe proposed route could possibly be the shortest as economically feasible and steps should be taken to materialize it. \nA regional rather than a country-specific linkage approach should be adopted to enhance the viability. Russia and other Central Asian states must be involved in the co-operation efforts. \nParticipants also embellished the idea of widening its scope to include strategic commodities such as oil\, gas\, uranium\, and minerals to enhance the volume movements. But\, to start with\, the route should only be opened for transit trade. \nLipu-Lekh and Shipkila border trade should be upgraded to transit trade\, apart from improving the infrastructure. \nKazakhstan should consider taking up the matter with the Chinese government.\n\nKazakhstan\, China\, and India should consider using existing facilitation agreements for transit transport at the multilateral\, bilateral\, trilateral\, and sub-regional levels. \nThe proposal could be perused within the Shanghai Organization Cooperation (SCO) framework\, as well as under the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) mechanism. Several inter-governmental agreements on the Asian Highway Network already exist under the UN-ESCAP programme. \nIndia\, China and Central Asian republics should develop a sub-regional framework agreement designed to facilitate cross-border transit trade along the measures adopted by ASEAN\, Greater Mekong Sub-region\, TRACECA\, ECO\, BIMSTEC\, and others.\nThe existing Kazakhstan-India Joint Working Group on Transport should be activated to include the above proposal so that exploration process and implementation could be initiated early.\nThe participants strongly recommended that a trilateral (India\, Kazakhstan\, China) joint study group be set up urgently for undertaking a feasibility study.\n\nPrepared by Professor P. Stobdan\, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses\, New Delhi.
URL:https://idsa.in/idsa-event/exploring-india-kazakhstan-transport-linkages
CATEGORIES:ROUND TABLES / WORKSHOPS,EVENT REPORT
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20081218T053000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20081218T053000
DTSTAMP:20261105T190734
CREATED:20231223T222441Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231224T130743Z
UID:63735-1229578200-1229578200@idsa.in
SUMMARY:His Excellency Mr. Lulzim Basha\, the Foreign Minister of Albania
DESCRIPTION:His Excellency Mr. Lulzim Basha\, the Foreign Minister of Albania led a high-level delegation to the IDSA on December 18\, 2008 for an interaction with scholars on Indo-Albanian relations and the priorities of Albanian foreign policy. Mr. Basha was in India for the first time as the Foreign Minister of Albania on the occasion of inaugurating the Albanian embassy in New Delhi. Dr. Arvind Gupta who holds the Lal Bahadur Shastri Chair at IDSA chaired the interactive session.  \nWelcoming H.E. Lulzim Basha\, Dr. Gupta highlighted the historic importance of Albania in the context of regional pace and stability. He referred to the deep respect every Indian has for Mother Teresa. He said that though diplomatic relations between the two countries are at a nascent stage\, the first-ever visit by an Albanian Foreign Minister would pave the way of a long-lasting relationship.  \nMr. Basha\, in his introductory remarks\, gave a brief overview of Albanian foreign policy\, its role in South East Europe and the future of Indo-Albanian relations. He described Albania as a small country\, a recent democracy but with a long history. The primary objective of Albanian foreign policy is to integrate with NATO as well as the European Union. While Albania would gain NATO membership in April 2009\, when the alliance is going to observe its 60th year of existence\, the process of full membership of the EU is also underway. Given that NATO is extremely important for Albanian security\, Mr. Basha stated that Albanian forces have already been posted in Afghanistan along with NATO forces. On the modernisation and reform process of the Albanian armed forces\, he stated that Albania strives for light\, expeditionary forces which can be posted in different global theatres of conflict like Afghanistan and Iraq. Interoperability of Albanian armed forces is therefore an important objective. However beyond interoperability\, Albania also wants to collectively address global challenges like piracy\, nuclear proliferation\, safety of energy supply routes\, cyber security and most importantly terrorism. \nExpressing his sympathy and solidarity with the people of India in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26th\, Minister Basha underlined that both India and Albania face common challenges. On the issue of the independence of Kosovo\, he stated that so far 53 nations have recognised Kosovo as an independent nation. The minister said that the instance of Kosovo is a unique one and cannot be equated with other regions. Albania supports the independence of Kosovo and wants to integrate the whole Balkan region into the Euro-Atlantic architecture.  \nOn Indo-Albanian relations\, the Minister affirmed that his visit is aimed at building a strategic component to the bilateral relationship. Though Albania wants increased trade and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) from India\, it is also willing to build partnership with Indian academia\, research institutions\, think tanks and strategic community.  \nOn nuclear proliferation\, the Minister stated that Albania strongly supports the US position and it does not want more countries with nuclear aspirations. On Sino-Albanian relations\, Mr. Basha said that this relationship has traditionally been very strong and economic relations are continuously being strengthened. Though Albania supports the One-China policy\, it strongly believes in democracy\, human rights and multi-party system. On Albanian membership of NATO\, the Minister underscored that besides its military nature\, the alliance also represents values like democracy\, human rights\, etc. Countries who want to be NATO members have to ensure that these values are protected. For Albania\, membership of NATO is a win-win situation. About the possible threat of radicalisation of younger Muslims in the Western Balkans in general and in Albania in particular\, the Minister assured that the Muslim community in the European region had so far not been influenced by any extraneous global movements and the Albanian experience had been very successful.  \nThe Minister concluded that his delegation\, which had representatives of Albanian trade and commerce\, would be able to contribute to Indo-Albanian economic relations whose potential has so far remained unexploited.  \nPrepared by Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay\, Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses\, New Delhi.
URL:https://idsa.in/idsa-event/his-excellency-mr-lulzim-basha-the-foreign-minister-of-albania
CATEGORIES:ROUND TABLES / WORKSHOPS,EVENT REPORT
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