• India and Russia to build super-fighter in record defence contract

    India and Russia signed on Tuesday India's largest ever defence deal, worth $30 billion, for fifth-generation fighter aircraft, reports said.

    India will take delivery of 250 of the stealth fighters between 2020 and 2030, each of which will ultimately cost $100m.

    The agreement is notable in underlining how India is now not only looking to acquire equipment but also to ensure that transfer of technological know-how to its domestic industry is integral to such deals.

    The aircraft will be jointly developed and built by the two countries, with 40 scientists from the two countries working on the project.

    The first prototype (pictured) flew in January 2010 and the second is to fly next year, developing on the first with Indian input. New Delhi has released $295 million towards the design contract.

    Russian firms Rosoboronexport and Sukhoi and Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will build the termed the Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF) jets for the two air forces.

    The two countries also registered another joint venture between Russian UAC and Rosoboronexport and HAL to develop and co-produce multi-role transport aircraft.

    The project will produce 250 transport aircraft.

    Meanwhile, Indian and Russian officials also made progress in talks on a contract to upgrade the India’s existing fleet of Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft.

    India is undertaking a massive expansion of its military in the coming decades.

    Western firms are eyeing Indian defence projects that include a $10-billion jet fighter contract, a $600 million order for light combat helicopters for the Indian Army, for six mid-air re-fueller aircraft worth $2 billion, and for six submarines worth $11 billion.

    Promoting his country's firms, German Ambassador Thomas Matussek told reporters in Delhi earlier this month:"'Germany offers technology transfer on a broader scale. We want to offer you perhaps more than competitors. We want to offer you full technology transfer."

  • Germany charges two Rwandans for Congo war crimes

    German prosecutors have filed war crimes charges against two Rwandan men said to have lead a Hutu militia involved in killings of Congolese civilians. The pair said to be the top military leaders of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda - a militia drawn from Hutus from Rwanda who took cover across the border in Congo after the 1994 genocide. They are specifically held responsible for 26 crimes against humanity and 39 war crimes that were committed by militiamen under their command in Congo from January 2008 to November 2009. They

    See reports by Associated Press and AFP.

  • India and China relations

    Our relationship has assumed global and strategic significance. The growing inter-dependence of nations provides both the opportunity and the obligation for India and China to cooperate together to meet the challenges facing the international community.

    “India-China relations have achieved a high degree of maturity that serves the interest of our two peoples. As the Asian century unfolds, we must work together to bring peace, stability and development to our peoples, to the region and to the world at large.”

    - Indian Premier Manmohan Singh, speaking at a banquet for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during his state visit to India last week.

    “China attaches great importance to India's status in international affairs as a large developing country, understands and supports India's aspiration to play a greater role in the United Nations, including in the Security Council. China welcomed India's election to non-permanent membership of UN Security Council during 2011-2012 and both countries agreed to deepen consultation within the Council.”

    - Joint communiqué by the two states on Dec 16, 2010.

    Indian and China agreed a new $100bn bilateral trade target by 2015, up from $60bn in 2010, the BBC reported. They also agreed to take measures to promote greater Indian exports to China, to reduce India's trade deficit. India, like the United States, runs a huge trade deficit with China.

    During the Chinese Premier's visit the two states signed almost 50 trade pacts. Mr. Wen was accompanied to India by 400 Chinese business leaders, including chiefs of top firms like power equipment major Shanghai Electric, metals refiner SinoSteel and telecom gear giants ZTE and Huewei, the Financial Express reported.

  • Genocide noose tightens on Sudan's leader - but slowly

    "He is not under house arrest, he is under country arrest. [And] When he is outside, he flies with half the air force because he knows he can be arrested."

    Chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, tells AFP of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir who faces ICC warrants for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

    Bashir's is the first warrant for genocide issued by the ICC.

    This week he is due to attend a regional summit in Zambia which, despite being an ICC signatory, has not agreed to arrest him.

    South Africa and Uganda have however said they would arrest him if he went there, adding to diplomatic doors being slammed after ICC complaints and some international pressure.

    "[Bashir] is finding himself a prisoner in his own palace" because of the "dis-invitations," Richard Dicker, Human Rights Watch's head of international justice, said.

    "While there is a long way to go before he is a prisoner at the ICC or appears at its dock, it suggests a greater isolation for the president of Sudan than I believe he ever expected.”

    Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed last week that the prevention of genocide is a global responsibility, stating that when States fail to protect their populations, the international community must step in and act.

    However, John Prendergast, co-founder of Enough, an anti-genocide activist group, expressed disappointment at the "sporadic and erratic" resolve of the international community.

    "There has to be some kind of repercussion for a country that will allow [Bashir] to visit, especially if they are signatories to the ICC. So the noose seems a little loose still and that could be tightened," he said.

  • Cold … feet

    That Sri Lanka won’t be present at the award ceremony on Friday, when jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo receives the Nobel Peace Prize is no surprise. But here’s the logic:

    One diplomat from Sri Lanka initially told The Wall Street Journal that its embassy in Oslo was sure to send someone "if nobody had a cold," but later said that no one would attend, saying: "We are a small country and China is now our friend."

  • Arresting visiting war criminals is moral right and international duty

    “We are appalled to learn that the [UK] government is pressing ahead with ill-considered restrictions on judicial powers to order the arrest of suspected war criminals. Not only is it morally right, but it is also our international obligation to bring war criminals to justice, wherever their crimes were committed. …

    “Requiring the prior consent of the director of public prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be issued introduces delay, making it easy for the suspect to leave the country, and risks introducing political interference. …

    “We urge all parliamentary political parties to reject these changes.”

    A group of top British lawyers have written an open letter criticizing the UK’s planned changes to its war crimes laws.

    Last week, a Sri Lanka Army general fled Britain after expatriate Tamils filed a war crimes case against him. 

    See also Amnesty International’s criticism of the UK's proposed changes here.

    See also background briefing and call for action by the UK-based NGO, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, here.

  • Microcredit - now usury’s respectable face

    “Not credit as a means to advance a positive social outcome, but credit as a means to create the profit-spinning foundation of a company.”

    See the Toronto Star’s report here on what has happened to the microcredit dream three decades after it began.

    “The concept of microcredit is being blatantly abused. Now any traditional loan shark anywhere can easily claim that they are the promoters of microcredit. What we created to fight loan sharks now is being used to give loan sharks a respectable identity.”

    Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, founder of microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank, warning earlier this year that turning microcredit into a high-profit, high growth business would devastate the poor.

    (Separately, Prof. Yunus has become mired in controversy after Norway last week began investigating claims Grameen had diverted aid given by Oslo for microcredit projects to other, commercial, parts of the bank. The bank denies the claims).

    “About 40 million people in Bangladesh have availed of loans from microfinance organizations whose interest rates can be anywhere between 20-40%. There are some micro financers who also charge interest rates of more than 50%.”

    Said Khandakar Muzharul Haque, executive vice chairman of Bangladesh’s Micro Credit Regulatory Authority, on why new regulations have been imposed on microfinance firms, capping interest charges.

    See comments by both in the the Wall Street Journal here. 

    "We oppose the interest rate cap. It will be hard for micro-lenders to stay afloat charging just 27 percent interest."

    Mosharraf Hossain, head of a microfinance industry association in Bangladesh,   responds.

  • Amnesty slams UK changes to war crimes laws

    Amnesty International Wednesday slammed Britain’s announcement of new measures restricting the issuing of arrest warrants for suspected war criminals and torturers visiting the UK as “dangerous and unnecessary.”

    The measures, contained in a new ‘Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill’, make the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be issued in a private prosecution for such offences.

    Under current UK law, victims of war crimes, torture and hostage-taking can mount private prosecutions against suspected perpetrators in any country, regardless of nationality or where the crime was committed, under the international rule of universal jurisdiction.

    Victims need to meet a high threshold of evidence in order to obtain an arrest warrant and Amnesty said there are no instances of the system being abused or of magistrates issuing arrest warrants based on 'flimsy evidence' – the prevention of which is cited by the UK as justification for the change.

    “The current process allows victims of crimes under international law to act quickly against suspected perpetrators who could otherwise enter and leave the UK before police and prosecutors can act, Amnesty said.

    This week Tamil activists are examining bringing war crimes charges against Sri Lankan officials, including President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

  • South Sudanese expats in US can vote in independence referendum

    Refugees from southern Sudan will be able to vote in the United States on an independence referendum on January 9 that could split Africa's largest state, AP reports.

    Registration in Omaha began Tuesday, and expatriates are turning out in 'droves' to register, reports said.

    Most observers expect the South to opt for independence, an outcome even the United States has labeled "inevitable", AP reported.

    China has also endorsed the referendum, calling for it to be 'peaceful and transparent'.

    The United Nations Security Council on Nov 16 reaffirmed its "strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, peace and stability of Sudan" – while at the same time welcoming the start of registration for the referendum and encouraging "further efforts to ensure" that it takes places.

    The three sites in US are in Omaha, with its large population of Sudanese refugees, Washington D.C., and Phoenix. People will need to register ahead of the Jan. 9 vote, then return to cast their ballots.

    The referendum is part of a 2005 peace agreement between Sudan's government and the South's Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) that ended a 21-year civil war.

    The deal included the referendum on independence for southern Sudan in January 2011 and a separate self-determination vote for Abyei, a disputed border zone.

  • Aung San Suu Kyi appeals to India

    “I am saddened with India. I would like to have thought that India would be standing behind us. That it would have followed in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.”

    The Indian Express spoke to Myanmar’s opposition icon in her first interview to an Indian news organisation.

    Having initially supported Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, New Delhi shifted its strategy in the early 1990s to court the military regime, Reuters reports.

    Suu Kyi’s comments follow similar remarks last month from US President Barack Obama who, noting that states with global aspirations should not remain silent and ignore "gross violations" in other countries, called on India to also "speak for those who cannot do so for themselves".

  • India to claw back fees amid telecoms storm

    Indian and foreign phone companies could be forced to pay more than $1bn each to the New Delhi government after a critical audit of a controversial allocation of mobile licences, the Financial Times reports.

    The decision comes amid one of India’s biggest corruption scandals in the Congress-led government’s six years in power, which has damaged the ruling party’s image and strained ties with a crucial coalition ally, Tamil Nadu’s DMK.

    Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, known as India's ‘Mr Clean,’ is battling to save his image amid accusations of failing to intervene in time when his telecoms ministersold mobile phone licences for a fraction of their value.

    Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja resigned earlier this month, after a report from the government auditor said the state may have lost up to $31 billion in revenue in the granting of telecoms licenses in 2007-2008.

    Mr. Raja’s appointment was part of a deal with the DMK, which, with 18 parliamentary seats, is Congress’ second biggest ally in government.

    “But the DMK has become weaker in recent years, relying on support of other parties including Congress to hold power in Tamil Nadu. So it is unlikely the DMK would pull out of the [ruling] coalition as it needs Congress as much as Congress needs it,” a Reuters analysis said.

  • Chennai emerges as automobile manufacturing hub

    Having drawn over $3 billion investment this year alone in car manufacturing facilities, Chennai and its suburbs will in the next five years become a key automobile exporting hub, with investments expected to reach $15bn, the Tamil Nadu government says.

    Tamil Nadu presently makes almost 1.3 million vehicles per year, the Economic Times reports.

    “Rapid progress is expected in industrialisation over the next decade,” Chief Minister M Karunanidhi says, adding, “the State will rank highly with newly industrialised countries in the next five years.”

    Currently, US automaker Ford, Korea’s Hyundai, German luxury car manufacturer BMW, and Franco-Japan automakers Renault-Nissan and amongst those who have set up manufacturing facilities in the area. Mitsubishi owns a plant in Chennai making SUVs and sedans, and Nissan is to produce a new MPV at its plant there.

    Indian firms like TVS Motor Company, the country's second largest two-wheeler manufacturer, and Hinduja group flagship firm and commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland have also set up units in the region. Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) will also be setting up a new passenger vehicle manufacturing plant.

    Daimler AG, seeking to challenge Tata’s supremacy in India, has meanwhile announced plans to invest €700 million to increase its production capacity of its trucks in its manufacturing plant in Oragadam, 40 km from Chennai. The company is developing a truck especially for the Indian market that will hit the roads by 2012.

    Tamil Nadu’s government has been focusing on continuous upgrading of infrastructure that is required to provide the state with critical competitive advantage, The Economic Times reports.

    The state government is soon to announce an automotive sector-specific policy to expand its  strong automobile industry base, other reports said.

  • 200 Israeli soldiers named on Gaza 'war crimes' site

    Against the backdrop of senior Israeli politicians and army officers avoiding visits to European countries fearing arrests for war crimes under universal jurisdiction laws, a new website has published names and photographs of 200 soldiers whom it said were involved in Israel’s onslaught on Gaza two years ago.

    The site, which Israeli media reported was initiated by anonymous British activists and hosted by a US-based internet service, dubbed the soldiers listed as ‘war criminals’.

    The website drew wide coverage in Israel because, unusually, it listed not only the army's top-ranking officers, but also commanders of battalions, companies and platoons, and even conscripted soldiers, The National newspaper said.

    "From now on, European travel may entail some risk even to a young platoon commander from the paratroopers' brigade, who may have in the meantime been released from the army and was considering studying abroad," wrote Amos Harel, a commentator in the Haaretz newspaper.

    The site was removed by its hosting service on Friday because of an unspecified breach in its terms of service, Haaretz reported.

    However, before its removal, the information it had gathered - written in both Hebrew and English - was rapidly replicated on other blogs and websites and remains available.

    The disclosure of the troops' details also appeared to expose the Israeli military's growing difficulty in restricting such information from being revealed in the internet era, despite the army's technology-savvy image.

    The list includes IDF chief, his incoming successor, the head of military intelligence and the Israel Air Force chief.

    The three-week offensive launched by Israel in December 2008 resulted in the killings of about 1,400 Gazans, most of them civilians.

    Attempts by left-leaning groups, both in Israel and abroad, to list those commanders who took part in the Gaza fighting began as soon as the Gaza war ended, Harel wrote.

  • Diasporas' role will grow in global politics

    “Modern diasporas challenge notions of how political life should be organised. … Such transnational engagement is likely to grow as a part of political life in the coming decades.”

    “Diasporas linked to states and those that are stateless have distinct differences. Some of the most highly mobilised networks support movements to liberate a homeland, as among the Tamils, Eritreans, Palestinians, Irish, Armenians and Kurds."

    "In these cases the perceived danger to one’s kin and the absence of a state to organise the nation’s defense foists that responsibility onto those in the diaspora who can speak for the vulnerable.”

    Terrence Lyons and Peter Mandaville co-direct the Center for Global Studies at George Mason University. Their research, on which their article 'Diasporas shape politics back home from afar' is based, is forthcoming in a book, ‘Globalisation & Diasporas: Local Politics from Afar’ (Columbia University Press)

  • India's strategic future - a view

    “A rising India - with its robust democracy, thriving entrepreneurial capitalism, and expanding global interests - is bound to acquire a new identity as a champion of liberal international order”.

    India needs to move from ‘strategic autonomy’ to strategic cooperation with the United States, senior Indian analyst C. Raja Mohan writes in the journal Foreign Policy.

    The problem for India's strategists, he says, is how to secure equitable terms in a grand bargain with the United States. "It is also how to bring along a political elite and bureaucracy that are adapting too slowly to the new imperatives of a stronger partnership with Washington."

    Prof. Mohan is the strategic affairs editor of the Indian Express and adjunct professor of South Asian studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

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