Current Affairs Sep 2018 - Foreign Affairs
1 - Positive Sign on Indus Water Treaty
India and Pakistan have shown their interest to undertake the Indus Waters Treaty tours in the Indus basin. At the 115th meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) in Lahore, both parties arrived on a conclusion to reconsider this issue and find an amicable solution in reference to the issues of various hydroelectric projects.
In this meeting, technical discussions were also held regarding the implementation of various hydroelectric projects under the provisions of Indus Waters Treaty. The projects, which are a bone of contention, are Pakal Dul (1,000 MW) and Lower Kalnai (48 MW) – both projects are located in Jammu and Kashmir. Further, India has asked Pakistan to send experts to visit the sites and take close views of both the projects namely Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai (located on Chenab River) and raise the concerns if they find any.
2 - Zokhawthar Immigration Checkpost Opened
India and Myanmar have shown interest to come closer by opening an immigration check-post in Mizoram along the border of Myanmar.
India and Myanmar opened the land border crossing at Zokhawthar-Rih. Zokhawthar is located in Champhai district of Mizoram, whereas Rih is located in Myanmar's Chin province.
Along the Myanmar border, Zokhawthar is going to be the second immigration check-post in Mizoram, after Zorinpui, which is located in Lawngtlai district. Zorinpui was opened in September 2017.
3 - India and Bulgaria Sign Five Strategic Agreements
On a three nations visit, President Shri Ram Nath Kovind arrived at Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The President will also visit Cyprus and Czech Republic. On the 5th of September, President delivered a speech at Sofia university on the theme “Education as an Instrument of Change and Shared Prosperity.”
Further, he coincided this topic with ‘Teacher’s Day’ (celebrated every year on 5th of September in India) and commemorated the birth anniversary of India’s second President Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
Besides, a five point bilateral agreement is also signed between India and Bulgaria over the following emphaised points −
To invest in India as well as in Bulgaria
To boost up the science and technology co-operation
To develop nuclear research and cooperation
To promote tourism
To promote Hindi studies through a collaboration of Indian Council of Cultural Relation and Sofia University
4 - Indian and US Hold '2 + 2' Dialogue
Sushma Swaraj, the Minister of External Affairs and Nirmala Sitharaman, the Minister of Defence welcomed Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis to India, for the inaugural India-U.S. Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue.
They applauded the launch of the 2+2 Dialogue as a reflection of the shared commitment by Prime Minister Modi and President Trump to provide a positive, forward-looking vision for the India-U.S. strategic partnership and to promote synergy in their diplomatic and security efforts.
Important highlights of the meeting are:
Negotiations on an Industrial Security Annex for the support of defence industry
Boost to Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA)
Memorandum of Intent between the U.S. Defence Innovation Unit and the Indian Defence Innovation organization, i.e. Innovation for Defence Excellence (DIO-iDEX) for co-development projects through the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI)
Exchange between the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the Indian Navy
Collaboration between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Westinghouse Electric Company to establish 6 nuclear power plants in India.
5 - India & Mongolia Joint Exercise in Ulaanbaatar
Indo-Mongolia joint exercise Nomadic Elephant-2018, was held at Ullanbaatar in Mongolia. The joint exercise was conducted at Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF) Five Hills Training Area, Ullanbaatar.
The 12-day long joint exercise that was conducted from 10 Sep to 21 Sep 2018 was the thirteenth edition of such exercise that aimed at developing mutual understanding and respect between armies of both countries and facilitate in tackling the world wide phenomena of terrorism.
Since 2006, Exercise Nomadic Elephant is an annual and bilateral exercise, designed to strengthen the partnership between Indian Army and Mongolian Armed Forces.
6 - India-Bangladesh Ties at a New High
In a video conferencing meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi Counterpart Sheikh Hasina agreed to inaugurate three major Indo-Bangladesh joint venture projects, including rail links and an electricity transmission grid.
These three projects include:
500 MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh, through the existing Bheramara (Bangladesh) - Baharampur (India) interconnection.
Akhaura – Agartala Rail Link, and
Rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways.
In this meeting, Ms. Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister, Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister and Biplab Kumar Deb, Tripura Chief Minister, were also present.
7 - India, Iran, Afghanistan Hold First Tripartite Meeting in Kabul
The first tripartite meeting among India, Afghanistan, and Iran was held at Kabul in Afghanistan. The objective of this tripartite meeting is to enhance the cooperation among the three countries.
Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai chaired the meeting; the Indian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale; and the Iranian team was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The three countries also discussed to enhance co-operation on counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, and continuing support to peace and reconciliation process that is led and owned by Afghanistan.
8 - India Signs Pacts with Rakhine State for Capacity Building
India signed two agreements with Myanmar's Rakhine State Government to facilitate capacity building and economic development in the province. These pacts are designed to assist and promote agricultural mechanisation and support computer literacy among the youth of Rakhine State. Further, it will also to prepare Rakhine State people for employment opportunities in the software sector.
Furthermore, as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Minerals of Rakhine, India decided to supply 15 tractors and 15 crawler harvesters to the State Government, to meet their growing demands.
Under the MoU with Department of Social Affairs of the Rakhine State Government, the Indian Embassy will also provide 40 computers and their associated peripherals to the Sittwe Computer University.
