Courtesy: Wikipedia
It has been ten months since India and Germany signed an agreement to partner in developing three smart cities. The government now seriously needs to move beyond slogans and aspirations and start addressing the more pressing issues specific to smart city development. Then only will the Modi-Merkel diplomacy be viewed as a success at home.
Courtesy: Wikimedia
The ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative announced by China last year is being actively implemented at the provincial level. A recent conference in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, provided a glimpse of China’s multi-pronged strategy to harness various resources available to make OBOR a success.
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Behind the hullabaloo and grand optics that will accompany PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. will be laser-focused discussions on enhancing the strategic trade and investment relationship
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External integration—which the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will generate—has policy implications that India must manage well and quickly. As a first step, India can introduce the GST, among other measures, in order to become a more unified domestic economy.
Courtesy: PTI
On his second trip to the U.S. next week, Modi will meet Obama to discuss various issues, including climate change and the civil nuclear deal; he will also visit Silicon Valley to explore innovation and social enterprise. But beyond the promises of this agenda, both sides must now devise deliverables that make the bilateral dream a reality.
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If the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership moves ahead after further negotiations were held in July, Indian exporters could be disadvantaged. Instead, India must be ready to use the further opening up of huge markets across the Atlantic, and adopt trade policies that mix regionalism and multilateralism.
Courtesy: Bharata Bharati
India, along with China, will present the case for food security protections at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December, where India will find it difficult to maintain its integrity as both a leader of G33 countries and a nation that has an expressed stake in the expansion of global trade. But it should stick to the G33’s Bali proposal for flexibilities for developing countries.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's outreach to the influential Indian diaspora in Silicon Valley in September should be centered on creating an Indian ecosystem for tech start-ups
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While all eyes are currently on Greece, the UK has plans to hold a referendum on whether to exit the European Union or a "Brexit". The potential of a "Brexit" has both short and long term implications on the UK's position as a financial hub and on Indian FDI into the UK
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If, after nine years, BRICS remains a disparate grouping, and its trade and investment flows remain dismal, it is time to explore new avenues of cooperation to consolidate the alliance—and culture and education can provide the necessary cementing factor when combined with the New Development Bank