India and the United Arabs Emirates signed a historic trade deal. Both countries eye a $100 billion in annual trade. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Dubai Expo 2020 during the virtual summit.

India-UAE landmark trade deal: First comprehensive trade deal in 10 years

Indian PM Narendra Modi and his UAE counterpart will hold virtual talks today. They are likely to sign a new free trade pact.

High-level India, UAE virtual summit today

Indian PM Narendra Modi and his UAE counterpart are expected to hold virtual talks in the coming week that they will be likely signing a free trade pact and as of now both sides are considering to hold the talks.

India-UAE likely to finalise a trade deal

India's PM Narendra Modi will hold talks with the UAE counterpart next week. The UAE is India's third-largest trade partner for eight years now.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold talks with UAE counterpart next week

India and Israel celebrated 30th anniversary of full diplomatic relations. While COVID has meant that some planned celebrations have had to go online, the two countries have jointly launched the anniversary year virtually with a logo marking the occasion.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid: Israel grateful for Indian support

30 years of India, Israel ties: PM Naftali Bennett shares heartfelt message

Today marks the 30th anniversary of full diplomatic relations between India and Israel. While COVID has meant that some planned celebrations have had to go online, the two countries have jointly launched the anniversary year virtually with a logo marking the occasion.

India & Israel to mark 30 years of diplomatic ties

Tensions between Russia and US continues to continue to remain high and in the latest update. Russia's defense minister has now accused the US bombers of rehearsing a nuclear strike on Russia from 2 different directions.

United States accused of rehearsing nuclear strike on Russia

<p>After Taiwan was allowed to open a representative office in Lithuania, China downgraded its official relations with the Baltic nation on Sunday to below ambassador level. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Beijing claims Taiwan, the island democracy, as part of its own territory. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Earlier, China had also expelled the ambassador of Lithuania and withdrew its own envoy to the country. &nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/wont-tolerate-taiwans-independence-says-china-430759" hreflang="en">Won't tolerate Taiwan's independence, says China</a></strong></p>

<p>Relations would be downgraded to the level of charge d'affaires, an embassy's No 2 official, said the foreign ministry said on Sunday. &nbsp;</p>

<p>In a diplomatic breakthrough recently, Taiwan opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania. The move is a significant departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Breaking free from tradition, the Chinese-claimed island has used its own name for its operation in Vilnius. It is Taiwan's first new diplomatic outpost in Europe in 18 years. &nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-has-vaccinated-over-75-of-its-population-amid-a-surge-in-cases-430861" hreflang="en">China has vaccinated over 75% of its population amid a surge in cases</a></strong></p>

<p>Taiwan's foreign ministry had said the opening of the office would "charter a new and promising course" for ties between it and Lithuania. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>"We are very happy that we have the opportunity to be a facilitator and promoter for the relations between Taiwan and Lithuania," said Eric Huang, Taipei's chief of mission in neighbouring Latvia. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;</em></p>


After Taiwan was allowed to open a representative office in Lithuania, China downgraded its official relations with the Baltic nation on Sunday to below ambassador level.

After Taiwan was allowed to open a representative office in Lithuania, China downgraded its official relations with the Baltic nation on Sunday to below ambassador level. Beijing claims Taiwan, the island democracy, as part of its own territory. Earlier, China had also expelled the ambassador of Lithuania and withdrew its own envoy to the country. Also Read: Won't tolerate Taiwan's independence, says China Relations would be downgraded to the level of charge d'affaires, an embassy's No 2 official, said the foreign ministry said on Sunday. In a diplomatic breakthrough recently, Taiwan opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania. The move is a significant departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing. Breaking free from tradition, the Chinese-claimed island has used its own name for its operation in Vilnius. It is Taiwan's first new diplomatic outpost in Europe in 18 years. Also Read: China has vaccinated over 75% of its population amid a surge in cases Taiwan's foreign ministry had said the opening of the office would "charter a new and promising course" for ties between it and Lithuania. "We are very happy that we have the opportunity to be a facilitator and promoter for the relations between Taiwan and Lithuania," said Eric Huang, Taipei's chief of mission in neighbouring Latvia. (With inputs from agencies)

After Taiwan opens de-facto embassy, China downgrades diplomatic relations with Lithuania

Earlier this week Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart XI Jinping sat down in a virtual meet and spoke for 3 and a half-hour meeting. This meeting was hailed to be an ice breaker between the 2 countries.

Washington still reluctant to completely trust Beijing

<p>Welcoming possible US involvement in the reconstruction of the country, the Taliban says it is ready to have relations with Washington, the group’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Sputnik. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The group wants relations that can serve the interests of both Afghanistan and the United States. The spokesman said, "Yes, of course, in a new chapter if America wants to have a relation with us, which could be in the interest of both countries and both peoples, and if they want to participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, they are welcome."</p>

<p><strong>Watch: Reports challenge prospect of Mullah Baradar leading new Afghanistan govt</strong></p>

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<p>Shaheen added, the Taliban will not have any relations with Israel but wants to maintain a dialogue with all of its neighbours. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The leader said, "Of course, we won't have any relation with Israel. We want to have relations with other countries, Israel is not among these countries… We would like to have relations with all the regional countries and neighbouring countries as well as Asian countries." &nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/us-built-databases-a-potential-tool-of-taliban-repression-411368" hreflang="en">US-built databases a potential tool of Taliban repression</a></strong></p>

<p>Meanwhile, the Taliban has also invited former Afghan military men to join the new hardline leadership. &nbsp;</p>

<p>"Afghan soldiers, who have been trained over the last 20 years, will be requested to rejoin security departments alongside Taliban fighters," said spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid at a press conference in Kabul. &nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;</em></p>


Welcoming possible US involvement in the reconstruction of the country, the Taliban says it is ready to have relations with Washington, the group’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Sputnik.

Welcoming possible US involvement in the reconstruction of the country, the Taliban says it is ready to have relations with Washington, the group’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Sputnik. The group wants relations that can serve the interests of both Afghanistan and the United States. The spokesman said, "Yes, of course, in a new chapter if America wants to have a relation with us, which could be in the interest of both countries and both peoples, and if they want to participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, they are welcome." Watch: Reports challenge prospect of Mullah Baradar leading new Afghanistan govt × Shaheen added, the Taliban will not have any relations with Israel but wants to maintain a dialogue with all of its neighbours. The leader said, "Of course, we won't have any relation with Israel. We want to have relations with other countries, Israel is not among these countries… We would like to have relations with all the regional countries and neighbouring countries as well as Asian countries." Also Read: US-built databases a potential tool of Taliban repression Meanwhile, the Taliban has also invited former Afghan military men to join the new hardline leadership. "Afghan soldiers, who have been trained over the last 20 years, will be requested to rejoin security departments alongside Taliban fighters," said spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid at a press conference in Kabul. (With inputs from agencies)

With reconstruction on mind, Taliban ready to have relations with US

<p>Qatar has no plans to normalise ties with Syria, the Gulf state's foreign minister said, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office last week in an election derided by the opposition and the West as a farce.<br />
<br />
Qatar was among several regional states including Saudi Arabia that backed rebels in Syria's decade-old civil war. Some like the United Arab Emirates have sought to normalise ties after Assad regained control of most of the country.<br />
<br />
"So far we see nothing on the horizon for a political solution acceptable to the Syrian people ... the (regime's) approach and conduct has not changed," Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told UK-based Al Araby television in an interview aired on Friday.<br />
<br />
"There is no motivation for us to re-establish ties with the Syrian regime at this time," Sheikh Mohammed said. "The Syrian regime is committing crimes against its people."<br />
<br />
Syria's government said that Wednesday's election shows the country is functioning normally despite the war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced 11 million.<br />
<br />
Gulf Arab states downgraded or shut missions in Damascus in 2012 over attacks by the government on protests at the start of the conflict.<br />
<br />
The UAE re-opened its mission to Damascus in late 2018 in a bid to counter the influence of non-Arab actors like Iran, which along with Russia backs Assad, and Turkey, which backs rebels.<br />
<br />
The UAE has a charge d'affaires in Syria. Oman, one of the rare Arab countries that had maintained diplomatic ties with Damascus, sent an ambassador in 2020.<br />
<br />
<em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


Qatar has no plans to normalise ties with Syria, the Gulf state's foreign minister said, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office last week in an election derided by the opposition and the West as a farce.

Qatar has no plans to normalise ties with Syria, the Gulf state's foreign minister said, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office last week in an election derided by the opposition and the West as a farce. Qatar was among several regional states including Saudi Arabia that backed rebels in Syria's decade-old civil war. Some like the United Arab Emirates have sought to normalise ties after Assad regained control of most of the country. "So far we see nothing on the horizon for a political solution acceptable to the Syrian people ... the (regime's) approach and conduct has not changed," Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told UK-based Al Araby television in an interview aired on Friday. "There is no motivation for us to re-establish ties with the Syrian regime at this time," Sheikh Mohammed said. "The Syrian regime is committing crimes against its people." Syria's government said that Wednesday's election shows the country is functioning normally despite the war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced 11 million. Gulf Arab states downgraded or shut missions in Damascus in 2012 over attacks by the government on protests at the start of the conflict. The UAE re-opened its mission to Damascus in late 2018 in a bid to counter the influence of non-Arab actors like Iran, which along with Russia backs Assad, and Turkey, which backs rebels. The UAE has a charge d'affaires in Syria. Oman, one of the rare Arab countries that had maintained diplomatic ties with Damascus, sent an ambassador in 2020. (With inputs from agencies)

Qatar sees no reason for normalising ties with Syria, says foreign minister

<p>The Indian foreign minister is in the UAE and so is the foreign minister of Pakistan. Is this a mere coincidence or part of a plan? What's cooking in Abu Dhabi?&nbsp;</p>

<p>The visits have come just days after a top Emirati diplomat confirmed that the UAE was playing a key role in bringing both countries, India and Pakistan, to the talking table. The diplomat in question is the UAE's ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>On Saturday, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi embarked on a three-day trip to the UAE. India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar landed on Sunday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Interestingly, this was the second time both foreign ministers were in the same country at the same time, that too in less than three weeks.&nbsp;</p>

<p>They both came face-to-face in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe for the Heart of Asia summit on March 30, but no meeting took place. Did they happen to meet this time? Reports say they didn't.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In fact, there were no bilateral meetings on the agenda at all. So, what happened then?&nbsp;</p>

<p>In his day-long visit, Dr S Jaishankar met his UAE counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They discussed bilateral cooperation, economic collaboration, community welfare, and post-pandemic economic recovery. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>As for Qureshi, in his meeting with UAE's foreign minister, the discussions ranged from bilateral trade, investment to job opportunities for the Pakistani diaspora. &nbsp;</p>

<p>This is what we know officially and we don't want to make any assumptions but the last-minute nature of these visits and the events that lead to them and the accompanying statements from top diplomats leave very little scope for imagination. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The first indication came on February 25, the second anniversary of the Balakot airstrikes. Both India and Pakistan surprised the world and issued a joint statement, agreeing to strictly observe ceasefire along the Line of Control.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Then in March, the real rulers extended an olive branch, the Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa called a stable Indo-Pak relationship, the key to unlocking South Asia's potential. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The same month, on March 31, Pakistan's economic coordination committee recommended that the ban on importing sugar and cotton from India be lifted. The positive headlines lasted barely 24 hours and the ban was imposed again due to domestic pressure but the recommendation gave a whiff of normalisation of ties. &nbsp;</p>

<p>This was followed by reports of Emirati officials facilitating back-channel talks between the two sides. Now, the coinciding visits of both foreign ministers have once again reignited speculation. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Both Islamabad and New Delhi maintain absolute silence on what's happening but as they say, sometimes silence itself speaks volumes, and especially when it comes to the India-Pakistan conundrum, nothing speaks louder than silence.&nbsp;</p>


The Indian foreign minister is in the UAE and so is the foreign minister of Pakistan. Is this a mere coincidence or part of a plan? What's cooking in Abu Dhabi? The visits have come just days after a top Emirati diplomat confirmed that the UAE was playing a key role in bringing both countries, India and Pakistan, to the talking table.

The Indian foreign minister is in the UAE and so is the foreign minister of Pakistan. Is this a mere coincidence or part of a plan? What's cooking in Abu Dhabi? The visits have come just days after a top Emirati diplomat confirmed that the UAE was playing a key role in bringing both countries, India and Pakistan, to the talking table. The diplomat in question is the UAE's ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba. On Saturday, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi embarked on a three-day trip to the UAE. India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar landed on Sunday. Interestingly, this was the second time both foreign ministers were in the same country at the same time, that too in less than three weeks. They both came face-to-face in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe for the Heart of Asia summit on March 30, but no meeting took place. Did they happen to meet this time? Reports say they didn't. In fact, there were no bilateral meetings on the agenda at all. So, what happened then? In his day-long visit, Dr S Jaishankar met his UAE counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They discussed bilateral cooperation, economic collaboration, community welfare, and post-pandemic economic recovery. As for Qureshi, in his meeting with UAE's foreign minister, the discussions ranged from bilateral trade, investment to job opportunities for the Pakistani diaspora. This is what we know officially and we don't want to make any assumptions but the last-minute nature of these visits and the events that lead to them and the accompanying statements from top diplomats leave very little scope for imagination. The first indication came on February 25, the second anniversary of the Balakot airstrikes. Both India and Pakistan surprised the world and issued a joint statement, agreeing to strictly observe ceasefire along the Line of Control. Then in March, the real rulers extended an olive branch, the Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa called a stable Indo-Pak relationship, the key to unlocking South Asia's potential. The same month, on March 31, Pakistan's economic coordination committee recommended that the ban on importing sugar and cotton from India be lifted. The positive headlines lasted barely 24 hours and the ban was imposed again due to domestic pressure but the recommendation gave a whiff of normalisation of ties. This was followed by reports of Emirati officials facilitating back-channel talks between the two sides. Now, the coinciding visits of both foreign ministers have once again reignited speculation. Both Islamabad and New Delhi maintain absolute silence on what's happening but as they say, sometimes silence itself speaks volumes, and especially when it comes to the India-Pakistan conundrum, nothing speaks louder than silence.

Are India and Pakistan heading for normalisation of relations? 

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{1}" paraid="448980948" >The US State Department on Friday issued new guidelines that will enable US officials to meet more freely with officials from Taiwan, a move that deepens relations with Taipei amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{15}" paraid="560210550" >"These new guidelines&nbsp;liberalise&nbsp;guidance on contacts with Taiwan, consistent with our unofficial relations," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{22}" paraid="61999826" >The aim, he said, was "to encourage US government engagement with Taiwan that reflects our deepening unofficial relationship."&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{29}" paraid="1371514324" >Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced days before the end of former President Donald Trump's presidency in January that he was lifting restrictions on contacts between US officials and their Taiwanese counterparts.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{36}" paraid="1862436137" >Price said the new guidelines had followed a congressionally mandated review and would "provide clarity throughout the Executive Branch on effective implementation of our&nbsp;'one China'&nbsp;policy" - a reference to the long-standing US policy under which Washington officially&nbsp;recognises&nbsp;Beijing rather than Taipei.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{43}" paraid="1814352879" >Another State Department spokesman said the new guidelines meant, for example, that working-level meetings with Taiwanese officials were now encouraged in federal buildings and could also take place at Taiwan's representative office.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{50}" paraid="2096458862" >"Those meetings were prohibited under previous guidance," he said.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{57}" paraid="872340756" >A report on the Financial Times website shortly before the release of Price's statement&nbsp;said&nbsp;US officials would also be able to attend events at Twin Oaks, an estate in Washington that served as the residence of Taiwan's ambassador until the United States switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{64}" paraid="1878382110" >However, it quoted a US official as saying there would still be some “guard rails,” such as not allowing officials to attend functions at Twin Oaks on major Taiwanese holidays that might complicate the US "One-China" policy.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{71}" paraid="774429322" >Taiwan's representative office in Washington welcomed a move "substantively reflecting deepening ties between Taiwan and the United States."&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{78}" paraid="692642403" >It noted that it came at a time of increasing cooperation in areas such as global health, economics and regional security and enjoyed bipartisan support in the United States.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{85}" paraid="682636853" >The State Department announcement comes at a time of raised tensions over Taiwan, which China claims as its own. Taiwan has complained over the last few months of repeated missions by China`s air force near the island.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{92}" paraid="960558124" >The White House on Friday said it was keeping a close watch on increased Chinese military activities in the Taiwan Strait, and called Beijing's recent actions potentially destabilizing.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{99}" paraid="157845535" >Beijing on Thursday blamed the United States for tensions after a US warship sailed close to Taiwan.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{106}" paraid="1238789786" >Taiwan is China's most sensitive territorial issue and a major bone of contention with Washington, which is required by US law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{d5432de6-6205-4b69-83e6-738949889455}{113}" paraid="303754282" >China believes the United States is colluding with Taiwan to challenge Beijing and giving support to those who want the island to declare formal independence.</p>


The US State Department on Friday issued new guidelines that will enable US officials to meet more freely with officials from Taiwan, a move that deepens relations with Taipei amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island.

The US State Department on Friday issued new guidelines that will enable US officials to meet more freely with officials from Taiwan, a move that deepens relations with Taipei amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island. "These new guidelines liberalise guidance on contacts with Taiwan, consistent with our unofficial relations," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. The aim, he said, was "to encourage US government engagement with Taiwan that reflects our deepening unofficial relationship." Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced days before the end of former President Donald Trump's presidency in January that he was lifting restrictions on contacts between US officials and their Taiwanese counterparts. Price said the new guidelines had followed a congressionally mandated review and would "provide clarity throughout the Executive Branch on effective implementation of our 'one China' policy" - a reference to the long-standing US policy under which Washington officially recognises Beijing rather than Taipei. Another State Department spokesman said the new guidelines meant, for example, that working-level meetings with Taiwanese officials were now encouraged in federal buildings and could also take place at Taiwan's representative office. "Those meetings were prohibited under previous guidance," he said. A report on the Financial Times website shortly before the release of Price's statement said US officials would also be able to attend events at Twin Oaks, an estate in Washington that served as the residence of Taiwan's ambassador until the United States switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979. However, it quoted a US official as saying there would still be some “guard rails,” such as not allowing officials to attend functions at Twin Oaks on major Taiwanese holidays that might complicate the US "One-China" policy. Taiwan's representative office in Washington welcomed a move "substantively reflecting deepening ties between Taiwan and the United States." It noted that it came at a time of increasing cooperation in areas such as global health, economics and regional security and enjoyed bipartisan support in the United States. The State Department announcement comes at a time of raised tensions over Taiwan, which China claims as its own. Taiwan has complained over the last few months of repeated missions by China`s air force near the island. The White House on Friday said it was keeping a close watch on increased Chinese military activities in the Taiwan Strait, and called Beijing's recent actions potentially destabilizing. Beijing on Thursday blamed the United States for tensions after a US warship sailed close to Taiwan. Taiwan is China's most sensitive territorial issue and a major bone of contention with Washington, which is required by US law to provide the island with the means to defend itself. China believes the United States is colluding with Taiwan to challenge Beijing and giving support to those who want the island to declare formal independence.

US issues guidelines to deepen relations with Taiwan 

<p>Malaysia’s foreign minister stressed on Saturday that his country remained independent in foreign policy after some social media users and opposition politicians lambasted him for referring to his Chinese counterpart as his ‘elder brother’.</p>

<p>Hishammuddin Hussein, on his first visit to China as foreign minister, had expressed hope that he and Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi would pursue closer ties between the nations, including post-Covid-19 cooperation and fighting the pandemic.</p>

<p>However, he provoked controversy back home when he told his counterpart in a joint press briefing on Thursday, "You will always be my elder brother."</p>

<p>China is Malaysia’s largest trade partner, but relations between the two countries have been tested in recent years by Beijing’s increasingly assertive foreign policy in the region, particularly its maritime claims in the resource-rich South China Sea, some of which conflict with Malaysia’s own claims.</p>

<p>Some Malaysians took to social media to chide Hishammuddin, saying he appeared to be appeasing the global superpower, while opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim demanded the minister retract his comment and issue an apology to the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"This is not the language and style that should be used in the world of diplomacy and international relations because it seems to put Malaysia’s status as a foreign puppet," Anwar said on Saturday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"As a country that is neutral and not in favour of any great power in the world, his statement is clearly a form of insult to our own country."</p>

<p>Following the criticism, Hishammuddin said on Twitter that he had said ‘elder brother’ to show respect to Wang Yi, and that the words did not refer to Malaysia’s relationship with China.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He said he had been "respecting that Wang Yi is older, and a more senior foreign minister; hence ‘elder brother’ to me personally".&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Being respectful does not signify weakness," he added.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Rest assured that Malaysia remains independent, principled and pragmatic in terms of our foreign policy - founded on the values of peace, humanity, justice, and equality."</p>

<p>(With inputs from agencies)</p>


Malaysia’s foreign minister stressed on Saturday that his country remained independent in foreign policy after some social media users and opposition politicians lambasted him for referring to his Chinese counterpart as his ‘elder brother’.

Malaysia’s foreign minister stressed on Saturday that his country remained independent in foreign policy after some social media users and opposition politicians lambasted him for referring to his Chinese counterpart as his ‘elder brother’. Hishammuddin Hussein, on his first visit to China as foreign minister, had expressed hope that he and Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi would pursue closer ties between the nations, including post-Covid-19 cooperation and fighting the pandemic. However, he provoked controversy back home when he told his counterpart in a joint press briefing on Thursday, "You will always be my elder brother." China is Malaysia’s largest trade partner, but relations between the two countries have been tested in recent years by Beijing’s increasingly assertive foreign policy in the region, particularly its maritime claims in the resource-rich South China Sea, some of which conflict with Malaysia’s own claims. Some Malaysians took to social media to chide Hishammuddin, saying he appeared to be appeasing the global superpower, while opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim demanded the minister retract his comment and issue an apology to the country. "This is not the language and style that should be used in the world of diplomacy and international relations because it seems to put Malaysia’s status as a foreign puppet," Anwar said on Saturday. "As a country that is neutral and not in favour of any great power in the world, his statement is clearly a form of insult to our own country." Following the criticism, Hishammuddin said on Twitter that he had said ‘elder brother’ to show respect to Wang Yi, and that the words did not refer to Malaysia’s relationship with China. He said he had been "respecting that Wang Yi is older, and a more senior foreign minister; hence ‘elder brother’ to me personally". "Being respectful does not signify weakness," he added. "Rest assured that Malaysia remains independent, principled and pragmatic in terms of our foreign policy - founded on the values of peace, humanity, justice, and equality." (With inputs from agencies)

Malaysia independent, says Min, who called Chinese counterpart 'elder brother'

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/singapore-opens-new-high-tech-airport-terminal-23222">Singapore</a> has suspended trade relations with <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-aircraft-carriers-japanese-navy-conduct-joint-drill-amid-north-korea-tensions-24332">North Korea</a>, the latest of Pyongyang&#39;s major trade partners to cut commercial ties under toughening UN&nbsp;sanctions over its weapons programme, a customs notice obtained on Thursday showed.</p>

<p>The move comes about two months after the United States imposed North Korea-related sanctions on a number of firms and individuals, including two entities based in Singapore.</p>

<p>&quot;Singapore will prohibit all commercially traded goods from, or to, <a href="http://mediaexpress.reuters.com/all?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2017%3Anewsml_KBN1DG0P5%3A1">the Democratic People&#39;s Republic of Korea</a> (DPRK),&quot; the city-state&#39;s customs said in the notice sent to traders and declaring agents last Tuesday, referring to the country by its official name.</p>

<p>The suspension would take effect from November&nbsp;8, Fauziah A. Sani, head of trade strategy and security for the director-general of customs, said in the notice.</p>

<p>Repeated breach of the new prohibitions is punishable by a fine of up to $200,000 ($147,340.50) or four times the value of the goods traded, imprisonment of up to three years, or both, it added.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/singapore-passport-is-worlds-most-powerful-22873">Singapore</a> is North Korea&#39;s seventh largest trading partner. The Philippines, Pyongyang&#39;s fifth biggest trading partner, suspended trade with North Korea in September to comply with a UN&nbsp;resolution.</p>

<p>Tension on the Korean peninsula has escalated as North Korea&#39;s young leader, Kim Jong Un, has stepped up the development of weapons in defiance of UN&nbsp;sanctions.</p>

<p>North Korea has tested a series of missiles this year, including one that flew over Japan, and conducted its sixth and biggest <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/indias-nuclear-program-hj-bhabhas-dream-remains-unfulfilled-23120">nuclear test</a> in September.</p>

<p>Pyongyang maintains a diplomatic presence in Singapore, with an embassy in its financial district.</p>

<p>In September, Singapore issued a travel advisory urging citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to North Korea, where it does not have diplomatic representation.</p>

<p>In an interview with National Public Radio in May, Singapore&#39;s minister of foreign affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, had said the country was not ready to cut all diplomatic ties with North Korea.</p>

<p>In January last year, Singapore-based Chinpo Shipping Company (Private) Ltd was fined S$180,000 for facilitating a shipment of arms to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-defector-in-serious-condition-from-gunshot-wounds-24312">North Korea</a> in violation of UN&nbsp;sanctions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Singapore has suspended trade relations with North Korea, the latest of Pyongyang's major trade partners to cut commercial ties under toughening U.N. sanctions over its weapons programme, a customs notice obtained on Thursday showed

Singapore has suspended trade relations with North Korea, the latest of Pyongyang's major trade partners to cut commercial ties under toughening UN sanctions over its weapons programme, a customs notice obtained on Thursday showed. The move comes about two months after the United States imposed North Korea-related sanctions on a number of firms and individuals, including two entities based in Singapore. "Singapore will prohibit all commercially traded goods from, or to, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)," the city-state's customs said in the notice sent to traders and declaring agents last Tuesday, referring to the country by its official name. The suspension would take effect from November 8, Fauziah A. Sani, head of trade strategy and security for the director-general of customs, said in the notice. Repeated breach of the new prohibitions is punishable by a fine of up to $200,000 ($147,340.50) or four times the value of the goods traded, imprisonment of up to three years, or both, it added. Singapore is North Korea's seventh largest trading partner. The Philippines, Pyongyang's fifth biggest trading partner, suspended trade with North Korea in September to comply with a UN resolution. Tension on the Korean peninsula has escalated as North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un, has stepped up the development of weapons in defiance of UN sanctions. North Korea has tested a series of missiles this year, including one that flew over Japan, and conducted its sixth and biggest nuclear test in September. Pyongyang maintains a diplomatic presence in Singapore, with an embassy in its financial district. In September, Singapore issued a travel advisory urging citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to North Korea, where it does not have diplomatic representation. In an interview with National Public Radio in May, Singapore's minister of foreign affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, had said the country was not ready to cut all diplomatic ties with North Korea. In January last year, Singapore-based Chinpo Shipping Company (Private) Ltd was fined S$180,000 for facilitating a shipment of arms to North Korea in violation of UN sanctions.

Singapore suspends trade relations with North Korea

<p>Rather than the Xiamen BRICS summit making to the recent headlines, it was the much-needed meeting between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping which captured more eyes. If the two and half month long Doklam border tension made Modi&rsquo;s visit to China significant, it was Modi&rsquo;s ingenious articulation on India-China relations while promoting India&rsquo;s developmental narratives during the 9th BRICS Summit in Xiamen that was really impressive.</p>

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<h5>The Modi-Xi meeting promised for a stable and forward-looking India-China relationship.</h5>
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<p>To begin with, the Modi-Xi meeting promised for a stable and forward-looking India-China relationship. The moot point of the Xiamen meeting was to offer a forward-looking narrative to India-China relations that have been on the downside due to the Doklam border tension. As India&rsquo;s Foreign Secretary Jaishankar briefed, after the bilateral meeting between the two leaders, Modi was candid in telling Xi Jinping that &ldquo;differences between India, China should not become disputes&rdquo;. On China&rsquo;s part, it was reported, Xi Jinping urged Prime Minister Modi to put the bilateral relationship on the &ldquo;right track&rdquo;. Xi was reported saying that China would be seeking India&rsquo;s partnership under the five principles of &lsquo;Panchsheel&rsquo;.</p>

<p>Stressing on &ldquo;peace and tranquillity&rdquo; as a pre-requisite for confidence-building in border areas, both leaders agreed that they can&rsquo;t afford to &ldquo;let India-China relations change&rdquo; at a time when the world is changing. The move was to push ahead the relationship under a &ldquo;forwarding framework&rdquo; that was agreed between the two leaders during the Astana meeting this year. These statements appearing from Xiamen certainly indicate that there is a fresh approach to rebuild the relationship after the Doklam border tension. Still one needs to see whether these statements would be confined to their rhetoric best or would these really be translating into any action, resulting in a more nuanced relationship that would be &#39;forwarding&#39; in nature.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The effort to rebuild India-China relations in Xiamen is certainly a welcome step. The intent to have a &lsquo;forwarding relationship&rsquo; complements their official &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; which was framed during Xi Jinping&rsquo;s visit to India in September 2015. The essence of this &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; was to forge a closer economic partnership, enhancing the decade-old Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. Therefore, the Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi holds a strategic significance in the overall context of current India-China relationship.</p>

<p>It needs to be however asked: Will the Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi really reconstruct the relationship?&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Both India and China need to note that they both must employ a pragmatic approach so that the relationship can be reconstructed even though tensions surrounding classical boundary disputes may come to haunt the relationship from time to time.</h5>
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<p>Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi was a brief one. A thorough discussion to rebuild the relationship and any concrete outcome from this short meeting was hence unexpected. Both India and China need to note that they both must employ a pragmatic approach so that the relationship can be reconstructed even though tensions surrounding classical boundary disputes may come to haunt the relationship from time to time.</p>

<p>This stated &#39;forwarding&#39; partnership, however, can be built under an intensive economic cooperation and multilateral engagement. The effort should be made to expedite trade and economic engagement, which used to be the most stabilising factor in India-China relations over the last one and half decade. Similarly, multi-lateral engagement must be accelerated where forums like BRICS could allow them to rebuild confidence even though the tension re-emerges. In fact, the need of the time is to have an introspection of their past trajectory of engagement wherein both decided to design a &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The proposal for a &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; was primarily a Chinese suggestion. In fact, China under Xi Jinping today has similar &lsquo;developmental partnerships&rsquo; with a number of countries. But it was Narendra Modi who had initially sown the seeds of the partnership between the two countries during his visit to China as Chief Minister of Gujarat. Modi had identified China as an &lsquo;economic hub&rsquo; and had ardently backed initially for a greater China-India economic engagement.</p>

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<h5>The proposal for a &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; was primarily a Chinese suggestion.</h5>
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<p>As Prime Minister, Modi had elevated this by suggesting a &lsquo;bilaterally global&rsquo; proposition and importantly by defining the relationship as &lsquo;Inch (India and China) towards Miles (Millennium of Exceptional Synergy). It brought the developmental course to the forefront where the central label of India-China engagement was to establish sectoral engagement where domestic constituencies were supposed to play stronger roles through &lsquo;sister-city&rsquo; and &lsquo;sister-provincial&rsquo; engagements. In fact, the fundamentals of the sectoral engagement were crafted to expedite cooperation in areas, such as industrial parks, railways, credit and leasing, infrastructural development, skill development, etc.</p>

<p>Notably, under his &lsquo;make in India&rsquo; campaign, Modi had offered an open invitation to the Chinese companies to invest, collaborate and create conditions for sustainable foreign direct investment, skill development and for an export-led development model that could be the basis of a &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo;. The intent for Modi was to engage with China on a wider spectrum of areas where India can have an equipoise advantage as an economic partner.</p>

<p>In fact, Modi&rsquo;s diction on economic engagement was not only to enhance the &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; but to enhance it further within a spectrum of &lsquo;sustainable partnership&rsquo; that will be comprehensive and wide-ranging. This inventive way of rephrasing China-India relations on Modi&rsquo;s part witnessed a serious setback during Xi Jinping&rsquo;s India visit when the troops of the People&rsquo;s Liberation Army (PLA) of China entered India&rsquo;s Chumar region in Ladakh, triggering a border standoff on the Western sector of China-India boundary in 2014. This indeed tested Modi&#39;s pulse: how to diffuse the tension while readying to receive Xi as a &lsquo;state guest&rsquo;.</p>

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<p>Modi successfully managed to persuade Xi to order the PLA to return to Chinese territory while affirming that &lsquo;even such small incidents can impact the biggest of relationships&rsquo;.</p>

<p>The urge to promote a &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; has not died down on Modi&rsquo;s part. A similar trait is noticed in Modi&rsquo;s speech at the Xiamen BRICS summit that unveils his original intent to cooperate with China as a partner. Modi&rsquo;s BRICS plenary session speech was a memo on how China along with other emerging powers must view India&rsquo;s national developmental path more intently.</p>

<p>There were many shades to Modi&rsquo;s BRICS plenary speech, but the most notable one was&nbsp;how India is fast emerging as an open economy through its biggest ever reform of Goods and Services Tax (GST) that unites India as a unified single market. Modi pitched for India&rsquo;s proposition for a BRICS credit rating agency to pawn western rating assessments keeping in view that how India&rsquo;s stable and impressive GDP growth should be noted across the world without any prejudices. The effort behind Modi&#39;s speech at BRICS was international: positioning India as a progressive economic power in making. The intent was also to pass the message to the international community that India is on the move and China must take a note of that.</p>

<p>Underneath the intent was to reiterate Modi&rsquo;s &ldquo;India first&rdquo; approach of not only promoting Indian brand of development but also to urge the international community to acknowledge India better. This was a clear signal to China since Modi used the Xiamen BRICS forum to speak about this. Similarly, Modi&rsquo;s speech at the session on Dialogue for Emerging Markets and Developing Countries in Xiamen called for an &ldquo;inclusive world&rdquo;. Modi revealed an Indian approach to global governance by stating that the needs of the poor must be aligned to the global economic mainstream and here both India and China could play a constructive role. Will China really respond to this positive appeal from Narendra Modi?&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Hopes from Beijing in this regard are low though. China may genuinely be aiming to have good relations with India, but the global ambition of China to emerge as a &lsquo;super power&rsquo; equal to the American supremacy will restrict the goodwill of Beijing towards India. China under Xi Jinping is fast emerging as a different power where preserving China&rsquo;s national interests and having a higher stake in any bilateral relationship is the bottom line of China&rsquo;s foreign relations practice. India&rsquo;s rise under Modi as a stable power is seen in China today as a competing chapter in China&rsquo;s foreign relations trajectory in Asia if not beyond. Beijing has become more circumspect to matters relating India and would not like to offer many advantages to India, bilaterally or regionally.</p>

<p>The intent on China&rsquo;s part is pretty obvious: keep India engaged in neighbouring affairs which will define India&rsquo;s image as a limited power. In fact, unlike most of China&rsquo;s contemporary debate on foreign affairs, the debate on India in China remains relatively less known and less perceptible to the outside world. India is debated quite frequently though restrictedly, and unlike in the past, China&rsquo;s India debate is quite serious today.</p>

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<h5>The global ambition of China to emerge as a &lsquo;super power&rsquo; equal to the American supremacy will restrict the goodwill of Beijing towards India.</h5>
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<p>The fundamental notion of this Chinese seriousness is that &lsquo;India is rising, and rising steadily&rsquo;. Beijing sees India as a &lsquo;potential power&rsquo; in making which provokes China&rsquo;s rise in the region, more than any other powers. This Chinese perception will override any Chinese pragmatic thinking to cooperate with India as a &lsquo;developmental partner&rsquo;. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The Xiamen bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi was a much-needed one to restore normalcy in the relationship. However, the effort to rebuild India-China relations is nothing new, rather a past practice that has not really worked. Neither the novelty of the &lsquo;Panchsheel&rsquo; framework has worked nor the plethora of agreements that their relationship currently possess hold any cogency to the overall architecture of India-China relations. Since its formulation officially on 29 April 1954, the Panchsheel principles have been a matter of great relevance in international relations discourse. But that has not worked in India-China relations: the historic 1962 India-China war made it permanently a deceptive principle, mainly from the Indian outlook.</p>

<p>Therefore, to India, Xi Jinping&rsquo;s stress to reframe the current relationship within the principles of Panchsheel will hold little value. On the contrary, India&rsquo;s resolute foreign policy and national developmental path under Modi have bothered the Chinese most in recent times. India&rsquo;s resolute stance on the Doklam border tension has challenged the Chinese resilience as a power, one fact that Beijing would not forget easily. Therefore, the Modi-Xi meeting in Xiamen may reinstate India-China relations temporarily, but it would have little lasting significance to change the fundamentals in this relationship.</p>


China sees India as a ?potential power? in making, and this perception will override any Chinese pragmatic thinking to cooperate with India as a ?developmental partner?. ?

Rather than the Xiamen BRICS summit making to the recent headlines, it was the much-needed meeting between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping which captured more eyes. If the two and half month long Doklam border tension made Modi’s visit to China significant, it was Modi’s ingenious articulation on India-China relations while promoting India’s developmental narratives during the 9th BRICS Summit in Xiamen that was really impressive. The Modi-Xi meeting promised for a stable and forward-looking India-China relationship. × To begin with, the Modi-Xi meeting promised for a stable and forward-looking India-China relationship. The moot point of the Xiamen meeting was to offer a forward-looking narrative to India-China relations that have been on the downside due to the Doklam border tension. As India’s Foreign Secretary Jaishankar briefed, after the bilateral meeting between the two leaders, Modi was candid in telling Xi Jinping that “differences between India, China should not become disputes”. On China’s part, it was reported, Xi Jinping urged Prime Minister Modi to put the bilateral relationship on the “right track”. Xi was reported saying that China would be seeking India’s partnership under the five principles of ‘Panchsheel’. Stressing on “peace and tranquillity” as a pre-requisite for confidence-building in border areas, both leaders agreed that they can’t afford to “let India-China relations change” at a time when the world is changing. The move was to push ahead the relationship under a “forwarding framework” that was agreed between the two leaders during the Astana meeting this year. These statements appearing from Xiamen certainly indicate that there is a fresh approach to rebuild the relationship after the Doklam border tension. Still one needs to see whether these statements would be confined to their rhetoric best or would these really be translating into any action, resulting in a more nuanced relationship that would be 'forwarding' in nature. The effort to rebuild India-China relations in Xiamen is certainly a welcome step. The intent to have a ‘forwarding relationship’ complements their official ‘developmental partnership’ which was framed during Xi Jinping’s visit to India in September 2015. The essence of this ‘developmental partnership’ was to forge a closer economic partnership, enhancing the decade-old Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. Therefore, the Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi holds a strategic significance in the overall context of current India-China relationship. It needs to be however asked: Will the Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi really reconstruct the relationship? Both India and China need to note that they both must employ a pragmatic approach so that the relationship can be reconstructed even though tensions surrounding classical boundary disputes may come to haunt the relationship from time to time. × Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi was a brief one. A thorough discussion to rebuild the relationship and any concrete outcome from this short meeting was hence unexpected. Both India and China need to note that they both must employ a pragmatic approach so that the relationship can be reconstructed even though tensions surrounding classical boundary disputes may come to haunt the relationship from time to time. This stated 'forwarding' partnership, however, can be built under an intensive economic cooperation and multilateral engagement. The effort should be made to expedite trade and economic engagement, which used to be the most stabilising factor in India-China relations over the last one and half decade. Similarly, multi-lateral engagement must be accelerated where forums like BRICS could allow them to rebuild confidence even though the tension re-emerges. In fact, the need of the time is to have an introspection of their past trajectory of engagement wherein both decided to design a ‘developmental partnership’. The proposal for a ‘developmental partnership’ was primarily a Chinese suggestion. In fact, China under Xi Jinping today has similar ‘developmental partnerships’ with a number of countries. But it was Narendra Modi who had initially sown the seeds of the partnership between the two countries during his visit to China as Chief Minister of Gujarat. Modi had identified China as an ‘economic hub’ and had ardently backed initially for a greater China-India economic engagement. The proposal for a ‘developmental partnership’ was primarily a Chinese suggestion. × As Prime Minister, Modi had elevated this by suggesting a ‘bilaterally global’ proposition and importantly by defining the relationship as ‘Inch (India and China) towards Miles (Millennium of Exceptional Synergy). It brought the developmental course to the forefront where the central label of India-China engagement was to establish sectoral engagement where domestic constituencies were supposed to play stronger roles through ‘sister-city’ and ‘sister-provincial’ engagements. In fact, the fundamentals of the sectoral engagement were crafted to expedite cooperation in areas, such as industrial parks, railways, credit and leasing, infrastructural development, skill development, etc. Notably, under his ‘make in India’ campaign, Modi had offered an open invitation to the Chinese companies to invest, collaborate and create conditions for sustainable foreign direct investment, skill development and for an export-led development model that could be the basis of a ‘developmental partnership’. The intent for Modi was to engage with China on a wider spectrum of areas where India can have an equipoise advantage as an economic partner. In fact, Modi’s diction on economic engagement was not only to enhance the ‘developmental partnership’ but to enhance it further within a spectrum of ‘sustainable partnership’ that will be comprehensive and wide-ranging. This inventive way of rephrasing China-India relations on Modi’s part witnessed a serious setback during Xi Jinping’s India visit when the troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China entered India’s Chumar region in Ladakh, triggering a border standoff on the Western sector of China-India boundary in 2014. This indeed tested Modi's pulse: how to diffuse the tension while readying to receive Xi as a ‘state guest’. The intent for Modi was to engage with China on a wider spectrum of areas where India can have an equipoise advantage as an economic partner. × Modi successfully managed to persuade Xi to order the PLA to return to Chinese territory while affirming that ‘even such small incidents can impact the biggest of relationships’. The urge to promote a ‘developmental partnership’ has not died down on Modi’s part. A similar trait is noticed in Modi’s speech at the Xiamen BRICS summit that unveils his original intent to cooperate with China as a partner. Modi’s BRICS plenary session speech was a memo on how China along with other emerging powers must view India’s national developmental path more intently. There were many shades to Modi’s BRICS plenary speech, but the most notable one was how India is fast emerging as an open economy through its biggest ever reform of Goods and Services Tax (GST) that unites India as a unified single market. Modi pitched for India’s proposition for a BRICS credit rating agency to pawn western rating assessments keeping in view that how India’s stable and impressive GDP growth should be noted across the world without any prejudices. The effort behind Modi's speech at BRICS was international: positioning India as a progressive economic power in making. The intent was also to pass the message to the international community that India is on the move and China must take a note of that. Underneath the intent was to reiterate Modi’s “India first” approach of not only promoting Indian brand of development but also to urge the international community to acknowledge India better. This was a clear signal to China since Modi used the Xiamen BRICS forum to speak about this. Similarly, Modi’s speech at the session on Dialogue for Emerging Markets and Developing Countries in Xiamen called for an “inclusive world”. Modi revealed an Indian approach to global governance by stating that the needs of the poor must be aligned to the global economic mainstream and here both India and China could play a constructive role. Will China really respond to this positive appeal from Narendra Modi? The effort behind Modi's speech at BRICS was international: positioning India as a progressive economic power in making. × Hopes from Beijing in this regard are low though. China may genuinely be aiming to have good relations with India, but the global ambition of China to emerge as a ‘super power’ equal to the American supremacy will restrict the goodwill of Beijing towards India. China under Xi Jinping is fast emerging as a different power where preserving China’s national interests and having a higher stake in any bilateral relationship is the bottom line of China’s foreign relations practice. India’s rise under Modi as a stable power is seen in China today as a competing chapter in China’s foreign relations trajectory in Asia if not beyond. Beijing has become more circumspect to matters relating India and would not like to offer many advantages to India, bilaterally or regionally. The intent on China’s part is pretty obvious: keep India engaged in neighbouring affairs which will define India’s image as a limited power. In fact, unlike most of China’s contemporary debate on foreign affairs, the debate on India in China remains relatively less known and less perceptible to the outside world. India is debated quite frequently though restrictedly, and unlike in the past, China’s India debate is quite serious today. The global ambition of China to emerge as a ‘super power’ equal to the American supremacy will restrict the goodwill of Beijing towards India. × The fundamental notion of this Chinese seriousness is that ‘India is rising, and rising steadily’. Beijing sees India as a ‘potential power’ in making which provokes China’s rise in the region, more than any other powers. This Chinese perception will override any Chinese pragmatic thinking to cooperate with India as a ‘developmental partner’. The Xiamen bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi was a much-needed one to restore normalcy in the relationship. However, the effort to rebuild India-China relations is nothing new, rather a past practice that has not really worked. Neither the novelty of the ‘Panchsheel’ framework has worked nor the plethora of agreements that their relationship currently possess hold any cogency to the overall architecture of India-China relations. Since its formulation officially on 29 April 1954, the Panchsheel principles have been a matter of great relevance in international relations discourse. But that has not worked in India-China relations: the historic 1962 India-China war made it permanently a deceptive principle, mainly from the Indian outlook. Therefore, to India, Xi Jinping’s stress to reframe the current relationship within the principles of Panchsheel will hold little value. On the contrary, India’s resolute foreign policy and national developmental path under Modi have bothered the Chinese most in recent times. India’s resolute stance on the Doklam border tension has challenged the Chinese resilience as a power, one fact that Beijing would not forget easily. Therefore, the Modi-Xi meeting in Xiamen may reinstate India-China relations temporarily, but it would have little lasting significance to change the fundamentals in this relationship.

Will India-China relationship take a different turn with Modi meeting Xi in Xiamen?

<p>The relationship between China and India, as an Indian Ambassador recently pointed out, &quot;Is tangled, complex and fraught.&quot; It has been so ever since the Nehru days, with the first prime minister of India expressing faith over India&#39;s robust democratic polity, which he considered to be a more significant achievement than the fast pace of economic development in China. While the timbre of India-China bilateral dialogue fluctuated between sombre to shrill over the next 70 years amidst war, recurrent border disputes, and economic competitiveness, the average Indian Joe, however, remained consistently enamoured in Chinese food, played with Chinese toys and flaunted Chinese cell phones.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Though the physical presence of Chinese is dwindling both in Kolkata and Mumbai, the number of Indians in China is rising over the years.</h5>
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<p>Though the popularity of spicy hot Hakka noodles remained ubiquitous in all restaurants from Chennai to Kolkata, the lingering coldness between the two countries directly impacted the number of Chinese living in the country. With only 2000 Chinese descendants living in the city, Kolkata is a faint reminiscence of a city with a bustling Chinese community of 20,000. Though the Chinatown still stands with its colourful rooftops, temples and festoons, the ownerships of most Chinese eateries are no more in the hands of Chinese. As the young generations have moved away to Canada, US, and Australia, the mecca of Chinese food in Kolkata - Tengra - lacks both the energy and the capital to boost the social and economic presence of the community in India.</p>

<p>However, though the physical presence of Chinese is dwindling both in Kolkata and Mumbai, which once had a flourishing trade relation with China, the number of Indians in China is rising over the years. Unlike the IT sector, which is drawing increasing number of educated Indians to the foreign shores, in case of China, it is the textile trade.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>With the opening up of opportunities that came at the backdrop of China&#39;s open policy, more than 5000 Indian middleman traders have come to settle down in the textile town of Keqiao.&nbsp;</h5>
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<p>Keqiao, located in the eastern Zhejiang Province, is called the Chinese textile city. Rising out of poverty and underdevelopment which plagued Keqiao in the 1970s, the city has turned out to be the largest fabrics export centre of China. With the opening up of opportunities that came at the backdrop of China&#39;s open policy, more than 5000 Indian middleman traders have come to settle down in the textile town of Keqiao.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It was in 1998 that the first Indian came to open a trading office in Keqiao. The first wave of Indian migrants to the city coincided with its exponential growth of fabric exports in the early 2000s. The enterprising cloth traders from India made full use of the institutional support that the local government gave to make Keqiao, &#39;a Textile Silicon Valley&#39;. With the moving in of the Indian merchants, Keqiao transformed from a local Chinese textile market to an international textile export centre. Even Chinese traders operating from the region recognise the fact that the arrival of many Indian traders drastically transformed the local trade landscape.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Most of the Indians working as the middleman in the cloth trade are Sindhis. Traditionally a business community, the Sindhis were severely impacted by the partitioning of the sub-continent. In a search for a better fortune, they started spreading across the globe. People in the clothing trade moved to Dubai. When the competition of the fabric middleman business became very keen in the 1990s, they shifted their business base to Taiwan and South Korea. After the South Korean market was badly hit by the Asian Financial Crisis, Sindhi merchants moved to Keqiao in China.</p>

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<h5>With the moving in of the Indian merchants, Keqiao transformed from a local Chinese textile market to an international textile export centre.</h5>
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<p>In Keqiao, Sindhis came to know that it was indeed easier to find more kinds of fabrics at cheaper prices than anywhere else as the textile factories and shops are highly centralised. Sindhis, as well as other Indian cloth merchants, started setting up trading offices in Keqiao. Unlike the Pakistani merchants in the region, most Indian businessmen come with start-up capital to start the new venture. They tend to employ their compatriots work for them. Most of these employees are in their late 20s and early 30s but have left their home at a very early age, they have years of work experience.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Currently, there are around 1000 Indian companies located in Kenqiao. The long-term business relationships that they have in place with their buyers and suppliers have helped them to prosper unlike any other business communities operating out of the region. Evidently, the India-run companies outnumber by far the Chinese and &nbsp;Korean-run companies.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is not only the numbers that give Indian merchants at Kenqiao an edge over others but the negotiation skills and in-depth knowledge that they have acquired in the business through their years of experience. One of the Chinese merchants pointed out to Ka-Kin Cheuk, who has been researching the Indian mercantile community, &quot;Indians are the key middlemen in Keqiao. I don&#39;t like to do business with them. They are cunning. But only Indian middlemen can give us big orders. Chinese traders find it &#39;too risky&#39; to do business directly with overseas buyers. Evidently, the Chinese look at Indian traders with mixed feelings of apprehension and appreciation. So, just the like the relationship between the two states, at the individual level too, the relationship is complex, fraught and tangled.</p>

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<h5>Just as the Indian traders need China to fulfil their economic aspirations, to build up their social and economic capital, similarly the Chinese need the Indian merchants to sell their products in Europe, North America and the Middle East.</h5>
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<p>But just as the Indian traders need China to fulfil their economic aspirations, to build up their social and economic capital, similarly the Chinese need the Indian merchants to sell their products in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Without the Indian network, developed through years of painstaking work during the Cold War, Chinese textiles would not have reached Russia and Eastern European countries. In Dubai too which acts as the entry-point of Chinese goods for the Middle Eastern and African countries, it is the Sindhi mercantile network that carries Chinese textile around.&nbsp;</p>

<p>So, both India and China may take up a jingoistic posture at each other but this small community of Indian merchants along with their Chinese compatriots will together be representing the global south to the world market. This could well be a lesson for BRICS leaders as how to rise above political quibble to build a&nbsp;platform of economic cooperation. This is what the future needs to be, not isolation and acrimony.&nbsp;</p>


Keqiao is the 'Silicon Valley" of Chinese textile industry and 5000 Indian textile merchants made it a global market.

The relationship between China and India, as an Indian Ambassador recently pointed out, "Is tangled, complex and fraught." It has been so ever since the Nehru days, with the first prime minister of India expressing faith over India's robust democratic polity, which he considered to be a more significant achievement than the fast pace of economic development in China. While the timbre of India-China bilateral dialogue fluctuated between sombre to shrill over the next 70 years amidst war, recurrent border disputes, and economic competitiveness, the average Indian Joe, however, remained consistently enamoured in Chinese food, played with Chinese toys and flaunted Chinese cell phones. Though the physical presence of Chinese is dwindling both in Kolkata and Mumbai, the number of Indians in China is rising over the years. × Though the popularity of spicy hot Hakka noodles remained ubiquitous in all restaurants from Chennai to Kolkata, the lingering coldness between the two countries directly impacted the number of Chinese living in the country. With only 2000 Chinese descendants living in the city, Kolkata is a faint reminiscence of a city with a bustling Chinese community of 20,000. Though the Chinatown still stands with its colourful rooftops, temples and festoons, the ownerships of most Chinese eateries are no more in the hands of Chinese. As the young generations have moved away to Canada, US, and Australia, the mecca of Chinese food in Kolkata - Tengra - lacks both the energy and the capital to boost the social and economic presence of the community in India. However, though the physical presence of Chinese is dwindling both in Kolkata and Mumbai, which once had a flourishing trade relation with China, the number of Indians in China is rising over the years. Unlike the IT sector, which is drawing increasing number of educated Indians to the foreign shores, in case of China, it is the textile trade. With the opening up of opportunities that came at the backdrop of China's open policy, more than 5000 Indian middleman traders have come to settle down in the textile town of Keqiao. × Keqiao, located in the eastern Zhejiang Province, is called the Chinese textile city. Rising out of poverty and underdevelopment which plagued Keqiao in the 1970s, the city has turned out to be the largest fabrics export centre of China. With the opening up of opportunities that came at the backdrop of China's open policy, more than 5000 Indian middleman traders have come to settle down in the textile town of Keqiao. It was in 1998 that the first Indian came to open a trading office in Keqiao. The first wave of Indian migrants to the city coincided with its exponential growth of fabric exports in the early 2000s. The enterprising cloth traders from India made full use of the institutional support that the local government gave to make Keqiao, 'a Textile Silicon Valley'. With the moving in of the Indian merchants, Keqiao transformed from a local Chinese textile market to an international textile export centre. Even Chinese traders operating from the region recognise the fact that the arrival of many Indian traders drastically transformed the local trade landscape. Most of the Indians working as the middleman in the cloth trade are Sindhis. Traditionally a business community, the Sindhis were severely impacted by the partitioning of the sub-continent. In a search for a better fortune, they started spreading across the globe. People in the clothing trade moved to Dubai. When the competition of the fabric middleman business became very keen in the 1990s, they shifted their business base to Taiwan and South Korea. After the South Korean market was badly hit by the Asian Financial Crisis, Sindhi merchants moved to Keqiao in China. With the moving in of the Indian merchants, Keqiao transformed from a local Chinese textile market to an international textile export centre. × In Keqiao, Sindhis came to know that it was indeed easier to find more kinds of fabrics at cheaper prices than anywhere else as the textile factories and shops are highly centralised. Sindhis, as well as other Indian cloth merchants, started setting up trading offices in Keqiao. Unlike the Pakistani merchants in the region, most Indian businessmen come with start-up capital to start the new venture. They tend to employ their compatriots work for them. Most of these employees are in their late 20s and early 30s but have left their home at a very early age, they have years of work experience. Currently, there are around 1000 Indian companies located in Kenqiao. The long-term business relationships that they have in place with their buyers and suppliers have helped them to prosper unlike any other business communities operating out of the region. Evidently, the India-run companies outnumber by far the Chinese and Korean-run companies. It is not only the numbers that give Indian merchants at Kenqiao an edge over others but the negotiation skills and in-depth knowledge that they have acquired in the business through their years of experience. One of the Chinese merchants pointed out to Ka-Kin Cheuk, who has been researching the Indian mercantile community, "Indians are the key middlemen in Keqiao. I don't like to do business with them. They are cunning. But only Indian middlemen can give us big orders. Chinese traders find it 'too risky' to do business directly with overseas buyers. Evidently, the Chinese look at Indian traders with mixed feelings of apprehension and appreciation. So, just the like the relationship between the two states, at the individual level too, the relationship is complex, fraught and tangled. Just as the Indian traders need China to fulfil their economic aspirations, to build up their social and economic capital, similarly the Chinese need the Indian merchants to sell their products in Europe, North America and the Middle East. × But just as the Indian traders need China to fulfil their economic aspirations, to build up their social and economic capital, similarly the Chinese need the Indian merchants to sell their products in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Without the Indian network, developed through years of painstaking work during the Cold War, Chinese textiles would not have reached Russia and Eastern European countries. In Dubai too which acts as the entry-point of Chinese goods for the Middle Eastern and African countries, it is the Sindhi mercantile network that carries Chinese textile around. So, both India and China may take up a jingoistic posture at each other but this small community of Indian merchants along with their Chinese compatriots will together be representing the global south to the world market. This could well be a lesson for BRICS leaders as how to rise above political quibble to build a platform of economic cooperation. This is what the future needs to be, not isolation and acrimony.

For BRICS, Indian textile merchants in China can be an example of economic cooperation

<p>&nbsp;China hopes to get relations with the Philippines back on track, President Xi Jinping has told new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, after ties were affected by an increasingly bitter spat over territorial claims in the South China Sea.</p>

<p>Xi sent a message to Duterte late on Monday congratulating him on his formal election victory, and said the two countries had a long history of friendly exchanges and a deep traditional friendship, China&#39;s Foreign Ministry said.</p>

<p>&quot;The friendly, stable and healthy development of Sino-Philippine relations accords with the basic interests of both countries and both peoples,&quot; Xi was quoted as saying in the ministry statement.</p>

<p>Both countries had the responsibility to deepen cooperation, he said.</p>

<p>&quot;(I) hope both sides can work hard to push Sino-Philippine relations back onto a healthy development track,&quot; Xi said.</p>

<p>China and the Philippines are locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which $5 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.</p>

<p>Tension between the Philippines and China has risen as an international tribunal in the Hague prepares to deliver a ruling in the next few months in a case lodged by Manila in 2013.</p>

<p>The Philippines is seeking a clarification of United Nations maritime laws that could undermine China&#39;s claims to 90 percent of the South China Sea. China has rejected the court&#39;s authority.</p>


President Xi Jinping hopes to get relations with Philippines back on track.

China hopes to get relations with the Philippines back on track, President Xi Jinping has told new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, after ties were affected by an increasingly bitter spat over territorial claims in the South China Sea. Xi sent a message to Duterte late on Monday congratulating him on his formal election victory, and said the two countries had a long history of friendly exchanges and a deep traditional friendship, China's Foreign Ministry said. "The friendly, stable and healthy development of Sino-Philippine relations accords with the basic interests of both countries and both peoples," Xi was quoted as saying in the ministry statement. Both countries had the responsibility to deepen cooperation, he said. "(I) hope both sides can work hard to push Sino-Philippine relations back onto a healthy development track," Xi said. China and the Philippines are locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which $5 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. Tension between the Philippines and China has risen as an international tribunal in the Hague prepares to deliver a ruling in the next few months in a case lodged by Manila in 2013. The Philippines is seeking a clarification of United Nations maritime laws that could undermine China's claims to 90 percent of the South China Sea. China has rejected the court's authority.

China's President hopes to get Philippines ties back on track

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