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INDIA
Chinese President invites Modi for APEC summit
Amid rivalry of the two most populous nations – India and China – over who would host the headquarters of a proposed BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group joint development bank, the Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend a summit of the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) trade group in November this year. Xi and Modi met for around 80 minutes soon after their arrival at Brazilian city of Fortaleza on the sidelines of sixth BRICS summit in the Latin American nation. The Chinese president said the two countries should join hands in setting global rules and suggested Modi attend the November meeting of the 21-nation APEC in Beijing, as well as take part in Chinese-led regional initiatives. India has never attended an APEC summit, and has long sought to become a member to help boost its economy. The bonhomie was partially overshadowed by news that the BRICS groups had not yet decided on where to locate the headquarters of the development bank. Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s trade minister said that it would be every country's desire, and so will it be India's, to have it in India, because Delhi or any city in India has its natural advantages, English-speaking, very skilled manpower, and if you look at the geographi-
cal position of all the BRICS countries, the five of them, India is very centrally located. Sitharaman is accompanying Modi in Brazil as part of Indian delegation. Leaders of the five countries were expected to a sign a deal to establish a $100 billion bank and a reserves fund of the same size to challenge western dominance over development lending. Apart from BRICS related talks, Xi also called for speedy negotiations to settle disputes over the 4,000 km (2,500mile) Himalayan border over which India and China went to war in 1962 and which have flared in recent years over allegations of cross-border incursions. “Xi suggested the two sides manage, control and handle differences with a positive and forward-looking attitude and find fair,
reasonable and mutually acceptable solutions to their border issues at an early date,” a Chinese agency said. China claims more than 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq miles) in the eastern sector of the Himalayas. India says China occupies 38,000 sq km of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau in the west. On the other hand, Indian premier Modi called for strengthening ‘mutual trust’ and maintaining peace on the border. Modi also suggested the addition of one more route for the KailashMansarovar Yatra, keeping in view the terrain difficulties. Xi "accepted this as a suggestion for consideration", said the sources. Modi also called for enhanced Chinese investment in the infrastructure sector in India, and hoped that the trade imbalance
between the two countries is resolved. Modi has also expressed hope that Xi's planned visit to India this year would be an opportunity to chart a new and ambitious agenda for the strategic partnership between the two nations. APEC includes Canada, Mexico, Russia and the United States and accounts for about 40 per cent of the world's population, 55 per cent of global gross domestic product and 44 per cent of world trade. New Delhi's bid to become an APEC member has been stymied for two decades because its economy wasn't integrated into the global system and in later years because of a membership freeze. The Indian Prime Minister is accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, National Security Adviser A K Doval, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram. PM arrives in Berlin en route to BRICS Summit. Modi is visiting Brazil at the invitation of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to attend the Sixth BRICS Summit. “I look at the BRICS Summit as an opportunity to discuss with my BRICS partners how we can contribute to international efforts to address regional crises, address security threats and restore a climate of peace and stability in the world,” said Modi before his departure from India.
Continued from page 1 The opening of India’s defence industry presents an intriguing opportunity for many investors. Of the world’s top ten purchasers of weapons, India has the second-lowest domestic production, trailing only Saudi Arabia. Analysts attribute the reliance on foreign investment in India to poor infrastructure, corruption and limited property. He has also eased up FDI in construction by reducing the minimum built-up area requirement from 50,000 sq m to 20,000 sq m and halving the capital requirement to $10 million. Apart from providing a fillip to the development of smart cities, this could also help Indian developers strapped for cash. The Modi government rode on a long wish list of policies and reforms, with limited resources and reveals the government’s priorities in the near and medium term. This budget sets the stage for a future
roadmap in growth, rather than drive acceleration in real GDP this year. The Finance Minister announced that he would also permit foreign manufacturers to sell their wares online without special permission from the government, meaning that retailers can manufacture products in India and sell them online. The government did not, however, clarify its position on allowing foreign investment into e-commerce. One of the features of the budget was the setting aside of $1.3 billion to build 100 “smart cities,” a concept that he often discussed while on the campaign trail this year. Jaitley said that his budget represented “only the beginning” of a longer journey toward sustained GDP growth of 7 to 8 per cent, a goal he hopes to reach by the fiscal year of 2016-2017. Expectations had been high that the government would convert India's strongest election man-
date in 30 years into radical steps comparable to the 1991 market reforms that unleashed an era of high economic growth. But constrained by a twoyear spell of growth of less than 5 per cent, the government instead announced incremental steps to boost capital spending in Asia's third largest economy and reassure foreign investors that they would get fair treatment. In another signature initiative, the government will launch a tax reform in 2014 to unify India's 29 states into a common market, a measure that economist say would boost revenue and at the same time make it easier to do business. Foreign contractors had sought a higher threshold to justify sharing technology when they locate operations in India. He also said he would set up a high-level committee to review retrospective tax claims blamed for choking off foreign investment
after companies such as Britain's Vodafone were hit with massive demands. Vodafone and India have been locked in a $2.2 billion tax standoff since the British company acquired Hutchison Whampoa's Indian mobile assets in 2007. Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile operator, thought it had finally secured victory in the case in 2012, when the Supreme Court dismissed the tax demand. But the government responded by announcing retrospective legislation that would change the rules. The increase in dutyfree baggage allowance for air travellers, proposed by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his maiden budget, has been welcomed by the expatriate community. The minister announced an increase in the dutyfree allowance from Rs 35,000 to Rs 45,000. The goods valued over the free allowances will attract a 35% customs duty at the airport.
Narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Modi govt’s first budget woos foreign investors
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 19th July 2014 Kamalaben Patel (mother of Shri Rameshbhai Patel) has expired at the age of 96 (B.1918) on 9 July 2014. She was a very loving, spiritual and helpful person, teaching the virtue of patience to all. She spent her early years in Burma and later in Nasik and Karamsad. Kamalaben visited Britain and the US often and enjoyed good health till recently.
Amit Shah appointed as BJP president
Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's closest confidant and key election strategist who crafted an unprecedented victory in Uttatr Pradesh, was appointed as the next BJP president. In the process, the controversial yet politically suave Shah, 50, scripted history by becoming the youngest president of the party in which veterans have called the shots since its inception. Home minister Rajnath Singh announced that he was stepping down as the BJP president and declared Shah as his successor. Addressing a news conference, Rajnath Singh lauded Amit Shah's "management skills" and credited him with the BJP's success in Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh. Considered an invalu-
able deputy to any neta, he has taken less than a year to catapult himself from a Gujarat BJP strongman to the party's supremo on the national stage. Most leaders in the BJP agree that Shah, who was associated with the RSS in his early days, has earned every bit of his success. What worked eventually in favour of Shah was his extra-ordinary political performance in UP where as BJP's general secretary in-charge he led the party to a dream run wresting 71 of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats in the politically crucial state.
Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ram Naik was on Monday appointed as governor of Uttar Pradesh and party's veteran Delhi leader O P Kohli will move to Gujarat, in the first appointment of five governors by the Narendra Modi government. Keshari Nath Tripathi, a former Uttar Pradesh Speaker will take over in West Bengal. Balram Das Tandon, 87, founder member of Jan Sangh in 1951, was appointed governor of Chhatisgarh. Padmanabha
Acharya, a member of working group on north east region of BJP and coconvener of overseas friends of BJP, was appointed governor of Nagaland after President Pranab Mukherjee accepted resignation of Tripura governor Vakkom Purushothaman, who was also officiating as Nagaland governor. The President asked Acharaya to perform the duties of Tripura governor until regular arrangements are made, the a Rashtrapathi Bhavan communique said.
Extending a formal invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a visit to the US, President Barack Obama has expressed keenness to work closely with him to make the bilateral relations a ‘defining partnership’ in the 21st century. Reactomg on the American President’s invitation, Modi said he looks forward to a result-oriented visit in September with ‘concrete outcomes’ that impart ‘new momentum and energy’ to the strategic partnership. Obama's letter of invitation was handed over to Modi by deputy secretary of state William Burns when he called on him in Delhi. Obama said in his invi-
tation to Modi to visit Washington in September and to work closely with him to make India-US relations a "defining partnership" for the 21st century, a PMO statement said on Friday. The Prime Minister was of the view that reenergising the partnership between India and the US would send an important message to the region and beyond. Articulating his vision for India-US relations, Modi said that the relationship between the world's oldest and largest democracies should not only be for the benefit of the two countries, but "should emerge as a powerful force of good for peace, stability and prosperity in the world".
Five states get new governors
Narendra Modi to visit US in September