Russia
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. The two discussed the COVID-19 crisis, with Putin expressing his solidarity with India and offering to support the country in every possible way.
They discussed the need to enhance bilateral cooperation to strengthen the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, Putin expressed his appreciation to Modi for the expedited approval of the SPUTNIK-V vaccine, which will soon be produced in India. A statement by the Kremlin noted that the two countries have agreed to produce up to 850 million doses of the Russian jab.
Following the discussion, Russia sent two flights with humanitarian aid for India, amidst the recent surge in cases that has caused a severe shortage of essential medical equipment in the country. The aircraft, which was deployed by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, carried 20 units of oxygen-producing equipment, 75 artificial lung ventilation devices, 150 medical monitors, and 200,000 packages of medicines.
The leaders also agreed to enhance cooperation in other sectors, which they said was “in the spirit of [their] special and privileged partnership”. In this regard, Modi expressed his gratitude for the Russian side’s support from the Gagnayaan Programme, which enabled India to conduct its first manned space flight, and celebrated the completion of the Russian phase of training for the astronauts. Additionally, they discussed the need to collaborate on enhancing their capacity for renewable energy generation. Further, to enhance cooperation, they agreed to set up a 2+2 dialogue between the two sides’ Foreign and Defence Ministers.
The decision to establish a mechanism for such high-level contact between the two sides comes amid a small hiccup in their relations following Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to New Delhi earlier this month. The top diplomat visited both India and Pakistan during his trip, and his comments about Moscow being ready to supply special military equipment to Islamabad made New Delhi uncomfortable, since it has consistently opposed Moscow’s efforts to ship military hardware to its arch-rival. However, Russian officials have since clarified their position, arguing that Russia’s ties with both countries are independent of each other.
ASEAN
On the same day, India participated in the 23rd ASEAN-India Senior Officials’ Meeting. Indian Secretary (East) of the Ministry of External Affairs Riva Ganguly co-chaired the meeting along with the Permanent Secretary of Thailand, Thani Thongphakdi. Senior officials from all ten member states of ASEAN participated in the meeting.
According to a statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the leaders discussed ways to strengthen “political-security, economic, socio-cultural and developmental cooperation”. They also highlighted the need to implement the ASEAN-India Plan of Action (2021-2025) and to enhance the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership. To this end, the leaders decided to celebrate 2022 as the year that marks the 30thanniversary of the ASEAN-India partnership, the 5th anniversary of dialogue partnership, the 20th anniversary of Summit-level partnership, and 10 years of Strategic Partnership.
ASEAN countries have always been crucial to India’s foreign policy. Ever since the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in goods was signed in 2009, trade between the two sides has expanded significantly, In 2019-2020, commerce levels reached over $87 billion, making ASEAN India’s fourth-largest trading partner. Though this volume has significantly reduced during the pandemic, reviving trade relations to the pre-pandemic levels is a priority for all parties.
Moreover, India has repeatedly reiterated its desire to increase collaboration with ASEAN countries. During PM Modi’s speech on the 74thIndependence Day celebration last year, he said, “Today, neighbours are not the only ones with whom we share geographical boundaries, but also those with whom we have close and harmonious relations. ASEAN countries in the east, who are our maritime neighbours, also hold special importance. India has thousands of years old religious and cultural ties with these countries. The traditions of Buddhism connect us with them. Today, India is strengthening its cooperation not only in the field of security but also in the areas of marine wealth with these countries.”
Further, in 2019, at the East Asia Summit in Bangkok, PM Modi announced the launch of the “Indo-Pacific Oceans initiative” to ensure a “safe, secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific Maritime domain.” Bolstering ties with ASEAN countries is also a part of India’s Act East policy, which focuses on furthering relations by improving connectivity.
Australia and Japan
On Tuesday, the trade ministers of India, Japan, and Australia formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) in a virtual trilateral ministerial meeting. The initiative will focus on the sharing of best practices on supply chain resilience and holding investment promotion events. It will also include buyer-seller matching events so that stakeholders can utilise government support for trade and investment diversification.
The video conference was attended by Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism, and Investment Dan Tehan, and Japanese Minister for Economy, Trade, and Industry Kajiyama Hiroshi. Speaking of the SCRI in a joint statement, the three ministers said that the SCRI “aims to create a virtuous cycle of enhancing supply chain resilience with a view to eventually attaining strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth in the region. The ministers consented that expansion of the SCRI may be considered based on consensus, if needed, in due course.” In addition, the release also mentions that all three countries have “instructed their officials to implement the following as initial projects of SCRI and further develop the Initiative: (i) sharing of best practices on supply chain resilience; and (ii) holding investment promotion events and buyer-seller matching events to provide opportunities for stakeholders to explore the possibility of diversification of their supply chains.”
The leaders also acknowledged that “some supply chains have been left vulnerable due to a range of factors,” mostly due to the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They concluded the meeting by deciding to meet at least once a year to provide guidance to the implementation of the SCRI as well as to consult on how to develop the initiative.
On the same day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke with his Japanese counterpart Suga Yoshihide. During the call, they exchanged views about the COVID-19 pandemic and the domestic and global challenges posed by it. Consequently, they discussed the need to bolster bilateral cooperation to “create resilient, diversified and trustworthy supply chains, ensuring a reliable supply of critical materials and technologies, and developing new partnerships in manufacturing and skill development”.
United Kingdom
On the same day, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. The two discussed ways to strengthen cooperation and work towards an expedited recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Their talks came shortly after the British High Commission announced its decision to supply humanitarian aid to India to mitigate the impact of the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases.
United States
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke with American President Joe Biden on Tuesday, wherein Biden offered his “steadfast support” to India amidst the second wave of the pandemic, which has resulted in severe shortages of medical equipment in the country. The White House said that the United States was working swiftly to provide India with “a range of emergency assistance, including oxygen-related supplies, vaccine materials, and therapeutics.”
Consequently, according to a release by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Modi expressed his “heartfelt appreciation” and reiterated his commitment towards the global fight against the pandemic. In this regard, he spoke of India’s participation in the COVAX initiative and the Quad vaccines initiative. Modi also highlighted India’s initiative at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that calls for the relaxation of TRIPS provisions on COVID-19 related medical equipment to further “quick and affordable access to vaccines and medicines for developing countries.”
Indian Diplomacy: Weekly Round-Up (24 - 30 April, 2021)
This week, Indian authorities convened several meetings with officials from Japan, Australia, and the United States, amongst others.
April 30, 2021
SOURCE: NEWS 18