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By   Indrani Bagchi   |   Dec 5, 2012 1 comments 0 in Share Share More A A Peter Varghese , Australia's high commissioner to India, has been appointed his country's foreign secretary (FS). Speaking with  Indrani Bagchi , Varghese discussed how the Indo-Oz relationship evolved despite serious troubles — and how this can grow warmer still: Will India see much of you in your new role?   One of the good things about my new job is i'll be able to keep a close eye on the India relationship. We're in a qualitative new space in this relationship. We have now cleared the obstacles holding this back. The students' safety issue, while we don't want to be complacent about it, is behind us. We're seeing growth in student numbers applying to Australia. The uranium issue is now resolved. We've got some clear air in the relationship. We can focus on the underlying issues that connect us —...

Indrani Bagchi Civil servants, they say, never retire. That is probably true, partly because civil servants themselves like to hang on to the trappings of a government office long after they should have hung up their boots. Not Naresh Chandra. As he turns 78 this week, this former cabinet secretary remains uniquely in demand. There is no government in India in the past two decades that has not called him out of retirement (“Again!” he grins, wryly) to solve a knotty governance problem that would ordinarily singe politicians. Take the latest __ the squeaky clean defence minister AK Antony in his enthusiasm to root out corruption in his ministry (and lord knows there are some fat cats there) has taken the machete to foreign military suppliers suspected of engaging in corrupt practices. Laudable, except for a small problem. India, as the world’s largest arms importer and with formidable security challenges is routinely blacklisting key suppliers, many of whom at leaders in their fie...

Indrani Bagchi New Delhi, November 8, 2012 With the hoopla of the US elections over, the attention of the world is now fixed on a very different kind of leadership change in China, a once-in-a-decade affair that will have a global effect almost as great. As Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang prepare to take the reins of the world’s second largest economy from Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, India is preparing to enthusiastically engage the new leadership, even though the new Chinese government will only take over in March 2013. By next week, the top seven (or nine) men who lead the Communist Party will be changed and that will indicate who will take over in the government. Shivshankar Menon, national security adviser, will travel to Beijing in a few weeks for a “strategic issues” conversation with Dai Bingguo, a conversation that will be much bigger than border talks. Menon will meet a clutch of new leaders with Dai Bingguo, his counterpart who will retire by March 2013. This exercise, said sources...

Indrani Bagchi New Delhi, November 27, 2012 India, Indonesia and Australia will form the first “troika” to confer on the Indian Ocean, a first step towards a trilateral grouping in Asia. This new engagement is believed to be significant as all three countries seek to hedge against possible Chinese expansionism. Peter Varghese, Australian high commissioner and new foreign secretary, said Canberra would be taking charge of the Indian Ocean regional grouping next year, and an India-Australia-Indonesia trilateral would be one of the early deliverables. Talking to The Times of India on the eve of his departure, Varghese said, “We will have a troika with Indonesia, the incoming vice-chair. This will be a very good window to do things, to push practical agenda for IORARC.” The Indian Ocean is proving to be an important strategic outreach for India, as well as Australia, which now focuses more on what it calls the “Indo-Pacific” rather than East Asia. It has created convergences between Indi...

Indrani Bagchi New Delhi, November 29 While India’s relations with Maldives are about to take a dive as a result of the Waheed government’s decision against Indian company GMR, India is concerned that “many other interests” may be at work in Maldives that could have prompted such a decision. Sources here said the “climate” created in Maldives, which prompted a “victory rally” after the termination notice was announced was of immediate concern. It showed a deliberate fanning of anti-India sentiment that could have other, more disturbing implications. Among other things, it appears to be accompanied by a growth in radical Islamist sentiments, and seems to be directed against India. Instead, China seems to have established itself as an attractive alternative to India. The radical Islamic party Adhaalath tweeted on Thursday, “We would rather give the airport contract to our friends in China, who now make the majority of our tourist population.” The tweets went on to say that Maldives as ...

Indrani Bagchi New Delhi, December 4, 2012 The Maldives government and GMR are headed on a collision course, but India is the ultimate loser, exhibiting a stunning diplomatic failure and political naivete of a country crucial to India’s security considerations. Maldives has given GMR until Saturday December 8 to get out of the Male airport. GMR’s CEO Andrew Harrison, in a statement said, “The injunction clearly prevents them from taking the action outlined in their notice issued to us stating that the airport would be taken over at the end of the 7 day period. We remain resolute in our position and there is no question of an offer being made and certainly no question of any alleged offer being accepted as we will simply not agree to our rights nor the injunction being undermined in any way.” This can only have an ugly ending. While there has been no communication with Maldives president, Waheed, the foreign minister told Salman Khurshid that they were determined to evict GMR. India c...

Indrani Bagchi New delhi, November 28, 2012 A day after Maldives cancelled its biggest FDI by GMR, the Indian company is getting ready to challenge the decision by going to court. India, after reacting angrily to the Maldives’ decision on Tuesday, pulled its punches by refusing to add to its statement. On Wednesday, too, Maldives’ politicians, particularly from the Islamist Adhalath Party were expected to take out a “victory rally.” Meanwhile, Maldives Attorney General Azima Shukoor was quoted as saying although the agreement had stated that GMR should be given a 30-day notice of termination, the government believed that it need not be followed since the contract was void. “The government has given a seven-day notice to GMR to leave the airport,” said Shukoor, adding the government reached the decision after considering “technical, financial and economic” issues surrounding the agreement. GMR has been given a week to get out of Maldives. Government sources said they did n...

Indrani Bagchi New Delhi, December 5, 2012 Hassan Saeed, the Maldives president, Waheed’s special adviser, is being seen as the Machiavellian force behind Waheed government’s decision to terminate the GMR agreement. According to high level sources, this Malaysia-educated president of a tiny Dhivehi Quamee Party has convinced Waheed to use this issue as a platform for forthcoming presidential elections due in 2013. Masood Imad, spokesperson for Maldives president, denies this. “Saeed is only a special adviser and is currently not even in the country.” Imad says Indian companies continue to be present and welcomed in Maldives. “The Maldives government had offered to send a special envoy of the president, the defence minister, to India to explain our stand on the GMR issue. But that request is still pending with the MEA.” MEA sources said the government had received the request for a special envoy, to which the Indian government had responded by saying he would be welcomed ...

Indrani Bagchi New delhi, November 14, 2012 With the thinning down of NATO forces in Afghanistan a reality, Hamid Karzai, said they would use “all means available” to deter Pakistan from using terrorism against them. “We will use all means available” to convince Pakistan to abandon support to terrorism, said Afghan president, Hamid Karzai in an exclusive conversation with TOI. Karzai said, “terrorism and extremism is now causing Pakistan more danger than Afghanistan or in India. It is from this new situation, that I have changed my approach to Pakistan. I am much more conciliatory than the situation demands.” As if in response, Pakistan on Wednesday, agreed to release several Afghan Taliban leaders to begin a “reconciliation” process with the Afghan government. What will be the roles of the US and India in Afghanistan post 2014? Karzai said “India has a massive role in Afghanistan to educate and train Afghans and set up institutions.” India and Afghanistan, he said wou...