Home & Away

Indrani Bagchi That slightly awkward hug at the end of the Modi-Trump summit settled one important debate about the future of US-India relations in the Trump administration - hugs will stay, white-knuckle handshakes are for others.   The Modi visit was tightly crafted, with most of the heavy lifting being done by foreign secretary S. Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval well in advance. Jaishankar and Doval have logged many frequent flyer miles to get the desired outcome, with the foreign secretary negotiating directly with Rex Tillerson and James Mattis, while Doval did the hard work with McMaster and Kelly. The Trump administration is seriously short-staffed and battling external, internal and virtual enemies — India did not want to fall into these boxes or through the cracks. The US relationship is much too important for that. The Indians went into this summit intent on preserving the strategic contours of the relationship. That has received a strong endorsement in the joint ...

Indrani Bagchi The Indian Hospice in Old Jerusalem is the only one the UN still uses for refugee welfare activities, others having changed hands and disappeared. In fact, some years ago, it took an Israeli PM to intervene against several settlers who had arbitrarily moved in, just so the unique character of this building could be preserved. In some sense, it symbolizes the unique nature of the India-Israel relationship, which was in full bloom last week.   Modi was always going to make Israel the last stop in his Middle East outreach, despite the fact that among the first congratulatory calls on May 16, 2014, came from Netanyahu. India’s Think West policy is a series of balancing acts, with Israel as a third pole all by itself. Given the nature of politics in that region, India had to secure all its other relationships before venturing into Jerusalem. But once there, India embraced Israel wholeheartedly. Two things stood out for all watchers, first, Modi did not visit Ramal...

By Indrani Bagchi China had a reasonably successful week — Beijing ordered Vietnam to stop drilling for oil in the South China Sea, or bad things would happen. The country that delivered a crushing blow to the Chinese in 1979 reportedly stood down. If only these obstinate Indians would learn a lesson. The India-China standoff in the Doklam area, which is Bhutanese territory that China wants, is almost 40 days old. During this time, the official Chinese rhetoric has been a lot like that nursery rhyme. China has “huff’d and puff’d” to blow this house down — reminded us of the humiliation of 1962, described the PLA as a mountain and warned that “time was running out for India to blink.” On this side of the Himalayas, the Indian government has held its nerve and the media has, by and large, held its tongue. Modi smiled and chatted with Xi Jinping in Hamburg, did not forget either Xi’s or Li’s birthdays, and now NSA Ajit Doval is travelling to Beijing to talk with Yang Jiechi later...

Indrani Bagchi, TNN Jun 11, 2009, 09.14am IST NEW DELHI: Although a nuclear deal between US and India is a wrap, the wheels are moving at a grinding slow pace on implementing the deal, with the US dithering on starting negotiations for the reprocessing agreement. Government sources said civil nuclear issues occupied a large part of the discussions between William Burns and foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Wednesday. It's likely they will come up for talks again when Burns meets NSA M K Narayanan on Thursday. Negotiations for a reprocessing agreement is yet to start, because Washington, Indian officials said, was yet to set a date. India is insistent that a reprocessing deal is absolutely necessary for the nuclear deal to be meaningful. The deal said negotiations would start within six months of the signing of the agreement, but the US is yet to do so. The newly nominated US undersecretary of state for arms control, Ellen Tauscher, told the US Sena...

Indrani Bagchi, TNN Sep 2, 2008, 02.50am IST NEW DELHI: The odds are lengthening on the Indian nuclear deal as the opposition in the Nuclear Suppliers' Group refuses to die down and India sticks to its "red lines" on refusing the amendments. In a clear sign of the growing challenge, China has indicated to the NSG that it would make its "concerns" regarding the Indian nuclear deal clear at the next meeting. As a precursor, China's top government mouthpiece, People's Daily , trashed the deal on Monday, saying it was a "blow to the international non-proliferation regime".  There are indications that the NSG might defer decision on the India waiver yet again and new dates of September 11-12 are already doing the rounds. Of course, it would then not be possible to move the deal into the US Congress in time and might need some urgent fiddling with the Congressional rules and calendar. The difficulties that confronted ...

Indrani Bagchi, TNN Jun 22, 2010 NEW DELHI: The proposed China-Pakistan nuclear deal could spell trouble for India's own membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, severely upsetting the calculations of the government here. India had hoped that the New Zealand plenary meeting scheduled for later this week might move the process along for India to be eventually recognized as a formal member of the group. India had told the NSG that following the Indo-US nuclear deal, its laws and regulations had been harmonized with the global body, and that it was ready to be a member of the group. This was emphasized by the government in its last meeting with the NSG troika earlier this year. Instead, there is a growing anger, albeit impotent, within the 45-member group as they confront a virtual fait accompli by China "informing" them of its decision to build two new nuclear reactors for Pakistan, a proliferation rogue. But such is the growing clout ...

Chidanand Rajghatta & Indrani Bagchi  13 Apr, 2007 0027hrs IST WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: With the Indo-US nuclear deal floundering, accusations have begun to fly thick and fast. A key American official negotiating details of the deal has expressed frustration at New Delhi’s pace even as some US analysts have begun predicting the collapse of the agreement because of India’s "greedy" demands. In a review of talks which have been going on for more than 18 months since the deal was first announced on July 18, 2005, USA Today cited unnamed senior administration officials and some known nuclear non-proliferation hawks as saying India is making demands that would increase its military nuclear capabilities, and not lessen it, which it said was Washington’s objective in doing the deal. Among the "greedy" Indian demands mentioned is New Delhi’s insistence on fuel reprocessing rights and the right to undertake nuclear tests if required, both of which would e...