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INDIA& PAKISTAN

Pakistans Cabinet on 31 Octo-

ber 2012 ratified four recent agree-

ments with India. The major of which

is landmark visa pact aimed at facili-

tating restrictions on several catego-

ries of travellers, including senior citi-

zens and businessmen. The meeting

was chaired by Prime Minister of Pa-

kistan M Raja Pervez Ashraf who also

ratified three other agreements that

is going to promote trade between

the Pakistan and India. The visa

agreement was signed by then ex-

ternal affairs minister S.M. Krishna and

Pakistans interior minister Rehman

Malik in Islamabad on 8 September

2012. The pact was ready for signing

in May 2012 but was held up entirely

due to opposition from Rehman

Malik, who wanted Indian External

Affairs minister to come to Pakistan

for signing it. The agreement intro-

duces new categories for group tour-

ist visas and pilgrim visas and relaxes

restrictions on travel by senior citi-

zens, businessmen and persons of

one country married to a citizen of

the other. The two countries are also

discussing other measures aimed at

boosting bilateral trade and coopera-

tion in new areas like opening of bank

branches and cross-border invest-

ments. Both the countries asserted

they intend to increase bilateral trade

to six billion dollars by 2014.

INDIAAND PAKISTAN DISCUSSED

TAPI GAS PROJECT

Pakistans Minister of Petroleum

and Natural Resources Asim Hussain

met Cabinet Minister of Petroleum

and Natural gas of India, Jaipal Reddy

in New Delhi on 17 October 2012 in

an event PETROTECH 2012 and dis-

cussed avenues for energy coopera-

tion, including the trans-regional

project TAPI. Asim Hussain in his talk

underlined the need of hastening

work on the TAPI and the importance

of demonstrating political will.

He also stressed for setting up

the economic modality by establish-

ing a Special Purpose Vehicle o r

consortium duly empowered to take

all necessary decisions.

ABOUT TAPI GAS PROJECT

The TAPI is the Trans-Afghani-

stan Pipeline project which is also

known as TurkmenistanAfghani-

stanPakistanIndia Pipeline, TAP or

TAPI. It is basically a proposed natu-

ral gas pipeline that is developed by

the Asian Development Bank. The

project was started on 15 March 1995

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by signing a memorandum of under-

standing between the governments

of Turkmenistan and Pakistan for a

pipeline project.

Under the Proposed plan, thepipeline will transport Caspian Sea

natural gas from Turkmenistan

through Afghanistan into Pakistan and

finally to India.

INDIA, USAND JAPAN

India, U.S. and Japan on its third

trilateral meet on 29 October 2012

discussed trilateral cooperation in

maritime security and a route through

middle or north of Myanmar leading

up to Hanoi.

The other major area of discus-

sion was on exchanging of proposals

for doing projects together in Africa

as well as cooperating on the eco-

nomic side in Afghanistan. The threecountries were on cycle of talk which

they completed following this meet.

The talk began with their first meet-

ing in Washington in December 2011

which was followed by next meet-

ing in Tokyo in April 2012. Talking of

maritime security the three countries

discussed some specific areas of co-

operation which will be productive

in the next cycle of talks that is going

to begin after the U.S. Presidential

elections and with the settling down

of next US administration.

Each side gave a strategic over-

view of the Asia Pacific. While Japans

Briefing was primarily focused on dis-

pute with China over the Senkaku is-

lands. India with discussing issues on

Myanmar had taken up a trilateral con-

nectivity initiative with Myanmar and

Thailand that touched on a route

through upper Myanmar that would

lead into Vietnam. Also, US briefingwas about its much-talked about

policy of pivot to Asia, which is a

move driven by the allure of emerg-

ing Asian economies, especially

China and India.

THE 2ND INDIA-JAPAN 2+2

DIALOGUE

The 2nd India-Japan 2+2 Dia-

logue was held in Tokyoon 22 Oc-

tober, 2012. These 2+2 consultations

at Senior Official level are mandated

by theAction Plan to Advance Se-curity Cooperationconcluded be-

tween India and Japan in December

2009. The first India- Japan 2+2 Dia-

logue was held at New Delhi in June

2010. The two countries briefed the

other on their respective defence

and security policies in the back-

ground of each countrys security

environment. In this context, both

nations reviewed bilateral security

and defence cooperation and dis-

cussed ways of further expanding

such ties. The two sides also ex-

changed views on maritime, cyber

and outer space security. They

agreed to an early meeting of the

new India Japan Cyber Security

Dialogue. They also discussed the

regional and international security

situation. The next and the 3rd

round of the India Japan 2+2

Dialoguewill be held at New Delhi

at a mutually convenient date. The

Indian delegation was led by Foreign

Secretary Shri Ranjan Mathai and De-

fence Secretary Shri Shashi Kant

Sharma.The Japanese delegation wasled by Deputy Foreign Minister

Akitaka Saiki and Administrative Vice

Defence Minister Hironori Kanazawa.

JAPAN LIFTED TRAVELADVISORYON

JAMMUANDKASHMIR

The country of Japan on 19

October 2012 in a step to testimony

the fact that security situation in

Jammu and Kashmir is improved, re-

laxed the travel restriction to the state

for its nationals. The move to ease re-

strictions is valid for Srinagar and ad-joining areas like Gulmarg. With lift-

ing of Travel Advisory Japan became

the second country among G8 nations

to take this step. Earlier Germany in

July 2011 had relaxed travel restric-

tion to Jammu and Kashmir for its Na-

tional.

The decision of lifting travel

advisory came after the Japanese

embassy officials met the Jammu and

Kashmir government. Many other

embassies of developed countries of

Australia, Canada, UK and some more

countries are also making enquiries

about the situation in Kashmir and are

expected to lift advisory following

step of two G8 countries of Japan and

Germany.

RESEARCH PROJECTTO STUDYLNG

PRICING

Japan and India on 10 October

2012 launched a joint research

project into pricing structures in LNG

markets. Japans industry minister


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Yukio Edano and Deputy chairman

of Planning commission of India

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, signed the

agreement on joint research in Tokyo.

Resource-poor Japan is on the huntfor cheaper energy, with the situa-

tion further worsened by the shutter-

ing of all but two of its nuclear reac-

tors amid public distrust following

tsunami-sparked meltdowns at

Fukushima. Japan is the worlds top

importer of liquefied natural gas.

Asian buyers pay far more than those

in North America because the price

is index-linked to oil on the continent.

Under the present pricing structures

in LNG markets, the price in NorthAmerica is determined on the basis

of supply and demand. Indias ex-

panding economy also demand

more and more energy keeping this

in view both the countries agreed for

a research project to study price

structure.

ABOUT LNG

LNG is gas that is temporarily liq-

uefied for easier storage and trans-

portation. Liquefied natural gas or

LNG is natural gas predominantly in

the form of methane, CH4 that has

been converted to liquid form for ease

of storage or transport. Liquefied natu-

ral gas takes up about 1/600th the

volume of natural gas in the gaseous

state. It is odorless. Colorless, non-

toxic and non- corrosive. Hazards in-

clude flammability, freezing and as-

phyxia.

INDIAAND UK

India and the United Kingdom

on 30 October 2012 signed a proto-

col amending the 1993 bilateral con-

vention on avoidance of double taxa-

tion and prevention of fiscal evasion

related to taxes on income and capi-

tal gains. The Protocol amends the

pact or Convention that was originally

assigned on 25 January 1993 in New

Delhi.

The protocol was signed by

Indias High Commissioner Jaimini

Bhagwati and Exchequer Secretary

to the U.K. Treasury, David Gauke.

The amended protocol is going to

provide tax stability to the residents

of both the countries and also facili-

tate mutual economic cooperationwith stimulating flow of investment,

technology and services. Also, the

withholding taxes on the dividends

would be 10 per cent or 15 per cent

and is equally applicable in the UK

and in India. The Protocol integrates

provisions for effective exchange of

information between tax authorities

of the two countries in line with lat-

est international standards including

exchange of banking information and

supplying of information irrespective

of domestic interest. With the amend-

ment there will now be a new article

in the Convention on assistance in

collection of taxes. It includes provi-

sion for taking measures of conser-

vancy. The Protocol also constitutes

the Convention anti- abuse (limitation

of benefits) provisions which ensure

that the benefits of the Convention

are not misused.

INDIA& AUSTRALIA

India and Australia on 17 Octo-

ber 2012 announced the launch of

nuclear negotiations for a civil nuclear

deal that will enable the sale of ura-

nium from Australian Capital city

Canberra to New Delhi. The deal was

announced by Australian Prime Min-

ister Julia Gillard on her visit to India.

The deal is going to provide stretch

in Indias civilian nuclear ambitions

and will also strengthen bilateral ties

between both the Countries. Earlierin 2011, the Australian Prime Minister

Julia Gillard, Australian Labour Party

refused to sell uranium to India by

specifying that India had not signed

the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The actual Supply of uranium is

going to take couple of years as ne-

gotiations for the safeguards agree-

ment are complex and lengthy. Both

the Countries also signed four memo-

randum, the most important of which

is agreement on Student mobility andwelfare in which they agreed to hold

annual meetings at the summit level

either bilaterally or during multilateral

events.

The other memorandums are:

Memorandum on Military and

Security Initiative committed to

enhance maritime cooperation

Memorandum to develop a

comprehensive economic co-

operation agreement

India and Australia also agreed

to launch a Ministerial-level Dialogue

on Energy Security, establish a Water

Technology Partnership and start ne-

gotiations for an Agreement on Trans-

fer of Sentenced Persons.

INDIA& AUSTRALIA

Australia on 28 October 2012

revealed that the country was plan-

ning to include Hindi and Mandarin

as languages to be taught in its

schools. This was a step forward to

be taken by the county to establish

deeper and strengthened links with

India and other nations with boom-

ing economies, of the world. Prime

Minister of Australia Julia Gillard an-

nounced the plans of the nation at

the release ceremony of the sweep-


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ing policy blueprint with its title Asian

Century White Paper. The white pa-

per was released with an aim of link

maximisation with Asia; this would

help Australia to be among the top10 most powerful economies of the

world by 2025.

INDIAAND NEWZEALAND

India and New Zealand on 19

October 2012 signed five Memoran-

dum of Understanding, MoU in the

different fields of education. The

MoUs were signed in New Delhi dur-

ing the first meeting of India-New

Zealand Education Council.

The education institutions of

New Zealand specially higher edu-

cation maintain global standards. In-

dia and New Zealand share strong

people to people links through in-

creasing migration, tourism, educa-

tion and sporting ties. The education

can play a vital role in strengtheninglinks between the two countries.

INDIAAND FRANCE

India and France on 7 October

2012 signed an agreement in the field

of sustainable Urban Development.

The agreement was signed in Paris

between Union Minister of Urban

Development Kamal Nath and Minis-

ter for Foreign Trade of France Nicole

Bricq. Both India and France would

benefit from the agreement as it

would provide an enabling platform

for the officials, professionals, busi-

ness leaders and local self-governing

bodies to meet and share knowledge

and best practices in the urban sec-

tor. It would also lead to enhanced

cooperation and deepen the en-

gagement between the two coun-

tries. India and France also discussed

ways to enhance economic and com-

mercial relations between the coun-

tries.INDIAAND SPAIN

India and Spain on 26 October

2012 signed a memorandum of un-

derstanding under which they are

going to encourage collaboration

between their defence industries

and exchange of personnel. The MoU

was signed by Indian Defence Minis-

ter A.K. Antony and his Spanish coun-

terpart Pedro Morens Eulate in New

Delhi.

Both the Countries agreed to

exchange defence-related experi-

ence and information, and will en-courage visits of personnel and col-

laboration in the defence industry and

similar areas of cooperation. Also in

another gesture of Cooperation Span-

ish firm Navantia is planning to offer

its S-80 diesel electric submarine for

the Indian Navys Project 75-India,

under which it plans to procure six

large conventional submarines at a

cost of more than 50000 crore of Ru-

pees. The MoU on defence was

among the five pacts signed aftercomprehensive talks between Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh and the vis-

iting King Juan Carlos I on bilateral,

regional and international issues.

Other pacts signed are included as

under:

A protocol for amending the

over 19-year-old double taxa-

tion avoidance pact to check

tax evasion,

A MoU in the roads and roadtransport sector, aimed at pro-

moting efficient and environ-

mentally sustainable transport

systems.

A pact to promote and facilitate

co-production of films which

includes feature films, docu-

mentary and animation films.

India and Austria

India and Austria on 2 October

2012 tied up to develop smart cities

that would include fine planning ofthe city including the transport sys-

tem and services of internet. The de-

cision came up after the meeting of

Union Minister for Urban Develop-

ment Kamal Nath with Austrian Fed-

eral Minister for Transport, Innovation

& Technology Doris Bures.

The plans of developing the

new cities will be implemented un-

der the second phase of Jawaharlal

Nehru National Urban Renewal Mis-

sion (JNNURM II).

As per the plans initially two

model smart cities will be developed

in every state of the country that will

include the mid-sized cities with a

minimum population of half a million

to one million.

EVERYSTATETOHAVETWOSMART-

CITIES

Austrian Institute of Technology

will assist the country in planning and

development of the smart cities that

will include things that it needs to

cover, broadband facilities to its main-

tenance to carbon levels.

As per the plans of the Central

Government under JNNURM II every

state will have two model towns ini-

tially.


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70 CITIESWITHOVERAMILLION

POPULATIONGRAPHAREINPLAN

Plans are on the paper to con-

vert at least 70 cities with million plus

population in India into smart cities.Austria that has been into different

types of trade-relations for a long time

with India will be offering the poten-

tial technical support.

ORGANIZATIONSINVOLVED

INPROJECTIMPLEMENTATION

Austrian Institute of Technology

and the National Institute of Urban

Affairs that is a research, information

and training wing under the Urban

Development Ministry, would be the

partners in the project.INDIAAND CHINA

India and China agreed to boost

defence ties. The agreement was

made during the visit of Chinese De-

fense Minister Gen Liang Guanglie to

India and his meet with his Indian

Counterpart AK Antony. Last time the

defence minister of China visited In-

dia in the year 2004.

The two nations have agreed on

improving the friendly, strategic and

co-operative partnership and ex-

change of young officers and high

level visits. An inter-collegiate ex-

change that includes non-traditionalsecurity fields is also a part of the

agreement. During the joint Naval

Practice in Shanghai, the two nations

agreed on increasing the process of

military exchange that includes mari-

time operations and navy. Last joint

exercise that took place between the

two nations was at Kunming in the

year 2007 and at Belgaum in the year

2008. The third joint exercise sched-

uled for 2010 was cancelled becauseChina disagreed to provide VISA to

Lieutenant General BS Jaiswal of the

Northern Command and since then

India cancelled all collateral ties re-

lated to defence activities with

China.

INDIAMALAYSIA

India is going to expand bilat-

eral trade with Malaysia to $15 billion

by 2013 from $13 billion in 2011-12

as per the discussion in India- Malay-

sia CEO Forum.

It was informed by Union Minis-

ter of Commerce, Industry and Tex-

tiles, Anand Shrama that Indias bilat-

eral trade with Malaysia stood at nearly

$13 billion in 2011-12 registering a

growth of 34% over the previous year.In his visit to Malaysia in July 2010

and February 2011

Anand Sharma

analysed that it was re-

quired an investment

from Khazanah Nasional

Berhad (Government of

Malaysias strategic invest-

ment fund) into Indian infra-

structure sector through a

collaborative venture with

IDFC. The Union minister,

Anand Sharma has identified pri-

ority sectors of engagement includ-

ing Roads & highways, Railways, Air-

ports, IT &ITES, Biotechnology, Tour-

ism, Health Services and JV projects

in third countries. Subsequently, the

two countries have entered into a

Comprehensive Economic Coopera-

tion Agreement which was signed in

February 2011. The signing of this

Agreement has provided consider-able momentum to trade and invest-

ment on both sides.

INDIAAND TAJIKISTAN

India and Tajikistan signed six

agreements in the field of sports,

health, culture, education, labour,

textiles and energy. India and the

central Asian country of Tajikistan

agreed to advance their ties to a stra-

tegic partnership in order to impart

greater strength to the relationship

through all-round co-operation andengagement. The President of the

Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Emomali

Rahmon, was on a State Visit to India

from 1 to 4 September 2012 at the

invitation of the President of the Re-

public of India. This was the fifth visit

to India by President Mr. Emomali

Rahmon. The visiting dignitary also

attended a business meeting orga-

nized jointly by ASSOCHAM, CII and

FICCI. Both the coun-

tries iden-

tified in-

forma-

t i o n

tech-

n o l -

ogy,

bio-

t e c h n o l -

ogy, mining, tourism,

pharmaceuticals among other sec-

tors as high potential area. After the

agreements it was decided that In-

dia will increase training slots for

Tajikistan from 100 to 150 under In-

dia Technology and Eco Training

Programme.


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