Daily PIB Analysis In English - 24th and 25th August 2018

India-China Ties

India’s emergence as Asia’s 3 rd largest economy and favourable demographics has helped it attract FDI and trade from various quarters.
This presents attractive opportunities for China’s appetite for outbound investments.
There are ample opportunities for India and China to collaborate, rather than compete, and harvest the benefits of economic cooperation.
Both countries are at a stage where they can benefit from trading more with each other. Strength of India
India’s demographic potential.
18% of the world’s working population, nearly half of its population under-25
550 million people who will be defined as ‘middle class’ by 2025 Strength of China • Vast forex reserves waiting to be deployed worldwide
China is searching for export destinations for its impressive infrastructure and construction industries. • China’s giant consumer base, too, offers tremendous opportunities for growth across sectors. • India has recently launched its second IT corridor in China to gain access to the country’s growing software market.
This will help bring together the requirements of Chinese companies with the capabilities of Indian IT service providers.
India-China bilateral trade reached $84.44 billion in 2017, up 20% from 2016.
China has also emerged as one of the fastest-growing sources of FDI into India. In 2017, China invested about $2 billion, compared with $700 million a year before, tripling the funding in a single year.
But China’s share of total FDI in India is only 0.5%, despite it being the secondlargest economy in the world and India’s largest trading partner.
This underlines how much room there is for their economic ties to deepen.
There are numerous examples of Chinese companies investing and thriving in India across sectors.
Chinese brands occupy around 51% of the smartphone market in India.
Closer economic ties have also been bolstered by multiple meetings between government agencies and trade bodies of both countries

. • Constant engagement will help ease out any potential trade barriers, and enable ongoing trade relations that are mutually beneficial.

India-USA

2+2 the 1st India-US high-level dialogue
When the defence and foreign ministers of India and the US meet on September 6 in New Delhi, they will discuss their strategic concerns. But they should also draw a clear roadmap with tangible goals.
Now that the US Congress has granted India a waiver from the catchall Russia sanctions law, the relationship is out of the landmine zone.
Last month, the US also elevated India’s status to Strategic Trade Authorisation-1— the same category as Nato countries —in another positive signal before the meeting.
Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have repeatedly highlighted India’s importance in maintaining a free and rules based order.
Asia-Pacific is now firmly Indo-Pacific, and Pacific Command is renamed Indo-Pacific Command.
The US government’s policies on India’s two most difficult neighbours are clearer.
More than $1.5 billion in US security aid to Pakistan remains blocked, and only $150 million are allotted for 2019.
Funds for military training for Pakistani officers in the US are frozen
Neither President Donald Trump nor Pompeo has called Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to congratulate him as per tradition.
Instead, Pompeo warned Pakistan he would not allow an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout to pay off China.
A fullfledged tariff war is in the making, acquisitions of strategic US companies have been blocked, eight Chinese entities were blacklisted, and visas for Chinese graduate students are more difficult today. • Against this backdrop, India and the US should have an easier time moving ahead.
The dialogue’s two working sessions will focus on key issues: security in the Indo-Pacific, Iran sanctions, trade as a strategic issue, bilateral defence partnership and Afghanistan’s future.

India will raise the H-1B visa issue

. • A frank discussion on the short-, medium- and long-term goals is necessary.

If India makes its presence felt in the Indo-Pacific by deploying more ships, the US should correspondingly give more importance to India’s interests in West Asia and in Afghanistan.
But Pompeo’s views on a carve-out for Iran’s Chabahar port, in which India is heavily invested, are unknown.
US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley had called the port “vital” on her India visit, saying the US was keen to make it happen.
On defence, the two sides need to define what the term ‘major defence partner’ really means, instead of circling around. India wants more technology and US wants more trade.
Clarity on what exactly is on offer — and at what cost — would help.
There is much to learn from each other. India needs better skills in electronic warfare, cyber security and the use of snipers.
In return, India could offer courses in high-altitude warfare — surviving in Siachen with less oxygen must have some secrets the Americans can learn.
Joint search teams working regularly in Arunachal Pradesh will generate enormous goodwill — to say nothing of the signal to a certain neighbour that claims the entire state.

Defence Ministry

Nirmala Sitharaman has assured Kodagu in Karnataka of all assistance in rebuilding the region ravaged by flood and landslides.
She also promised that Central assistance will be given according to the guidelines of Disaster Response Fund.
Ms Sitharaman said that she will speak to the Prime Minister and Home minister about her assesment.
Ms Sitharaman said that one crore rupees will be given from MPLAD from her side.
The Defence Minister offered to send Indian Army’s Border Roads Organisation task force to advise the administration on building roads in hilly terrain

. • The Defence Acquisition Council,

DAC, today approved procurement for the Services amounting to approximately 46,000 crore rupees.

In a landmark decision, the DAC chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman approved procurement of 111 Utility Helicopters for the Indian Navy at a cost of over 21,000 crore rupees.
This is the first project under the Defence Ministry’s Strategic Partnership, SP Model that aims at providing fillip to ‘Make in India’ programme.
The DAC also granted approval to other proposals amounting to around 25 thousand crore rupees. This includes procurement of 150 Indigenously Designed and Developed Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems for the Indian Army at a cost of around 3,365 core rupees.

Union Health Ministry

Ministry has approved additional grant of 18 crore and 71 lakh rupees to flood-affected Kerala for disbursing to Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Committees.
The grant will be given under National Health Mission. In a tweet, the Ministry said, the grant has been approved as per the request of the State government.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said a preliminary estimate of losses due to floods in the state is around 20,000 crore rupees.
In a statement, he said the state was facing the biggest calamity in 100 years and the actual losses will steadily go up once the water recedes and the final assessment is made.
26,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed
Crops spread over 40,000 hectares lost
2 lakh poultry
46,000 milch animals
Communication network and electricity lines have been damaged
Power sector suffered losses of around 750 crore rupees
Damage to water supply infrastructure was close to 900 crore rupees. Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry
Approved the construction of over 1,12,000 more affordable houses for the benefit of urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).
An official release said, the approval was given in the 37th meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee held in New Delhi.
Andhra Pradesh has been sanctioned over 37 thousand houses
Haryana over 19 thousand
Madhya Pradesh 18 thousand
Maharashtra 12 thousand
Chattisgarh 10 thousand houses
Karnataka over 8 thousand houses
Jammu and Kashmir 4 thousand houses
Arunachal Pradesh 188 houses PMO
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the two-day BIMSTEC summit in Nepal
Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry, Preeti Saran said, the Prime Minister will hold separate bilateral meetings with the participating leaders of the member countries.
Improving connectivity and further strengthening relations within BIMSTEC will be high on agenda. Ghaghara Rive