Tag: IndoPacific

Hyderabad: Osmania University launches Indo-Pacific Studies institute

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Hyderabad: The Osmania University administration on Friday took another stride to enrich the students’ understanding of International relations with the inauguration of the Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies.
Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman Boianapalli Vinod Kumar, Ministry of External Affairs Ambassador C Rajasekhar, Telangana State Council of Higher Education chairman Prof Limbadri, and Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Surabhi Vani Devi were present at the inauguration of the institute.
OU vice-chancellor, Prof D.Ravinder said that the Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies began as an idea by the state planning board vice-chairman, Vinodh Kumar. “Following this, a concept note was prepared and presented to the officials of the Union Ministry of External Affairs,” he added.

“A committee was constituted with senior professors from OU and JNU. On the basis of the committee’s recommendations and along with the advice from professionals from the corporate world and academic field, the university decided to move forward,” said the vice-chancellor.
OU registrar Prof P Laxminarayana said, “The new centre of research is the only one in India after Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) with a focus on Indo-Pacific, covering areas such as security, trade, culture, diaspora, science and technology”.
The registrar further informed that diploma courses to improve skills and enhance employment opportunities for scholars are underway.
Ambassador C Rajasekhar has said “Indo-Pacific is a dynamic region with many important developments that every country is observing. The Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies has the potential to take up research that can put the OU on the global map through its work. The institute can avail opportunities which are increasingly available due to the dynamic nature of international relations”.
Prof JLN Rao, director of the Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies, read a message from the state Education minister Sabhita Indra Reddy. The message read, “Osmania University is adding one more feather to her crown. The university is on its long march to reaching the pinnacle of excellence”.

She appealed to the faculty and scholars to seize the opportunities arising in the present world to build a new future for India and the world. She added that scholars of OU have to develop new tools of knowledge to help people to come out of the shackles of ignorance.
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#Hyderabad #Osmania #University #launches #IndoPacific #Studies #institute
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 21, 2023
Britain secures agreement to join Indo-Pacific trade bloc

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LONDON — Britain will be welcomed into an Indo-Pacific trade bloc late Thursday as ministers from the soon-to-be 12-nation trade pact meet in a virtual ceremony across multiple time zones.
Chief negotiators and senior officials from member countries agreed Wednesday that Britain has met the high bar to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), four people familiar with the talks told POLITICO.
Negotiations are “done” and Britain’s accession is “all agreed [and] confirmed,” said a diplomat from one member nation. They were granted anonymity as they were unauthorized to discuss deliberations.

The U.K. will be the first new nation to join the pact since it was set up in 2018. Its existing members are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and Canada.
Britain’s accession means it has met the high standards of the deal’s market access requirements and that it will align with the bloc’s sanitary and phytosanitary standards as well as provisions like investor-state dispute settlement. The resolution of a spat between the U.K. and Canada over agricultural market access earlier this month smoothed the way to joining up.
Member states have been “wary” of the “precedent-setting nature” of Britain’s accession, a government official from a member nation said, as China’s application to join is next in the queue. That makes it in the U.K.’s interests to ensure acceding parties provide ambitious market access offers, they added.
Trade ministers from the bloc will meet late Thursday in Britain, or early Friday for some member nations in Asia, “to put the seal on it all,” said the diplomat quoted at the top. The deal will be signed at a later time as the text needs to be legally verified and translated into various languages — including French in Canada. “That takes time,” they said.

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#Britain #secures #agreement #join #IndoPacific #trade #bloc
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 28, 2023
China, Russia to jointly counter US’ Indo-Pacific strategy

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Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his state visit to Moscow on Wednesday and vowed to build “an equal, open and inclusive security system” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to counter the Indo-Pacific strategy pursued by the US.
Xi held an intense round of discussions with Putin after which the leaders signed two joint statements to deepen their “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era” and “Pre-2030 Development Plan on Priorities in China-Russia Economic Cooperation”.
Xi embarked upon the 3-day Moscow trip ostensibly to broker a peace deal and end the raging conflict in Ukraine, as he sought to push a peace talks plan that elicited a frigid response from the US, Kyiv’s key ally.
The trip, described by Xi as “one of friendship, cooperation and peace,” marked his ninth visit to Russia since he first became the Chinese President in March 2013.
The joint statement issued in Chinese and Russian languages said the two sides expressed serious concern over NATO’s continued strengthening of military security ties with the Asia-Pacific countries, which undermined regional peace and stability.
It said the two sides opposed cobbling together a closed and exclusive bloc structure in the Asia-Pacific region, creating camp confrontation, in an apparent reference to the Quad alliance comprising the US, India, Australia, Japan and AUKUS, consisting of Australia, the UK and the US.
Both sides said the US adheres to the Cold War mentality and pursues the Indo-Pacific strategy, which has a negative impact on peace and stability in the region, it said.
China and Russia are committed to building an “equal, open and inclusive security system” in the Asia-Pacific region that does not target third countries, in order to maintain regional peace, stability and prosperity, it said.

Both countries expressed serious concerns over the consequences and risks of the trilateral security partnership — AUKUS and related nuclear-powered submarine cooperation programmes on regional strategic stability, it said.
The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.
China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas.
Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarising its man-made islands in the past few years.
On the Ukraine conflict, the joint statement said the Russian side positively assesses the objective and impartial position of the Chinese side on the issue.
Both sides oppose any country or group of countries seeking military, political and other advantages to the detriment of the legitimate security interests of other countries, a veiled dig at the US and EU, which backed Ukraine in resisting Russia’s military aggression.
Russia reiterated its commitment to restarting peace talks soon, which was appreciated by China, it said.
The Russian side welcomed China’s willingness to play an active role in resolving the crisis in Ukraine through political and diplomatic means, it said.
Significantly, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin in his media briefing on Wednesday parried questions on reports that Xi will speak to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy through a video call to further his peace plan.
Under the China-Russia “Plan to Promote the Key Elements of Russian-Chinese Economic Cooperation until 2030,” Putin said both sides have agreed on a package of 80 important bilateral projects in various sectors worth around USD165 billion.
He said Russia is China’s strategic supplier of oil, natural gas, including LNG, coal and electricity, with Russian gas supplies poised to touch at least 98 billion cubic metres by 2030, plus 100 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas.
The relationship between the two nations is built upon trust and cooperation, with bilateral trade hitting a record high of USD 190.27 billion in 2022, up 29.3 percent year-on-year.
China has been Russia’s largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years.
During a one-on-one meeting with Putin on Monday, Xi said it is a strategic choice China has made to consolidate and develop relations with Russia based on its own fundamental interests and prevailing global trends.
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#China #Russia #jointly #counter #IndoPacific #strategy
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 22, 2023
India, US discuss situation in Indo-Pacific

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New Delhi: India and the US on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, with the objective of ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
The situation in the Indo-Pacific came up for discussion during talks between Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra and visiting US Under Secretary of State for Political Victoria Nuland.
In the talks, held under the framework of annual India-US Foreign Office Consultations, the two sides covered contemporary regional developments in South Asia, Indian Ocean Region and the Indo-Pacific, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
“The two sides reiterated their commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, with the objective of ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in the region,” it said in a statement.
The MEA said both sides reviewed progress made towards further consolidating the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
It said Kwatra and Nuland took stock of a number of initiatives and frameworks that reflect common strategic interests, including Quad, I2U2, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative (IPMDA).
While the Quad comprises India, the US, Australia and Japan, the members of the I2U2 are India, Israel, the US and the United Arab Emirates.
US President Joe Biden in May last year launched the IPEF, which is an initiative aimed at deeper cooperation among like-minded countries in areas like clean energy, supply-chain resilience and digital trade.

In May last year, the Quad leaders launched the IPMDA which is primarily aimed at monitoring regional waters against the backdrop of China’s increasing muscle-flexing in the region.
“Both sides agreed to work together during India’s ongoing G20 Presidency. They also agreed to intensify cooperation in multilateral fora and international organisations, including the UN, on global issues of mutual interest,” the MEA said.
“The productive and substantive meeting enabled both sides to continue a regular dialogue that has been instrumental in enhancing mutual understanding and in identification of opportunities for further growth and enrichment of the India-US partnership,” it added.
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#India #discuss #situation #IndoPacific
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 31, 2023