India Rising

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat US President Donald Trump traveled to India on a 2-day visit. Among other things, trade deal was expected to be signed between the two nations, but didn't materialise. Was it a mere irritant in the overall ties or a deal breaker? Have the bilateral ties evolved beyond momentary trade deal failures and poised to think strategic and global? Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat 2020 has started with a bang with a lot of happenings from around the world. One of the most impactful among them, if not the most, was the United States neutralising General Qassem Soleimani, a Major General in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and also the Commander of Iran’s Quds Force. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat The Rajapaksas are back in style in Sri Lanka. While the younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the Presidential election winning handsomely against Sajith Premadasa, the elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa is now the caretaker Prime Minister until the next Parliamentary elections after the incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe resigned after the loss in the Presidential elections. We try to find the answers to the following questions: • Was the victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the recently concluded Presidential Elections in Sri Lanka a foregone conclusion? • With the younger brother as the President, is the elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa’s bid to unquestioned political supremacy in the island nation unchecked? • Is there a possible danger of the island getting entangled in Sinhala nationalism? • What happens to the goodwill projects carried out by India to help Sri Lankan Tamils to rebuild after the bl

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat This week Chinese President Xi Jinping visited South Indian city of Chennai for an informal summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was the second edition of the informal summits that China and India are having, with the first one happening in 2018 in China in the city of Wuhan – hence, gaining the name ‘Wuhan Spirit’. We try to find the answers to the following questions about ''Chennai Connect': ● Did Modi and Xi manage to revive the now-dead now-alive Wuhan Spirit? ● Has New Delhi managed to drive home the point about it’s redlines to Beijing? ● Does India and China have enough modalities to work on improving their ties in the next 12 months? ● Is it too early to claim that Chennai Connect was a huge success without talking about tangible benefits? Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4

This week US President Donald Trump announced through Twitter that peace talks with Taliban were off and that he was still thinking about a troop drawdown from Afghanistan. So we find an answer to these questions: • Is the US Taliban deal really dead? • Did US President Trump actually plan to invite Taliban terrorists to Camp David, the official retreat of the President of the United States? • Is the Afghan government happy that the deal is now more or less cancelled? • Will the US government continue to send feelers to the Taliban? • What will the Taliban’s reaction to all this be? • More importantly, should India be happy with the developments? Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Indian Defence Minister Sri Rajnath Singh issued a statement about how India might reconsider it’s self-imposed No-First Use policy depending on circumstances in the future. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Indian Parliament this week abrogated article 370 which gave the state of Jammu and Kashmir a special status. The state was further bifurcated into 2 Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sri Lanka was hit by a series of bomb blasts on Easter Sunday targeting hotels and churches. A lesser known radical group National Tawheed Jamaath (NTJ) has claimed responsibility of the bombings which killed 253 people. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In today's episode we are joined by Ramaharitha Pusarla, columnist and author to review the 5 years of Modi's Foreign Policy. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India & the rest of the world were taken by surprise by the sudden announcement by PM Narendra Modi on live television that on March 27th India had conducted an ASAT test. With this India became just the 4th nation in the world (after US, Russia & China) to have conducted such a test. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat In today's episode, we talk about the achievements of Manohar Parrikar, who recently passed away, as Defense Minister. We also talk about Indian media's reaction over failed UNSC resolution on Masood Azhar. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat In today's episode, we talk about India's strike on Balakot in response to Pulwama Terror Attack and how the government termed it as a non-military preemptive strike. We also talk about Pakistan's reaction in terms of violation of Indian airspace, subsequent dogfight between Indian and Pakistani jets over the Line of Control. We also talk about the capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and his subsequent release. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat In today’s episode, we talk about the Pulwama Terror Attack on 14th of February. A convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora (near Awantipora) in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The attack resulted in the death of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel – which is a paramilitary force - and the attacker. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Pakistan based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. A local youth named Adil Ahmed Dar was identified as the attacker. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat Bangladesh had its 11th parliamentary elections conducted on 30th December 2018 to elect members for their parliament called the Jatiya Sangsad. In today’s episode we discuss the results of these elections and also the impact on India - Bangladesh relations. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat Today's episode is the second part of a 2 part special series dedicated to discuss about India's Foreign Policy. Mohal and Kishor are joined by Ramaharitha Pusarla (@harithapusarla), who is an author, columnist and writes regularly on myind.net on India's foreign policy. In Part 2, Mohal, Haritha and Kishor discuss about the great powers of the world viz., the United States and Russia and the Indo-Pacific region to figure out how India's Foreign Policy is shaped by them. Part 1: https://youtu.be/WTOC2vECcVc Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat Today's episode is the first part of a 2 part special series dedicated to discuss about India's Foreign Policy. Mohal and Kishor are joined by Ramaharitha Pusarla (@harithapusarla), who is an author, columnist and writes regularly on myind.net on India's foreign policy. In Part 1, Mohal, Haritha and Kishor discuss about the India's immediate neighborhood to figure out how India's Foreign Policy is shaped by them. Part 2: https://youtu.be/s_0-BvIJ9Ns Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat In today’s episode, we will talk about the recent thaw in Indo-Pak relations with the ground breaking ceremony conducted at Kartarpur for a corridor to allow Sikhs passport-free visa-free access to cross into Kartarpur, Narowal District, Punjab, Pakistan to visit Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Guru Nanak, the founding Guru of Sikh faith. Images: Imran Khan at Ground Breaking Ceremony: rferl.org Kartarpur Sahib: indianexpress.com Binoculars: hindustantimes.com Sidhu Bajwa hug: indiatoday.in Punjab Assembly Resolution: tribuneindia.com Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat On 26th October, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's party announced that it was withdrawing support to the government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Within hours, the President removed Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister and appointed former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place. Wickremesinghe has decided to challenge this unceremonious removal by claiming that he cannot be removed without a floor test in the Parliament. This has led to a constitutional crisis in the island nation. Images: Maldives: thehindu.com Wickremesinghe, Sirisena and Rajapaksa: ft.lk China Ambassador with Rajapaksa: etthawitthi.com Speaker: newsfirst.lk SLFP leadership: dailymirror.lk UNP leadership: sundayobserver.lk Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecomm

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan to attend the 13th India Japan bilateral annual summit. 6 new agreements were signed and 2 new announcements were made. We look at the Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) and the $75bn currency swap agreement that were discussed. Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

India Rising: Strategic Affairs Conversations with Mohal and Kishor @mohaljoshi @veggiediplomat Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India to attend the 19th India - Russia bilateral annual summit in New Delhi. While multiple deals were signed during the summit, the S-400 deal garnered all the headlines. This episode looks at all the summit discussions and also analyze the overall direction in which the Indo-Russian ties are headed. ______________________________________________ Mohal Joshi and Kishor Narayan: India Rising Podcast and India's Foreign Policy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOQd7... ______________________________________________ Images: Modi & Putin: theweek.in India & Russia flags: sputniknews.com Kudankulam: indiawaterportal.org LNG Dahej: deshgujarat.com ISRO: businessworld.in INSTC: en.wikipedia.org S-400: en.wikipedia.org Cover tune: Hand In Hand by Nicolai Heidlas | https://www.nicolai-heidlas.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International