"We often thought of terrorism as a peripheral problem for this region. The barbaric terrorist strikes in Paris, Ankara, Beirut, Mali and on the Russian aircraft is a stark reminder that its shadow stretches across our societies and our world, both in recruitment and choice of targets," Modi said in his remarks at the East Asia Summit.
The issue at hand is not ASEAN versus Chindia, but ASEAN plus Chindia. Given the strengths of ASEAN and the growing muscle of India and China, the scope for constructive cooperation is immense, he said.
With automation taking place at a much faster pace across industries especially in the tech space, domestic software firms that employee over 16 million are set to slash headcounts by a massive 3 million by 2022, which will help them save a whopping $100 billion mostly in salaries annually, says a report. The domestic IT sector employs around 16 million, of them around 9 million are employed in low-skilled services and BPO roles, according to Nasscom. Of these 9 million low-skilled services and BPO roles, 30 per cent or around 3 million will be lost by 2022, principally driven by the impact of robot process automation or RPA. Roughly 0.7 million roles are expected to be replaced by RPA alone and the rest due to other technological upgrades and upskilling by the domestic IT players, while it the RPA will have the worst impact in the US with a loss of almost 1 million jobs, according to a Bank of America report on Wednesday.
Lending support for India's ambitious Nalanda University project, six countries on Thursday began the process of signing inter-government agreements to pledge their commitment for this academic institution.
'RCEP may be in India's long-term interest, but it is certainly not in India's short-term and medium-term interest.'
India and Brunei on Tuesday emphasised the need for a peaceful solution to the South China Sea issue through discussions as Vice President Hamid Ansari held wide-ranging talks with the top leadership here, with the two sides signing three agreements including on defence.
Mukherjee, a two-time Lok Sabha MP from his father's pocket borough of Jangipur, said he joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party because she has taken a strong stand on this issue.
'India does not wish to remain silent in improving its strategic space so that its leverage to counter China's expansionist designs is maintained, besides enabling it to play a responsible role from a position of strength for peace and stability in Asia,' points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday expressed deep concern over the declaration of the state of emergency in Myanmar by the military and called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders arbitrarily detained by the military.
The Singapore Airlines agreed to fly the stranded passengers to India, as there is no scheduled Air India flight for Thursday.
The SAARC has not lived up to its potential, the White House said.
"Growth is expected to moderate gradually in China... pick up in India, and remain broadly stable in the Asean-5 region."
For India to reach its ambiguous economic growth targets, it needs to be integrated into global trade pacts.
He said that if there are issues that need to be talked about, it is between India and Pakistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night left for Australia on the second leg of his three-nation tour during which he will attend the annual summit of the Group of 20 of the world's developed and emerging economies.
"If it is said Indians are argumentative, I will agree. But if it is said Indians are intolerant, I refuse to agree," said the president at the inaugural ceremony of the 'Namami Brahmaputra' festival in Guwahati.
Defence, security, science and technology, trade and culture are some of the issues on the plate for the talks.
The Indo-Asean FTA provides an opportunity for India to be more engaged with the region, says Sanjaya Baru.
A United Nations human rights investigator has recommended that international pressure be put on North Korea as part of a multi-pronged strategy to know the fate of hundreds of foreign nationals allegedly abducted by it.
"The bilaterals amidst the multilateral. PM @narendramodi meets Premier Li Kequiang of China for first engagement," External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.
With a large addressable market like India, IT major IBM is gearing up to make the country a hub for its Linux initiatives in the South East Asian region, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.
During April-July this fiscal, exports grew by 1.72 per cent to $98.2 billion. Imports too increased by 2.82 per cent to $160.7 billion during the period.
Two members of the small delegation accompanying External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the UK have tested positive for Covid-19, forcing him to rework his official schedule in London.
UBS, Credit Suisse see emerging markets doing well next year, but expect India to underperform, given its rich valuations.
He said the 2 countries have handled border issues in the past.
The prime minister's meetings with Abe and Turnbull came a day after he held "very expansive" talks with US President Donald Trump on intensifying overall security and defence cooperation, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region where China is strengthening its military build up.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited ASEAN leaders to be the chief guests.
The five-nation grouping BRICS on Tuesday resolved to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists, and vowed to step up joint efforts in building support for an India-backed global framework to effectively deal with the menace.
Admiral Colombage said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would have an India first approach as the key to strategic security.
Modi said the initiatives taken by the East Asia Summit in disaster preparedness and response are truly commendable.
'This includes increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and the detention of human rights activists and journalists'
Pompeo, during a Congressional hearing on Thursday, told the members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that 'the actions are entirely consistent with what they have been signalling to the world for decades you might even argue since 1989, but certainly since General Secretary Xi came to power'.
In an address at the Global Dialogue Security Forum, he underlined the need for India to put greater focus on having strong bilateral, trilateral and multilateral arrangements with like-minded countries to maximise its strategic leverage in the region.
'We are looking for ability to work in a global matrix organisation -- the ability to deal with ambiguity, flexibility to work in a changing environment, willingness to learn and be curious.'
The announcement of Modi's visit comes a day after India and China ended their 73-day standoff in Dokalam by withdrawing their troops from the area.
According to Jaishankar, much has changed, mostly to India's disadvantage, since November 1950, when Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru had a famous exchange of views on how to approach China.
India on Friday said a common currency for Asian countries, similar to the euro for European nations, was still a few years away and would require more coordinated efforts on part of all the participants.
The Congress alleged that by doing so the Modi government was resorting to "cheap politics".
