21 JULY 2015: Govt to form national policy against IS

Ø  The Centre has woken up to the threat posed by the terror outfit, Islamic State (IS), to India as it seeks to expand its global footprint and enrol fighters from all over the world. On March 19 this year, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had informed the Lok Sabha that the IS had negligible support from the Indian youth, but his Ministry doesn’t think so. For the first time, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), after seeking a report from 10 States, has decided to formulate a ‘coherent national strategy’ on the IS. Towards this end, Union Home Secretary L.C. Goyal is expected to hold a meeting of Home Secretaries of the 10 States this month. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) as well as the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) will give a presentation on the impact of the IS in India. The States that sent their reports to the Centre are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Tamil Nadu. A senior government official said there was a high probability that Indian intelligence agencies were not aware of the true dimension of the IS and it was being underplayed. “IS is expanding its global base and it is high time that India took it seriously,” he said.

Ø  The security legislation proposed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration moved a step closer to becoming law when Parliament’s lower house approved it. The bills, which seek to rewrite the country’s post-War pacifist security policy, are now before the upper house. Over a period of seven decades, Japan’s security policy, shaped under a war-renouncing Constitution following the misadventures of the imperial regime, has been focussed on self-defence. But the present bills seek to replace the self-defence doctrine with “collective self-defence”, that would allow Japan to send troops abroad to rescue allies under attack. This big shift in approach makes the legislation controversial and unpopular. According to recent polls, only a quarter of the Japanese population supports the legislation. But Mr. Abe seems determined to take it forward. This is mainly because of two inter-connected factors. First, Japan has come under huge pressure from the U.S. to revise its security doctrine. During Mr. Abe’s visit to the U.S. in April 2015, both Japan and the U.S. announced new security guidelines which urged Tokyo to take “more responsibility” in their bilateral security arrangement. Mr. Abe promised U.S. lawmakers to approve a new defence bill package “by this summer”. This explains why the Prime Minister is in a hurry to get the bills passed despite opposition. Second, the nationalist politician that Mr. Abe is, sees it as a necessity to have an outward-looking security policy to contain China’s rise. He had earlier proposed to have a “strategic diamond” of four maritime democracies — Japan, the U.S., Australia and India — to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific. Mr. Abe has criticised China’s territorial ambitions in the South China Sea, and Tokyo and Beijing have a dispute over islands in the East China Sea held by Japan. But the question is whether the move to reorient the pacifist security posturing, which ensured peace over the last seven decades when Japan rose as an economic powerhouse from the ruins of the Second World War, would help Tokyo address its security challenges, or lead to a flare-up of tensions in an already volatile East Asia. If the latter happens, that would create wrinkles in East Asian stability as the rivalry between China and Japan, that has historical dimensions, would worsen. That will not be in the interest of either Japan or Asia. Japan should also be wary of joining the great game between the U.S. and China in the Pacific — one an existing super power and the other a rising super power. Instead, it should focus on solving its problems with China bilaterally, and work towards essential regional stability. For that to happen, the best way will be to continue its acclaimed policy of renunciation of war.

Ø  With a string of high profile visits planned to Israel in the next one year, the NDA government is confirming its desire to build a new equation with the country that relatively few Indian dignitaries have visited in the past. Sources told The Hindu that President Pranab Mukherjee will travel to Israel in mid-October, and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the next few months. Ms. Swaraj had also confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Israel — making him the first Indian Premier to do so since New Delhi established full diplomatic relations in 1992 — without setting a date. President Mukherjee will travel to Palestine and Jordan as well during the visit, officials confirmed.Last week the Israeli government, keen to pursue cooperation on water technology, particularly projects on the Ganga, has invited Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu to its international conference and exhibition “WATEC” scheduled for mid-October. The visits of the President, Prime Minister and the other ministers mark a considerable shift from the past, when despite a historic trip by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2003 and subsequent visits by senior members of the Israeli cabinet, Indian leaders, with the exception of Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna in 2012, have avoided making the visit out of concern for Palestinian sensibilities and those of other West Asian countries. However a senior official in the MEA denied that the planned trips were part of any change in India’s position.

Ø  After clocking 16 countries between March and July this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set for the next international tour that will include Ireland, Turkey and the United States, where he will attend the Annual General Assembly meeting of the United Nations in New York in September. There could also be a possible stopover in Frankfurt on his way back from the U.S. The Prime Minister will also travel to the U.K. in November and dates are being finalised for his visit to Russia for an Inter-Governmental Commission meeting. According to sources, Mr. Modi, who has earlier travelled to Astrakhan as Gujarat Chief Minister in 2006, is keen that the meeting should be held in the Caspian city. The Astrakhan visit could be towards the end of November or early December. Astrakhan is an important destination as it is part of the North South Transport Corridor, which is being fast-tracked. The North South Corridor will allow India better connectivity to Russia, bringing down freight rates. In Ireland, where Mr. Modi is scheduled to be on September 23 en route to New York, bilateral issues likely to be on the agenda are related to trade and commerce and aviation. Discussions to find a new a terminal for Air India in Dublin are likely to resume.