11 OCTOBER 2015: Prez visits Jordan

Ø  Feroze Gandhi, the founder of the Gandhi dynasty, has historically been the least-known member of the dynasty. It’s intriguing that despite benefiting from the charisma of Feroze’s surname, the Nehru-Gandhis did little to commemorate the rebel that Feroze was. But Feroze will finally get the space he long deserved, thanks to a political biography that has been written by Swedish author and journalist Bertil Falk. Mr. Falk, 83, who began as a radio presenter at 12, is a seasoned follower of Indian politics and was previously noted in Europe thanks to his political interviews in India and for extending support to the research work of Katherine Frank’s reputed biography of Indira Gandhi. The book begins by taking on a long lasting rumour that Feroze was indeed a Muslim and then goes on to restore Feroze’s Parsi identity

Ø  In the first leg of his “historic” six-day tri-nation tour to West Asia, President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday held talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman on various bilateral issues including trade and investment, counter-terrorism and United Nations Security Council reforms. Mr. Mukherjee, who arrived here on Saturday afternoon in a special Air India aircraft, was welcomed by the King at the al Husseinieh Palace in a colourful ceremony. The President was accorded a guard of honour in the forecourt of the palace after which both leaders got down to talks. The King said that Jordan fully supported India’s bid for a permanent membership in a reformed United Nations Security Council. He has also offered long-term contracts for enhancing exports to India, and said that “an arrangement” would be created within the royal court to look into problems faced by Indian workers. India, on its part, offered a $100-million line of credit to expand trade and investment relations between the two countries. The projects that would get funds from this loan would be worked out later, Anil Wadhwa, Secretary East, Ministry of External Affairs, told the accompanying media delegation here after the restricted meeting between the President and the King. Mr. Mukherjee told King Abdullah that Jordan can play an enhanced role in India’s food and energy security. India is the largest importer of Jordanian phosphate. At present, around 20 Indian companies are operating in Jordan with $300 million investments. Both nations are planning to increase bilateral trade to $5 billion a year, from $2 billion now. Jordan has become a hub of financial services. Jordan also wants to enhance exports. The financial clime in the country is in favour of investments. Jordan already has free trade agreements with the E.U. and the U.S. There’s a favourable atmosphere for Indian companies to come in and invest in Jordan. Mr. Mukherjee and King Abdullah also inaugurated a $860-million Indo-Jordanian joint venture fertilizer plant which will mainly manufacture sulphuric acid- and phosphoric acid-based plant nutrients. Jordan India Fertilizer Company (JIFCO) is 53 per cent owned by the Indian Farmers and Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) and its affiliates. This is the first time an Indian President is visiting the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had visited the country in 1988. Mr. Mukherjee’s visit comes at a time when India is seeking to strengthen ties with West Asian countries, both Arab nations and Israel, and the region is grappling with increasing terror threats. Parts of Jordan’s neighbouring country, Syria, have been occupied by the Islamic State terror group which is attracting extremists from around the world, including India, to join its “Caliphate”. The President will visit Palestine and Israel. He will address the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, in yet another sign of strengthening India-Israeli ties.

Ø  China is carefully monitoring the upcoming Malabar naval exercises to gauge whether Japan will become a permanent participant in the Indo-U.S. manoeuvres in the Indian Ocean. A write-up in the state-run Xinhua news agency observed that Washington is “pushing for making the ‘Malabar’ naval exercises between India and the U.S. into a trilateral framework to involve Japan as a permanent participant.” China had objected to the participation of Japan, Australia and Singapore in Malabar 2007 exercise, which was hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal. Since then, these drills, when held in a trilateral format that included Japan, took place in the West Pacific.