23 MARCH 2016

Ø  American President Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba is a remarkable moment in global diplomacy for various reasons. Till a few years ago, a U.S. President walking down the streets of Old Havana with his family, meeting the Cuban leader at the Palace of Revolution and even saying that the U.S. should face up to criticism by Cuba — all would have looked beyond imagination. The two countries, bitter foes during the Cold War era, remained hostile towards each other even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, till President Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Ra?l Castro — who succeeded his brother and leader of the Cuban revolution Fidel Castro in 2008 — began a process of rapprochement in December 2014. Over the past several months, Washington took a number of steps, including removing Cuba from its list of nations charged with sponsoring terrorism, to restore confidence in bilateral relations. Havana reciprocated by reopening its embassy in Washington. Mr. Obama’s visit, the first by a U.S. President since 1928, is the symbolic culmination of this diplomatic engagement. It confirms the view that Washington’s traditional Cuba policy, rooted in Cold War animosity, is way past its use-by date. In July 2015, after both countries announced that they would restore diplomatic relations, Mr. Obama said the U.S. had been “clinging to a policy that was not working”. Despite U.S. efforts to weaken the Communist Party’s rule, Cuba stood tall in Latin America. Even those who expected Cuba to fall after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, as the country was largely dependent on aid from Moscow, were proved wrong. A new wave of socialist forces in the continent actually strengthened Cuba’s standing in the region. The blunted opposition of the Cuban American community towards Havana, as well as the demand from American capitalist sections, especially big farming, for new markets, may also have influenced Mr. Obama’s thinking. Cuba’s positive responses to U.S. overtures, mainly driven by economic imperatives, set the stage for a grand deal. But the road ahead may not be all that smooth. The hour-long joint media conference in Havana, despite all its hype, also exposed old grievances. President Castro demanded that the embargo be lifted and Guant?namo returned to Cuba for full normalisation of relations. President Obama said he had pressed the Cuban leader over his country’s treatment of dissidents. All this indicates that full normalisation of ties will take time. The removal of sanctions needs Congressional approval, which, given the opposition to the rapprochement from Conservative Republicans, is unlikely to come in the near future. Also, it has to be seen what the next U.S. President’s Cuba policy will be. On the other side, Cuba is unlikely to radically overhaul its approach towards dissent. Nor does the Communist Party have any plan to end its monopoly over power. But future challenges should not cloud the significance of this week’s breakthrough. Mr. Obama and Mr. Castro have created a historic momentum in bilateral ties, and it is up to the next generation of leaders to build on it.

Ø  During the short three- nation visit next week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will cover two of India’s foreign policy priorities by attending the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC, India- EU summit in Brussels and then by flying to Saudi Arabia in his first official visit, the Ministry of External Affairs ( MEA).

Ø  When the much awaited Defence Procurement Procedure ( DPP) is unveiled later this month, a critical reform, meant to induct the private sector in a major way into defence manufacturing, will be missing. Senior officials said there was still no clarity on how to select private companies to become strategic partners in defence procurement programmes despite recommendations of committees on ways to reduce India’s embarrassing dependence on imports. The DPP will be made public on March 28, coinciding with the DefExpo in Goa, and will come into effect from April 2. Defence Minister Manohar Parrrikar was quoted as saying that the chapter on identifying strategic private sector partners was going “ through an extensive exercise that will take another month or two” and it requires approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security. The chapter which would have listed major Indian private sector companies identified for preferential treatment, would now be on hold. Senior officials, however, are not surprised. Nor is it the first time that a major recommendation to give private sector companies preferential treatment has run into obstacles. In 2006, the UPA government had recommended Raksha Udyog Ratnas status to a dozen major private industry players giving them preference at par with defence PSUs in contracts. The government had to shelve the plan in the final moment because of opposition, from both the trade unions of DPSUs and from Indian private players who were left out of the list. The present effort to grant the status of “ strategic partners” flows from the recommendations of the Dhirendra Singh Committee, formed by the Modi government in May 2015, to evolve a robust policy to facilitate ‘ Make in India’ in the defence sector. The report recommended identification of private sector companies that could play a key role in developing and manufacturing of complex and strategic systems or receive significant technology transfers from abroad for manufacture in India. The Ministry’s task force to work out the modalities for implementing the recommendation, suggested creation of two groups — group 1 for aircraft, aero- engines, helicopters, submarines, naval ships, guns and armoured vehicles and group 2 various materials and alloys, composites and polymers, and ammunition. It gave a set of criteria for selecting strategic partners.

Ø  India will host the eighth annual summit of BRICS from October 15- 16 in Goa, in its capacity as chair of the influential bloc comprising five countries —Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made the announcement on Tuesday during a function where she also unveiled a logo and a website of the summit. The logo for the summit is a lotus with colours from all the five member- countries and a traditional ‘ namaste’ in the centre.

Ø  he Belgian capital was on locked down on Tuesday following deadly explosions at Brussels airport and on a metro train which killed at least 34 people and wounded over 200. Belgium hiked its terror threat to its highest level after the carnage wreaked by the early morning blasts, just days after the capture of key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam in the heart of the city.

Ø  Aung San Suu Kyi will be Foreign Minister in Myanmar’s first civilian government for decades, her party said on Tuesday, giving the democracy champion a formal post despite being blocked from the presidency. The Nobel laureate has already vowed to rule above the man picked as President, Htin Kyaw, in the government which comes to power next week in the former army-ruled nation. Ms. Suu Kyi was the sole woman and one of only six members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in a Cabinet list read out to lawmakers early on Tuesday by the Parliament Speaker Mann Win Khaing Than. NLD spokesman Zaw Myint Maung later confirmed she would lead the foreign ministry and hinted that she would also hold other roles, without specifying which ones. “She will be the Foreign Minister, mainly. If she wants to share the duties she has in other ministries with qualified people, she can assign them,” he told reporters.