VIF Information Alerts - 3 October 2019

India would be a southwestern power, says Jaishankar
Published: The Hindu

03 Oct 2019

With India emerging as a powerful nation on the global stage and experts and analysts probing which way it would tilt, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on October 3 said the largest democracy would be a blend of the west and the developed world.

“There’s often the question asked whether India, these are not my words, would be an Eastern power or a Western power, meaning would it be democratic or would it not be democratic? I think by now in 70 years, at least that question is answered,” he said.Click here to read... [2]

New Doklam roads set to alter India, China military dynamics
Published: Hindustan Times

03 Oct 2019

India’s Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has built an alternative road through which its troops can enter the Doklam valley — the site of a 73-day military standoff between India and China in 2017 — where the Chumbi valley of China, Bhutan and India converge, a development that has the potential to alter the military dynamics in the region.Click here to read... [3]

Pakistan owes China more money than it owes the IMF
Published: Hindustan Times

03 Oct 2019

Pakistan needs to repay China more than double the amount it owes the International Monetary Fund in the next three years, as loans racked-up to boost foreign exchange reserves and bridge a financing gap become due.
The South Asian nation owes $6.7 billion in commercial loans to China over the three years through June 2022, according to the IMF, which this year approved a new program to bail out Pakistan from a crisis. Islamabad needs to pay the multilateral lender $2.8 billion in the same period.Click here to read... [4]

Pak asks Taliban to resume talks with US for early resolution of Afghan conflict
Published: Deccan Herald

03 Oct 2019

Pakistan on Thursday asked the Taliban to grasp the opportunity and resume talks with the US for an early and peaceful resolution of the conflict in Afghanistan, saying war is not a solution, as top leaders of the rebel group met Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi here. A high-level Taliban delegation met Qureshi as part of a push to revive the Afghan peace process stalled after US President Donald Trump abruptly declared the talks with the rebel group "dead".Click here to read... [5]

Saudi Arabia endorses India's actions in Kashmir
Published: Deccan Chronicle

02 Oct 2019

Saudi Arabia has told India that it understands "India's approach and actions in Jammu and Kashmir". The Saudi stance on the issue was conveyed to India in a two-hour meeting between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Riyadh on Wednesday, sources told ANI.Click here to read... [6]