International Booster

International Booster- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and India

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and India Fifteen countries have formed the world’s largest trading bloc, covering nearly a third of the global economy.  The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is made up of 10 Southeast Asian countries, as well as South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.  The pact is seen as an extension of China’s influence in the region.  The deal excludes the US, which withdrew from a rival Asia-Pacific trade pact in 2017. The RCEP is expected to eliminate a range of tariffs on imports within 20 years.  It also includes provisions on intellectual property, telecommunications, ... Read more

International Booster- QUAD and Malabar 2020

QUAD and Malabar 2020 The first phase of the Malabar naval exercises is currently underway off the coast of Vishakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal and there has been much enthusiasm and anticipation around it this year. The excitement is largely because for the first time the Malabar Exercise will see the participation of India, the US and Japan along with (after thirteen years) Australia – a grouping which is also informally identified as the Quad. Since the revival of the Quad project in 2017, a decade after it came into existence, there has been a considerable degree of promise ... Read more

International Booster- Pro-democracy protests in Thailand

Pro-democracy protests in Thailand Introduction Thousands of young people in Thailand are defying the authorities by gathering in the streets and calling for change in some of the biggest pro-democracy protests the country has seen in years.  An emergency decree banning such rallies was issued by the government in an attempt to clamp down on the largely peaceful demonstrations that have also targeted the monarchy.  Despite this, the student-led democracy movement continues to march, leading to numerous arrests. Historical background Thailand has a long history of political unrest and protest, but a new wave began in February, after a popular ... Read more

International Booster- Israel–Arab Peace Deal 2020

Israel–Arab Peace Deal 2020 Within the span of only a month, the United States has brokered peace between Israel and two Arab countries—first the United Arab Emirates, then Bahrain. Both deals are revolutionary in scop.  By normalizing ties and focusing on business, trade, and travel, these “warm peace” agreements go beyond the often tenuous “cold peace” that Egypt and Jordan made with the Jewish state decades ago. Not only do the UAE and Bahrain deals set the stage for a sea change in Arab-Israeli relations, but they might even present a novel opportunity to finally solve the most intractable issue ... Read more

International Booster- India-US 2+2 Dialogue 2020

India-US 2+2 Dialogue 2020 Introduction India’s Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper to New Delhi for the third annual India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. The Ministers welcomed the elevation of the India-U.S. relationship to a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership during the visit of President Donald J. Trump to India in February 2020. They reiterated their commitment to further strengthening the India-U.S. partnership, anchored in mutual trust and friendship, shared commitment to democracy, converging strategic interests, and robust engagement ... Read more

International Booster- India Nepal Latest border dispute

India Nepal Latest border dispute On May 8, India’s defence minister virtually inaugurated a new 80 km-long road in the Himalayas, connecting to the border with China, at the Lipulekh pass. The Nepali government protested immediately, contending that the road crosses territory that it claims and accusing India of changing the status quo without diplomatic consultations. Among the many escalatory moves since then, Nepal deployed police forces to the region, summoned the Indian ambassador in Kathmandu, and initiated a constitutional amendment to formalise and extend its territorial claims over approximately 400 sq km. India, on the other hand, has conveyed ... Read more

International Booster- India China Relations: Ladakh Conflict

India China Relations: Ladakh Conflict For more than 100 days, tensions have been high between India and China along their disputed Himalayan border. This tension has been most acute in eastern Ladakh, where, in mid-June, 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers were killed in the Galwan Valley, the first fatalities along the de facto Line of Actual Control in 45 years. Even supposing a de-escalation will eventually occur — whether by diplomacy or by seasonal necessity — the likelihood of future cycles of conflict underscores the importance of examining the deeper roots of India and China’s ... Read more

International Booster- France : Extremism vs secularism Issue

France : Extremism vs secularism Issue France is reeling from a spate of terrorist attacks perpetrated in the name of Islam. Last month, a boy of Chechen origin killed his school teacher for displaying controversial images of Prophet Mohammad, which had provoked a macabre terrorist attack against the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015. In early October, Macron made public his plans to ‘regulate’ Islam and counter ‘Islamist separatism’ by passing a new law to that effect. In a tribute to the school teacher, Macron said, ‘We will not renounce cartoons or drawings even if others recoil’. As tensions continued ... Read more

International Booster- Azerbaijan Armenia conflict

Azerbaijan Armenia conflict The Caucasus is a strategically important mountainous region in south-east Europe. For centuries, different powers in the region – both Christian and Muslim – have vied for control there.  Modern-day Armenia and Azerbaijan became part of the Soviet Union when it formed in the 1920s. Nagorno-Karabakh was an ethnic-majority Armenian region, but the Soviets gave control over the area to Azerbaijani authorities. It was only as the Soviet Union began to collapse in the late 1980s that Nagorno-Karabakh’s regional parliament officially voted to become part of Armenia.  Azerbaijan sought to suppress the separatist movement, while Armenia backed ... Read more

International Booster- American election 2020

American election 2020 The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held nominally on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Trump became the first U.S. president since 1992 and the eleventh incumbent in the country’s history to fail to win re-election to a second term. The election saw the highest voter turnout since 1900,with Biden and Trump each receiving more than 70 million votes, surpassing Barack Obama’s record of 69.5 ... Read more