International and Bilateral Issues:

Japan PM visit to India

• Mr. Noda (PM, Japan), who is on an official visit to India, welcomed the progress in talks with India on a bilateral civil nuclear deal and expressed the hope that it will be finalised soon.

  • the knowledge and lessons drawn from the damage to the Fukushima nuclear plant — during the Tsunami in Japan — would be shared by the two countries to prevent such incidents in future.
• He pointed out that while there were only 800 Japanese companies working in India, there were 20,000 Japanese firms in China and insisted 800 was too small a number and should be increased
• India and Japan were forging ahead with collaboration on political, security and economic issues, besides regional cooperation

  • The popularity of Japanese martial arts and movies had also helped in coming close to India and its people.
• The Japanese Prime Minister said Delhi's metro has reached the same stage as Tokyo metro.

  • Japan has helped India in building the airport express in the capital, and is involved in making the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project and the Delhi and Bengaluru Metros.
  • Dr. Singh welcomed the interest shown by Japan in sharing high speed rail technology for passenger networks in India.
• The Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the two countries that was operationalised in August will further enhance their economic relationship

  • He said there were huge opportunities available in India for Japanese businessmen in sectors like infrastructure, including ports and airports, and agriculture.
  • We are setting up about 46 agro-processing zones [in India].
  • Under the FTA, officially known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the two countries have slashed duties on large number of items of trade.
  • As a significant concession under the pact, Japan has given access to Indian pharmaceutical products.He said “we are very much on course” to achieve the bilateral trade target of $25 billion by 2014.

• Noting that FDI from Japan accounted for just over one per cent of its total outward FDI flows, Dr. Singh said “we would like to see much more Japanese investment and technology transfer in India, which we will facilitate.”
• Mr. Noda emphasised on the need to further evolve the India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership which began in 2007.

  • They also welcomed the joint exercises between the Coast Guards of the two countries proposed to be held in January 2012
  • The two leaders resolved to develop greater cooperation in combating terrorism through sharing information and utilising the India-Japan Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, as well as multilateral fora such as the Financial Action Task Force and the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum.

China to punish 54 officials over train crash

• China said that it would punish a former Railway Minister and 53 other officials following a long-awaited investigation into July's high-speed train collision, which left at least 40 people dead.
• The final investigation report found “flaws in the train operation control system” and blamed an “inadequate emergency response of railway authorities” for leading to the disaster, which triggered widespread public anger and calls for stricter safety standards.

Leader's request deepens Obama's Yemen dilemma

• Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's request to visit Barack Obama with a new dilemma born in the snake pit of fast-shifting Arab politics.
• But such a trip would open the United States to charges of harbouring a brutal ruler responsible for the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators, and seem to present a direct contradiction of its push for human rights.
• The choice also reflects a problem with which Washington has wrestled throughout the Arab Spring: how to reconcile U.S. strategic interests with a desire to be seen as backing the aspirations of oppressed peoples.

Iran rebuffs U.S. economic sanctions threat

• A senior Iranian official delivered a sharp threat in response to economic sanctions being readied by the United States, saying his country would retaliate against any crackdown by blocking all oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for transporting about one-fifth of the world's oil supply,
• Iran just began a 10-day naval exercise in the area.
• Obama administration officials have recently said that the United States has a plan to keep the strait open in the event of a crisis and planning for more sanction after the International Atomic Energy Agency's report that Iran may be secretly working to design a nuclear warhead, despite the country's repeated denials.
• Oil prices rose above $100 a barrel in trading after the threat
• Some economists question whether reducing Iran's oil exports without moving the price of oil is feasible, even if the market is given signals about alternative supplies.
• Already, analysts at investment banks are warning of the possibility of rising gasoline prices in 2012, due to the new U.S. sanctions and complementary sanctions under consideration by the EU.
• China, which is among Iran's biggest customers, is also opposing such sanctions
• Already the Iranian currency is plummeting against the dollar, and there are rumours of bank runs.

Chinese media see “containment strategy”

• The Chinese government on Wednesday played down a series of commentaries appearing in State-run media which suggested that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's on-going visit to India was part of a “containment strategy” aimed at China, saying it was ready to work with both Japan and India to develop ties.
• “Boosting ties with India is part of Japan's strategy of strengthening alliances with Asia-Pacific nations with an eye on China,” the China Daily reported

Mediator in Taliban-U.S. talks backed Kashmir jihad

• Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Doha-based Islamist scholar who once called on his followers to back jihadist groups in Jammu and Kashmir, has emerged as a key mediator in secret talks between the U.S. and the Taliban
• In 2009, Mr. al-Qaradawi had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, asserting that “the Kashmiris were properly fighting jihad against the Indian army.
• New Delhi, Indian diplomatic sources said, has been warily watching Mr. al-Qaradawi's emergence as peace broker — fearful that his growing influence could help regional jihadist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad find new sanctuaries in a rapidly changing West Asia or a future Afghan regime which includes the Taliban.