By TNV Desk

This is a weekly foreign media digest that tells you how India has been covered in the global media from September 10 – September 16

Reuters – India plans crucial test in crewed space mission by October

• India is set to conduct a key test in its ambitious crewed space mission Gaganyaan as early as next month, the project director of the mission R. Hutton told Reuters.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is currently training four astronauts and looking to expand the cohort as it aims for more future manned missions, Hutton said.
• The Gaganyaan mission is aimed at developing a human-habitable space capsule that will carry a three-member crew into an orbit of 400 km (250 miles) for three days, before returning to safety in a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/india-plans-crucial-test-crewed-space-mission-by-october-2023-09-15/)

RFI – Airbus hands over first C295 tactical plane to India in historic military deal

• Airbus Industries delivered the first of 56 C295 military aircraft to India this week as part of a landmark deal that will allow the South Asian nation to build the tactical cargo plane on its soil.
• C295 military aircraft . India will now be able to build them on its soil.
• Indian officials at the Airbus Defence & Space facility in Spain received the first of the planes, which can transport up to 71 combat troops and take off and land on short and unpaved runways fully loaded.
• “It is a momentous day for the Indian Air Force, and the nation as a whole to receive the first aircraft which marks the beginning of a new era, wherein we will be manufacturing 40 of these aircraft in India,” Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari said on Wednesday.
• India has been upgrading its infrastructure including roads and airfields amid tensions with China that reignited following a clash among border soldiers in 2020 left dozens killed and maimed.
• Airbus said the contract for the C295 was signed swiftly and in line with Delhi’s Make-in-India policy which aims to cut down on costly imports.
• “It was only two years ago that we signed this contract with India, the largest order in the history of the C295,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, Airbus’ military head. The deal is worth €2.46 billion.
• “This is the beginning of an exciting and long-term journey with the Indian Air Force,” he said.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.rfi.fr/en/international/20230915-airbus-hands-over-first-c295-tactical-plane-to-india-in-historic-military-deal)

RFI – France, India promise to boost military ties in post-G20 Macron, Modi meeting

• French President Emmanuel Macron promised to shore up military ties with India and speed up a mammoth nuclear project that promises to light up 70 million homes.
• Macron was among the final G20 leaders to visit rain-swept Delhi for the 8-10 September forum summit. After talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi he left for Bangladesh on Monday.
• “We discussed a series of topics and look forward to ensuring India-France relations scale new heights of progress”, Modi said on X.
• Macron’s trip came two months after the Indian leader visited Paris as chief guest of the French National Day celebrations on 14 July.
• The two countries which have cranked up bilateral relations since the 2008 purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets by India worth eight billion euros vowed to strengthen ties and remove hurdles holding up the nuclear project in Maharashtra state.
• India, France promise ‘ground-breaking’ military projects as Modi presides over Bastille Day. Macron invites India’s PM Modi to be France’s guest of honour at Bastille Day parade
• The project worth 8.6 billion euros is billed as the world’s largest atomic plant and will potentially meet the energy needs of 70 million homes and cut emissions by 80 million tons of carbon dioxide.
• Earlier this month, India said it was ”earnestly” trying to resolve the problems related to nuclear liability laws. “Much of the conflict of views on the two sides happened because of geopolitical reasons,” Atomic Energy Minister Jitendra Singh said and added: We, very earnestly, are trying to sort it out and we are moving forward.”
• In their joint statement, India and France hailed moves to collaborate on small modular reactors as well as advanced reactors.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.rfi.fr/en/international/20230912-france-india-promise-to-boost-military-ties-in-post-g20-macron-modi-meeting)

Bloomsberg – Canada Postpones Trade Mission to India With Tensions On Rise

• Countries paused trade talks shortly before G-20 in New Delhi. India trade minister says ‘serious concerns’ must be resolved
• Canada is postponing a trade mission to India that was planned for early October, a move that comes as broader trade talks between the two countries have stalled.
• It also follows a contentious meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the recent Group of Twenty summit in New Delhi.
• Modi’s office publicly criticized Trudeau after the meeting for allegedly tolerating “anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada,” while Trudeau said he raised concerns over foreign interference in Canadian politics.
• In a statement released Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng gave no explanation for calling off the trade mission, and did not give a future date for sending one. The trip had been planned to go to Mumbai beginning Oct. 9, and focus on sectors including automobiles, agriculture and information technology.
• India’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said in an interview with Indian media outlet Firstpost that the pause was needed to make sure that “geopolitically and economically” the countries are on the same page.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-15/canada-postpones-trade-mission-to-india-as-tensions-rise?srnd=india-v2&leadSource=uverify%20wall#xj4y7vzkg)

Alzajeera – Nipah trackers get samples from bats, trees as 800 tested in India’s Kerala

• Experts have fanned out in India’s southern state of Kerala to collect samples of fluid from bats and fruit trees as the deadly Nipah virus killed two people amid the latest outbreak, and at least four more have tested positive.
• The state is battling its fourth outbreak since 2018 of a virus for which there is no vaccine, and which spreads through contact with the body fluids of infected bats, pigs or people, killing up to 75 percent of those infected.
• Nearly 800 people have been tested over the last 48 hours in the state’s Kozhikode district, with two adults and a child put in hospital for observation after proving positive.
• Public offices, government buildings, educational centres and religious institutions were shut in nine villages of the district, while public transport was suspended in the area at risk.
• Kerala’s first Nipah outbreak in 2018 killed 21 of the 23 infected, while subsequent outbreaks in 2019 and 2021 killed two people.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/14/nipah-trackers-get-samples-from-bats-trees-as-800-tested-in-indias-kerala)

BBC – Russia hails unexpected G20 ‘milestone’ as Ukraine fumes

• Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has praised a joint declaration by G20 leaders in Delhi that avoids condemning Moscow for its war against Ukraine. Russia had not expected consensus and agreement on the wording was “a step in the right direction”, said Mr Lavrov.
• The closing G20 statement denounced using force for territorial gain but made no mention of Russian aggression, prompting criticism from Ukraine.
• Very few had expected a joint declaration at this year’s G20 – not least on the first day of the summit. The group is deeply divided over last year’s invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Neither Russia’s Vladimir Putin nor China’s Xi Jinping turned up in Delhi, sending lower-level delegations instead.
• So there was surprise when, just hours after the summit started, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced consensus had been reached on how to phrase the Ukraine section of the statement, which saw last year’s direct criticism of Russia watered down.
• Mr Lavrov told a news conference on Sunday that a “milestone” had been reached. “Speaking frankly we didn’t expect that. We were ready to defend our wording of the text. The Global South is no longer willing to be lectured,” he said in answer to a question by the BBC’s Yogita Limaye.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66716544)

Economist – India’s property market is ready for take-off

• A clean-up by Narendra Modi’s government shows signs of success
• A visitor does not have to look far for signs of India’s property resurgence. Cranes dot the skylines of Delhi, Hyderabad and other cities. In Bandra, a swish suburb of Mumbai, more than 100 buildings are being redeveloped. Across the country, the number of new projects has hit a level last seen in 2012. Pre-sales by big developers are rising at double-digit rates.
• Behind the increasingly frenetic activity are all the catalysts you would expect in India: demand from the country’s growing population of well-to-do people, insufficient supply and deterioration of existing buildings in the harsh climate. But if the catalysts have not changed, the underlying structure of the market very much has. Attempts by Narendra Modi’s administration to clean up after a property crash in the mid-2010s seem to be paying off.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2023/09/14/indias-property-market-is-ready-for-take-off)

(The report is cureated by Dr Vinay Nalwa)