By TNV Desk

This is a weekly foreign media digest that tells you how India has been covered in the global media from October 08 – October 14

WSJ – India’s Congress Party Equivocates About Hamas’s Atrocities

• The center-left opposition’s weak response to the attacks on Israel reflects an outdated postcolonial mind-set.
• As the world recoils from the horrors Hamas has inflicted on Israel, India’s left-of-center opposition Congress Party offers a valuable lesson in how not to respond to Islamist terrorism.
• The party’s de facto leader, Rahul Gandhi, apparently hopes to win Muslim votes by ignoring Hamas atrocities, but this transparent identity politics will likely backfire by alienating moderates who expect their government to take terrorism seriously. For the West, where public discourse has grown more tolerant of reflexive Israel-bashing over the past two decades, it’s a cautionary tale.

(For detailed report click on the link : https://www.wsj.com/articles/indias-left-equivocates-about-hamas-atrocities-in-israel-b9078e1e?mod=Searchresults_pos2&page=1)

REUTERS – India condemns Hamas ‘terrorist attack’, reiterates backing for independent Palestine

• India considers the weekend attack by Hamas militants in Israel a “terrorist attack”, a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry said Thursday, while reiterating its longstanding position for an independent Palestine.
• “We see this as a terrorist attack,” the spokesperson said.
• Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that governs the Gaza Strip in retribution for one of the deadliest attacks on its soil. It has put Gaza under total siege and launched its biggest bombing campaign in the 75-year history of the conflict.
• India only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992, but the two countries have inched closer to becoming strategic partners since then and New Delhi has become much less vocal in expressing its support for an independent Palestinian state.
• But as the hostilities continue and Israel launches a barrage of bombing across the Gaza Strip, New Delhi said that “there is a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law”.
• “There is also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” the spokesperson said.

(For detailed report click on the link : https://www.reuters.com/world/india-condemns-hamas-terrorist-attack-reiterates-backing-independent-palestine-2023-10-12/)

Bloomberg – Canada Allegations Haven’t Hurt India’s Diplomacy, Envoy Says

• Allegations that India’s government was involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada have barely affected the South Asian nation’s diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, according to High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra.
• “I don’t think it’ll impact on any other relationship,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg, adding it was up to Canada to lay out evidence to back its allegations. “In the absence of that, what do we do? Other than perhaps lean more toward analysis of why Prime Minister Trudeau said what he did. And the reasons he said what he did.”
• Trudeau’s claims come at a time of major outreach by the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the South Asian nation widens and deepens its diplomatic and economic footprint across the world as part of the rise of what is being called the Global South.
• During the Asia Society panel in Sydney, the envoy pushed for more economic integration between India and Australia, home to almost 1 million Indian migrants. Vohra said a lack of knowledge about India at the top of Australian society and businesses was hampering attempts to expand those ties.

(For detailed report click on the link : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-12/canada-allegations-haven-t-hurt-india-s-diplomacy-envoy-says)

The Economist – A caste census reopens old grudges in India

• The government is struggling to respond
• On gandhi jayanti, a national holiday, Nitish Kumar caused a stir. The chief minister of Bihar, a big and poor north Indian state, chose a day that honours Mohandas Gandhi (who fought against caste discrimination) to announce the results of a caste census conducted in his state. The findings, released on October 2nd, have put caste back at the forefront of Indian politics, unleashing a debate that is proving tricky for Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp). The result may be a rise in the use of caste-based quotas as tools for alleviating poverty—perhaps at the expense of more fruitful methods.
• The census shows that Bihar is home to around 130m people. Some 63% belong to castes considered Other Backward Classes or Extremely Backward Classes. A further 20% are Dalits, formerly known as “untouchables”, at the very bottom of the pyramid. Around 15% of Biharis belong to the better-off “forward” castes and 2% are adivasis, tribal groups who tend to live in remote areas. These numbers are explosive because they show that the share of “backward” castes in Bihar’s population is higher than previous estimates.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/10/12/a-caste-census-reopens-old-grudges-in-india)

The Guardian – How British colonialism increased diabetes in south Asians

• People of south Asian origin today are between four and six times more likely to get type 2 diabetes than white people. While the role of diet and lifestyle has been explored, it’s only recently that the impact of the disproportionate number of famines under British colonial rule has been uncovered. Neelam Tailor looks into the history of famines during the British Raj and their lasting impact on south Asian genes.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2023/oct/12/how-british-colonialism-increased-diabetes-in-south-asians)

Khaleej times – Supreme Court of India issues notice to government on dual citizenship rights

• The Indian Supreme Court issued a notice to the Central Government on Monday in response to a petition filed by Tarunabh Khaitan, a constitutional scholar, and Public Law Chair at the London School of Economics. The petition challenges the automatic termination of Indian citizenship upon acquiring another citizenship, asserting that such a provision is unconstitutional.
• His contention is that these provisions lead to the involuntary and automatic termination of Indian citizenship upon the acquisition of another citizenship.
• The petition, drafted by another legal scholar, Dr Saif Mahmood argues that “involuntary termination of citizenship is not only unconstitutional but also runs counter to the values of the Indian constitutional ethos and violates international law
• Additionally, it categorizes India among the most restrictive nations, where the loss of citizenship is automatic and involuntary. Dr. Saif Mahmood is a senior partner with Century’s Maxim International India’s office

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/asia/supreme-court-of-india-issues-notice-to-government-on-dual-citizenship-rights)

Melting Glaciers Raise Risk of Deadly Himalayan Floods

• Some of the world’s highest lakes are taking on more water as the climate warms. Scientists studying lakes formed from melting glaciers in India’s Himalayan regions warned in 2021 that one in particular posed a danger to the nearby population. That warning proved prophetic last week as the lake sent water rushing down into the valley below.
• On Wednesday, after a night of heavy rainfall, the South Lhonak Lake, at an elevation of 17,000 feet, breached its banks. That sent a high volume of water into the Teesta River that runs through the state of Sikkim on its way toward the Bay of Bengal. The water largely destroyed a dam at Chungthang, part of the state’s largest hydroelectric project. The dam’s reservoir then joined the water rushing toward the more populated southeastern part of the state.
• Scientists refer to such disasters as glacial lake outburst floods and they predict they will occur more frequently as the climate warms. Melting glaciers are often seen as posing the most acute risk to coastal populations as sea levels rise, but millions of people living in the Himalayas are feeling the threat too.
• “All glaciers in the Himalayas are retreating,” said Anil Kulkarni, a scientist at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change of Bangalore’s Indian Institute of Science, and a co-author on the paper warning of the risk that South Lhonak Lake could burst. “Thousands of new lakes will form in the next decade or two.”

(For detailed report click on the link : https://www.wsj.com/world/india/melting-glaciers-raise-risk-of-deadly-himalayan-floods-b7b594c4?mod=india_news_article_pos1)

Reuters – India discussing local currency trade with Tanzania

• India is discussing trade in local currencies with Tanzania, a foreign ministry official said on Monday adding that New Delhi has pushed for trade in rupees.
• Tanzania has also sought additional lines of credit from India in defence and other sectors, above the $1.1 billion offered by India previously, Dammu Ravi, a secretary at the foreign ministry, told reporters at a briefing on the visit of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan to India.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-discussing-local-currency-trade-with-tanzania-2023-10-09/)

BBC – Zainab Abbas: Pakistani cricket commentator leaves India after backlash

• A Pakistani presenter covering the Cricket World Cup in India has left the country after a backlash over alleged “derogatory” posts on social media.
•  Zainab Abbas was part of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) digital team covering the event.
• Relations between Indian and Pakistan are tense – the neighbours have fought three wars since they became independent nations in 1947. The two countries are due to play a one-day match on Saturday in the western city of Ahmedabad.
• Advocate Vineet Jindal’s complaint alleged that Abbas had an unofficial account on X (formerly Twitter) on which she had posted “derogatory and provocative posts” mocking India and Hindu religion.
• Mr Jindal’s complaint also cited a tweet from Abbas’s official X account in which she wrote about Kashmir’s right to selfdetermination. The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim it in full.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-67062102)

Bloomberg – UK Envoys Head to India as Nations Seek to Conclude Trade Deal

• UK envoys are due in New Delhi this week as the two countries seek to bring almost two years of trade negotiations to a conclusion, people familiar with the matter said.
• A team of 30 UK officials including Director General for trade negotiations Amanda Brooks will head to the Indian capital to thrash out remaining issues as part of their 13th round of talks, officials from the UK and India said, requesting anonymity because a deal isn’t yet sealed.
• At stake is a commercial agreement between two of the world’s largest economies that would represent a landmark for both. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would be able to hold the deal up as a benefit of Brexit, and for India, it would be a boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he gears up for an election next year.
• Earlier in the year, the two nations softened positions on most of their points of contention. Indian officials said that they had agreed to slash tariffs on British cars and scotch whisky, with Britain prepared to relax some visa rules for Indian professionals.
• With almost all outstanding sensitive issues resolved, Modi was due Monday to meet his own team to take a call on concluding a deal, the person said. The Indian premier will decide the position on a handful of critical issues for the South Asian nation, they said without providing further details.
• Modi and Sunak are pushing to double bilateral trade by 2030 through a pact that.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-09/uk-envoys-head-to-india-as-nations-seeks-to-conclude-trade-deal#xj4y7vzkg)

(The report is curated by Dr Vinay Nalwa)