Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

User avatar
Yuli Ban
Posts: 4631
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:44 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by Yuli Ban »



Seems like Sri Lanka is about to collapse...
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

In India, Hate-filled Songs Target Muslims
April 22, 2022

https://www.courthousenews.com/in-india ... t-muslims/

Introduction:
NEW DELHI (AP) — The frenzied fury against Muslims began with provocative songs played by Hindu mobs that called for violence. It ended with Muslim neighborhoods resembling a war zone, with pavements littered with broken glass, charred vehicles and burned mosques.

On April 10, a Hindu festival marking the birth anniversary of Lord Ram turned violent in Madhya Pradesh state’s Khargone city after Hindu mobs brandishing swords and sticks marched past Muslim neighborhoods and mosques. Videos showed hundreds of them dancing and cheering in unison to songs blared from loudspeakers that included calls for violence against Muslims.

Soon groups of Hindus and Muslims began throwing stones at each other, police said. By the time the violence subsided, the Muslims were left disproportionately affected. Their shops and homes were looted and set ablaze. Mosques were desecrated and burned. Overnight, dozens of families were displaced.

“Our lives were destroyed in just one day,” said Hidayatullah Mansuri, a mosque official.

It was the latest in a series of attacks against Muslims in India, where hardline Hindu nationalists have long espoused a rigid anti-Muslim stance and preached violence against them. But increasingly, incendiary songs directed at Muslims have become a precursor to these attacks.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

Explaining India’s Growing Enthusiasm for Free Trade Agreements
by Rahul Nath Choudhury
April 26, 2022

https://www.eurasiareview.com/26042022- ... -analysis/

Introduction:
(Eurasian Review) In 2022, India has renewed its interest in free trade agreements (FTAs) with several economies, including the United Kingdom and Australia. India and Australia had already signed an interim FTA last week and expected to enter into a full FTA by end of this year. India’s approach to resuming negotiations has a sense of urgency and a few rounds of discussion have already taken place. The United Kingdom has traditionally been a large trading partner for India while Australia is emerging as a promising destination.

This is a dramatic shift from India’s earlier approach to FTAs. After assuming power in 2014, the Modi government started reviewing India’s existing trade pacts. There was a widespread belief in the government that FTAs created significant economic losses by allowing subsidised foreign products and other unfair production advantages for foreign firms.

Australian trade matters to India because of its growing energy demands. India aspires to become a leader in energy-consuming industries such as information technology and electric vehicles. An FTA with Australia would allow India to meet its energy needs and export skilled professionals in IT, engineering and other services.

Australia also holds a crucial strategic position for India. An Australian FTA would offer the largest market to Indian businesses in the Pacific region. Initiatives such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative have brought the two countries closer than before. An FTA is an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral relations.

In the UK–India FTA, India wants to secure larger market access for its agricultural produce and increase exports in services such as IT, nursing, education and health care. India seeks reduced tariffs in labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather and jewellery, which have always found a large market in the United Kingdom. India also wants to secure a larger number of employment visas for its professionals in the United Kingdom.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by wjfox »

Can Sri Lanka dig itself out of a $50 billion debt?

A mountain of foreign debt has led the country to default on loans for the first time since their 1948 independence.

By Natasha Ishak Apr 30, 2022, 5:04pm EDT

After a month of intense civilian-led protests over Sri Lanka’s deteriorating economy, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed to appoint a new council on Friday to lead the formation of an interim government. The resolution would create a coalition made up of all parties in Parliament and would remove the grip of the Rajapaksa family dynasty currently ruling the country. At issue is the country’s economic future which is in shambles after defaulting on payments on its mountain of foreign loans — estimated to be worth $50 billion — for the first time since the country gained independence from the British in 1948.

Signs of Sri Lanka’s impending economic crisis became increasingly apparent over the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic as food prices soared and power blackouts increased in frequency. Sri Lanka currently has about $7 billion in total debt due this year.

Many attribute Sri Lanka’s economic crisis to the mishandling of its finances by successive governments through mounting foreign debt and continued infrastructure investments. The Rajapaksa administration also implemented sweeping tax cuts in 2019, slashing the value added tax (VAT) rate — the tax applied to imports and domestic supplies — from 15 percent to eight percent which contributed to a decrease in the country’s revenue.

The president’s older brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is expected to be removed as prime minister as part of an agreement brokered by former President Maithripala Sirisena, who defected with dozens of other members of the incumbent president’s governing party in April in protest of the Rajapaksas’ poor governing.

But the country’s power struggle may have sown discord between the two brothers which could exacerbate its political impasse. On Friday, the Associated Press reported a spokesperson for the prime minister did not immediately confirm the elder Rajapaksa’s removal, saying that any such decisions would be announced by the prime minister in due time.

https://www.vox.com/2022/4/30/23050242/ ... -india-imf
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

After Standoff, China Agrees to Support Efforts of Sri Lanka to Obtain IMF Loan
P. K. Balachandran
May 3, 2022

https://www.eurasiareview.com/03052022- ... -analysis/

Introduction:
(Eurasian Review) China, which had expressed displeasure over Sri Lanka’s approaching the IMF (International Monetary Fund) for a bailout without consulting it first, and had warned that its relations with Sri Lanka would depend on the conditions set by the IMF, has now revised its stand.

Beijing has realized that it cannot turn a blind eye to Sri Lanka’s plight and should join the rest of the world in helping it pull its economy out of the woods.

The Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong said told Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry on Monday that China would fully support Sri Lanka in securing the assistance of the IMF. As a major shareholder of the IMF, China is willing to play an active role in encouraging the IMF to positively consider Sri Lanka’s difficulties and reach a proper agreement as soon as possible, Ambassdor Qi told Sabry.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

Germany, India Sign $10.5B Green Development Deal as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Elicits India's Support for Tough Stance Toward Russia
May 2, 2022

https://www.courthousenews.com/germany- ... ment-deal/

Introduction:
BERLIN (AP) — Germany and India signed a series of bilateral agreements Monday focused on sustainable development that will see the South Asian nation receive 10 billion euros ($10.5 billion) in aid by 2030 to boost the use of clean energy.

The accords were signed during a visit to Berlin by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is seeking to elicit India’s support for the tough stance taken by Europe and the United States toward Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Modi reiterated his call to both Russia and Ukraine to end the fighting, saying: “We believe that no party can emerge victorious in this war.”

But unlike Scholz, Modi refrained from any overt criticism of Moscow, which has previously praised India for its “neutral” stance on the conflict.

Reporters were not permitted to ask questions after the two leaders spoke – an unusual arrangement at the German chancellery where at least four questions are routinely taken. The decision was taken at the insistence of the Indian delegation, said a German official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

India And Germany: Moving Beyond Diplomatic Niceties
by Harsh V. Pant and Tobias Scholz
May 9, 2022

https://www.eurasiareview.com/09052022- ... -analysis/

Introduction:
(Eurasian Review) Germany’s recently elected center-left coalition under Chancellor Scholz chose India as the partner for its first governmental consultations on 2nd May 2022. Beyond the signaling effects that Europe’s and Asia’s largest democracies intend to cooperate more closely together, the final joint statement exhibits the depth of mutual understanding and trust which has developed between both countries in recent years. Germany remains one of India’s most important bilateral partners in Europe, a relationship that remains embedded in the larger framework of the European Union of which Berlin is a key driver.

The strategic partnership between India and Germany dates back to May 2000, and its institutionalization with the launch of the Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) in 2011 at the level of heads of government galvanized this engagement. Germany’s invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join this year’s G7 Summit at Bavaria’s Schloss Elmau from 26th to 28th June 2022 stands out as the most immediate and obvious acknowledgement of the existing strategic partnership. However, Germany’s and India’s partnership is not just growing through diplomatic niceties. At the center of the convergence lies the mutual recognition of common strategic interests. Shared interests are particularly relevant for both countries’ quests for strategic autonomy, their attentiveness towards the Indo-Pacific, and a renewed recognition of climate action.

Strategic autonomy

India and Germany have realized that working towards a multipolar global order requires middle powers to support each other in their pursuit of strategic autonomy. While for India strategic autonomy means economic multi-alignment and neutrality on international conflicts, Germany increasingly seeks strategic autonomy through the European Union. In the context of the Ukraine crisis, it is interesting that as Germany is struggling to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, India too has been made aware of the costs of an overdependence on one supplier for defence. True strategic autonomy will come only after the two nations manage to reduce their dependencies which are real vulnerabilities in the present geoeconomic order.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12956
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

Sri Lankan prime minister resigns after weeks of protests
Source: AP

By KRISHAN FRANCIS, BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI and KRUTIKA PATHI

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned Monday following weeks of protests demanding that he and his brother, the president, step down for dragging the country into its worst economic crisis in decades.

Rajapaksa said on Twitter that he submitted his resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a move that followed a violent attack by government supporters on the protesters, prompting authorities to deploy armed troops in the capital, Colombo. There was no immediate comment from the president’s office.

For more than a month, protests have spread across the country, drawing people across ethnicities, religions and class. For the first time middle-class Sri Lankans also took to the streets in large numbers, marking a dramatic revolt by many former Rajapaksa supporters, some of whom have spent weeks protesting outside the president’s office.

The protests have sparked a political reckoning in the country, with the government facing a no-confidence motion in Parliament, and underscored a dramatic fall from favor of the Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka’s most powerful political dynasty for decades. The brothers were once hailed as heroes by many of the island’s Buddhist-Sinhalese majority for ending the country’s 30-year civil war, and despite accusations of war atrocities, the two were firmly entrenched at the top of Sri Lankan politics until now.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-sri ... d868559fae
Xyls
Posts: 689
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 9:20 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by Xyls »

Sri Lanka MP among five killed as violence escalates

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/9 ... lish-tents

Things are going south fast here.
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

Sri Lanka: The Making And Masking of a Debt Crisis
by Matt Whithers
May 13, 2022
(Eurasia Review) There are numerous immediate causes for the sovereign debt crisis (in Sri Lanaka), some of which are certainly attributable to the economic mismanagement of the Rajapaksa and Sirisena governments. Heavy international borrowing, excessive spending on largely uneconomical infrastructure projects, populist tax reforms and misguided agricultural policies have all contributed to Sri Lanka’s inability to weather the economic consequences of the pandemic.

Fixation on these interventions has lent support to a simplistic belief that Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic problems would disappear under a liberal market economy. Amid the chaos and deprivation of recent weeks, free market think tanks have espoused a tired ensemble of neoliberal reforms — spanning fiscal austerity, monetarism, privatisation of state-owned enterprises, and freer trade — as a pathway to recovery. Yet in the absence of any compelling examples of economic development guided by the invisible hand of market forces and extensive evidence to the contrary, calls to embrace IMF loan conditions ignore deeper structural problems that have primed the economy for crisis.

When Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, its export sector was dominated by plantation cash crops — mainly tea, rubber and coconut. With rubber prices buoyed by the Korean War and tea prices spiking shortly after, Sri Lanka enjoyed a brief period of relatively favourable terms of trade. These terms were sufficient to run a surplus and amass foreign exchange reserves, but the opportunity for industrial development was eschewed in favour of food subsidies, agricultural investment and a liberal import regime.

Declining terms of trade and the political intractability of welfare spending quickly exposed Sri Lanka’s over-reliance on the primary sector. The ILO observed that ‘apart from Burma, Ceylon was the only country in Asia earning less foreign exchange in 1968 than in 1958’.

The lack of resolution to Sri Lanka’s first foreign exchange crisis ensured the inevitability of the current one. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, jarring shifts between ideologically opposed regimes lurched the economy from autarky to partial liberalisation and back again without achieving an effective industrial policy.
Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/13052022- ... analysis//

The article was first published by East Asia Forum: https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/05/1 ... bt-crisis/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
Post Reply