India World Forum

India and Italy are ancient civilizations but young states (Italy having been reunified only in 1861). These two ancient civilizations have known, interacted and traded with each other for over 2000 years. Modern day contacts between the two nations were formed through exchanges between the intellectuals from both sides. Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore visited Italy in1926, on invitation of Carlo Formichi, a Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Rome. Mahatma Gandhi visited Rome in 1931 on his way back to India from the Round Table Conference in London. Leaders of the Indian freedom struggle read the works of the Italian revolutionary Mazzini of early 19th century, who worked for a Democratic Republic of Italy. Indian troops, serving with the British Indian Army, were active in Italy during the World War II. India Italy Political Relations Political relations between India and Italy were established in 1947. The two countries enjoy a cordial relationship. There has bee...

Statement by Indian Prime Minister Manmmohan Singh about Anna Hazare in the Lok Sabha on August 17, 2011 Hon’ble Speaker, 2. It is my painful duty to report to this House certain events that took place yesterday in New Delhi. 3. Hon’ble Members are aware that after extensive consultations and discussions, including deliberations in a Joint Drafting Committee and a meeting of all political parties represented in Parliament, the Government has introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha on the setting up of Lok Pal. The Bill has been referred to the Standing Committee concerned. 4. Notwithstanding the introduction of the Bill, Shri Anna Hazare and his supporters have persisted with their demand that the Jan Lok Pal Bill drafted by Shri Anna Hazare should be introduced in Parliament and that the Jan Lok Pal Bill should be the Bill that must be passed by Parliament. In support of this demand, Shri Anna Hazare had announced some time ago that he would undertake an indefinite fast beginning...

Switzerland and India have had cordial and friendly relations since India became independent. The relationship is based on shared values of democracy, multiculturalism and the rule of law. Independent India’s policy of non-alignment and Switzerland’s traditional policy of neutrality helped to develop a close understanding between the leaders of the two countries in the early years. A Treaty of Friendship between India and Switzerland was signed at New Delhi on August 14, 1948, one of the first such treaties to be signed by the independent India. The Treaty provided for the establishment of diplomatic missions between the two countries and diplomatic missions were opened in Berne and Delhi soon after its conclusion. During the course of 2008, India and Switzerland celebrated the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Friendship Treaty, an important milestone in the annals of our bilateral relations. In recognition of the growth of multi-faceted bilateral relationship in the past six...

India Japan relations have undergone a significant and qualitative shift in recent years, propelled by the successful regular summit level exchanges. From Japan, the then Prime Ministers Koizumi, Abe and Hatoyama visited India in April 2005, August 2007 and December 2009 respectively. From India , Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Japan in December 2006, October 2008 and again in October 2010. India Japan Cordial Relations The establishment of the Strategic and Global Partnership between India & Japan in December 2006 elevated relations to a new level. This Partnership is based on five pillars of cooperation viz., India Japan Political Relations , India Japan Defence and Security Cooperation ; Comprehensive Economic Partnership; Science and Technology Initiative; People-to-People exchanges and cooperation in Regional/Multilateral fora. During the visit of PM Abe to India in August 2007, a Roadmap for New Dimensions to the Strategic and Global Partnership ...

India and China have had ancient civilizational contact. In recent times, the process of development and diversification of bilateral relations has gathered pace. The focus is on enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation while simultaneously addressing differences. India China Political Relations The People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established on October 1, 1949, and India was the second non-communist country to recognize it. Within a few months, on April 1, 1950, India and China established diplomatic relations. The two countries also jointly expounded the Panchsheel (Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence) in 1954. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited India in June 1954 and Prime Minister Nehru visited China in October 1954. The circumstances leading to the attack by China in 1962 led to a serious setback in bilateral relations. India and China restored ambassadorial relations in August 1976. Higher political level contacts were revived by the visit of the then External Af...

India France Relations have traditionally been Cordial and close. With the establishment of the strategic partnership in 1998, there has been significant progress in all areas of bilateral cooperation through regular high-level exchanges at the Head of State/Head of Government levels and growing commercial exchanges including in strategic areas such as defence, nuclear energy and space. France was the first country with which India entered into an agreement on nuclear energy following the waiver given by International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group enabling India to resume full civil nuclear cooperation with the international community. Today India France relations are growing fast in important areas for the future, with wide-ranging cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields and on defence, space, science and technology, and education. India France Relations French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to India, 25-26 January, 2008 : Sarkozy pa...

Affiliations such as nationality are not only matters of entitlement, they all also involve attachment and responsibility. In a rapidly changing country, as India certainly i s, one of the duties that we have as Indians is to ask: what kind of a country this i s . This may lead to the further question: what does it demand of us, at this time? I am very aware that it is rather reckless to ask grand questions of such apparent naivety. But since I don't indulge in other dangerous activities, like taming lions, or being on the trapeze, or standing for parliamentary elections, perhaps I ought to show some bravery and foolhardiness here. Hence this lecture. Amartya Sen on Indian History , Indian Culture ,  Indian Politics and Indian Economy India is of course a large country, with a huge population. The relative size of the Indian population is not a new phenomenon, contrary to the presumption, which seems fairly common in the world today, that India has become relatively enormo...