Jaishankar in saddle, continuity expected in foreign policy & how Dalits are bearing heatwave brunt

India may maintain a ‘tough’ stance towards Pakistan while expanding influence in South Asia, say experts. CNN reports on insurance policy helping women workers cope with heat.

ZENAIRA BAKHSH, (Edited by Madhurita Goswami)

New Delhi: The reappointment of S. Jaishankar as India’s foreign minister indicates that the country’s foreign policy will remain as it has been in the last five years, says a Global Times report citing Chinese experts.

With Narendra Modi taking charge of the Prime Minister’s Office for a third term, Chinese Premier Li Qiang has conveyed China’s willingness “to push forward bilateral relations in the right direction”. Jaishankar, after his appointment, said India’s focus will be resolving border issues with China but, Chinese analysts say, “his continuous exaggeration of this issue constantly hinders the normal development of diplomatic relations”.

India has suppressed Chinese companies and suspended Chinese visas over the past few years, Long Xingchun, a professor at the School of International Relations at Sichuan International Studies University, tells the Global Times, warning of potential “countermeasures” by China if the Jaishankar-led ministry’s approach doesn’t change.

A Bloomberg opinion podcast, ‘A weakened Modi could make India stronger‘, by editor Rachel Rosenthal highlights how Modi finds himself in a weakened position in his third term. The 2024 poll results, Rosenthal says, have delivered him a sharp blow and resulted in a genuine coalition government, but this shift, she emphasises, signals a stronger democracy.

The editorial suggests that India’s focus on educating its workforce, enhancing productivity, and integrating them into the global value chain in the days ahead could make it a more reliable partner to other countries. It encourages Modi to heed the message of the voters, stressing the importance of his adapting to the new political landscape, through which India stands to gain domestically and as a global ally.

‘It’s so hot in India, an insurer is helping thousands of women buy food’ — a report by CNN editor Diksha Madhok says that Indian women, who work in the agriculture or informal sectors and face health risks and financial losses due to extreme heat, are receiving insurance payouts while temperatures soar past 40 degrees Celsius, this summer.

The insurance, underwritten by Swiss Re and provided by ICICI Lombard, has so far distributed over $340,000 or Rs 2,84,03,736, with 50,000 women in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat receiving roughly Rs 417 and some up to Rs 1,654. “This is the first time that insurance payouts and a direct cash assistance programme have been combined to supplement the income of women when it’s dangerously hot,” Kathy Baughman McLeod, CEO of Climate Resilience for All, a non-profit, tells Madhok.

DW report — ‘India’s heatwave hits marginalised Dalit caste’ — highlights the plight of Dalit workers such as Kanchan Devi, who works at a brick kiln and has been experiencing health issues, and construction worker Raheb Rajput, who lost his cousin to the extreme heat.

The extreme heat has killed more than 200 people and made tens of thousands ill in India so far, with socioeconomic factors such as caste exacerbating heat vulnerability, DW correspondent Midhat Fatimah writes. The challenges among vulnerable groups range from inadequate living conditions and lack of access to cooling amenities, Fatimah writes, pointing out that heat action plans, despite the United Nations Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, are inadequate. “Heat is the greatest inequality issue of our time,” Gulrez Shah Azhar, a former researcher with the Public Health Foundation of India, tells Fatimah.

The absence of Pakistani representation at Modi’s swearing-in ceremony highlights the nation’s foreign policy focus, says Biman Mukherjee in his article for South China Morning Post — ‘Under Modi 3.0, India’s China focus, Pakistan pressure, regional sway to persist’.

Leaders from other countries attended the swearing-in but Pakistan’s glaring absence signals India’s intent to strengthen regional ties while maintaining its firm stance against the country amid tensions over Kashmir, writes Mukherjee. He adds that the reappointment of S. Jaishankar as foreign minister also symbolises continuity.

In the article, analysts note India’s engagement with South Asian neighbours such as Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu despite previous tensions and assistance to neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka amid growing Chinese influence, which underscores its expanding regional influence. “Modi and his team have made sure India is a player on the world stage. India enjoys fantastic relations with numerous power blocs that can stop China’s dominance,” Chris Blackburn, a London-based international relations analyst, tells Mukherjee.

Russia’s ‘starvation tactics’, 50th G7 summit

A fresh analysis submitted to the international criminal court highlights that Russia engaged in a “deliberate pattern” of starvation tactics during the 85-day siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in early 2022, which could amount to a war crime. Read the full report in The Guardian.

The 50th G7 Summit from 13 to 15 June 2024 in Fasano, Apulia, Italy, will see the presence of leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US, along with EU representation. The conflicts in Russia-Ukraine and the Middle East, climate and energy, migration, food security, and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence are on the summit’s agenda. To know more, read the New York Times.

Courtesy : The Print

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