Kishida Knocks; Punjab Pressure; Africa Anchor
Opinion Watch
Kishida Knocks
The Pioneer has said in an Editorial that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who revived the term Global South, is truly following his predecessor late Abe Shinzo’s ‘panoramic diplomacy’. It noted strong bilateral trade of $20.75 billion last year to stress convergence of vision between India and Japan.
The daily underlined that Japan sees an ally in India if a conflict breaks out with China. Kishida is spearheading Japan’s transition from a pacifist nation to a state of self-defence capabilities. The newspaper stressed that Kishida’s Global South be not misunderstood for the Nehruvian non-alliance, as he seeks greater collaborations among constituent nations.
Abe was the architect of the transformation of India-Japan relations. Kishida’s commitment of $75 billion for Indo Pacific nations to fund infrastructure development is timely. While the centrality of ASEAN is stated in the Indo Pacific, the geo-strategic sphere cannot be thought without India. Japan should step up technology collaboration with India to break the pacifist shyness.
Punjab Pressure
The Asian Age has said in its lead Editorial that the sudden popularity of terrorist Amritpal Singh brings a sense of doom and déjà vu. The daily noted with relief that Amritpal Singh has no political backing and local support unlike the events of the 1980s.
The daily has called for expeditious actions to ensure that the brainwashing of some in Canada and the UK doesn’t reach the domestic constituency. It stressed that peace in Punjab cannot be risked again.
It’s indeed perplexing why the crackdown against Amritpal Singh had to wait for so many weeks. He should have been nabbed on his first show of arms, and all his hideouts smashed to smithereens. This must be the standard operating procedure for the police and they shouldn’t look askance to the display of separatism by thugs who wear religious robes to cheat people.
Africa Anchor
India and Africa have shared heritage in ways they gained freedom from colonial rules. The Economic Times has asked the government to stay engaged with Africa and build deep bonds. The daily has counselled that alternative model of engagement with Africa in contrast to its stressed experiences with China be stepped up.
The business daily hailed the first ever defence enclave, the 10-day Africa-India Field Training Exercise. It argued that India is an ideal partner for Africa, while the continent is a big market for the Indian defence goods.
The DefExpo in Gandhinagar last year also had seen India and Africa holding scaling up their cooperation in the defence sector. Also, several Indian firms have heavily invested in Africa, including Egypt and South Africa. Africa has potential to become the next global economic growth engine. But India will indeed to raise the bar to counter China’s deep pocket, which is already inviting the ire of the African people.
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