Progress with Pak,on and off with China

PAKISTAN: The bonhomie was back when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh extended an impromptu invitation to Pakistans Yousaf Raza Gilani for the World Cup semifinal between the two countries in Mohali. A full round of meetings on outstanding issues took place between officials,culminating in a visit by Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. There were irritants too,with a brush between an Indian and a Pakistani warships on the high seas. However,when an Indian helicopter strayed into Pakistans territory,it was released within hours.

AFGHANISTAN: India signed a strategic partnership agreement as Delhi enhanced its commitment to 2 billion. The pact,first by Afghanistan with any country,drew ire from Pakistan,but Afghan President Hamid Karzai allayed Islamabads concerns.

CHINA: Relations came back on track after a year of frostiness over stapled visas. The Prime Minister visited China for the BRICS summit in April. High-level defence exchanges were resumed. Then things went sour again by the year-end as border talks between special representatives were cancelled,since Beijing objected to a Dalai Lama conference in Delhi around the same time. The South China Sea also dominated discourse; Indian companies want to explore for oil there.

BANGLADESH: Relations made historic progress as the long-pending land boundary agreement was signed between the two Prime Ministers,along with the agreement on Teen Bigha. The matter took a twist when Mamata Banerjee blocked the Teesta water-sharing agreement. At stake is transit movement through Bangladesh to Indias Northeast.

N-LIABILITY: The civilian nuclear liability law issue came in the way of putting into operation Indias civilian nuclear agreements with the US,Russia and France. By the end of the year,nuclear liability rules were notified to bring clarity about the onus on nuclear suppliers in the event of accidents. Australia,meanwhile,lifted its moratorium on selling uranium to India,after the ruling Labour party voted in favour of this.

MAKING IT COUNT: India made significant interventions on Syria and Libya at the UN Security Council. These blocked attempts by France,US and UK to intervene in Syria.

PASSPORTS: After years of dragging its feet,the government rolled out passport seva kendras across the country. About 30 PSKs have been made operational. Karnataka,Tamil Nadu,Haryana,Punjab,Andhra Pradesh,the NCR and West Bengal have been covered so far.

2012

THAI GUEST: India will host Thailands PM as the Republic Day chief guest,part of a Look-East policy. Yingluck Shinawatra will be the third guest in a row from East and Southeast Asia,after the Indonesian and South Korean Presidents. India will also host the ASEAN-India commemorative summit.

REBUILDING: Relations with China will need to be reset. Diplomatic channels are already working on dates for border talks between special representatives. The effort is to schedule it before Chinese President Hu Jintao comes to India in March.

CONSOLIDATION: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will head for Pakistan,with Islamabad expected to roll out steps towards granting India Most Favoured Nation status. A Pakistani judicial commission for the 26/11 case is expected to visit India. The second round of talks on all major issues are to be held. Krishna will travel to Israel,too,the first such high-level political visit after more than a decade.

N-SUMMIT: India will participate in the nuclear security summit in March. New Delhi has proposed to set up a research centre on the outskirts of Delhi. Also,India and Japan are expected to resume formal nuclear negotiations and are likely to conclude an agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation.