The US seeks a package deal with a truce by the Taliban as a pre-condition to other elements like a US troop withdrawal being announced. Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale was in Beijing to meet foreign minister Wang Yi five days before China’s Belt and Road Initiative conclave begins on April 25. Around 37 heads of state and 150 nations are expected. Some urgent orders have now been placed for air defence missiles, rockets and anti-tank ammunition. It could affect future US military cooperation because of interoperability issues with US military equipment.No doubt it will also try making sense of the current election scenario. Pakistan made two significant Cabinet changes.On the positive side, Mr Modi has taken past openings with the Gulf, Japan, Israel and the US and expanded trusts level with personalised diplomacy. The prolonged elections increase electoral toxicity and put the nation on tenterhooks for well over a month. This, if achieved, could make Pakistan economically prosperous and boost its military’s arms acquisitions. Did the UAE belatedly realise it had interfered enough in India’s domestic politics and used the approaching Ramzan as an excuse to not host Mr Modi?Ties with Russia and China also demand attention.

However, others like *** and now Russia and China would see India as excessively US-dependent. Domestic audiences would have lapped up his success in planting a saffron flag in Arabian sands. The Taliban seek a step-by-step approach, getting desired concessions first like a withdrawal date and prisoner release. A senior US state department official is in India this week to discuss bilateral and regional issues, and will hopefully brief South Blockon Afghanistan. There is the China cnc wire forming machine unsettled Afghan peace process. With sovereignty questions involved, it’s unlikely India will compromise given the politically-surcharged atmosphere back home even if China was to relent on the listing of terrorists. However, the latest round in Doha hit a wall as the Taliban objected to the Afghan delegation’s size, though the real problem was the inclusion, for the first time, of elements from the Afghan government, with which Taliban refuse to engage. Multiple events are occurring or expected to take place in this period. Despite US warnings, Huawei’s technology has been accepted by Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Prime Minister Imran Khan has inducted high-profile ministers in his office to oversee the economy as Pakistan’s 13th IMF bailout still remains unresolved. India is marginal to the process, having to rely on US commitments, as is the Afghan government of President Ashraf Ghani.In Afghanistan, the Taliban began a spring offensive despite simultaneously holding talks with the US special envoy, ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad. By opting for Pakistan-baiting in the Indian elections, the BJP has complicated regional equations that Mr Modi or his successor will need to untangle. US statesman Zbignew Brzezinski said before he died that the US should not let Russia and China converge to challenge it. Of course, the US priority will be to discuss trade, defence equipment sales and the *** sanctions. Imran Khan thus shrewdly got Pakistan out of the Indian electoral battle, realising he will have to deal with whoever is the next Prime Minister. Indo-Russian relations have oscillated between functionally cordial and occasionally suspicious as Mr Putin would perceive India in the US’ strategic embrace, and having diminished dependence on Russian weapons.. This signals the Pakistan Army’s firmer and more direct control over internal security. Normally Prime Minister Modi would have loved to go, both for this and to receive the award conveniently conferred by the Nahyan ruling family in the middle of the Indian election. India has a similar challenge with Pakistan and China. Much-praised finance minister Asad Umar resigned when offered a less important portfolio. Russian President Vladimir Putin, still under the shadow of interference in the US presidential election, also conferred Russia’s highest award on Mr Modi while the Lok Sabha polls are under way.Over 10 days after the Lok Sabha elections began, only the third phase out of seven is under way. Additionally, Idaz Shah, a protégé of former President Pervez Musharraf and whom Benazir Bhutto named as a threat to her life before her assassination, becomes the new interior minister. In Abu Dhabi, the foundation stone was laid of what is said to be the first Hindu temple on April 20. Then, turning to India, Mr Khan surprisingly said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election in India would be helpful for settling India-Pakistan disputes. China wants India to relent but India, like the US, is holding back. This embarrassed the BJP, relying solely on a national security narrative in its campaigning and painting the Opposition as Pakistan-friendly. Why the Election Commission devised this tedious process, whereby polling in some larger states like Uttar Pradesh has also been salami-sliced into a corresponding seven phases, is foxing? If elections to Tamil Nadu’s 38 seats could be held in just one day, why not in two or three phases in UP or West Bengal? Indonesia this month, with 190 million voters versus 900 million in India, had a one-day paper ballot poll to five different institutions, ranging from presidential to local.

An altered conventional military balance between India and Pakistan could either help with the dialogue, if Pakistan chooses economic prosperity over rivalry, or worsen the South Asian standoff as historically the Pakistani military has been risk-prone in attempting to alter the status quo over Kashmir. Similarly, Sino-Indian relations hit a bump despite the Wuhan understanding as China stood by its ally Pakistan to yet again block Masood Azhar’s listing by the 1267 UNSC committee. Thus, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed is simply taking this legacy a step further. It’s not a great passing of the diplomatic baton.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan first speculated that Pakistan was on the verge of finding a major oil/gas field in the Arabian Sea, where a consortium led by ExxonMobil is prospecting. An assertive China is gaining support in Asia for its BRI and even Huawei’s 5G rollout.More significantly, the nation’s foreign and national security policy is put on the backburner in the interregnum. Except that in 2001, when I was ambassador in Abu Dhabi, late UAE President Sheikh Zayed had allotted a huge plot in Musaffah, Abu Dhabi, for a cremation ground in which a temple to conduct the last rites was approved.The next Indian government will have its hands full. The next government’s challenge would be to rebalance relations with both camps.

It was to convince myself of my own resilience.As the world grappled with the terrible human غير مجاز مي باشدt of this deranged mentality, there were far more questions than answers in my own mind. I even contemplated instructing her on what to do in the event of an attack that left me incapacitated or dead. I stopped walking my girl to school, citing snowy sidewalks as an excuse, and driving the short distance just to avoid crossing paths with potentially crazed individuals who lived in an alternate reality of white supremacy. My experience in Canada is that practising Muslims might not go to a mosque to pray on weekdays, but each one of them tries to make it to the weekly congregational prayer. Most worrying, in particular, is the rise of Islamophobia. Praying in a mosque was perilous: no one knew if the ideas that spurred Tarrant into carrying out this appalling act resonated with the wider community of right-wing extremists.No wonder that the likes of Tarrant had no qualms about killing Muslims. I chided myself for having gone there in the first place.This time, it was not the spiritual or social connections that took me there.

It meant putting up a brave front in the face of these adverse times, so I did my ablutions, and drove to the mosque for Friday prayers.By arrangement with Dawn. They were holding me down.I could hardly stay focused on the imam’s sermon, as my mind and eyes wandered around in all directions. After the spring break at school, my daughter continued to wear outgrown shoes that pinched her toes, because I refused to go to the mall. Meanwhile tabloids in the UK were no better, as they directed latent antipathy and a general mistrust towards Muslim minorities in the world with misleading, and often, caustic headlines. Canada too has seen such right-wing terrorist attacks: in 2017, a 29-year-old man stormed into the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre and shot people gathered for prayers, killing six and injuring five.Two years ago I landed in Canada, a society that prides itself on being open, multi-faith and multi-racial. And there was indeed strength in being united — even amidst fear, worry and tears. I was apprehensive about my first move to a country where I was no longer a religious majority. There might be people who think their homelands should be for their "own people", and were ready to spill innocent blood to achieve that goal.However, in these same societies also live those who find faults with this social integration. The depth of China machine spring this hatred on the web seemed sufficient to inspire mass killings anywhere in the world, not just in faraway New Zealand. For Muslim immigrants, this is as much an opportunity to stay in touch with their community, as it is to connect with the Almighty. New Zealand was no exception.My routine has been different for the past month, though — ever since the deadliest gun attack in New Zealand’s history left 50 worshippers dead and 50 more wounded inside two mosques in Christchurch. I looked for nooks and corners in the prayer hall where I could hide my daughter just in case a mass killer decided to target our community mosque.My daughter and I go to the mosque for Friday prayers as a regular practice.Muslim immigrants have been recipients of such hospitality all around the world.In the aftermath of the Christchurch attacks, I debated my decision to immigrate to Canada, given the rise of extremist elements in the West, and the biased stance of the media, particularly American TV channels. In fact, minorities within the Muslim immigrant communities, often persecuted in their own homelands, have found solace in open-minded societies.Unfortunately, my adult brain was still ringing with words from the 74-page manifesto of Brenton Tarrant, the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque massacre. But I let it be.

Factoring in the time difference, when I walked into the prayer hall, it had been a mere twelve hours since the massacre. The immigration officer examined my papers, and then handed me my passport and said, "Welcome to Canada, ma’am".As more details of the attacks emerged, I became outright paranoid. With this thought in mind, I shrugged away my apprehensions, and stood alongside 200 other Muslim women, to pray. The same feelings as mine were mirrored in the eyes of several fellow worshippers. Knowing as I did how much my daughter enjoys her trips to the mosque, I didn’t want to instil fear in her innocent mind. It seems like mainstream Muslims and their minority factions are now in the same boat, clubbed together in the eyes of Islamophobic terrorists. In alarm, I spent the next three Fridays at home.On CNN, I noticed TV presenters’ casual bigotry in talk shows and interviews with Muslim leaders and activists, with most viewers justifying it as innocent, journalistic enquiry.However, four weeks after the Christchurch shootings, I realised I had to reject my negative emotions.

5 Industrial output is expected to have increased 5.Economists polled by Reuters expected a further pullback to 6.But top officials have repeatedly vowed not to resort to "flood-like" stimulus like that rolled out in past downturns, which led to a mountain of debt.China’s economic growth cooled to 6.Retail sales are seen growing 8.3 per cent in the January-March quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the first quarter of 1992, the earliest quarterly data on record.Analysts polled by Reuters expect China to report gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.3 per cent in the first two months, which was the weakest pace in 17 years.6 per cent in 2018, weighed down by multi-year clampdowns on riskier lending and pollution that have deterred fresh investment, and by escalating U.Economists in the latest Reuters poll released on Friday (ahead of the credit data) forecast three more cuts to RRR of 50 basis points each in this quarter and the next two, but do not expect the central bank to cut its benchmark lending rate this year or next.

The central bank has already slashed banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) five times over the past year and is widely expected to ease policy further in coming quarters to spur lending and reduce borrowing غير مجاز مي باشدts, especially for small and private firms vital for growth and job creation.In March, Beijing announced billions of dollars in additional tax cuts and infrastructure spending on top of measures last year.4 per cent, better than the Wholesale wnj spring machinery company 8.SIGNS OF SPRINGMarch data will provide more details on the health of China’s domestic demand, covering industrial output, retail sales, property sales and investment, and fixed asset investment.4 per cent, but policymakers and investors are more likely to focus on any signs of a turnaround in March activity data, which will be released at the same time on Wednesday.Beijing: China’s first-quarter economic growth likely cooled to the weakest pace in at least 27 years, a Reuters poll showed, but a flurry of measures to boost domestic demand may have put a floor under slowing activity in March.Support measures will take time to fully kick in, and corporate balance sheets are expected to remain under stress if profits are slow to recover from their worst slump in more than seven years.Premier Li Keqiang recently said "changes" in the economy in March had exceeded expectations, with the economy operating in a steady manner in the first quarter.4 per cent in the first quarter, easing from 1. and Chinese tariffs on each others’ goods.That would mark a further loss of momentum from the previous quarter’s 6.MORE POLICY SUPPORT SEEN NEEDEDWhile some economists have reduced expectations of further policy easing in light of recent, largely upbeat data, most believe further support is needed to ensure a sustainable recovery.2 per cent in 2019 - the slowest in nearly 30 years.But analysts do not expect a sharp rebound in China’s economy like recoveries in the past, which created a strong reflationary pulse worldwide, noting its latest stimulus measures have so far been relatively more restrained.1 per cent in the first two months of the year.Analysts say unexpectedly strong March credit data on Friday set the stage for a recovery in investment in the second half of the year, though export and import readings were mixed, suggesting domestic demand remains sluggish.3 per cent in the first quarter on-year from 6.Business surveys for March had shown the manufacturing sector unexpectedly return to growth, while service sector activity accelerated, but analysts have cautioned some of the March gains were likely due to seasonal boosts.

Further evidence of Beijing’s infrastructure spending spree is expected in fixed-asset investment, which is expected to grow 6. [ECILT/CN]The global economy is slowing more than expected and a sharp downturn could require world leaders to coordinate stimulus measures, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday as it cut its forecast for 2019 world economic growth for the third time.China’s auto sales fell for the ninth straight month in March but the pace of decline slowed, industry data showed, as carmakers reduced prices to boost business after Beijing handed out tax cuts to spur consumer spending.On a sequential basis, economists estimated GDP grew 1.Signs of improvement in the world’s second-largest economy would add to growing optimism that Washington and Beijing are nearing a trade deal, reviving business confidence and easing worries of a significant slowdown in global growth.9 per cent from a year earlier, quickening from 5.2 per cent in the first two months.

. Among others, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das is also slated to attend the IMF-World Bank meetings.This is Jaitleys first official visit overseas after he underwent a renal transplant surgery in May 2018.The investor round-table talks on the topic Indias reforms & economic outlook were organised by the US India Business Council (USIBC), industry chamber CII, and US stock exchange Nasdaq on Tuesday. The minister is likely to return on April 15.New York: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is visiting the US to attend the IMF-World Bank meeting, addressed investors in New York on Tuesday on issues concerning reforms and economic outlook.Arun Jaitley Wholesale machine for making spring would travel to Washington for attending the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from April 12 to 14. He had travelled to the US in January this year for medical treatment. Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg also attended the round-table meet.

It would be realpolitik on India’s part to perceive that the Wuhan spirit with China pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not taken as being of advantage only to India. What Pakistan may have told China is that without more active interference in Kashmir, it ran the risk of the Indian security forces smothering the local movement, something akin to what the situation was in 2011-13. However, whatever happens, India needs to remain engaged with China to progressively sensitise it to the fact that all its interests do not necessarily lie in the actions Pakistan may take against India and Afghanistan. The United States intends to withdraw its last 14,000 Wholesale CNC Wire Bending Machine Factory troops from Afghanistan, and hopes for some kind of deal with the Taliban to enable that, with Pakistan as the intermediary. It will help in China imposing greater caution on Pakistan, that may yet treat Chinese advice with less seriousness than it should with reference to the India policy.

That would have meant Beijings acceptance of the proposal, against its three earlier instances of rejecting it. In addition, the strategic isolation of Pakistan would upset any future economic bailout of Pakistan by international monetary institutions and force China to invest even more in rescuing its strategic partner from utter bankruptcy. Third, China has invested just too much in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). For India, it is vital to continue its diplomatic campaign against Pakistan, unlike the past when such efforts on our part flagged off with time. The move against Masood Azhar was too close to acceptance this time. Internationally, there was a furore against the Pakistan-supported JeM terror strike involving the car bomb attack at Pulwama, that led to the killing of over 40 Indian securitymen. In CPEC, it has invested its own outreach to a potential economic empire in Africa and the Middle East.Some people in India were applying reason and rationale to the context of the UN Security Council move to declare Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist.What’s the geopolitics involved in this decision? Simply, all that is happening in Southwest Asia is virtually an extension of the New Great Game! The area is one of the worlds most turbulent hotspots, and highly unstable too. Behind the scenes, China has been advising Pakistan not to trigger any more turbulence with India, but it can’t go against Pakistan’s interests in the India context by having it isolated internationally. Many in India felt that China, in this black and white situation, would not like to be singled out as a state supporting another that sponsors terror and غير مجاز مي باشد war in a neighbouring country. In fact, Pakistan’s isolation would have been a huge Indian foreign policy success, which would tempt maverick Pakistani terrorist groups to attempt further targeting of Indian interests in Kashmir. Pakistans public is not too enthused, and socially it is meeting resistance, especially over the presence of Chinese labour and management. But more thananything else, the muscular security policy must be balanced by many  more conversations with the Kashmiri people. Subtle mesغير مجاز مي باشدing over the Wuhan spirit going haywire in the course of the Chinese support to Pakistan is a strategic necessity.Is Pakistan likely to follow China’s advice and at least temporarily stop active interference in Kashmir through its subsidiaries? It appears there could be a hiatus as far as big ticket events is concerned. The latter has now climbed higher notches in the escalation matrix, bringing the potential that the response to another major terror act could be more intense, bringing the two sides closer to armed confrontation of varying intensity. Pakistan clearly miscalculated Pulwama and India’s response. The focus on intelligence against potential use of explosives in another form must remain live. Election time is not a bad time for that.

It will need to reconfigure its strategy. As far as the ongoing activities to bring more alienation, infiltration through the early spring and summer and prevention of a large voter turnout for the parliamentary elections are concerned, the Deep State will be more than active.There is little potential for Southwest Asia stabilising any time in the near future, and China will continue playing to its perception of interests that focuses on putting many eggs in the Pakistani basket. Afghanistan is a messy affair, with multiple scenarios that could emerge over the next few months.. We must never regard the absence of violence as any form of approaching normality. The Chinese want the Americans out from the region and dont want to create a situation where Pakistans role as an intermediary is compromised as that may set back the US withdrawal. If Imran Khan is weakened, it will only be at the غير مجاز مي باشدt of even greater strengthening of the Pakistan Army and the Deep State, whose actions could be unpredictable even to the Chinese. By not holding Pakistans hand in its moment of crisis and possible isolation, China would open itself to greater compromise internally within Pakistan.What China may have advised Pakistan behind closed doors is to take a step back over sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir. Through Pulwama, it would have hoped for greater reaction against Kashmiris and more communal colour to India’s politics, something it always sees as a strategic advantage to itself. The treatment meted out to the Uyghur minority has the potential of putting it on the backfoot, though on human rights it has always resisted international pressure. However, little did we realise that geopolitics matters more than sentiment to decide China’s stand on international security issues. India did almost play intothat gameplan, but fortunately pulled back from the brink. As it stays on the defensive on the US trade wars and the potential of a not-too-stable Southwest Asia region, it may not wish to create fresh rumblings in its external relations. China stands much to gain from stabilising its ties with its southern neighbour. Second, China wouldnt like to see a major embarrassment for the Imran Khan government because Pakistan has run out of political options, with its other two mainstream parties in the doghouse. Countries like France and Britain were transformational in their approach to proscribing the JeM chief and in turn isolating Pakistan, much against the transactional attempts in the past. There can be no compromise with that long-term objective.