(Current Affairs) India and The World | April: 2015

India & The World

India is world’s second most trusting nation: Survey

  • Moving up the ranks, India has emerged as the second most trusted country in the world in terms of faith reposed on its institutions even as globally trust levels have fallen, says a survey.

  • As the world’s rich and powerful gather in the Swiss resort of Davos, a study by public relations firm Edelman has found that general level of trust in institutions among college-educated people around the globe are at levels not seen since 2009 in many of the markets it surveyed.

  • Trust in institutions in India has improved sharply in 2015 with the country moving up three notches to the second place among 27 nations.

  • While the number of “truster” countries are at an all-time low of six in 2015 including UAE, India, China and Netherlands, the number of “distruster” countries has grown significantly to 13 including Japan, Russia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Italy.

  • Brazil, Malaysia, France and the US are among the 8 “neutral” nations as per the trust index, the survey said.

  • India, which last year saw the BJP-led NDA government storming to power at the Centre, stands tall.

  • According to the report, an “alarming evaporation of trust” has happened across all institutions, reaching the lows of the Great Recession in 2009.

  • Trust in government, business, media and NGOs in the general population is below 50 per cent in two-thirds of countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Germany, it said.

  • From fifth most trusted in 2014, India has now become the second-most trusted in 2015 with a score of 79 per cent in the barometer. The study has put India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image on the first page.

Vision statement on Asia-Pacific, Indian Ocean

  • After meeting for close to five hours, including an extended lunch, tea on the Hyderabad House lawns, and delegation level talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama issued three separate documents: a declaration of friendship with a commitment to regular summits, a joint statement called “Shared Effort, Progress for all”, and a joint strategic vision statement for the Asia-Pacific and the Indian ocean region.

  • The last document could raise eyebrows in China, when External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj visits Beijing next week, as it elaborates on the clauses in their previous joint statement for the disputed maritime region, and says, “We affirm the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea.”

  • Conspicuous by its absence was mention of “cross-border” terrorism or India’s issues with Pakistan, although the two sides repeated their September commitment to “disrupt” terror groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e- Mohammad, D Company and the Haqqani Network.

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