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India Foreign Policy
India's former Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal, tells Blueprint why the commonly stated idea of the United States (US) seeing India as a bulwark against China does not reflect India's priorities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that the importance India's efforts, innovations and opinions are receiving today never happened earlier. Speaking at the TV9 Summit on the theme of "What India Thinks Today", Modi said India is not only participating in the world order but also contributing to making its future safe and secure. Taking an apparent swipe at opposition parties for their criticism of probe agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED), he said those who looted the public money have had to return it. "The ED is being abused day and night. It has recovered over Rs 22,000 crore. This money is being returned legally to those from whom it was looted," he said. He said the country has travelled from aspiration to achievement and from desperation to development under his government's over 10-year tenure, citing its massive welfare programmes for health insurance, cooking gas cylinders, building toilets and supplying piped drinking water. India is now not only
Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Sunday said the signing of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework agreement with China during his recent trip and his meeting with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly were important in strengthening bilateral relations. The 72-year-old Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) leader said these meetings and visits have made meaningful contributions in strengthening Nepal's relations with neighbouring countries. Oli said this while presenting a political report at the central committee meeting of the party in Lalitpur. A balanced foreign policy based on mutual interest and equal benefits will be pursued keeping the national interest in focal point to further strengthen multi-faceted diplomacy, economic, social, cultural and trade relations with both the neighbours as well as all the friendly countries, Oli said. He also expressed his commitment to resolve the existing issues with the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a ceremonial welcome and Guard of Honour at the Bayan Palace here ahead of his talks with Kuwait's top leadership on Sunday. Modi reached Kuwait on Saturday for a two-day visit. He is visiting Kuwait at the invitation of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His visit is the first by an Indian Prime Minister to the Gulf nation in 43 years. The last Indian prime minister to visit Kuwait was Indira Gandhi in 1981. "PM @narendramodi arrives at the Bayan Palace in Kuwait to a ceremonial welcome and Guard of Honour. Warmly received by HH Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, PM of Kuwait," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X. Modi is set to hold extensive talks with the Amir, Crown Prince Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah and his Kuwaiti counterpart.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India can never permit others to have a veto on its choices and will do whatever is right in the national interest and for the global good without being intimidated to conform. In a video message for a function in Mumbai, he said when India is etched more deeply in global consciousness, its repercussions are truly profound. In a world grappling with unhealthy habits, stressed lifestyles or recurring climate events, there is much learning to be gained from India's heritage. But the world will only know when the countrymen take pride in it, he said. In an age of globalisation, technology and tradition must march together, said Jaishankar. Bharat will inevitably progress but it must do so without losing its Bharatiyata. Only then can we truly emerge as a leading power in a multi-polar world, he said. Jaishankar was conferred the 27th SIES Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati National Eminence Award. The awards are given in four fields Publi