Page 20 - Bilateral Ties

'I'm looking forward': PM Modi on three bilateral meetings scheduled today

PM Modi is scheduled to meet Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, US President Joe Biden and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday

G20 Summit 2023: PM Modi to hold 15 bilateral meetings over three days

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold over 15 bilateral meetings with world leaders between Friday and Sunday as India hosts the G20 summit meeting over the weekend. Official sources said he will hold bilateral meetings with the US president and the Bangladeshi prime minister on Friday at his official residence. He will also hold a meeting with the leader of Mauritius. On Saturday, he will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the UK, Japan, Germany and Italy besides attending the G20 events. Modi will hold a working lunch meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, the sources said. The prime minister will also have a pull-aside meeting with his Canadian counterpart. He will also have bilateral meetings with the leaders of Comoros, Turkiye, the UAE, South Korea, the EU/EC, Brazil and Nigeria, they said.

Australia, China open high-level dialogue in 3 yrs in sign of slight thaw

Australia and China opened their first high-level dialogue in three years on Thursday in a sign of a slight thaw to relations between countries that have clashed on everything from human rights to COVID-19 origins to trade. I welcome the recent positive developments in the bilateral relationship, but we know that there is more work to do, said Craig Emerson, the head of the Australian delegation and a former trade minister. The dialogue being held in Beijing will focus on trade, people-to-people links, and security. China's former Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said the two countries should work together, but added that we should adhere to the liberalization of trade and jointly oppose the Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and trade protectionism. Beijing often uses those terms in opposing the actions of Western countries, particularly the US. During the freeze in relations with Beijing, Australia formed a nuclear partnership with the US and the United Kingdom that enables ...

Chinese Premier Li Qiang warns against 'new Cold War' at ASEAN summit

"At present, it is very important to oppose taking sides, bloc confrontation and a new Cold War," Li told the meeting

Tibetans not to protest against Chinese presence at G20 summit: Official

Tibetans in exile will not hold any protest against the Chinese here during a G20 Summit scheduled to be held later this week as Chinese President Xi Jinping will not be attending the meeting, a Tibetan delegate said. "We wanted to do some movement during the G20 meeting if Xi Jinping were to attend the summit. Now we have heard that he is not coming," Dawa Tsering, a member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, said. Tsering said since Xi Jinping came to power, he has been provoking the Indian government and the Indian people. "He (Xi) is torturing the Tibetan people and he did not allow small children to study their own language. If my son wants to become a monk, he does not allow it. It is a cultural genocide. He is worse than Mao Zedong," he said. Asked if the Tibetans would protest against the presence of a Chinese representative at the summit, Tsering said the protest would have taken place only if Xi Jinping had come to attend the meet. "We expect the Indian government to sta

Delegation of Australian ministers to visit China in sign of improving ties

A delegation of Australian federal ministers will attend a high-level dialogue in Beijing next week in a further sign of a warming of relations after a years-long chill. Delegates will discuss trade and investment, people-to-people links and regional and international security at the Sept. 7 gathering. This is the first time the dialogue has been held since early 2020 and it represents another step towards increasing bilateral engagement and stabilizing our relationship with China, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Saturday. The resumption of the talks was one of the outcomes of a meeting the minister held with China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, in Beijing in December. It provides an opportunity for representatives from both countries to discuss our perspectives and how we can grow our cooperation in areas of shared interest, Wong said. The resumed dialogue comes a month after China lifted a stifling 3-year-old tariff on Australian barley in a strong sign of th

Biden to travel to India on Sept 7; to have bilateral meeting with PM Modi

US President Joe Biden will travel to India on Thursday to attend the G20 summit on the sidelines of which he will also have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the White House has announced. India, President of the G20, will host global leaders for the Summit scheduled to take place on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi. On Thursday, the President will travel to New Delhi, India to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit, the White House said in a statement on Friday. On September 8, the President will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi. On Saturday and Sunday, the President will participate in the G20 summit, where the President and G20 partners will discuss a range of joint efforts to tackle global issues, including the clean energy transition and combating climate change. They will also mitigate the economic and social impacts of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, and increase the capacity of multilateral development banks, ...

Britain's foreign secretary will visit China in an attempt to shore up ties

Britain's top diplomat, James Cleverly, is set to visit China on Wednesday, in the first trip by a U.K. foreign secretary to the country in more than five years. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed the long-awaited trip on Tuesday. The two sides will have in-depth communication on Sino-British relations and international and regional issues of common concern, spokesman Wang Wenbin said. We hope the British side will work with us to uphold the spirit of mutual respect, deepen exchanges, enhance mutual understanding and promote the stable development of Sino-British relations. Cleverly's visit is an attempt to stabilize China-Britain ties, which have sunk to their lowest level in decades. The countries disagree over issues such as Beijing's curbing of civil freedoms in Hong Kong, a former British colony, alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, China's support for Russia and Britain's close security ties with the United States. Cleverly said in June he would

President Biden hosts Costa Rican Prez Rodrigo Chaves at White House

President Joe Biden is hosting Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves at the White House Tuesday, following an agreement between the two nations on possible legal pathways for migrants. The two leaders are expected to discuss how the two nations can work together to strengthen economic ties through new jobs, advance democracy and promote orderly migration. The Central American nation has emerged as an immigration hotspot, as migrants increasingly travel through the dangerous Darien Gap from Colombia into Central America and north into Costa Rica. In June, Costa Rica and the U.S. agreed to open potential legal pathways to the United States for some of the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants who are among the 240,000 asylum seekers in the Central American nation. Last year, Nicaraguans accounted for nine out of 10 applicants. The agreement was aimed at reducing the pressure on Costa Rica's overwhelmed asylum system and heading off asylum seekers who could give up on the slow process in

India's heart with US rather than China-led trade pact RCEP: Piyush Goyal

At a session with Chinese and US trade ministers, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said India did not join China-led RCEP as its trade deficit would have widened and New Delhi's "heart" is with Washington, hinting at the trade surplus with the US. The Commerce and Industry Minister's remarks at the B20 summit in the national capital while moderating the 'Trade Ministers' Session' where Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister in the Ministry of Commerce of China and US Trade Representative Catherine Tie were present. Goyal asked Wang if Beijing regretted that India chose not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). To this, Wang said China and India's trade relationship has been growing very fast and last year, the bilateral trade reached USD 130 billion. "If there had been an FTA agreement between China and India, either bilaterally or in RCEP context, the trade potential (that) exists between our two countries will be much further tapped in to the benefit of our tw

Brics calls for nations to work together on post pandemic economic recovery

BRICS leaders on Thursday urged the international community to support countries working towards post pandemic economic recovery and address the high debt levels in some nations. At the end of the BRICS Summit in South African capital, the grouping released the Johannesburg II Declaration that stressed on G20 -- a larger grouping of world's biggest economies -- playing the role of the premier multilateral forum to seek solutions to global challenges. The leaders stressed on the importance of encouraging the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions, and sought strengthening of correspondent banking networks between the BRICS countries and enabling settlements in the local currencies. They tasked finance ministers and central bank governors to consider the issue of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms. "We recognise the important role of BRICS countries working together to deal with risks and challenges to the world economy in achievin

EAM Jaishankar, Lavrov exchange views on bilateral, international issues

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday exchanged views on bilateral, international issues.The two ministers met during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.The two exchanged views on a wide range of bilateral and international issues, interaction within the UN, G20 and BRICS, as well as discussed practical steps to further develop trade and economic cooperation, logistics and financial interaction, as per the Russian Foreign Ministry.EAM Jaishankar on Wednesday tweeted: "Pleased to meet FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. A useful discussion on recent global developments."Lavrov congratulated Jaishankar on the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon. The Foreign Ministers agreed to remain in contact.Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday told a summit of the BRICS grouping that Moscow wants to put an end to the "war unleashed by the West".He said, "The desire of a

Chinese Prez Xi calls for Brics expansion speed up, security cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for accelerating the expansion of the BRICS grouping besides efforts to jointly fend off risks by increasing the political and security cooperation among the countries of the five-nation bloc. Xi, who skipped his attendance at the BRICS Business Forum on Tuesday sparking speculation about his absence, attended the Summit here on Wednesday where he pitched for more political and security cooperation among the member countries. He was the only leader absent from the BRICS Business Forum on Tuesday, with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reading a speech in his place that had a hardline message apparently aimed at the US. Asked why Xi had not attended the forum, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin sidestepped the question, telling reporters in Beijing on Wednesday that Xi's speech had been delivered. While his speech at the Business Forum hit out at the US saying that some country, obsessed with maintaining its hegemony,

High-level delegation led by Rupala to visit Norway from August 21-24

A high-level delegation led by Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala will visit Norway from August 21 to 24 to strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two nations in the field of fisheries and aquaculture. Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying L Murgan is also part of the delegation along with other officers. The delegation will hold bilateral discussions with the Norwegian Ministers and other key officials on various aspects of fisheries development, resource management, research, innovation and trade, an official statement said. The delegation will also attend the Aqua Nor 2023, the biannual aquaculture exhibition and trade fair in Trondheim, Norway. The delegation will interact with various Norwegian enterprises that have expertise in different aspects of fisheries and aquaculture, such as fish health, feed, genetics, equipment, processing and marketing. The delegation will also visit some of the state of

India, China set for bilateral talks on sidelines of Brics summit next week

"I am confident that as two nations, two countries, we will have direct talks, direct meetings," at the Aug. 22-24 summit, Chen Xiaodong, China's ambassador to South Africa said

PM Modi speaks to Iranian president Raisi to discuss bilateral ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke to Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and discussed matters of bilateral and regional importance, according to a statement. The two leaders reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, including realising the full potential of Chabahar Port as a connectivity hub. Modi highlighted that the India-Iran relationship is underpinned by close historic and civilisational connections, including strong people-to-people contact. The two leaders also discussed cooperation at multilateral forums, including expansion of BRICS, and looked forward to their meeting on the margins of the forthcoming BRICS summit in South Africa.

India, Italy to sign MoU in defence sector soon: Ambassador Vincenzo Luca

Italy's Ambassador to India Vincenzo De Luca has said the two countries would soon sign a bilateral pact in the defence sector to ramp up their military ties and maintained that Rome was working hard to contribute to the 'Make in India' programme. In a move to enhance navy-to-navy cooperation between the two countries, Italian Navy's warship ITS Morosini is on a port visit to Mumbai from August 10 to 13. Italian Navy officials will also meet the top brass of the Mumbai-headquartered Western Naval Command during this period. "We are working very hard to contribute to the programme of self-reliance, Make in India," Luca said on Thursday at a press conference here. He said that there are some specific technologies where Italy can add value to the Make in India programme, namely torpedo, helicopter, radar, electronic warfare and shipyard. Make in India is the Narendra Modi government's flagship programme that aspires to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill ...

China sends ships and fighter jets toward Taiwan in new show of force

China sent navy ships and a large group of fighter jets toward Taiwan, continuing its military pressure on the island, Taiwan's defense ministry said Thursday. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has regularly sent flights toward the island in reaction to the island's political activities. In the past year, it has also sent navy vessels as well as drones to circle the waters near the island. Taiwan's defense ministry said the Chinese People's Liberation Army sent 33 warplanes and 6 navy vessels between 6 a.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday. The J-10 and J-16 fighter jets flew across the midline and to the southwest of Taiwan. The ministry said in an earlier statement Wednesday that Taiwan's military tracked five of the ships as they sailed in coordination with the flights of the fighter jets. The ministry said it used land-based missile systems to track the aircraft, 10 of which crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that had been conside

Former president of Mongolia meets Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar

Former Mongolian President Enkhbayar Nambar called on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar here on Saturday. Both the leaders underlined the cherished ideals of democracy and freedom that form the foundation of India-Mongolia relations, the Vice President Secretariat said in a tweet. They also committed to further strengthen the spiritual, cultural and civilisational ties between the two nations.

India hands over Rs 45 cr to Sri Lanka to fund digital identity project

India has handed over INR 450 million in advance to Sri Lanka to fund its unique digital identity project, the most crucial step in the island nation's digitalisation programme being implemented through the Indian grant assistance. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe's office here said that the fund from the government of India was given on Friday. During a meeting at the Presidential Secretariat, key stakeholders, including Presidential Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff, Sagala Ratnayaka, State Minister of Technology, Kanaka Herath, Indian High Commissioner, Gopal Bagley, and First Secretary of the Indian High Commission, Eldos Mathew and others engaged in extensive discussions on the project's execution. Signifying the Indian government's commitment to the initiative, the Indian High Commissioner handed over a significant contribution of Indian Rs 450 million to Minister Kanaka Herath (State Minister of Technology), constituting 15 per cent