Page 26 - Bilateral Ties

India, UAE central banks discuss rupee-dirham trade prospects: Official

The central banks of India and UAE are discussing a concept paper on promoting bilateral trade in rupee and dirham with a view to reduce transaction cost, a top official said on Friday. India's Ambassador to the UAE Sunjay Sudhir said that the concept paper for trade in local currencies was shared by India. The central banks of both the countries will discuss the standard operating procedures and modalities, he told reporters here. The objective of the exercise is to reduce the cost of transactions, he added. India and the UAE had already signed a free trade agreement (FTA) in February to give a fillip to bilateral trade and economic ties. The free trade agreement was aimed at providing significant benefits to Indian as well as UAE businesses, including enhanced market access and reduced tariffs. Following the free trade pact, bilateral trade is expected to increase from the current USD 60 billion to USD 100 billion in the next five years. Bilateral trade between India and the U

INS Trikand, INS Sumitra take part in bilateral exercise with Oman Navy

The Indian Navy's guided missile stealth frigate INS Trikand and offshore patrol vessel INS Sumitra have participated in the 13th edition of bilateral exercise 'Naseem Al Bahr' off the coast of Oman. The exercise, which was conducted from November 19-24, had three phases -- harbour phase, sea phase and debrief, officials said. Activities undertaken during the harbour phase included professional interactions between Indian Navy and Royal Navy of Oman operations teams and friendly sports fixtures between the two navies, they said. "The Indian Navy's guided missile stealth frigate, INS Trikand, offshore patrol vessel, INS Sumitra, and Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), Dornier, participated in the 13th edition of the Indian Navy (IN)-Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) bilateral exercise 'Naseem Al Bahr' (Sea Breeze)," a Navy official said. Indian Navy ships Trikand and Sumitra, along with RNO ships Al Shinas and Al Seeb, sailed for the sea phase. IN-MPA Dornier, RNO MPA and shore-based RAFO fighte

Australian Parliament clears path for free trade agreement with India

Both nations prepare for New Year roll-out; DTAA with New Delhi amended, too

FATF chief, ministers of Nigeria, Ethiopia hold bilateral meet Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday held a number of bilateral meetings, including with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) chief, and discussed with them various issues of mutual interests such as terrorism. In his meeting with FATF chief T Raja Kumar, Shah emphasised that there is need for the FATF to continuously monitor the tendencies of some countries to sponsor terrorism. "In the bilateral meeting with FATF President, Shri T Raja Kumar, Hon'ble Home Minister Shri @AmitShah while appreciating the role of FATF, emphasised that there is need for FATF to continuously monitor the tendencies of some of the countries to sponsor terrorism," Shah's office tweeted. The FATF president lauded the initiative taken by India for hosting 'No Money For Terror (NMFT)' conference and expressed the willingness of FATF to work closely for working on Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) issues under India's G-20 priorities. At the conference, Kumar also calle

Australian PM Anthony Albanese to visit India next March to lock trade deal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Australia next year for the Quad Leaders' meeting. And then he will return to India later in the year for the G20 Summit, a statement by the Australian PM said.

Italian PM vows cooperation for India's G20 presidency, bilateral ties

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also reaffirmed support for what she described as the still unexpressed growth potential of bilateral relations

Indian mission holds musical night in Vietnam to celebrate bilateral ties

Musical evening by 'Indian Ocean Band' was held at Hanoi Opera House to mark 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Sitharaman, Yellen urge bilateral cooperation amid geopolitical uncertainty

Visiting US official speaks about 'shared goals' on climate change, debt burden of developing countries

Vice Prez Dhankhar leaves for Cambodia to attend ASEAN-India summit

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday embarked on a three-day visit to Cambodia, where he will attend the ASEAN-India summit and the East Asia Summit. Cambodia is hosting these summits in its capacity as the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During his visit, the vice president will hold a bilateral meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. He will also hold meetings with leaders from several other countries. This is Dhankhar's first foreign visit since he assumed office in August this year. He is accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The ASEAN-India summit is expected to review the status of the strategic partnership between the two sides and take stock of the cooperation in areas of trade, investment and connectivity. According to the government, Dhankhar will attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in Phnom Penh on November 12. This year marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations and is being celebrated

Looking for competition, not conflict with China: US President Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden has said he is looking for competition and not conflict with China. Biden is likely to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, later this month. During the meeting, Biden told reporters here on Wednesday, the two leaders are expected to talk to each other about their national interests and the red line. I've met with him many times. And I've told him I'm looking for competition, not conflict. So, what I want to do with him when we talk is lay out what kind of each of our red lines are, understand what he believes to be in the critical national interests of China, what I know to be the critical interests of the United States and to determine whether or not they conflict with one another, he said in response to a question. And if they do, how do we resolve it and how to work it out. The Taiwan doctrine has not changed at all from the very beginning, the very beginning. So, I'm sure we'll discuss a number o

Iranian, Russian security officials discuss Ukraine crisis, bilateral ties

Shamkhani noted that Iran welcomes and supports any initiative that leads to a ceasefire and peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and is ready to play a role in ending the conflicts

FS Vinay Kwatra meets Pentagon official, discusses bilateral defence ties

Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra met US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kahl and the two senior officials discussed initiatives to further advance the bilateral defence cooperation and underlined the importance of the 'India-US Major Defence Partnership' which has helped in shaping the future of the Indo-Pacific region. Kwatra, currently on an official visit to the US, met Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Monday and discussed Indo-US ties and ways to further advance their bilateral security and regional cooperation, the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and Ukraine. During the meeting on Tuesday Kahl and Kwarta discussed initiatives to advance bilateral defence cooperation ahead of the next 2+2 Ministerial meeting in New Delhi, a media release said. "It was a pleasure meeting w/Indian Foreign Secretary @AmbVMKwatra this afternoon. We discussed a range of bilateral initiatives to advance the US-India defence partnership and promote a #FreeandOpenIndoPacific ...

Shehbaz Sharif meets Xi Jinping in Beijing, discusses mutual cooperation

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Sharif said that they also "agreed to increase multilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan, including CPEC, and further strengthen the strategic partnership".

India, Australia discuss early closure of trade deal signed 7 months ago

Both nations to hold annual joint ministerial commission meeting early next year

India, China trade crosses $100 bn during Jan-Sept; deficit up at $75 bn

India and China bilateral trade continued to boom, crossing USD 100 billion for the second year in the first nine months of 2022 while India's trade deficit climbed to over USD 75 billion, according to trade data released by Chinese customs. The total bilateral trade, amidst the military standoff in eastern Ladakh, went up to USD 103.63 billion, registering a 14.6 per cent increase compared to last year during the same period. China's exports to India climbed to USD 89.66 billion, registering an increase of 31 per cent, data released by China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) said. However, India's exports in the past nine months stood at USD 13.97 billion, registering a decline of 36.4 per cent. As a result, the total trade deficit went up to over USD 75.69 billion. Last year, the India-China bilateral trade hit a record high of over USD 125 billion crossing the USD 100 billion mark in a year when the relations touched a new low due to the standoff by the militaries in ..

Pakistan, China to launch 3 new corridors besides CPEC, says report

Pakistan and China have decided to jointly launch three new projects in addition to the existing multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as the all-weather allies seek to ramp up bilateral ties in various sectors, including agriculture, health and science and technology. Speaking at the China Economic Net (CEN) in Beijing, Pakistan's Ambassador to China Moinul Haq said the three new projects are China-Pakistan Green Corridor (CPGC), China-Pakistan Health Corridor (CPHC) and China-Pakistan Digital Corridor (CPDC), The New International newspaper reported on Saturday. The first will focus on agricultural environment, food security and green development and the second will help Pakistan get efficiency in the medical field, while the third will boost Pakistan's IT industry, it said. Ambassador Haque said Pakistan has a rich repertoire of talent and human resources in different fields of science and technology, asserting that IT-based science and technology has becom

'No good relations with Pak at cost of India's integrity,' says MoS Lekhi

Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi on Thursday ruled out any talks with Pakistan at the cost of India's integrity

India-UK trade deal on verge of 'collapse' over visa comments: Report

The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is reportedly on the verge of collapse after the Indian government was angered by comments made by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman questioning action over visa overstayers from the country, a UK media report claimed on Wednesday. The Times' newspaper quoted government sources to say that ministers in New Delhi were shocked and disappointed by the disrespectful remarks made by Braverman, who said she had concerns of an open borders offer to India as part of an FTA. The likelihood of meeting the Diwali deadline for the pact, set by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is now believed to be diminishing. There's still a lot of goodwill but if certain individuals are still embedded in the [UK] government it will paralyse the talks, the newspaper quoted a source as saying. Last week, Braverman, the Indian-origin Home Secretary said in an interview that she feared a trade deal with India would increase migration to the UK when Indians already ...

India-UK free trade deal stuck on free access to skilled workers

Any failure to conclude a trade accord with Britain will be a missed opportunity for India, a nation upon which many economies are pinning their hopes amid intensified geopolitical struggles

EAM Jaishankar arrives in Canberra to 'Tiranga welcome' for bilateral talks

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Canberra "to a Tiranga welcome" as he prepares to hold talks with the top leadership of Australia to further enhance bilateral cooperation