Page 27 - Bilateral Ties

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

Morocco, Saudi Arabia vow to strengthen bilateral trade cooperation

Morocco and Saudi Arabia have pledged to boost trade and economic cooperation at a bilateral economic forum held in Casablanca, the commercial hub city of Morocco

FM to attend World Bank-IMF annual meeting, drive investor outreach

May hold bilateral meetings with counterparts of other nations. There could also be a G-20 meeting on the sidelines, with focus on India's upcoming presidency of the multi-nation grouping

India hands over locally-made motorbikes to Lebanon as bilateral assistance

India on Monday handed over indigenously produced motorbikes to Lebanon and also announced organising an artificial limb fitment camp in the west Asian country. The Made-in-India motorbikes, a part of bilateral assistance, were handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants during the two-day visit of Ausaf Sayeed, Secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs) to Lebanon. Sayeed called on Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of Lebanon Abdallah Bou Habib and discussed a range of bilateral, regional, and international issues of mutual interest. Sayeed also met Hani Chemaitelly, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrant. Both sides identified key areas of bilateral cooperation during the meeting, including trade, people-to-people contact, vocational training, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said. Sayeed was also scheduled to meet the Governor of Beirut City. During his visit, Sayeed also announced that

Very confident about India-US bilateral relationship: EAM S Jaishankar

Having played a key role in shaping the India-US ties over the past few decades, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said he is very bullish about this bilateral relationship. "So very frankly, that's a long way of saying that I'm very bullish about that relationship," Jaishankar told reporters at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he responded to a question on his overall sense of the trajectory of the relationship. "The big change that I have seen in my four decades as a diplomat was actually in the transformation of India-US relations," he said. "And your question how do I see the trajectory quite honestly, I see today a United States very international, very much more to engaging very much more open to engaging a country like India, which is actually thinking beyond traditional alliances, which has been very effective at finding common ground with potential or actual partners," Jaishankar said. And a very good example of all th

India, US express need to boost defence ties amid rising global challenges

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday agreed that the global situation this year has become more challenging, especially due to the challenges in the Indo-Pacific, and underscored the need to further strengthen the bilateral relationship, in particular the defence ties. The remarks came amidst China's increasingly intimidatory behaviour in the region. Jaishankar is here in the American Capital for bilateral consultations with several US Cabinet ministers, including his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken. I do share with you that the global situation has become far more challenging this year (due to) a variety of reasons, the Indo-Pacific in particular," Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the top of his meeting with Austin at the Pentagon here. "It's important that the stability, security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific should be secured. That is best done amongst others by cooperation between two countries," he .

Jaishankar discusses Ukraine, G20 and UN reforms with Russia's Lavrov

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that he had a wide-ranging conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during which they discussed a number of issues, including bilateral cooperation, the Ukraine conflict, G20 and UN reforms as he described Russia a "major partner in many domains." Jaishankar made the remarks during his interaction with a group of Indian reporters after his meeting with Lavrov on the margins of the UN General Assembly session, just hours before his address to the UN General Debate on Saturday. "We discussed a number of issues. Some part of my meeting was focused on our bilateral cooperation because Russia is a major partner in many domains," Jaishankar said while responding to a question by PTI on his meeting with Lavrov. "A wide-ranging conversation with FM Sergey Lavrov at #UNGA 77. Discussed our bilateral cooperation. Exchanged views on Ukraine, G-20 and UN reforms," Jaishankar had tweeted after his meeting with Lavrov. To another ...

Indian envoy calls on Sri Lankan PM Gunawardena, discusses bilateral issues

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay has called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and discussed wide-ranging bilateral issues, including investments, shared heritage and capacity building in the crisis-hit island nation. India has been the biggest provider of aid this year to its southern neighbour, which is fighting its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades and struggling to pay for imports. The Indian High Commission last week held the first round of talks with the Sri Lankan Government on restructuring the bilateral official debt of the island nation. The discussions symbolise India's support to early conclusion and approval of a suitable IMF Programme for Sri Lanka, for which financing assurances from creditors to make Sri Lanka's debt sustainable are required, it had said in a statement after the talks. "High Commissioner called on H.E PM @DCRGunawardena. Discussed broad ranging bilateral issues of common interest including investments, shared herit

Turkish President Erdogan rakes up Kashmir issue during UNGA address

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday once again raked up the Kashmir issue during his address to world leaders at the high-level UN General Assembly session here. "India and Pakistan, after having established their sovereignty and independence 75 years ago, they still haven't established peace and solidarity between one another. This is much unfortunate. We hope and pray that a fair and permanent peace and prosperity will be established in Kashmir," Erdogan, a close ally of Pakistan, said at the General Debate. His comment comes less than a week after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on Friday during which they reviewed the full range of bilateral relations and discussed ways to deepen cooperation in diverse sectors. In recent years, the Turkish leader has referred to the Kashmir issue in his address to world leaders at the high-level UN General Assembly sessions, causing

Goyal to visit Saudi for ministerial meet of economic, investment committee

India and Saudi Arabia are expected to formulate a plan of action for strengthening bilateral cooperation in different areas and projects, including the west coast refinery project, an official statement said on Saturday. The issue will come up during the meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman on September 18-19. They would co-chair the inaugural ministerial meeting of the Economic and Investments Committee. The two ministers are expected to discuss the progress made under the various joint working groups of the economic and investment committee, the commerce ministry said. "Both sides are expected to formulate plan of action for further strengthening bilateral cooperation in an array of priority areas and projects, including the West Coast Refinery Project, Trans-ocean grid connectivity, Green Hydrogen, Food security, energy security and pharmaceuticals," it said. They may also accelerate ...

Cyprus hails full lifting of US weapons embargo, focus bilateral ties

Cyprus on Saturday hailed the full lifting of a US arms embargo on the ethnically divided island nation as a milestone reaffirming increasingly tighter bilateral bonds that serve to bolster stability in the turbulent east Mediterranean region. The Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Cyprus-US strategic partnership aims at creating the necessary conditions for regional security and stability. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement that Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined Cyprus met the conditions to allow for exports, re-exports and transfers of defense articles .. .for the fiscal year 2023. The US will assess annually whether Cyprus complies with conditions for the embargo lift, including implementing anti-money laundering regulations and denying Russian military vessels access to ports for refuelling and servicing. Cyprus barred Russian warships from using its ports in early March following the invasion of Ukraine. The conditions

Sitharaman participates in roundtable with Singapore, talks bilateral ties

During the meeting, the Ministers emphasised on ways of enhancing cooperation between the two countries in the emerging and futuristic areas.

India deepens strategic autonomy-bonds with SCO, IPEF and Russia

India is the only common member country to be a part of the SCO and the US-driven Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).