Page 8 - Diplomacy

In touch with India: France on UN draft resolution on Ukraine conflict

Ahead of the voting on the UN's draft resolution on Ukraine, the French diplomatic sources on Tuesday said they were in contact with political leaders in New Delhi but were not very hopeful that India will not abstain. The UN General Assembly will vote this week on the draft resolution underscoring the urgency to find lasting peace in Ukraine, a year after Moscow invaded its neighbour. On a question, if India would again abstain from voting in UNGA on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, they said India is not very likely to join one side or another but they are "working on it". "It's always a question of balance...We do have contact with the political leaders of India. At this stage, we still don't know what will be the position of the government. Most likely it will be abstention but we are still working on it. We have a very candid discussion with them. There is no secret agenda or whatever. So then it's their decision," a French diplomatic source said. India has mostly abstained on ...

Senior US diplomat Nuland to visit India for foreign office consultation

A senior American diplomat will travel to India for foreign office consultations with her Indian counterpart, an official statement said on Saturday. The India visit of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland follows Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu's trip to New Delhi early this month. Nuland's India tour is part of a four-nation visit, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Qatar from January 28 to February 3. In Kathmandu, she will engage with the new government on the broad agenda of the US partnership with Nepal, the State Department said in the statement. While in India, the Under Secretary will lead the US-India annual Foreign Office Consultations which cover the full range of bilateral, regional, and global issues. She will also meet with young tech leaders, it said. In Sri Lanka, Nuland will mark the 75th anniversary of US-Sri Lanka relations and offer continued US support for Sri Lanka's efforts to stabilise the economy, ..

Chinese President Jinping seeks new diplomatic inroads with Asian leaders

Chinese President Xi Jinping has used his first face-to-face meetings with America's Asia-Pacific allies since 2020 to try to forge diplomatic inroads as Washington pushes back against Beijing's influence in the region. Xi has not backed away from China's longstanding claims to Taiwan and most of the South China Sea. But his comments to various leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bangkok this week have focused more on Beijing's pivotal economic role for its neighbours. As China's stature has risen, its diplomacy has grown more nuanced than the high-handed approach that has sometimes sparked resentment in the past. Xi Jinping's diplomatic engagements and the supporting chorus of propaganda messages have sought to put forward a softer, smiling facade in what appears to be an effort to reduce friction and tensions, particularly with the U.S. and European countries that have become increasingly critical, frustrated and committed to competing with China, said Drew .

Are countries using visas as weapons to fight diplomatic battles?

While India does seem to be facing the rough end of visa diplomacy, barriers are going up globally

Commercial spat on LNG between Germany, India turns into diplomatic tussle

Diplomats have been called in to try to resolve a disagreement over a cut in supplies of liquefied natural gas to India by a German-state-backed company

Only dialogue and diplomacy can end Russia-Ukraine war: Global statesmen

Only dialogue and diplomacy can end the devastating war in Ukraine, with total victory on the battlefield impossible for either warring party, members of a group of prominent former world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela said Friday. The group, known as The Elders, delivered that message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, telling him on a visit to Kyiv this summer that he must start considering a way out of the conflict, said group chairwoman Mary Robinson, former Irish president. We need to encourage more thinking about how it will end in order to get the idea that this needs to end, as opposed to increasing the military arsenal on both sides and the devastation to the population in Ukraine, said Robinson, who also served as UN high commissioner for human rights. The Elders have condemned Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and a reckless, unjustifiable act of aggression that threatens to destabilise world peace and .

Targeting infrastructure and causing civilian deaths not acceptable: EAM

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday that targeting infrastructure and causing civilian deaths is not acceptable in any part of the world and emphasised on the need for both sides in the Ukraine conflict to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue as "this conflict is not helping anybody at all." Jaishankar made the remarks while responding to questions after his address at the Lowy Institute on the growing importance of India's relationship with Australia and the interests that both countries share as members of the security-focused Quad. "We really think that targeting infrastructure and causing civilian deaths is not acceptable in any part of the world," Jaishankar said while responding to a question on Russia's missile strikes targeting key cities across Ukraine on Monday, including the capital Kyiv which is being seen as the most intense attack since the conflict started on February 24. Jaishankar emphasised on the need to return to the path of diplomacy a

India believes dialogue diplomacy the only way out: Jaishankar at UNGA

With the months-long Ukraine conflict raging on, India on Saturday told the UN General Assembly that it is on the side of peace and on the side that calls for dialogue and diplomacy as the only way out. "As the Ukraine conflict continues to rage, we are often asked whose side we are on. And our answer, each time, is straight and honest, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in his address to the high-level UN General Assembly session here. He underlined that it is in the collective interest of the international community to work constructively, both within the United Nations and outside, in finding an early resolution to this conflict. Delivering the national statement, he said in this conflict India is on the side of peace and will remain firmly there. "We are on the side that respects the UN Charter and its founding principles. We are on the side that calls for dialogue and diplomacy as the only way out, he said. We are on the side of those struggling to make ends meet, ev

UAE to send its envoy to Tehran to 'restore ties' after 6.5 years

The UAE is set to send its ambassador, Saif Mohammed Al Zaabi, to Tehran to restore diplomatic ties with Iran after a huge gap of 6.5 years

India supportive of Sri Lanka, trying to help it, says EAM Jaishankar

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made it clear that there was "no refugee crisis right now" and that the Indian government has always been supportive of Sri Lanka

Will Australia's climate policy be enough to reboot ties with Indo-Pacific?

Australia Prime minister Anthony Albanese is hoping his government's more ambitious climate policy will help reset Pacific relations when he meets with island leaders next week in Fiji

Antony Blinken to pay condolence to Abe in visit to Japan next week

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will pay a brief condolence visit to Japan next week following the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the State Department said Sunday

China used 'debt trap diplomacy' to gain control over Sri Lanka: Think tank

An independent foreign policy think tank said this Saturday after Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe resigned making way for an all-party cabinet to assume control of the country

BS-Seema Nazareth Award: Full text of ex-foreign secy Nirupama Rao's speech

Ordinary people can help break down diplomatic baggage, says Rao

New South Korean President takes office, briefed on North Korea

Conservative Yoon Suk Yeol took office as South Korea's president on Tuesday, facing a tougher mix of foreign policy and domestic challenges

Israel PM's visit to India depends on 'domestic political situation'

Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's next visit to the country will depend on the political and security situation back home in the Mediterranean country

Portugal foreign minister's India visit renews chances to expand ties: MEA

Portugal Foreign Minister Joao Cravinho's visit to India is an opportunity for the two countries to expand their bilateral ties, External Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday.Taking to Twitter, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "Glad to welcome FM (Foreign Minister) @JoaoCravinho (Joao Cravinho) of Portugal to India. The visit is a renewed opportunity to expand our ties."Cravinho is in the national capital to attend a conclave on geopolitics and geoeconomics. Foreign ministers of Argentina, Armenia, Guyana, Nigeria, Norway, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland and Slovenia are participating in the event, according to the MEA.Earlier in the day, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn and Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis arrived in New Delhi to attend the conclave."Warm welcome to FM Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg @MFA_Lu. The visit will further deepen our bilateral cooperation," MEA tweeted.Bagchi said that ..

Jaishankar says his pathway to diplomacy started from his interest in music

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday told a group of American students that it is his interest in music and also his family atmosphere that led to his diplomatic life.

UK PM Boris Johnson expected to visit India towards April end

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning a visit to India towards the end of this month with a focus on strengthening bilateral ties

TMS Ep142: Crypto industry, foreign diplomats in India, markets, CUET

How are Indian crypto industry and investors coping with the new tax regime? Why foreign diplomats are rushing to New Delhi? Is the worst over for the markets? What is CUET? All answers here