Page 7 - Foreign Affairs

Russia speeds up citizenship path for foreigners who enlist in military

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a decree that speeds up a path to Russian citizenship for foreigners who enlist in the country's military amid the 22-month-old war in Ukraine. The move comes as Moscow is trying to replenish its troops in Ukraine by various methods, including the recruitment of migrants. Russia is a magnet for hundreds of thousands of people from poorer Central Asian countries, and many of them seek citizenship each year. Putin first allowed fast-track citizenship for foreigners who sign contracts with the Russian army in September 2022, shortly after announcing a partial mobilization to draft 300,000 reservists for Ukraine. Those immigrants who signed a contract for at least a year and take part in active hostilities for at least six months were allowed to apply for citizenship without demonstrating sufficient knowledge of Russian or the fact that they'd lived in the country for five straight years under a residency permit. Spouses and children were also

EAM Jaishankar meets Nepal President Ram Chandra Paudel in Kathmandu

Upon arrival, Jaishankar met Nepal's Foreign Minister NP Saud and the two leaders engaged in conversation as they proceeded towards their car

Biden looks to spotlight his foreign policy as 2024 reelection bid heats up

This probably wasn't how President Joe Biden envisioned his big foreign policy week ending. Biden spent much of the time trying to make the case to world leaders at the UN General Assembly as well as to Democratic donors and voters that his decades of foreign policy experience and demonstrated moral clarity set him apart from Donald Trump, the early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. But just as Biden is looking to spotlight his foreign policy chops with his 2024 reelection bid heating up, he is facing a growing list of national security headaches, several of which emerged in recent days. There is a diplomatic spat between US allies Canada and India over the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil, growing concern about the future of US funding for Ukraine, and the indictment of the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. Each will test Biden and his administration. Menendez and his wife were indicted Frida

Congress derides PM's silence on Manipur unrest after house of MoS torched

Congress on Friday slammed the Centre over the deteriorating law and order in violence-hit Manipur after a mob set Minister of State for External Affairs R.K. Ranjan Singh's house on fire in Imphal

Operation Kaveri: Kwatra explains modus operandi adopted by India in Sudan

In the press briefing, Kwatra said Operation Kaveri is being carried out in an ecosystem which consists of a highly volatile conflict zone situation in Sudan

Centre monitors evacuation of Indians from Sudan, 600 reach home: Kwatra

Kwatra further informed that apart from INS Sumedha and INS Teg, the third naval ship INS Tarkash has also reached Port Sudan on Thursday to evacuate Indians from Khartoum

India's progress can create opportunities for Ugandan business: Jaishankar

India's progress and prosperity can create new opportunities that can benefit Uganda, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, as he met the Indian business community here and encouraged it to bolster bilateral business ties for growth and development. Jaishankar is on a two-nation visit to Uganda and Mozambique from April 10-15 to strengthen India's strong bilateral ties with the two African countries. "India's progress and prosperity create new opportunities that can benefit Uganda. Just as India's experiences can help Uganda's development journey," he tweeted on Tuesday after his meeting with the Indian Business Community. Addressing the community, Jaishankar spoke about the problems that India faced due to the war in Ukraine. He said when the Ukraine conflict started a year ago, the first hit that the world economy took was the price of oil. "Very soon thereafter, there was a big issue with the price of wheat, because the oil prices, of course, were a more complicated

Derisking global economy a key concern of G20 summit: EAM Jaishankar

The major concern of G20 would be to find ways of derisking the global economy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday. Delivering a talk here on India's year-long G20 Presidency, Jaishankar said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government has tried to cushion the consumers as much as possible from petrol price increases and taken measures to keep inflation down. "Today, the world has learnt a lesson that security means not only physical security, not only economic security. It also means health security, food security. So, today we have to find a way of derisking the global economy, the way we would derisk a sector, the way we would derisk a business. That is a very major debate and I would say a very major concern of what the G20 would be looking at," he said. He further said there would be 15 ministerial-level meetings of G20 this year besides the President and Prime Minister-level conclaves in September. The COVID-19 pandemic has today left a very deep ..

Foreign secretary to visit Nepal, hold wide-ranging talks with counterpart

New Delhi and Kathmandu have jointly announced the upcoming visit of India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra to Nepal on February 13.

Canadian Minister on 2-day visit to India, to hold talks with Jaishankar

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly will begin a two-day visit to India on Monday to hold wide-ranging talks with her Indian counterpart S Jaishankar. The talks between the two foreign ministers will be held on Monday evening, officials said. Besides ways to boost bilateral ties, the two sides are also expected to focus on cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of growing global concern over China's increasing military muscle-flexing in the region. In November, Canada came out with a comprehensive strategy for the Indo-Pacific that aimed to promote peace, resilience and security. Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy also listed India as a key player in the region and said Ottawa will focus on expanding economic engagement with New Delhi, including through deeper trade and investment as well as cooperating on building resilient supply chains. "India's strategic importance and leadership -- both across the region and globally -- will only increase as India, the world's biggest

Bangladesh doesn't want foreign interference in internal affairs: FM Momen

"The current government is committed to holding free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections under the Independent Election Commission"

Foreign secretary raises human trafficking issue during Myanmar visit: MEA

Reportedly, 38 Indian nationals, who were duped of job offers in Myanmar and were made to work under harsh conditions, were repatriated to India earlier this month

Prez to visit two Caribbean nations; first-ever visit by head of state: MEA

President Ram Nath Kovind will embark on a week-long visit to Jamaica and St. Vincent and Grenadines (SVG) beginning May 15, in the first-ever tour to the two Caribbean nations by an Indian head of state. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday that the visit reflects a continuation of India's high-level engagement with the countries in the Caribbean region and emphasises its commitment to work with small island developing countries. "President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, will pay a state visit to Jamaica and St. Vincent & Grenadines (SVG) from May 15 to 21. This will be the first-ever visit by an Indian Head of State to these countries," the MEA said in a statement. It said Kovind will be in Jamaica from May 15 to 18 during which he will hold delegation-level talks with his counterpart, the Governor General of Jamaica Sir Patrick Allen. The President will also meet Prime Minister Andrew Holness, and other dignitaries. The MEA said the President will address the ...

PM Modi returns home after concluding three-nation European tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned home on Thursday after concluding his three-nation European tour during which he held a series of bilateral meetings to boost ties in a range of areas including trade, energy and green technology. "PM @narendramodi's 3-day, 3-nation tour was immensely productive. - Advanced trade & investment ties - Forged new green partnerships - Promoted collaborations for innovation and skill development - Strengthened the spirit of cooperation with our European partners," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted along with a picture of Modi waving before boarding the plane for departure. In a tweet earlier, the prime minister described his visit to France as "very fruitful". "My visit to France was brief but a very fruitful one. President @EmmanuelMacron and I got the opportunity to discuss various subjects. I thank him and the French Government for the warm hospitality," Modi said. Modi, who was in Paris for the final leg of his

PM Modi departs for Copenhagen in Denmark on second leg of Europe visit

Ahead of his departure, PM Modi thanked the German government for their hospitality during his "productive" visit.

Energy security to be among key areas of talks during Modi's 3-nation visit

Modi begins his visit to the three countries on Monday

Boris Johnson's visit launches a khas dosti

The British government's Integrated Review brought out in 2021 places a high priority on its partnership with India

A new indispensable power

No other capital should matter as much to New Delhi as Brussels

Pakistan PM Shehbaz withdraws foreign affairs portfolio from Tariq Fatemi

In a setback to Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he was forced to withdraw the appointment of seasoned diplomat Tariq Fatemi as his Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs

Lanka must ensure political stability before IMF deal: Dr Dushni Weerakoon

We have an economic crisis that has spilled out as a political crisis: Weerakoon