Page 8 - Mea

Decision to host SCO summit in virtual mode based on various factors: MEA

India on Friday said its decision to hold the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the virtual format was taken considering a number of factors. Replying to a question on the issue during his weekly media briefing, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi noted that India did not make any announcement in the past it would be an in-person summit. The MEA on Tuesday announced that India will host the annual summit of the SCO in the virtual format on July 4. While making the announcement, it did not cite any reason behind the decision. India is hosting the summit in its capacity as the current chair of the SCO. Bagchi said many international summits in recent years have taken place in the virtual format and it was decided to hold the SCO summit in that mode taking into consideration various factors. He, however, did not mention the factors. He said the decision was not driven by a single factor. "We have now communicated to the SCO partners a

Both sides remain in touch: MEA's Arindam Bagchi on journalists' visa issue

India on Friday expressed hope that Chinese authorities would facilitate continued presence of Indian journalists in China, noting that both sides remained in touch on the matter. Nearly two months ago, China informed two Indian journalists in Beijing that their visas had been "frozen". China had said it was taking "counter-measures" in response to what it alleged was India's "unfair" treatment of Chinese journalists. "All foreign journalists, including Chinese journalists have been pursuing journalistic activities in India without any limitations or difficulties in reporting or doing media coverage," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. He was replying to questions on the issue during his weekly media briefing. "We hope that Chinese authorities facilitate the continued presence of Indian journalists working and reporting from China. The two sides continue to remain in touch regarding this issue," he said. Bagchi said the Indian journalists in China have be

Internal matter, says MEA Bagchi on power struggle in Afghan embassy

As the Afghan embassy in Delhi reels under a power struggle after the Taliban appointed a diplomat to head the mission in place of the incumbent, India on Friday said it is an "internal matter" of the embassy. "From our perspective, this is an internal matter of the Afghan embassy and we hope that they would resolve it internally," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said when asked about a question on the matter. Ambassador Farid Mamundzay Mamundzay, who was appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government, has been operating as the Afghan envoy even after the Taliban came to power in August 2021. However, the Taliban in April appointed Qadir Shah to head the mission. Shah has been working as a trade councillor at the Afghan embassy since 2020. When Mamundzay was on a visit abroad, Shah tried to take charge of the embassy as the charge d'affaires late last month, but his attempt was stalled by other diplomats at the mission, people familiar with the matter said.

Disturbances in Kosovo won't affect visit of President Murmu to Serbia: MEA

President Murmu will pay a State Visit to Serbia on June 7, at the invitation of Aleksandar Vucic, President of Serbia

Cambodian King to visit India from May 29 to 31; MEA says will deepen ties

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni will be on his maiden state visit to India from May 29 to 31 and his trip would mark the culmination of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Cambodia, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday. At a media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (East), Saurabh Kumar, said the Cambodian King would be accompanied by a 27-member high-level delegation, including the minister of the royal palace, vice president of the Vietnamese senate, minister of foreign affairs and other senior officials. The state visit marks the culmination of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Cambodia, which were established in 1952, the MEA said in statement. The forthcoming visit of King Sihamoni will further strengthen and deepen the civilisational relations between India and Cambodia, it said. This visit by the King of Cambodia is taking place after almost six ...

Taliban appoints new Afghan ambassador, MEA says no formal notice received

There are also concerns about how India would react if a Taliban-approved dispensation at the Afghan Embassy in Delhi were to act against Afghans in India

India trashes USCIRF report, calls it biased and misrepresentation of facts

India on Tuesday categorically trashed as "biased" and "motivated" a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that alleged "severe violations" of religious freedom in the country. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Commission continues to regurgitate such comments and India rejects the "misrepresentation of facts" which only serves to "discredit USCIRF itself". He also asked USCIRF to develop a better understanding of India, its plurality and its democratic ethos. "The US Commission on International Religious Freedom continues to regurgitate biased and motivated comments about India, this time in its 2023 annual report," he said. "We reject such misrepresentation of facts which only serves to discredit USCIRF itself," Bagchi added. "We would urge USCIRF to desist from such efforts and develop a better understanding of India, its plurality, its democratic ethos and its constitutional mechanisms," he said. In its annual rep

India keeps watch on developments concerning its security, says MEA

Speaking on the issue, Arindam Bagchi said without naming anyone, India keeps constant watch on all developments bearing India's security and takes all necessary measures to safeguard the same

Legal process for former Indian Navy sailors in Qatar started: MEA

India has been given consular access to the eight men on a couple of occasions, and some of their relatives were allowed to meet them

MEA rejects China's attempt to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh

India has outrightly rejected China's attempt to rename places of Arunachal Pradesh, Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said

West has bad habit of commenting on others, thinks it has right: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that the West has had a "bad habit" for a long time, of commenting on others, and it thinks it has a "God-given right" to speak about the internal matters of other countries. He said this during a 'Meet and Greet' interaction organised by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan with over 500 young voters, joggers and visitors at Cubbon Park here. The Minister was responding to a question on Germany and United States' remarks on the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a Member of Parliament. "There are two reasons. It is because the West has had a bad habit for a long time of commenting on others. They somehow think it is some kind of God-given right. They will have to learn only by experience that if you keep doing this, other people will also start commenting and they will not like it when it happens. I see that happening," Jaishankar said. He said, "The second part of the truth -- i

India is firm, won't accept its national flag being pulled down: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said India was not a country that would put up with its national flag being pulled down by somebody; it was "very responsible" along with being "very firm". Referring to the incident last month in London where a group of protesters waving separatist Khalistani flags and chanting pro-Khalistani slogans pulled down the tricolour flying atop the Indian High Commission, he said an even bigger flag was immediately put up on the building to make a statement to both the Khalistanis and to the British. "You have seen in the last few days some incidents in London, something in Canada, a little bit in Australia and San Francisco... This is not an India which will accept its national flag being pulled down by somebody," Jaishankar said. Speaking at an interactive session here, he said, "The first thing our High Commissioner did when it happened: he got an even bigger flag and he put it right up there on that building. It was not only a statemen

For over 30 mn Indians, entire world is a workplace: EAM S Jaishankar

He also said that when the world economy is struggling to recover after COVID pandemic, India has achieved 7 per cent growth rate

Will make efforts to get economic fugitives to face justice in India: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said it would continue to make all efforts to get economic fugitives, including Mehul Choksi, to face justice in India. The name of Choksi, who is wanted in India in connection with the Rs 13,000 crore bank fraud in the Punjab National Bank, was dropped from the Red Corner Notice list, a move that grants him freedom to freely travel out of Antigua and Barbuda, where he is holed up after fleeing from India in 2018. "On the issue of Mehul Choksi...let me just take the larger point. Our focus is on getting economic fugitives to face justice in India and we will continue to make all efforts in this regard," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi told reporters here. In a statement on Tuesday, the CBI said it has taken up with the Commission for Control of Interpol's Files (CCF) the serious shortcomings, procedural violations, overreach of mandate and mistakes committed by CCF in the manner of reaching this unfounded and perfunctory

Expect action, not assurances on vandalism incident at Indian missions: MEA

India on Friday said it expects to see action against the perpetrators of vandalism at its missions abroad and hoped the host governments would prosecute those involved in these incidents instead of holding out assurances. Addressing the weekly briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said New Delhi also expects the host governments to take measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents. Indian missions in London, British Columbia, and San Francisco were vandalised recently, allegedly by pro-Khalistan activists following the police action against radical preacher Amritpal Singh in Punjab. "I think we are not just interested in assurances, I think we would like to see action," the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said. Bagchi said India had raised the issue with the authorities in Canada, where the Indian High Commissioner was forced to cancel an event appearance. "It is our expectation that in any country our diplomats can perform their legitimate and norm

Parliamentary panel for allocating 1% of total Union Budget to MEA

The panel said the MEA remains one of the least funded central ministries as its revised budget hover around just 0.4 per cent of the total budgetary allocation of the government from 2020-21

No change in India's position on not recognising Taliban, says MEA

India on Thursday asserted that there has been no change in its position on not recognising the Taliban regime in Kabul, in comments that came amid reports of an Afghan foreign policy body asking officials to attend an online programme under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) initiative. The Institute of Diplomacy under the Afghan Foreign Ministry reportedly conveyed to officials in Kabul to register for the ITEC course which was to be hosted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode. At a media briefing, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi also said that the Indian side does not issue any note verbales to any entities that are not recognised by New Delhi. A letter issued by the Institute of Diplomacy to informing officials about the ITEC programme also referred to a note verbale from the Indian embassy in Kabul on the course. However, Bagchi said there is no question of sending such communication entities that are not ...

Efforts on to secure release of former Navy personnel from Qatar: MEA

India on Thursday said it attaches "high priority" to secure early release of eight former Indian Navy personnel who are in detention in Qatar for over six months. The Qatari authorities have not yet publicly made any charges against the Indians who were working for private firm Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services. "We attach high priority to the matter. There are continuous efforts by our embassy for resolution of the matter so that early return and repatriation can take place of the detained Indian nationals," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at his weekly media briefing. He was responding to a question on the matter. "Our embassy has been seeking consular access. I think one more request is pending so that they can ascertain the welfare and well-being of our nationals and the family meetings and family visits are continued to be facilitated," Bagchi said. Indian officials have been given consular access to the eight men on a number of ..

Pakistan engaging in hostile propaganda against India, says MEA report

There is no let-up in Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism and Islamabad is yet to show sincerity in delivering justice to the families of the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a report on Monday. In its annual report for 2022, the MEA also said that Pakistan continues to engage in "hostile and fabricated propaganda" to vilify India and to divert attention from its domestic political and economic failures. It said India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan and New Delhi's consistent position has been that issues, if any, should be resolved bilaterally and peacefully, in an atmosphere free of terror and violence. At the same time, it said the onus is on Pakistan to create such a conducive environment. "Pakistan continues to engage in hostile and fabricated propaganda to vilify India, and to divert attention from its domestic political and economic failures," it said. "India has completely and unequivocally .

India and China discuss disengagement at remaining friction points

The two sides agreed to hold the 18th round of military talks at an early date to achieve the objective in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements and protocols