Page 18 - Ministry Of External Affairs

Israel's Minister Nir Barkat to lead business delegation to India on Feb 10

Israel's Minister of Economy and Industry, Nir Barkat, will be leading the largest business delegation from the country to India next week to boost bilateral trade in what would be his third official visit to New Delhi. The two-day visit starts next week on Monday. Barkat will also be meeting Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal during the trip. "The largest ever multi-sectoral CEO level delegation from Israel comprises over 100 innovative Israeli companies from healthcare, energy, cybersecurity, defence and HLS, agritech, smart mobility, watertech, foodTech, and more," officials told PTI. The high-profile visit is being coordinated by the Ministry of Economy & Industry on the Israeli side and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on the Indian side. It will involve the participation of all the major chambers from Israel - the Israel Export Institute, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce and The Manufacturers Association of Israel, while FICCI and CII will be taking

Bangladesh's govt warns of stern action after vandalism across country

Bangladesh's interim government headed by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus said Friday it will contain vandalism and arson taking place across the country. The development comes amid concern from a major opposition party and neighboring India over attacks on a historic house linked to ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Mobs targeting supporters of Hasina have vandalized homes and businesses in various parts of the country since Wednesday night. Many of the establishments belonging to former lawmakers, Cabinet members and the leaders of Hasina's Awami League party were set on fire, apparently as part of a coordinated campaign involving the former home of Bangladesh's independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hasina's father in Dhaka, the capital. The interim government said Wednesday's attack was sparked by Hasina for regularly making provocative remarks from exile to create instability in Bangladesh. The protesters started storming the house one hour before Hasina began

B'desh statements portraying India negatively regrettable: MEA official

India on Friday summoned Bangladesh's acting High Commissioner Nural Islam and conveyed that it is regrettable that regular statements made by Bangladesh authorities continue to "portray India negatively" by holding New Delhi responsible for internal governance issues. The Government of India will make efforts for a mutually beneficial relationship and "we expect that Bangladesh will reciprocate similarly without vitiating the atmosphere", the Ministry of External Affairs' official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a written response to media queries on the summoning. "The Bangladesh Acting High Commissioner to India, Mr. Md. Nural Islam, was summoned by MEA to the South Block today, February 7, 2025, at 5:00 pm," he said. "It was conveyed that India desires a positive, constructive and mutually beneficial relationship with Bangladesh, which has been reiterated several times in recent high-level meetings. "It is, however, regrettable that regular statements made by Bangladesh .

India condemns vandalism of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's house in Dhaka

The protesters, reportedly demanding a ban on the Awami League, stormed the premises after breaking open the gate, causing widespread destruction

IMEC, Mediterranean connect to be key focus in India-Greece ties: EAM

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar met with Greece's Foreign Minister, George Gerapetritis, on Thursday to discuss ways to advance the multifaceted relationship between the two countries.The discussions focused on key areas such as shipping, trade, investment, connectivity, culture, mobility, and artificial intelligence. Jaishankar stressed that the India-Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the India-Mediterranean connect would be the major focus of the next phase of India-Greece relations.Jaishankar also assured India's "fullest support" to Greece during its non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2025-26.In a post on X, Jaishankar said, "Delighted to meet my friend FM George Gerapetritis of Greece this evening in Delhi. Held a very productive conversation on advancing our multifaceted relations, focusing on shipping, trade & investment, connectivity, mobility, AI and cultural ties. Also discussed IMEC and India-Mediterranean ...

EAM Jaishankar holds talks with SCO secy general, discusses India's work

In a post on X, he said, Delighted to meet SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev in Delhi this evening

Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs set to visit India from February 6-7

Egypt's Foreign Minister will arrive in New Delhi in the early hours of February 6 and later in the day, call on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan

US plane carrying 205 deported Indians to land in Amritsar in afternoon

A US military aircraft carrying around 200 illegal Indian immigrants is likely to land at the Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport here on Wednesday afternoon. Earlier, the aircraft was expected to land in the morning. So far, details of those on the plane are not available. According to reports, the US military plane C-17 is carrying 205 illegal immigrants hailing from Punjab and neighbouring states. Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Tuesday that the state government would receive the immigrants and set up counters at the airport. Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the US government's decision and said these individuals, who contributed to that country's economy, should have been granted permanent residency instead of being deported. He said many Indians entered the US on work permits which later expired, making them illegal immigrants. The minister said he plans to meet External Affairs Min

Different standards applied to our neighbours in East and West: Jaishankar

While delivering the keynote address at the IIC-Bruegel Annual Seminar in Delhi, the Minister emphasised that the agenda can no longer be set by some only to be observed by the rest

India-EU ties 'more important than before' in this uncertain world: EAM

Foreign Minister further highlighted the interaction with the European Commission, expressing expectations for even collaboration in the future

India-Bangladesh trade connectivity will continue, says India's envoy

The High Commission of India, Dhaka organised an interactive session with leading businesses and business chambers from Bangladesh's textile sector on February 3

Parl panel stresses on need for financial allocations to MEA: Report

Observing that India's "growing stature" on global arena requires consistent and predictable investments in diplomatic, economic and cultural engagements, a parliamentary panel has stressed on the need for consistent and predictable financial allocations to the MEA and recommend that key areas be protected from budgetary cuts. The panel in its report has also mentioned that India's budgetary allocation under the sub-head 'Aid to Bangladesh' came down from Rs 200 crore in BE 2023-24 to Rs 120 crore in BE 2024-25, and the MEA has said that the "downward trend" is due to the completion of large infrastructure projects and the ongoing "political and security situation" in that country. The 'Fourth Report of the Committee on External Affairs (2024-25) on Demands for Grants (2024-25) of the Ministry of External Affairs' was presented in Parliament on Monday. "Observing disparities between Budget Estimates (BEs) and Revised Estimates (REs) over the years, the Committee has been recommendin

Duke of Edinburgh, UK's Prince Edward arrives in India on 3-day visit

During his visit Prince Edward is scheduled to travel to Mumbai and Delhi to promote The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award

India experienced remarkable transformation in last decade: UNGA Prez Yang

India has experienced remarkable transformation in the last decade, UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang has said, underlining that his upcoming visit to the country will give him an opportunity to see how digital and technological innovation has fuelled this change. Yang will visit India from February 4 to 8, his first official visit to the country as President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly. As the world's largest democracy, the fifth-largest economy and home to one-fifth of humanity, India is an important member of the United Nations, Yang told PTI in an exclusive interview ahead of his trip. Responding to a question on the visit's focus, Yang said he looks forward to understanding, more deeply, India's priorities and vision for the future of multilateralism. During the visit, he will engage with Indian leadership, including President Droupadi Murmu and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. Recalling that he had visited India in 2013 as Prime Ministe

Bangladesh gets 16,000 tonnes of rice from India despite tensions

Notwithstanding the tense relations between India and Bangladesh ever since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year, a second consignment of rice from India arrived at Mongla Port on Saturday, a media report said. Two ships carrying 16,400 tonnes of rice arrived at the port in the morning, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. Bangladesh is set to receive 300,000 tonnes of rice from India under an agreement, with 40 per cent of it being unloaded at Mongla Port and the rest at Chittagong Port, according to the Mongla Food Controller's Office. The Panama-flagged vessel BMC Alpha arrived from Odisha's Dhamra Port carrying 7,700 tonnes of rice while the Thailand-flagged MV Sea Forest arrived from Kolkata Port with 8,700 tonnes. The first consignment under this open tender import from India arrived on January 20, when the Vietnam-flagged vessel MV Puthan-36 brought 5,700 tonnes of rice, according to the report. A few days ago, Bangladesh's interim governme

MEA gets Rs 20,516 cr in Budget 2025, aid to Bhutan highest at Rs 2,150 cr

In line with India's 'neighbourhood first' policy, Bhutan was on Saturday allocated the largest share of Rs 2,150 crore as development aid in the Union Budget for 2025-26 followed by Rs 700 crore to Nepal and Rs 600 crore to the Maldives. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was allocated a total of Rs 20,516 crore as against the current fiscal's budget estimate of Rs 22,154 crore and revised estimate of Rs 25,277 crore. Like for 2024-25, an amount of Rs 100 crore has been set aside for the Chabahar port project. Located in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Iran's southern coast, the Chabahar port is being developed by India and Iran to boost connectivity and trade ties. The total overseas development partnership portfolio for 2025-26 has been pegged at Rs 6,750 crore, which is nearly 33 per cent of the allocation made to the MEA. The outlay for overseas development assistance is an increase of about 20 per cent over current fiscal's allocation of Rs 5,667 ...

Grateful to MEA for this opportunity: Foreign diplomats on Mahakumbh visit

Diplomats from around the world expressed their excitement and gratitude to India for the opportunity to experience it's rich cultural heritage firsthand at Mahakumbh

News updates: FM gives final touches to her record eighth Budget

Latest News Updates LIVE: Catch all the major news updates from around the world

9 Indians killed in road accident in Saudi Arabia; MEA condoles deaths

The Indian consulate in Jeddah has assured full support to the victims' families and is coordinating with local authorities

MEA rejects Canada's 'interference' claim, accuses Trudeau govt of meddling

The Ministry of External Affairs has outrightly rejected these claims, countering that Canada has been persistently interfering in India's internal affairs