Page 35 - Ministry Of External Affairs

India avoids signing any communique on peace in Ukraine at Swiss summit

India on Sunday refrained from associating itself with any communique emerging from a Ukraine summit for peace hosted by Switzerland and asserted that it will remain engaged with all stakeholders to facilitate a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict. Pavan Kapoor, Secretary(West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, represented India at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine that was held at a resort near Lucerne in Switzerland on June 15 and 16. The summit concluded with dozens of countries throwing their support to Ukraine's "territorial integrity" and calling for talks among all parties to find a lasting solution to the conflict. "The Indian delegation attended the Opening and Closing Plenary Sessions of the Summit. India did not associate itself with any communique/document emerging from this Summit," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. "India's participation in the Summit, as well as in the preceding NSA/Political Director-level meetings based on Ukraine's Peace Formula

EAM Jaishankar likely to visit Sri Lanka next week, say officials

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to visit Sri Lanka on June 20, Foreign Ministry sources said here on Saturday. Sri Lanka was anticipating a visit by Jaishankar and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi too was expected to visit the island nation at a later date, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told reporters on Friday. Sabry said the visits were a sequel to President Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to New Delhi last week to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony after he won the third term. However, there was no official announcement on Jaishankar's visit from India's Ministry of External Affairs. If confirmed, this could be Jaishankar's first official stand-alone visit abroad after he was appointed India's External Affairs Minister in the new government. The last time that Jaishankar was in Colombo was in October 2023 to participate in the 23rd Council of Ministers' meeting and the 25th Committee of Senior Officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). News portal Adadera

Kuwait fire started in building's kitchen at 4 am: How tragedy unfolded

The labour housing facility located in the Mangaf area of Kuwait, where the fire occurred killing at least 40 Indians, is said to be in violation of safety regulations

Kuwait fire: EAM did good job to help injured Indians, says Suresh Gopi

Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi on Friday said that the External Affairs Ministry did a "wonderful" job in coordinating the efforts to ensure treatment of the Indians injured in the Kuwait fire tragedy which claimed atleast 49 lives. The Minister of State for Tourism and Petroleum also said that he has cancelled his other programmes for the day and would be going to the international airport here to receive the bodies of the Malayalees who died in the Kuwait fire tragedy. Meanwhile, Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan told reporters here that the bodies of 23 Malayalees, 7 Tamilians and one person from Karnataka would be received here, before the flight carrying the mortal remains of the other Indians who died in the fire goes to Delhi. Rajan said that arrangements have been made for public display of the mortal remains at the airport and thereafter, they would be sent to the families by ambulances that have been arranged by the Department of Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs ...

Kuwait fire: Jaishankar discusses early repatriation of bodies of Indians

Jaishankar said that he was assured that the incident would be fully investigated

Modi 3.0: S Jaishankar remains PM's foreign policy pick for third term

Jaishankar's tenure as India's Ambassador to China from 2009 to 2013, which was the longest by any IFS officer, coincided with several major developments in bilateral relations

Brics discusses trading in local currency, African Union, and Palestine

India welcomed Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia who attended their first Brics meeting in Russia on Tuesday

Ties with China to headline new engagements set to top MEA agenda

Securing good ties with the immediate neighbourhood, capitalising on India's G20 success in focus

'CPEC' against our territorial integrity, sovereignty: MEA on PoJK

Randhir Jaiswal's statement comes after Pakistan and China agreed to advance their joint project CPEC and backed finalising the modalities for third-party participation

Situation in Bishkek is normal, says MEA; ensures safety of Indian students

The situation in Bishkek remains normal, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday, days after violent mobs targeted foreigners in the Kyrgyz capital triggering concerns over Indian students there. At present, about 17,000 Indian students are studying in Kyrgyz Republic and most of them are in Bishkek. "The situation in Bishkek remains normal. Over two weeks ago, some incidents involving foreign students from other countries had happened which concerned our students," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "Our Embassy immediately got in touch with Indian students to ensure their safety and welfare. They opened 24x7 helplines to assist them," he said. Jaiswal's remarks came in response to a question on the issue at his weekly media briefing. The Indian embassy took up the matter with local authorities and university administration to ensure the well-being of Indian students, he said. "Daily direct flights between Delhi and Bishkek, and via Alma

Rafah strike: How India has responded to Israeli attack on refugee camps

MEA said that India is one of the first countries to recognise the state of Palestine in late 1980s

India-US CEO Forum working group launches knowledge-sharing platform

A working group of the India-US CEO Forum on Tuesday launched a bilateral knowledge-sharing platform. The group is focused on entrepreneurship, inclusive growth, and promoting small businesses. The platform was launched in partnership with United Services Institute (USI) and CyberPeace Foundation, during the dialogue on inclusive growth, unlocking trade, empowering Startups and MSMEs in the Digital Age at USI. The dialogue also saw the launch of Prakshepan, an innovation Hackathon, and Cybersecurity & AI Capacity Building and Skilling Workshops for MSMEs and startups. The workshops will focus on protecting MSMEs and startups from online threats, and provide these businesses with the knowledge and tools necessary to build resilient security structures. Subi Chaturvedi, Chief Corporate Affairs & Public Policy Officer, Global Senior Vice President, InMobi, and Sherpa, Working Group 7, said, "The dialogue and the knowledge-sharing platform will enhance the bilateral relationship ..

India's 'Neighbourhood First Policy' is consultative: EAM Jaishankar

He further cited the geopolitical, geo-economic and geo-technological developments leading to global uncertainty, and said the global order is "under stress"

MEA processing K'taka govt's request to cancel Prajwal Revanna's passport

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is processing a request of the Karnataka government seeking cancellation of the diplomatic passport of suspended Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of sexually harassing several women. Official sources said that the MEA has received a letter from the Karnataka government seeking revocation of Revanna's diplomatic passport. Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, is at the centre of a sexual abuse case and the Hassan MP is said to have left India late last month, a day after voting for the Lok Sabha elections took place in his constituency. "The MEA has received a letter from the Karnataka government for cancellation of diplomatic passport in respect of MP Prajwal Revanna. This is being processed," a source said. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Wednesday said the Centre has not responded to the request for cancellation of Revanna's diplomatic passport on the basis of an arrest warrant issued

Contact local authorities: Hingoli admin to parents of Kyrgyzstan students

The Hingoli administration in Maharashtra has appealed to the parents of students studying in Kyrgyzstan, which has been hit by violence, to contact the district disaster management office for any issues, officials said. Nearly 500 students from Maharashtra have been pursuing medical education in Kyrgyzstan and there is a possibility that they may face issues due to the violence, the Hingoli district administration said in a release on Tuesday. The Indian government on Saturday asked its students in Bishkek to stay indoors after the Kyrgyz capital city reported mob violence targeting international students, especially from South Asia. The Hingoli administration has appealed to the parents of students studying in Kyrgyzstan to contact the district disaster management office and convey if they have any issues, the release said. The local administration there (in Kyrgyzstan) has decided to conduct the examination of these students through online mode, it said. The students may come b

Vice Prez Dhankhar to visit Iran to pay condolence on demise of Raisi: MEA

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar will fly to Iran on Wednesday to attend an official ceremony to pay condolences on the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash, the Ministry of External Affairs said. A one-day state mourning is being observed across India on Tuesday as a mark of respect for Raisi. "Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar will pay a visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran on May 22 to attend official ceremony to pay condolences on the tragic demise of President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other Iranian officials in an unfortunate helicopter crash on May 19," an MEA statement said on Tuesday. President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have conveyed their condolences on the demise of Raisi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited the embassy of Iran here on Tuesday to convey India's condolences on the loss. The Iranian president, the ...

Capacity building important facet of India's engagement with Maldives: MEA

Capacity building is an "important component" in India's defence and security engagement with the Maldives and "we will be happy to take it forward" if New Delhi receives a request from Male for training their pilots, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday. Randhir Jaiswal, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, made the comment during his weekly briefing in response to a query over reports on issues related to operation of an aviation platform in the Maldives. Indian military personnel were stationed in the Maldives to operate two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft, used primarily for medical evacuations. The last batch of Indian military personnel were repatriated by May 10, according to the deadline set following an agreement between the two countries in February. The MEA spokesperson said, "Yes, capacity building is an important component in our defence and security engagement with the Maldives. We have in the past trained their personnel on the defence si

Indian missions assisting to bring remains of Col Kale killed in Gaza: MEA

Kale (46) died while travelling in a vehicle to a hospital in the Khan Younis area from Rafah

Geopolitical challenges for next govt

When our gaze shifts from the domestic to the external after the polls, the challenges would have multiplied

Received nothing probe-worthy from agencies: Jaishankar on Nijjar case

India has never received anything which is specific and worthy of being pursued by its probe agencies, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said over a fourth arrest made by Canada in the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Jaishankar said New Delhi is open to an investigation if Ottawa has any evidence or information related to any violence which is relevant to be investigated in India. "We have never received anything which is specific and worthy of being pursued by our investigative agencies and I am not aware that anything has changed in the last few days in that regard," the minister said in response to a question during a press conference here. As a consular practice, it is informed to the government or the embassy of the country of origin when arrests of foreign nationals are made, Jaishankar said. Nijjar, 45, was killed outside Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023. A fourth Indian national has been arrested by