Page 40 - Ministry Of External Affairs

MEA rendered 16.5 mn passport related services in 2023: S Jaishankar

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) rendered 1.65 crore passport-related services to citizens in 2023, registering an annual growth of nearly 15 per cent. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said this while commending the personnel for efficient passport-related service delivery. The MEA commemorated the 12th Passport Seva Divas on Monday to mark the enactment of the Passports Act on June 24, 1967. Coinciding with this, a three-day Regional Passport Officers (RPO) conference was organised in Delhi. "I am happy to note that in 2023, the ministry rendered 1.65 crore passport-related services to our citizens," Jaishankar said in a message to the conference. "The year 2023 noticed a commendable annual growth of nearly 15 per cent in passport and other related services," the minister said. The monthly submission of applications crossed the 14 lakh mark in 2023, he said. The external affairs minister also underlined the need for leveraging the power of the latest technologies to

EAM Jaishankar reviews 'multi-faceted' strategic ties with UAE counterpart

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has reviewed with his United Arab Emirates counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan the multi-faceted India-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership and discussed new areas with "untapped potential" to enhance collaboration, an official statement said on Monday. Jaishankar, who was in the UAE on Sunday, also exchanged views with Al Nahyan on regional and global issues. He visited the iconic BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi and participated in the 10th International Yoga Day celebrations before meeting Al Nahyan. The two foreign ministers "reviewed the multi-faceted India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi said on Monday. They expressed "happiness at the substantive progress in diverse areas of bilateral cooperation, including commercial and economic collaboration, fintech, education, culture, and people-to-people connect," it said in a statement. The ministry said the two ministers ...

17 injured in hospital, in touch with kin, authorities: MEA on Kuwait fire

Over a week after a devastating fire in Kuwait killed 50 people, the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said 17 injured Indians are still admitted in hospitals there and all are stable. The Indian embassy is in touch with the local authorities, the patients and their kin to ensure their well-being, it said. The massive fire had occurred at a seven-storey building in Kuwait's Mangaf city in the southern Ahmadi Governorate on June 12 and at least 45 Indians died in the tragedy. The building was home to 196 migrant workers, mostly Indians. The NBTC Group, where the victims of the fire tragedy were employed, recently issued a statement, extending its deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and injured. In response to a query at a weekly media briefing here, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that on the part of the Kuwaiti government, the Emir has announced USD 15,000 as compensation for the families of the people who have died in the fire incident. The

Jaishankar, Sri Lanka Prez commission Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday jointly commissioned the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre built with a USD 6 million grant from India, as New Delhi stepped up bilateral cooperation with its key neighbour. The minister also called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and reiterated India's strong support through development and connectivity initiatives. Jaishankar, who met President Wickremesinghe here, said that he conveyed the warm greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the way forward for the bilateral cooperation, especially in power, energy, connectivity, port infrastructure, aviation, digital, health, food security, education and tourism sectors. "Honoured to call on Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi. Appreciated the progress made on various bilateral projects and initiatives," Jaishankar said in a post on X. "Under President @RW_UNP's ..

Jaishankar meets with members of visiting US Congressional delegation

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Wednesday he met with members of a visiting bipartisan US Congressional delegation and appreciated their "strong and continued support" to the India-US strategic partnership. He also shared a photograph with the delegation in a post on 'X'. "Pleasure to meet with the bipartisan US Congressional delegation led by @RepMcCaul. Thank @SpeakerPelosi, @RepGregoryMeeks, @RepMMM, @NMalliotakis, @RepBera and @RepMcGovern for joining. Appreciate their strong and continued support for the India-US strategic partnership," Jaishankar wrote. The US Congressional delegation led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul arrived in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamsala on Tuesday. It also met with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday. Apart from McCaul, the delegation consists of six prominent US Congressional members -- former US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mariannette Miller, Gregory Meeks, Nicole Malliotakis,

India to engage with all parties to help achieve peace in Ukraine: MEA

New Delhi will continue to engage with all stakeholders as well as the two parties to the conflict to contribute to all earnest efforts to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine, an official said

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