Diplomacy

Rajapaksa will arrive in India with a Sri Lankan delegation on February 7 and begin talks on 8 February.

Briefing the media ahead of the Expo, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar “The Defence Cooperation with Africa is becoming an important part of our relationship. Around 14 ministers from the African continent have confirmed their participation and the numbers are expected to go up. Another 24 ministers have indicated their keenness to be part of the conclave.”

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday met his Turkmenistan counterpart Rashid Meredov here and discussed regional issues.

Whilst mission deployed in the Southern Indian Ocean, Indian Naval Ship Airavat was diverted on 26 January 2020 to render assistance to the citizens of Madagascar who have been affected by the devastation caused by Cyclone Diane. Airavat is undertaking this Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission as part of ‘Operation Vanilla’ launched by the Indian Navy, which is the first international respondent to this evolving humanitarian crisis in Madagascar.

India has extended support to China in combating the dreaded coronavirus outbreak, and called for objective and rational assessment of the epidemic that has killed 259 people and affected nearly 12,000 others.

French Culture Minister Franck Riester met producers from the film industry to promote France as a destination to shoot movies

Buildings of Tribhuvan Adarsha Multiple Campus and Shree Bhupu Sainik Community Academy was handed over to the Nepali government, an official release said.

Shringla, 57, who will serve for a two-year term, will be India’s highest-ranking officer in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) at a time when New Delhi faces a wide range of foreign policy challenges.