Diplomacy

India and Germany signed five joint declarations of intent and inked 11 pacts in fields such as space, civil aviation, maritime technology, medicine and education.

A delegation of the Indian industry that included Bharat Forge, Ashok Leyland and L&T among others has been hosted in the Kingdom in the recent past. The General Authority of Military Industry has visited India. “Initial talks have been conducted to see what all cooperation is possible,” sources on the Indian side said.

PM Modi will be visiting Bangkok at the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Secretary East Vijay Thakur Singh said at a media briefing.

India and Saudi Arabia have signed 12 MoUs and agreements in key sectors including renewable energy, security cooperation, and civil aviation.

Angela Merkel and PM Narendra Modi are expected to discuss trade, investment, regional security and climate change. Both countries could sign agreements in areas such as AI and green urban mobility, German ambassador said.

According to top diplomatic sources, “The location of Tamil Nadu has been shortlisted though not yet confirmed. Besides Gujarat, Northeast, another state getting a lot of investments from the Japanese government and companies in Tamil Nadu.” The Japanese leader during his earlier visits has already been to Varanasi in 2015 and Gujarat in 2017.

Both sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasized the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner without any double standards, officials said.

India and Uzbekistan are also set to carry out a joint military exercise next week. ‘Dustlik-2019’, the first such exercise between the armies.

The ninth edition of Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue will be held at Cox Bazar in Bangladesh from November 1. The two-day dialogue will cover a wide range of issues like trade and investment, connectivity, technology, energy, regional security, extremism and sustainable development among others. The dialogue aims to draw from learning and experiences in these sectors between India and Bangladesh.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday had a telephonic conversation with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono during which the two leaders exchanged views on bilateral ties and regional security situation, the Defence Ministry said.