News articles and essays on the Indian diplomacy at work around the world.
India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu said the Government of India has increased its annual financial contribution fourfold to the UNRWA core budget, from USD 1.25 million in 2016 to USD 5 million in 2018.
There are currently 279 LOCs, worth $28 billion, extended to these countries located in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Caribbean and Oceania, the government informed Parliament last week in response to a question on what India was doing to counter BRI’s economic and foreign policy issue.
Applicants seeking services there must now make payment with debit or credit cards effective Monday (July 1), in a move towards a total cashless system in line with one of the prime objectives of the Indian government.
Some of the big-ticket projects completed by India recently in Africa include the construction of the presidential office in Ghana, the National Assembly building in Gambia, and the Kosti power plant in Sudan. Africa is a key development partner of India garnering a sizeable portion of India’s lines of credit assistance of $28 billion extended in 2018-19.
Interestingly, all these years, we dismissed the Sangh Parivar as speaking abstract, ritualistic, anachronistic mumbo jumbo. But, over the decades, when the Congress gave up its cultural thinking, the Sangh with great perseverance built up signs and symbols, Sanskritised whole populations and appropriated ideological opposites.
One will hardly hear the people of Gilgit-Baltistan say it aloud, however, BJP’s successes against Pakistan-sponsored terrorists are a source of relief for them too, since these terrorists are not just against India, but they also target and kill the Shias, Sufis and Ismailis of Gilgit-Baltistan. They damage the social fabric by violating cultural and religious practices and institutions.
Overall, Modi held nine bilateral meetings with the leaders of Japan, the US, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Germany, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and Australia; eight pull-aside meetings with Thailand, Vietnam, the World Bank, the UNSG, France, Italy, Singapore and Chile; two plurilaterals — JAI (Japan-America-India) and RIC (Russia-India-China); one multilateral meeting of BRICS and four G20 sessions and a community event.
The two leaders, who are in Osaka, Japan, met in the morning on the margins of the two-day G20 Summit and talked about the strong development partnership between India and Turkey.
In a joint statement after their informal meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders also reiterated their commitment to fight the exploitation of internet for terrorist purposes.
Modi also added that the three chiefs with their respective countries will work for ‘sabka saath, sabka biswas (Together we grow, Together we will build a strong nation). The three leaders agreed to work towards an inclusive framework that focused on growth and development along with security.
