Diplomacy

News articles and essays on the Indian diplomacy at work around the world.

Parliament Passes Landmark ‘Inland Vessels Bill, 2021’ to Repeal and Replace the Existing Inland Vessels Act, 1917

Parliament on Monday passed the Inland Vessels Bill, 2021, which aims to replace over 100 years old Inland Vessels Act, 1917 (1 of 1917) and usher a new era in the inland water transport sector and also to fulfil the vision of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, to make the Legislative framework user friendly and promote ease of doing business. Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways moved the bill in Rajya Sabha today. Now the bill will be sent for the assent of President of India.

Eastern Fleet Ships on Overseas Operational Deployment

    In pursuit of India’s ‘Act East’ policy and to enhance military cooperation with friendly countries, a Task Force of Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet is scheduled to proceed on an Overseas Deployment to South East Asia, the South China Sea and Western Pacific from early Aug 2021 for over two months. The deployment of the Indian Navy ships seeks to underscore the operational reach, peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain and to strengthen existing bonds between India and countries of the Indo Pacific.

India, Bangladesh Resume Freight Services on Haldibari-Chilahati Rail Route After 56 Years

The distance between Haldibari Railway Station till the international border is 4.5 km, while that of Chilahati is around 7.5 km. till the ‘zero point’.  As of now, five links connecting India with Bangladesh have been made operational which include Petrapole (India) – Benapole (Bangladesh), Gede (India) – Darshana (Bangladesh), Singhabad (India) Rohanpur (Bangladesh), Radhikapur (India) – Birol (Bangladesh) with Haldibari-Chilahati forming the 5th such link.

ISRO to Take Cooperation with European, Israeli Space Agencies to Higher Orbit

The Indian Space Research Organisation is in talks with European and Israeli space organisations to improve collaboration and explore possible areas of collaboration. Last week, Mr. K Sivan, Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of ISRO, conducted virtual discussions with Mr. Avi Blasberger, Director General of the Israel Space Agency (ISA), and Mr. Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA).