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Tag: Jaishankar

  • Jaishankar, Blinken discuss pressing global issues

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday held talks on pressing global challenges, amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile visit to Taipei.

    In his opening remarks at the meeting that took place on the margins of an ASEAN conclave in Phnom Penh, Blinken referred to concerns over “challenges” in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and the situation in the Indo-Pacific.

    It is understood that the escalating tension between China and Taiwan, especially in the Taiwan Strait, following Pelosi’s visit to Taipei figured in the talks.

    China has launched a major live-fire military exercise in the waters around Taiwan in response to Pelosi’s visit to the self-ruled island, triggering global concerns.

    The Jaishankar-Blinken meeting also came days after the US killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda leader and a key plotter of the 9/11 attacks, in a drone strike in a Kabul safe house.

    “A warm conversation to start meetings on sidelines of ASEAN Ministerial in Phnom Penh. Discussed the ever strengthening India-US relationship and the global situation with US Secretary of State @SecBlinken,” Jaishankar tweeted.

    In his opening remarks at the meeting, Blinken said the US and India are strong proponents of the ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific, according to the US State Department.

    “We’re both strong proponents of ASEAN centrality. We have a shared vision together for a free and open Indo-Pacific that we work on in so many different ways every single day,” he said.

    “And of course, we have some immediate challenges that we’re both concerned with, to include the situation in Sri Lanka, Burma, and a number of other, number of other hot spots,” he said.

    “So I very much look forward to once again being able to go through a number of these issues with my friend, and then we’ll both head over to our meetings,” Blinken added.

    Last month, Sri Lanka witnessed massive political turmoil following mass protests that forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country.

    Veteran leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president amid hopes for recovery from economic distress. The western powers were anguished over the execution of four pro-democracy activists by Myanmar’s military government last month.

    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday held talks on pressing global challenges, amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile visit to Taipei.

    In his opening remarks at the meeting that took place on the margins of an ASEAN conclave in Phnom Penh, Blinken referred to concerns over “challenges” in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and the situation in the Indo-Pacific.

    It is understood that the escalating tension between China and Taiwan, especially in the Taiwan Strait, following Pelosi’s visit to Taipei figured in the talks.

    China has launched a major live-fire military exercise in the waters around Taiwan in response to Pelosi’s visit to the self-ruled island, triggering global concerns.

    The Jaishankar-Blinken meeting also came days after the US killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda leader and a key plotter of the 9/11 attacks, in a drone strike in a Kabul safe house.

    “A warm conversation to start meetings on sidelines of ASEAN Ministerial in Phnom Penh. Discussed the ever strengthening India-US relationship and the global situation with US Secretary of State @SecBlinken,” Jaishankar tweeted.

    In his opening remarks at the meeting, Blinken said the US and India are strong proponents of the ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific, according to the US State Department.

    “We’re both strong proponents of ASEAN centrality. We have a shared vision together for a free and open Indo-Pacific that we work on in so many different ways every single day,” he said.

    “And of course, we have some immediate challenges that we’re both concerned with, to include the situation in Sri Lanka, Burma, and a number of other, number of other hot spots,” he said.

    “So I very much look forward to once again being able to go through a number of these issues with my friend, and then we’ll both head over to our meetings,” Blinken added.

    Last month, Sri Lanka witnessed massive political turmoil following mass protests that forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country.

    Veteran leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president amid hopes for recovery from economic distress. The western powers were anguished over the execution of four pro-democracy activists by Myanmar’s military government last month.

  • Zero tolerance for terrorism in all its manifestations ‘must’: India at SCO meet

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: There is an urgent need to address the global energy and food crisis triggered by disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at a meeting of the SCO in Tashkent on Friday.

    With Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto listening, Jaishankar said “zero tolerance” for terrorism in all its manifestations is a “must”.

    In his address at the foreign ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), he also underlined the potential of the Chabahar port in Iran for the economic future of the grouping.

    Talking about the current global challenges, Jaishankar said the response required includes resilient and diversified supply chains as well as reformed multilateralism.

    The external affairs minister reiterated India’s position on Afghanistan and highlighted its humanitarian support to the war-torn country including the supply of wheat, medicines, vaccines and clothing.

    The major highlights of the deliberations included a decision to grant permanent membership of the bloc to Iran and make Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia its dialogue partners.

    The ministers also supported the applications of Bahrain and the Maldives for the status of SCO dialogue partners.

    The meeting also reviewed preparations for the upcoming summit of the grouping in Samarkand which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the eight-nation grouping.

    “Participated in the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at Tashkent. Highlighted that world faces an energy and food crisis due to disruptions from the Covid pandemic and Ukraine conflict. This needs to be urgently addressed,” Jaishankar tweeted.

    “Response required includes resilient and diversified supply chains as well as reformed multilateralism. Zero tolerance for terrorism in all its manifestations is a must,” he said. He said India will give the “fullest support” for the success of the Samarkand summit.

    “Reiterated India’s position on Afghanistan and highlighted our humanitarian support: wheat, medicines, vaccines and clothing. Underlined the potential of Chabahar port for SCO’s economic future,” Jaishankar said in another tweet.

    Jaishankar said the meeting was “very useful” in preparing for the Samarkand summit. “Spoke of the economic progress in India, stressing the relevance of startups and innovation. Cooperation in traditional medicine is in the common interest of SCO members,” he added.

    Earlier, all the foreign ministers of the SCO nations called on Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

    Jaishankar said he conveyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal greetings to the Uzbek President. “Appreciated the momentum generated by Uzbek Presidency in fields of security, economy, trade, connectivity and culture,” he said.

    Uzbek news agency Dunyo reported that the ministers also supported the applications of Bahrain and the Maldives for the status of SCO dialogue partners. It said the SCO was also actively studying the application for full membership in the bloc by Belarus.

    “There is a common understanding that the replenishment of the ‘SCO family’ will give a significant impetus to multifaceted interaction in the field of regional security, trade, investment and industrial cooperation,” acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov said.

    He said it will contribute to the further development of the huge transport and transit potential in the space of the organisation.

    The SCO, seen as a counterweight to NATO, is a key economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.

    SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

    India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.

    India was made an observer at the SCO in 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.

    NEW DELHI: There is an urgent need to address the global energy and food crisis triggered by disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at a meeting of the SCO in Tashkent on Friday.

    With Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto listening, Jaishankar said “zero tolerance” for terrorism in all its manifestations is a “must”.

    In his address at the foreign ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), he also underlined the potential of the Chabahar port in Iran for the economic future of the grouping.

    Talking about the current global challenges, Jaishankar said the response required includes resilient and diversified supply chains as well as reformed multilateralism.

    The external affairs minister reiterated India’s position on Afghanistan and highlighted its humanitarian support to the war-torn country including the supply of wheat, medicines, vaccines and clothing.

    The major highlights of the deliberations included a decision to grant permanent membership of the bloc to Iran and make Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia its dialogue partners.

    The ministers also supported the applications of Bahrain and the Maldives for the status of SCO dialogue partners.

    The meeting also reviewed preparations for the upcoming summit of the grouping in Samarkand which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the eight-nation grouping.

    “Participated in the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at Tashkent. Highlighted that world faces an energy and food crisis due to disruptions from the Covid pandemic and Ukraine conflict. This needs to be urgently addressed,” Jaishankar tweeted.

    “Response required includes resilient and diversified supply chains as well as reformed multilateralism. Zero tolerance for terrorism in all its manifestations is a must,” he said. He said India will give the “fullest support” for the success of the Samarkand summit.

    “Reiterated India’s position on Afghanistan and highlighted our humanitarian support: wheat, medicines, vaccines and clothing. Underlined the potential of Chabahar port for SCO’s economic future,” Jaishankar said in another tweet.

    Jaishankar said the meeting was “very useful” in preparing for the Samarkand summit. “Spoke of the economic progress in India, stressing the relevance of startups and innovation. Cooperation in traditional medicine is in the common interest of SCO members,” he added.

    Earlier, all the foreign ministers of the SCO nations called on Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

    Jaishankar said he conveyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal greetings to the Uzbek President. “Appreciated the momentum generated by Uzbek Presidency in fields of security, economy, trade, connectivity and culture,” he said.

    Uzbek news agency Dunyo reported that the ministers also supported the applications of Bahrain and the Maldives for the status of SCO dialogue partners. It said the SCO was also actively studying the application for full membership in the bloc by Belarus.

    “There is a common understanding that the replenishment of the ‘SCO family’ will give a significant impetus to multifaceted interaction in the field of regional security, trade, investment and industrial cooperation,” acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov said.

    He said it will contribute to the further development of the huge transport and transit potential in the space of the organisation.

    The SCO, seen as a counterweight to NATO, is a key economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.

    SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

    India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.

    India was made an observer at the SCO in 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.

  • Jaishankar hopes for early resolution of all outstanding issues along LAC

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: A day after China criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for greeting Dalai Lama on his 87th birthday, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar met China’s Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi in Bali, on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers meet.

    “Began my day in Bali by meeting FM Wang Yi of China. Discussion lasted one hour. Focused on specific outstanding issues in our bilateral relationship pertaining to the border situation. Also spoke about other matters including students and flights,” Dr Jaishankar said in a tweet.

    The two sides discussed resolving the border standoff that began in April 2020.

    The EAM called for an early resolution of all the outstanding issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh. Recalling the disengagement achieved in some friction areas he reiterated the need to sustain the momentum to complete disengagement from all the remaining areas to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas, according to a statement released by the MEA.

    The last diplomatic level talks under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs (WMCC) took place on 31 May 2022. Jaishankar reiterated that the India-China relationship is best served by observing the three mutuals — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests.

    Further, Jaishankar reaffirmed the importance of fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols and the understandings reached between the two ministers during their previous conversations. Both the ministers also affirmed that the military and diplomatic officials of the two sides should continue maintaining regular contact and looked forward to the next round of Senior Commanders’ meeting at an early date. 

    He also stressed the need to expedite the process of Indian students returning to China to complete their courses offline at an early date. “We also spoke about other matters including the return of students and flights,’’ tweeted Jaishankar.

    Meanwhile, India is taking over the G20 presidency in December this year and will host the G20 Summit in 2023. China had in the recent past objected to reports of India hosting some of the G20 events in Jammu and Kashmir. “A large number of G20 events will be held across India, there is no need to speculate where,” said MEA’s spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. 

    There are many events that are held before the summit. These include ministerial meetings, governmental meetings and some non-governmental meetings too. The venues of all these meetings can vary. Jaishankar, during the course of the day, also met his counterparts from Brazil, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Indonesia and Senegal.

  • Prophet remarks row: Jaishankar says sensitivities were impacted

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Days after several nations expressed outrage over controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by the BJP’s two now-removed functionaries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said sensibilities and the sensitivities of people were impacted which the countries articulated but they did appreciate that this was not the position of the government.

    He asserted that what was said was not the position of the BJP and the party had made it “very clear in very strong terms”, and took action.

    “The countries not just in the Gulf, I would say even in southeast Asia some countries, who had concerns do appreciate that this was not the position of the government,” Jaishankar said when asked about the controversy at a townhall organised by CNN-News18.

    “They (the countries that expressed concern) deal with us they know what we are about. They know that these are not our views,” he said.

    Once the party clarified its position, our expectation is that the people will understand that, Jaishankar said.

    “There will be people who will fish in troubled waters. International relations is a very competitive game which is not played by Queensberry rules. There will be people who will try to get most if it,” the external affairs minister said without naming any country.

    “We need to engage, we need to put across our point of view and we are doing it. Even in the last few days, you can see people do understand that what is the true picture in India,” he asserted.

    Asked about why India should be lectured by countries that are not a patch on it in democratic terms, the minister said he does not look at the whole issue in that manner.

    “I am also a little sensitive to being lectured. But I would not take this issue as a lecture. I think this was an issue where the sensibilities and the sensitivities of people were impacted. So they were articulating that,” Jaishankar said.

    He said it has to be made very clear what we stand for and the party had done that.

    Several Muslim-majority nations had expressed outrage and condemnation over the controversial remarks on the Prophet.

    The BJP had suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal after their controversial remarks.

  • EAM Jaishankar holds ‘productive’ talks with Indonesian counterpart

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday held “productive” talks with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi with a focus on bilateral cooperation in several key areas including defence and security, trade and connectivity.

    The talks were held under the framework of the India-Indonesia Joint Commission.

    Marsudi is on a visit to India primarily to attend a foreign ministerial meeting of New Delhi and ASEAN member states that took place on Thursday.

    After the talks, Jaishankar said the two sides reviewed the entire gamut of ties under the India-Indonesia comprehensive strategic partnership. “Just concluded a productive 7th India-Indonesia Joint Commission Meeting with FM Retno Marsudi,” Jaishankar said on Twitter.

    “Reviewed entire gamut of our ties in our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with focus on political, defense & security, economic and trade, S&T and space, connectivity and p2p ties,” he said.

  • ‘State of border will be reflected on state of India-China relationship’: Jaishankar on LAC standoff

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Asserting that the development of India-China ties has to be based on mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutuality of interests, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made it clear on Thursday that the state of the border will be reflected on the state of the Sino-India relationship.

    Addressing the 12th Delhi Dialogue in the presence of many foreign ministers of ASEAN countries, Jaishankar noted that the ASEAN partners would have an interest in the relations between India and China.

    He also said the world is currently experiencing turbulence which, along with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, has made the global outlook even more uncertain and complex.

    “Developments in our own region too have had their implications, whether we speak of Afghanistan or of Myanmar. Further away, the conflict in Ukraine is exacerbating concerns over food, fertiliser and our fuel security,” the external affairs minister said.

    This global scenario highlights the need for countries in the Indo-Pacific region to enhance cooperation and in fact, to stand together, he asserted.

    Jaishankar noted that it is natural while surveying the larger landscape that the ASEAN partners would have an interest in the Sino-India relations.

    “So let me be clear that the development of our ties has to be based on three mutuals — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutuality of interests,” he said, adding that the state of the border will be reflected on the state of the relationship.

    The remarks came amid a standoff between India and China that began in early May of 2020.

    As a result of military talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.

    India has been consistently maintaining that peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are key for the overall development of the bilateral ties.

    Jaishankar said the theme of the current edition of the Delhi Dialogue –“Building Bridges in the Indo-Pacific” — is relevant both in its substance and in its timing.

    “The undeniable logic of the connectedness of the two oceans, along with the ongoing global re-balancing call for an open-minded dialogue. And this is also an opportune time to discuss this topic because as I noted, we are celebrating 30 years of the ASEAN-India ties.”

    “So we are not just looking at bridges for their own sake, I think we are looking at bridges that could become a pathway for a truly comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and India,” he said.

    Where the contemporary era is concerned, India’s Act East policy has clearly been the bedrock of the ASEAN-India partnership, Jaishankar said.

    “ASEAN, in fact, holds a unique value as a confluence of our Act East policy and our Neighbourhood First policy,” he added.

    The Union minister asserted that from the Indian perspective, ASEAN lies at the centre of the Indo-Pacific — geographically, culturally and strategically.

    “ASEAN centrality is therefore self-evident, especially as its architecture has such a wide coverage. It was for this very reason that Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi announced the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) at the 2019 East Asia Summit. The IPOI shares strong convergence with ASEAN’s own outlook on the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

    Talking about how to realise the full benefits of the India-ASEAN relationship, Jaishankar said the two sides must make connectivity more expansive and effective.

    “We align our initiatives in this regard with the Master Plan for ASEAN Connectivity.

    The Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, both passing through Myanmar, are the most significant of these undertaken by India,” he said.

    “They are also the hardest ones, both because of the topography and local conditions.

    Realising their early implementation will require a sustained focus, including through our bilateral engagement with Myanmar,” Jaishankar said.

    He also called for exploring synergies in connectivity plans with others like the BIMSTEC Master Plan for Connectivity.

    “Indeed, seamless connectivity from India all the way to Vietnam and the Philippines will create an east-west lateral that will impact the entire Asian continent,” Jaishankar said.

    “India and ASEAN contribute to the ongoing re-balancing of the global order. We are driven by a rising consumer class, a strong start-up ecosystem, a growing internet economy and a robust demographic dividend. We have also between us the necessary trust and transparency now, which is so central to digital cooperation,” he said.

    Emphasising on deepening the India-ASEAN ties, Jaishankar said the ability of the two sides to expand collaboration, add more facets and make it more intense has a resonance far beyond.

    “We can make a real contribution to the evolution of the Indo-Pacific and I dare say, even to the emergence of a new world order,” he said.

    In his remarks, Lim Jock Hoi, the Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, noted that the ASEAN-India economic partnership grew in recent years despite Covid and called for further strengthening of the ties.

    Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Son, Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR Thongphane Savanphet, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and the special envoy of the Thai foreign minister also participated at the ministerial session of the dialogue and called for the strengthening of the ASEAN-India ties.

  • India, Spain agree to add new depth and content to ties

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Spain on Wednesday evinced interest in participating in India’s defence manufacturing sector even as the two countries expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

    In their wide-ranging talks, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his visiting Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares Bueno reiterated their commitment to closely work in countering common challenges of terrorism, violent extremism and cyber crime.

    The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Jaishankar and Albares committed to “add new depth and content to the relationship” and emphasised on the need to retain strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific and to promote collaborative efforts among like-minded nations. Albares is on a day-long visit to India.

    The MEA said there were detailed discussions focused on enhancing cooperation in the key priority areas of trade and investment, defence and security, climate change, green energy and science and technology.

    “The two leaders welcomed signing of the defence contract as part of which Airbus Spain will supply 56 C295 aircraft, 40 of which would be Made in India, and agreed to further deepen defence and security cooperation,” the MEA said in a statement.

    It said India welcomed Spain’s interest in participating in its national defence manufacturing programme through ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives.

    In September last year, India sealed a nearly Rs 21,000 crore deal with Airbus Defence and Space to procure 56 C-295 transport aircraft to replace the ageing Avro-748 planes of the IAF under a project that entails manufacturing of military aircraft in India for the first time by a private company.

    “Warm and productive discussions with Foreign Minister @jmalbares of Spain. Discussed our growing engagements in political,defense, economic and cultural domains. Envisage enhanced collaboration to support self reliance and resilient supply chains,” Jaishankar tweeted.

    On his part, Albares described India as a global power and an important partner of Spain.

    In a tweet in Spanish, he said the meeting with Jaishankar was excellent and that both sides will continue to work to deepen the bilateral relations and signed a declaration for cultural and academic cooperation.

    The MEA said Jaishankar and Albares welcomed the growing bilateral trade and investment linkages and agreed to expand them in new areas of common interest.

    “They agreed that there are more opportunities in sectors like IT, pharma and renewable and there are new and unexplored emerging areas like green hydrogen, electric mobility, advanced materials, deep sea exploration where the two countries can collaborate further,” it said.

    It said the two ministers also exchanged views on a number of regional and global issues of mutual interest and noted the mutual understanding and support in addressing common challenges like climate change, global health, sustainable development and counter-terrorism. They welcomed the restart of India-EU FTA negotiations later this month.

    On Ukraine, the two ministers expressed their concern on the ongoing humanitarian crisis and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

    On Afghanistan, both sides highlighted the need for Afghanistan to have unhindered access to humanitarian assistance and that Afghan territory is not used by terror outfits for destabilising the region.

    The MEA said the two sides agreed to explore collaboration in development partnership and economic activities in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

  • BRICS foreign ministers meet on Thursday, Jaishankar to take part

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: China will host the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting tomorrow virtually.

    External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will take part along with his counterparts from the five-member bloc. These include South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor, Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Franca and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The meeting would be chaired by China’s State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

    During the meeting, the BRICS Foreign Ministers will have a “BRICS+” dialogue with their counterparts from emerging markets and developing countries.

    China holds the chair of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) this year.

    About China’s expectations of the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting, spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the meeting will send a “clear message” of unity and make preparations for the annual summit of the five-member bloc.

    “We will send a clear message of BRICS countries working together in solidarity, upholding true multilateralism, staying united in fighting COVID-19 and promoting peace and development,” Wang said.

    “More importantly, we will make good preparations for the BRICS Summit,” he said.

    This year’s summit is being held in the shadows of Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine.

  • Focus should be on stopping fighting: EAM Jaishankar on Ukraine

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The best way to deal with the conflict in Ukraine would be to focus on “stopping the fighting and getting the talking” to move forward and India’s position on the crisis is best placed to advance such an approach, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.

    His comments came in response to a question at an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue, India’s premier foreign policy and geo-economics conference.

    Jaishankar on Tuesday countered criticism of India’s position on Russia’s actions in Ukraine, saying the Western powers have been oblivious to the pressing challenges in Asia including last year’s developments in Afghanistan.

    “We spent a lot of time yesterday on Ukraine and I have tried to explain what our views are but also explained that in our minds the best way forward is to focus on stopping the fighting, getting the talking and finding ways of moving forward.

    We think our choices, our positions are best placed to advance that,” he said.

    India has not yet publicly condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine and has been calling for the resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

    In his address, Jaishankar talked about India’s 75-year-long journey after Independence and highlighted how the country played a key role in promoting democracy in South Asia.

    Reflecting on areas where India came up short, the external affairs minister listed a lack of adequate attention to human resources and manufacturing and mentioned that probably not much attention was given to hard security as part of foreign policy.

    Asked about what should be the priority for the country in the next 25 years, Jaishankar said capability development in all possible areas should be the central focus.

    “We have to be confident about who we are. I think it is better to engage the world on the basis of who we are…This idea that others define us, somehow we need to get the approval of other quarters, I think that is an era we need to put behind us,” Jaishankar said.

    He hoped that India will be “deeply more international” in terms of its commitments, responsibilities and roles in the next 25 years.

    “We should not be looking at the world with a sense of entitlement. We need to earn our place in the world and which to a certain extent, therefore, comes to the issue of how the world benefits from the growth of India. We need to demonstrate that ” he said.

    The external affairs minister was asked what India expects from the world.

    “There is a lot of talk about reliable and resilient supply chains and people speak about transparency and trusted technologies. If India could do more and show the rest of the world that the world benefits by India being bigger,” Jaishankar said.

    “So we need to develop stakes in our future whether the rest of the world is concerned. I think some of that is happening for strategic reasons obviously, but we need to make more of it happen especially for economic reasons,” he added.

    Showcasing India’s 75-year-long successful democratic journey, Jaishankar said the choices made by India have had a larger influence globally.

    “There was a time in this part of the world that we were pretty much the only democracy. If democracy is global today, we see it is global today, I think, in some measure, that credit is due to India,” Jaishankar said.

    He noted that it is also fair to look back on where the country came up short.

    “One, clearly we did not pay the kind of attention to our social indicators, our human resources as we should have. Two, we did not concentrate on manufacturing and technology strengths as we should have. And three, in terms of foreign policy, probably, in the mix of various elements, we did not give as much importance, as much weight to hard security as we should have,” he said.

    The external affairs minister said India contributed to the spreading of democracy in South Asia.

    “We would like to see more prosperity in South Asia. If India has been in a sense example of democracy or promoter of democracy in South Asia, we would now like to be part of a larger lifting tide so that the rest of South Asia grows along with us,” Jaishankar said.

    Asked about the shortage of wheat in the wake of the war in Ukraine and if India would like to contribute to addressing the issue.

    “We have a significant wheat production. We would obviously go into the global markets and try to compensate for the shortfalls as much as we can. It (Egypt) is one of the countries with whom we are talking,” he said.

  • Despite political differences, Priyanka Chaturvedi supported govt stand on oil purchasing from Russia

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Despite political differences, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi came out in support of India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar’s remark on the issue of oil purchasing from Russia given during the 2+2 ministerial talks at Washington.

    Jaishankar had categorically said, “If you are looking at (India’s) energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest your attention should be on Europe. We buy some energy necessary for our energy security. But I suspect, looking at figures, purchase for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon.”

    Sharing these lines of Jaishankar’s remark through her Twitter handle, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi described the remark as ‘superb’ from External Affair Minister putting an emoji of applause.

    Jaishankar’s remarks came at a time when many countries including the US, have imposed multiple sanctions on Russia for being in a war against Ukraine.

    Speaking to this newspaper, Chaturvedi on late Tuesday evening said, “Party (Shiv Sena) stands by India at international forums. Country’s interest comes first for us in politics.” Giving thumbs-up to EAM for his brilliant remarks, she further said that the opposition has come together on this issue. “Remember, the opposition has come together on this issue as was obvious in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha discussions on the Ukraine crisis,” she added.

    She also said, “Our differences were with regards to the evacuation of the students stranded in war-hit Ukraine, but as far as the policy for energy security is needed, we are all aligned on the issue.”