In a special gesture, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday visited cyclone-ravaged areas in Bangladesh and assured that India will extend all possible assistance to the neighbouring country in their hour of crisis.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee made these announcements in Dhaka as he handed over a fresh consignment of Indian relief material to Bangladesh's foreign adviser Iftekhar Chowdhury at the Zia International Airport soon after his arrival for a day-long visit. "India has always attached high importance to its relations with Bangladesh. We stand by Bangladesh in its efforts to rebuild the lives of those affected by the cyclone," said Mukherjee.
The issue of Doha round of WTO talks dominated the discussions as Prime Minister Manmahon Singh met his British counterpart Gordon Brown here and agreed on the need for pushing the stalled negotiations. Brown, while favouring cut in farm subsidies in the US and the Europe, voiced optimism that an agreement could be reached in the global trade talks that have got stuck due to stiff opposition by India and some other developing countries on agriculture subsidies.
With Pakistan's possible suspension from the grouping expected to dominate the Commonwealth Heads of Government meet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left Delhi on Thursday for Kampala where hot issues like climate change, human rights and terrorism will also be on the agenda.
The two leaders are understood to have discussed ways to expand bilateral ties. The 30-minute meeting took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India summit. Trade between the two countries has been growing at a rapid pace and the two nations have set an ambitious target of $10 billion to be achieved by 2010.
China was forthcoming and supportive of international civil nuclear energy cooperation with India as the two countries affirmed their readiness to take their strategic and cooperative partnership to a new level at the ASEAN summit in Singapore on Wednesday.
Terming India's ties with the ASEAN as a 'pillar' of its 'Look East' policy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday proposed a bilateral trade target of $50 billion by 2010 and sought boosting of cooperation with the key ten-member grouping in technology, health care, climate change and tourism.
A high-level meeting between the two sides will be held in New Delhi from Monday on the comprehensive economic agreement which aims at eliminating trade barriers to enhance commerce between India and the EU.
The government-run Invest In France Agency, tasked with attracting overseas business, has identified 300 Indian companies, mainly in IT and pharma sectors, as prospective investors in this country and plans to launch vigorous campaigns to tap these.
Mukherjee, who was in South Korea for a three-day official visit, came to the Korean Demilitarised Zone for a brief time.
As Maoists walked out of the Koirala government in Nepal, India on Tuesday expressed hope that all concerned would implement their previous understandings and resolve differences democratically.
On a three-day visit to Seoul since Sunday, he made it clear that the increasing cooperation between India and the US was not aimed at containing China.
"As India's largest neighbour and a key emerging player in the international arena, China remains an important priority of our foreign policy," said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Mukherjee said the international community could have trade with India after a safeguards agreement is in place.
"India is always against any armed intervention by any country in another country," Pranab said.
Kumaran Padmanathan, who allegedly financed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, was reported to have been detained in Thailand earlier this week.
Lauding India's track record on non-proliferation, Japan said it has been a "good boy" despite remaining outside Non Proliferation Treaty regime, but New Delhi should shoulder the responsibility to strengthen the NPT regime.
At least 134 highly trained commandos will be despatched in two batches beginning this month for protection of Border Roads Organisation personnel constructing a crucial highway in Afghanistan, sources told PTI in New Delhi on Sunday.
The leaders agreed to work together to promote more favourable conditions for investment, both domestic and foreign, to foster economic growth and sustainable development.
'We note the commitments India has made... We look forward to reinforcing our partnership with India,' said the document issued by the US, Russia, France, UK, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan.
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