President Chandrika Kumaratunga made an appearance at the Independence Square Park where the Tamil leader was cremated.
Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Bannerjee's ultimatum of "48 hours" to finalise sharing of seats in West Bengal worked. Without asking for more seats, the Congress on Thursday talked of "larger perspective of defeating the Communist Party of India-Marxist" in deciding to contest only 14 Lok Sabha seats, leaving the remaining 26 seats in the state for her party.
The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also observed silence for two minutes in the memory of Mukherjee.
India on Monday promised to respond to any information sought by Pakistan in connection with the probe into the terror attack on Mumbai but underlined that the request should come through official channels only.External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India will cooperate 'as and when' necessary but ruled out a joint investigation into the attacks. After being provided the dossier of evidence on Mumbai attacks, Pakistan has sought more information.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh continues to be unwell, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has postponed his visit to Australia by a day and Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat has warned that the Left will withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government by Wednesday if the UPA continues to pursue the India-US nuclear deal.
With the financial meltdown eating into global economic growth, including India's own, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who also holds the finance portfolio, warned that ignoring rural economy could prove to be disastrous. "Global financial institutions need to put more resources for developing countries in rural economy, build social infrastructure... The government will take further steps to ensure labour-intensive sectors are less adversely affected," he said.
"In view of contracting global demand, we have to focus on domestic demand by stimulating demand in rural areas and labour intensive sectors," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is holding charge of the finance portfolio, said. "We must support the development of those sections which immediately boost growth and throw up employment opportunities." Sectors that specifically sought enhancement of bank credit were infrastructure, rural credit, consumer credit, MSME.
To boost the economy, the RBI has taken a slew of measures since September last year, including cuts in the cash reserve ratio and short-term lending (repo) rate, to inject funds into the system and signalled a soft interest rate regime. PSU bankers' meeting is being held in the backdrop of the third quarterly review of monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India.
"Nests and sanctuaries are located in territories of some countries," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Kabul on Thursday, adding that there was no need to name them. Maintaining that all countries should fulfil their international and bilateral obligations and deny sanctuary to terrorists, Mukherjee said: "They will have to fight against the menace of terrorism at whatever cost."
"I do not agree to that. Because this is totally wrong. The situation is not at all comparable," Mukherjee said when asked whether Israeli type offensive against Hamas in Gaza Strip could be an option for the Government against Pakistan.
" Kasab has told us quite categorically where he comes from, where he received military and arms training and where his handlers are located. Unfortunately, despite this, we have seen a consistent flip-flop in the reaction of the government in Islamabad," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a gathering at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Chennai.
India on Tuesday slammed Pakistan for trying to create 'war hysteria', saying it was aimed at diverting attention from the real issue of ending terrorism emanating from that country.Reacting to comments by Pakistan's Army Chief General Pervez Kayani that the armed forces had the right to defend borders in case of any aggression, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said, "The talk of war or creating war hysteria is diversionary."
"I am not saying anything on this matter. It is not appropriate," he said on the sidelines of a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
"We (India) would need to develop more sophisticated ways of dealing with these new challenges (strategic and geopolitical) posed by China. We are today faced with a new China," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the National Defence College in New Delhi on Monday.
In an apparent reference to Pakistan, India on Monday said hurdles in the global war against terror are created by "unwillingness" or lack of "sincerity" on part of countries and any "architecture or framework" does not "stand in the way" of fighting the menace.
Pranab Mukherjee said India will undertake the civil nuclear cooperation with the US and any other country on the basis of bilateral agreements only and that the government has "no doubt" that Washington will fulfil its "commitments and obligations" specified in the agreement.
After the three armed forces, it is now the turn of the central police organisations (CPOs) and paramilitary forces (CPMFs) to raise a pitch for 'parity' in pay scales with their military counterparts.
If approved, many proposals will have a significant impact on the SEZ policy, which came into force in February 2006. A crucial finance ministry proposal -- to be discussed by the group -- is imposing an export obligation in excess of 50 per cent on developers and units that will be eligible for duty and tax benefits.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has announced that the cabinet will soon take a decision on fuel price hike.
A total of six Indians, including a Border Roads Organisation driver and four ITBP soldiers, and 129 Afghans were killed in these attacks. The 215-km long Delaram-Zaranj highway, a symbol of India's developmental work in the war-ravaged country, was handed over to Afghan authorities by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will lead a high-level Indian delegation to the two-day meet that brings together foreign ministers from 43 nations in Europe and Asia.
Sarabjit's sister Dalbir said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi assured her that he will raise the issue with the Pakistan government during his visit.
Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will interact with ambassadors and high commissioners stationed in Delhi and discuss with them the problem of the repeated terror attacks planned and executed by their masters sitting in neighbouring countries.
However, Dr Singh made it clear that he had no idea who floated the three names and under whose directive.
India has received a positive response from the Non-Aligned Movement countries, which are members of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group on the Indo-US nuclear deal after it briefed them on the safeguards agreement, which the global nuclear watchdog will consider on Friday.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday held a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, more than a week after his visit to Moscow where the two could not meet, triggering reports of a rebuff to the Indian leader. Lavrov requested Mukherjee for a briefing on the latest state of the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation deal and he was informed about it.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has assured he would not precipitate a crisis for the United Progressive Alliance government over Sri Lankan Tamils issue as the Centre apprised him of steps being taken by the island nation's governments to ensure safety of Tamil civilians in that country.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has sought reconstitution of an empowered group of ministers to decide on allocation of gas from RIL-operated KG-D6 fields to new customers. Deora, who met T K A Nair, principal secretary to the prime minister on Sunday, has formally written to the Cabinet secretary for reconstitution of the eGoM on the lines of the previous ministerial group headed by the then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
"An open and inclusive architecture, which is flexible enough to accommodate the great diversity that exists in Asia, is needed," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told students and scholars at the prestigious Peking University in Beijing. "We cannot transplant ideas from other parts of the world," Mukherjee said a day after holding wide-ranging talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.
On the eve of Foreign Ministerial talks, India on Wednesday virtually rejected China's claim over a small part of Sikkim, saying the state's boundary issue has been settled. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said the recent Chinese claim over the 'finger area' in Sikkim border would be discussed at the talks between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing on Thursday. China recently laid claim over the 'finger area'.
Petroleum ministry rejects conclusions of two reports ahead of EGoM.
The trip will be decorative. No offical treaty to mark the conclusion of the 123 Agreement will be signed by Bush and Dr Singh
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday advised the United States to leave the issue of Iran's nuclear programme to the International Atomic Energy Agency and not take up the responsibility of deciding Iran's position."Iran should convince the IAEA that their nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. We are advising Iran that being a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, you should satisfy the IAEA."
Dr Singh and Gandhi, along with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, had the discussion with Advani on the issue during the State dinner hosted for visiting Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in New Delhi on Monday.
India and the United States on Monday urged China and the Dalai Lama to hold peaceful negotiations between them to resolve the pro-independence unrest in Tibet with Washington insisting that dialogue was the "only" policy that is sustainable in the Himalayan region.
"The Hyde Act is an enabling provision that is between the executive and the legislative organs of the US government," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a suo motu statement on foreign policy-related developments in the Lok Sabha. "India's rights and obligations regarding civil nuclear cooperation with the US arise only from the bilateral 123 Agreement that we have agreed upon with the US," he said.
"The Australian government fully appreciates how central India is to our future," Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a speech at the University of Western Australia, his alma mater, while making a strong push for closer ties in social, economic and defence sectors.
China on Thursday expressed its concern over the activities of the Dalai Lama and his supporters in India but thanked New Delhi for ensuring a smooth run of the Beijing Olympic torch in the Indian capital.The Tibet issue was raised by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, during his talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in Beijing.Briefing reporters after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said China 'naturally' raised the issue of Tibet.
The composite dialogue between India and Pakistan will resume on May 21 and the two countries will review progress made so far in confidence-building measures, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Wednesday. "We will review the results of the fourth round of talks (under the composite dialogue) and then plan the agenda for the fifth round to be held after this meeting," Qureshi said.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected suggestions that the United Progressive Alliance government's capacity to operationalise the deal has weakened after the Congress' debacle in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. "We would not like to proceed with the deal if the Left parties withdraw support from the government," he told Karan Thapar's India Tonight programme on CNBC.
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