India has said any unilateral armed action against Iran is totally 'unacceptable and undesirable' and should be disapproved of by the international community. "In respect of Iran, I entirely agree with the Egyptian Foreign Minister that there should be no armed engagement. In fact we are against any coercive engagement," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after holding talks with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit in Cairo on Thursday night.
Mukherjee had stitches in the head at Bethuadahari Primary Hospital and his condition was stable.
Afghanistan became a SAARC member in 2006.
Mukherjee, who was in South Korea for a three-day official visit, came to the Korean Demilitarised Zone for a brief time.
As India continues to push Pakistan to eliminate terrorism, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said he believes President Asif Ali Zardari is sincere about ending the menace, but underlined that his desire should be backed by actions. "I believe he (Zardari) has the desire to fight against terrorism," he said in an interview to a TV channel while describing the Pakistan President as a 'nice man and a gentleman'.
Refuting charges that India did not hand over all documents on the Mumbai terror attacks to Pakistan, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that entire documents on the matter had been passed on to the neighbouring country."It is a false allegation that we did not hand over all documents pertaining to the attack on India's financial hub... we have given entire documents on the matter to Pakistan," Mukherjee told reporters.
A day after India handed over answers to the 30 questions asked by Pakistan, on the terror attack in Mumbai last November, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said he expected Islamabad to follow up its commitment with 'tangible action'."Words and commitments should be followed by tangible action," he told reporters when asked whether he was satisfied with Pakistan's handling of the investigation into the Mumbai attacks.
On the eve of his visit to China, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday made it clear that Arunachal Pradesh is not disputed and that India will not give up its right over it.Talking to reporters in Chennai, he acknowledged that Chinese troops have been indulging in incursions and that Indian security forces had been asked to be alert and maintain vigil along the border to stop such intrusions."We have a democratically-elected government there," he said.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met United States President George W Bush at the White House in Washington on Monday and discussed the entire gamut of bilateral ties, including the civil nuclear deal.Bush and Mukherjee are said to have exchanged not only pleasantries but also discussed the width and depth of the United States-India relations that included the civilian nuclear initiative.Specific details of the meeting have not been made available to the media.
India and China will hold a new round of negotiations on the vexed border issue which is an area of 'differences and divergences' despite bilateral relations having witnessed 'visible improvement', External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday. He said both countries have an established mechanism at the level of special representatives to deal with the border issue at the political level. "They have completed 12 rounds of talks," he said.
Maintaining that both India and the US are seriously trying to sort out the 'outstanding issues', he, however, refused to specify when the agreement will be firmed up.
Rebuffing China's claim on Arunachal Pradesh, India on Sunday asserted that the north eastern state is its integral part and ruled out ceding any of its part.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to meet United States President George W Bush on Monday and brief him on the progress in the negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the India-US nuclear agreement.Mukherjee will also be holding discussions with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top officials of the Bush administration. The visit takes place within days of Mukherjee stating that India can neither mend nor end the deal.
A range of regional and international issues were discussed during the 30-minute meeting Senators Russel D Feingold and Robert P Casey Jr held with Mukherjee. Asked whether the nuclear agreement came up during the deliberations, Feingold said the two sides discussed a wide range of issues including the deal.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has arrived in Washington as part of his maiden bilateral visit to the United States, during which the civil nuclear deal is expected to dominate the parleys.Mukherjee is scheduled to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tomorrow at 8:45 am (6:15 pm IST). The minister will go to the White House in the afternoon to meet President George W Bush as well as National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley.
"Iran is our longtime ally and about 40 lakh Indians are residing in West Asia. Prior to taking any step, the programme's objective should be ascertained," he told media persons in Gwalior.
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.
Criticising the US for resorting to protectionism in the wake of the global financial crisis, India on Friday warned such a "negative" trend will have a cascading effect on major economies and undermine efforts to overcome the downturn in the shortest possible time.
The Taliban forces operating out of Pakistan's Swat region pose a common threat to India and the United States, besides the host country, America's special envoy Richard Holbrooke suggested in New Delhi on Monday. The envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, said he had sought the Indian leadership's assessment of the situation.
During the nearly two-hour meeting that lasted almost till midnight at 10 Janpath, Mukherjee, the government's pointsman on the deal with United Progressive Alliance allies and the Left parties, and Antony apprised Sonia of the talks they had with leaders of the constituents of the ruling alliance and the Communist Party of India-Marxist and CPI in the last two days. Emerging from the meeting, neither Mukherjee nor Antony spoke to the media.
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.
"India is determined that even as we pursue economic growth, our per capita GHG emissions will not increase beyond that of the industrialized nations," Mukherjee pledged.
Mukherjee said the international community could have trade with India after a safeguards agreement is in place.
Voicing scepticism over Pakistan acting decisively against terrorists operating from its soil, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said such elements have been let off in the past after some initial action."We can make available whatever evidences we have. In this case, we are also investigating, we have not come to any conclusion. Therefore at this juncture, perhaps, it would be premature to share the evidences," Mukherjee said during a TV interview.
The US government had on January 23 offered to check the availability of Tamiflu syrup for children from worldwide stocks, provide technical support for human surveillance, diagnosis, and preparedness and technical support for animal surveillance and culling.
India on Wednesday said it had made it clear to Britain through diplomatic channels that it did not share its Foreign Secretary David Miliband's views linking resolution of the Kashmir issue with terrorism.
He will also review the third round of the Composite Dialogue process, Pakistan Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a media briefing.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday indicated in Rajya Sabha that he might make a statement on Union Minorities Minister Abdul Rahman Antulay's remarks on Tuesday, the last day of the current Parliament session. The statement came after Bharatiya Janata Party members forced several adjournments.
The meeting, officials said, provided an opportunity for Mukherjee to hold comprehensive talks with the political leaders on a host of issues, including the India-Pakistan peace process.
Advani wanted a reassurance from the government that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of India.
Other noted personalities to be bestowed with the Padma Vibhushan include noted playback singer Asha Bhosle, chess wizard Vishwanathan Anand, mountainer Edmund Hillary and industrialists Ratan Naval Tata, Infosys mentor N R Narayana Murthy, steel tycoon Lakshmi Narayan Mittal and hotelier P R S Oberoi.
Pakistan has not responded officially on India's dossier on the terror attacks in Mumbai, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in New Delhi on Tuesday.National Security Adviser M K Narayanan had told a TV channel on Sunday that Pakistan had sent two sets of questions about the dossier and Indian officials have already replied to one set of questions.
Africa is growing. India wants to play a part in its growth. It sees Libya as the gateway.
Ahead of crucial Indo-Pak talks, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said his trip to Pakistan was a 'goodwill visit" and that he is not going with any fixed agenda or "any expectation".
He rejected Advani's demand for a Parliament resolution declaring Arunachal Pradesh as an inalienable part of India.
While noting that 'many unforeseen things happen' in coalition politics, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, "But the things you have referred to are not unforeseen because the position of Left parties is well known to us."
Mukherjee told reporters in Kolkata that two meetings had already been held between the UPA and Left, adding that exchange of notes had also taken place.
Mukherjee said the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including economic and commercial cooperation, was reviewed during the the meeting.
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