Akbaruddin is currently serving as additional secretary in the MEA.
"Before I leave Secretary General, I have one last small request and that is in the Indian tradition, when we leave or when we meet, we don't stay hello or shake hand but we say Namaste. So before I end I want to say Namaste to you and I hope if you can reciprocate," Akbaruddin said during his video conversation with Guterres, adding that 'I bow out with a Namaste to you'.
Edited excerpts from the weekly media briefing by official spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry, Syed Akbaruddin, in New Delhi on April 3:
Vikas Swarup, whose debut novel was made into the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, has been appointed as spokesperson in the external affairs ministry.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Queensland University of Technology, the Indian map displayed there had Kashmir missing from it, prompting a strong protest by Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh.
Senior diplomat Vikas Swarup on Saturday assumed charge as Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry.
India on Monday said there was 'no scope for misunderstanding or misrepresenting' its position
An Italian delegation, including officials from their Legal and foreign ministries, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday and met Indian officials in connection with the killing of two Indian fishermen by the guards on board an Italian ship.
After prodding from the government, a short documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots has been removed from an exhibition on contemporary Indian art currently underway in Beijing.
Sixteen Indians stranded in violence-affected areas of Iraq have been evacuated even as one of the 40 abducted Indians has fled from the captors in Mosul town which is under the control of the militants.
The government has taken "serious note" of complaints against an Indian company, involved in alleged mistreatment of 77 Indian labourers in Sri Lanka, and directed its mission in Colombo to make immediate arrangements for their return.
Somali pirates released seven Indian sailors on Friday by after remaining in captivity for about four years. The sailor will be back in India over the weekend.
India is sending a senior official from the External Affairs Ministry to Singapore in the wake of sentencing of one of its nationals for riots triggered by the death of a compatriot in an accident.
Here are some top moments from Modi's Kyoto trip.
Varanasi, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents in the Lok Sabha, will be developed into a 'smart city' by using the experience of Kyoto, the 'smart city' of Japan, under a pact signed in Kyoto on Saturday.
China and Vietnam have an acrimonious relationship due to their standoff over the South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons.
India on Wednesday demanded that Pakistan immediately release comatose prisoner Sarabjit Singh on humanitarian and sympathetic grounds, so that he could benefit from the best available treatment in India.
India on Wednesday summoned Norwegian Ambassador Ann Ollestad to seek an expeditious solution to the custody row involving two NRI children, who have been kept in foster care by the authorities of that country. "The Norwegian ambassador was summoned to the ministry of external affairs and she met Secretary (West) Madhusudan Ganapathi," official spokesperson in the MEA Syed Akbaruddin told reporters.
India raised the issue with China last week immediately after the incident of Chinese incursion came to light.
Expressing "concern" over the circumstances in which an Indian woman dentist died in Ireland, India on Thursday said it is awaiting the results of two probes ordered by Irish authorities in the matter and will "take it from there."
Google India has blocked access to an anti-Islam film that has triggered violence in many countries and led to the killing of the United States ambassador in Libya, the government said on Sunday.
"The embassy also remains in touch with the relevant French authorities in regard to its security. In planning its security requirements, the Embassy takes into account all possible threats including those mentioned in the press report," he said.
World's largest asset manager Blackrock will host a global investors meet in India next year, CEO Laurence Flik conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India has called off foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan next week sending a blunt message that it was interfering in India's internal affairs by holding talks with Kashmiri separatists.
India has conveyed to Pakistan its "strong concern" on the grant of bail to key 26/11 Mumbai attack handler Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, saying the release will make a mockery of Pakistan's commitment to fight terror groups without hesitation and without making distinctions.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup, credited with expanding foreign ministry's social media outreach and handling sensitive issues deftly, was on Thursday appointed India's High Commissioner to Canada.
The external affairs ministry on Friday did not rule out any further disciplinary action against senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who had hit the headlines last year after being arrested in the US in a visa fraud case.
The visit comes seven months after India cancelled foreign secretary-level talks.
In view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Navratri' fasts to be observed during his United States visit which includes a private dinner by President Barack Obama, India has indicated the "dietary preferences" to the host and the preparations are being done accordingly.
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There are 'no plans' for a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, external affairs ministry said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe about the postponement of his proposed visit there next month in view of the Budget session of the Parliament.
Forty Indian workers have been kidnapped in strife-torn Iraq, prompting the government to launch all-out efforts to trace them. The workers, most of whom may be from Punjab and other parts of north India, were workers of a construction company in Mosul town of Iraq, said External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddid.
India has dismissed reports that the Colombo station chief of the Research and Analysis Wing had been expelled in the run up to this month's Sri Lankan presidential election and maintained that he has moved out after completion of his three-year tenure.
The government on Friday rejected Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's contention that it does not want him to continue as Nalanda University Chancellor
India on Monday sent two passenger ships to Djibouti Port to evacuate Indians stranded in conflict-hit Yemen.
India's external affairs ministry has said that the government will appeal against the judgment of a court in Sri Lanka to sentence five Indian fishermen to death.
Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs, said the earlier advisory for citizens asking them not to travel to Syria remained in effect.
India on Wednesday said it has no plans for a structured meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the 18th SAARC summit.
The Indian Consulate in Sydney was on Monday evacuated in view of the hostage situation in a caf near its premises and all the staff members are safe, the external affairs ministry said.
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