The free trade agreement (FTA) talks with India are no longer working towards a Diwali deadline though negotiations are progressing well, UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has said as New Delhi expressed confidence on Friday of an "early date" for a mutually beneficial deal. "There are ongoing negotiations as we know on the FTA. There is interest on both sides to see if we can work towards a deal, an FTA, that is beneficial to both the countries at an early date," external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters in New Delhi. It came as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his UK counterpart, James Cleverly, and referenced the Roadmap 2030 bilateral agreement signed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former UK PM Boris Johnson in May last year, with no specific reference to the FTA.
"China's position on the Zangnan region (South Tibet) is consistent and clear. We never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing while responding to a question.
The government's focus is on containing and controlling coronavirus the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday and advised Indians to stay put wherever they are and travel only under compelling reasons. Responding to questions about IPL and other sporting events, it said the MEA's advise would be "not do it at this time but if the organisers want to go ahead, it is their decision".
Geeta, the mute and deaf Indian girl who returned home on Monday from Pakistan, met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his residence in New Delhi on Tuesday morning.
'I want to thank the Prime Minister of India for supporting us'
India has evacuated at least 670 Indian nationals from Sudan and is looking to rescue more of its citizens from the strife-torn African nation before the end of a tenuous ceasefire between the regular army and a paramilitary force.
China on Wednesday warned that it will take "necessary measures" to defend its territorial sovereignty and interests after India "obstinately" allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the "disputed" parts of Arunachal Pradesh causing "serious damage" to the bilateral ties.
A 43-year-old woman's SOS to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the Indian embassy in London, the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi and the Delhi police swing into action and prevent her from killing herself.
Barack Obama, who will be the first US president to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations, will have a loaded itinerary with engagements ranging from political to economic and academic during his three-day trip beginning Sunday that will culminate with a visit to iconic Taj Mahal.
In the government's first major mission to rescue Indians stranded in the strife-torn nation
After the United Nations declared June 21 as the International Yoga Day in December last year at India's request, the officers in the Ministry of Ayush began ideating about how to celebrate it in the country.
The agency had received Rs 946.51 crore to manage its affairs in the Budget Estimates for 2023-24, which was later increased to Rs 968.86 crore in the Revised Estimates.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday said the 46 Indian nurses, a majority of them are from his state, who have been moved out of their hospital in Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-controlled Tikrit town of war-torn Iraq, are "safe" and there was no need for "anxiety".
The NSA visited the affected northeastern parts of Delhi, including Jaffrabad and Seelampur, where he met police officers and gave them necessary directives, besides meeting leaders of different communities to assuage the tensed situation, the officials said.
A prominent Hindu temple in Canada's Ontario province has been vandalised by unknown people with "anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti", in what is described by the police as a "hate-motivated incident."
Swaraj thanked Saudi Arabia for according the 'Guest of Honour' status to India at the Janadriyah festival, an official statement said.
Responding to the concerns of the African envoys, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said government has directed concerned authorities to take stringent action against the culprits involved in killing of the Congolese national.
Since becoming the president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa has presided over a major restructuring of both the Federal Government and the government of Abu Dhabi.
The team will leave for Havana on Tuesday and is expected to return on Thursday evening.
With the Modi government close to completing its two years in office, a new survey on Saturday said nearly half of the respondents (49 per cent) feel "no change" in their living standards while another 15 per cent feel the situation has actually worsened.
'Landed in Tokyo. Will be taking part in various programmes during this visit including the Quad Summit, meeting fellow Quad leaders, interacting with Japanese business leaders and the vibrant Indian diaspora,' Modi tweeted in both Japanese and English.
Contradicting L K Advani, former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh has said the then home minister was aware of the controversial decision about his travelling to Kandahar along with three terrorists released in exchange for the hostages of hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999.
An inter-ministerial committee has been set up by the government to look at the possibility of declassification of all files related to death or disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Cash-strapped telco Vodafone Idea's proposal for investment of up to Rs 15,000 crore through foreign direct investment (FDI) has been approved by the Union government, according to officials. A top-level group, comprising representatives from the ministries of home affairs, external affairs, finance and commerce and industry, took the decision. The nod, which is an enabling provision, would help the financially-stressed company raise funds to pay up some of its dues linked to adjusted gross revenue (AGR), reduce debts and use the money for operational expenses.
Dina Wadia, Jinnah's only daughter and Nusli Wadia's late mother, moved the high court in 2007 to regain control of the estate.
Swaraj is expected to give a stinging response to Sharif's UN General Assembly speech, in which he had focused elaborately on Kashmir.
India boycotted Pak National Day event over invitation to Hurriyat leaders.
'We have tried to get in touch with the embassy as well as the Ministry of External Affairs. We have not heard from them yet but I am confident that the government must be putting efforts for our safe and quick evacuationfrom Kabul'
Qatar has released eight jailed former Indian Navy personnel and seven of them returned home early Monday, 46 days after their death sentences handed last October were commuted to jail terms of varying duration.
Sun Weidong is an expert on South Asia who worked closely with external affairs minister S Jaishankar.
India on Friday lodged a strong protest over the release of Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, a prime accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, saying the "negative development" reinforced the perception that Pakistan has a dual policy on dealing with terrorists.
The government and Life Insurance Corporation's (LIC's) strategic stake sale in IDBI Bank is expected to move to the second stage by the first quarter of FY24, said two people in the know. They added that considering the progress of the ongoing deal, financial bids are expected to come in by June this year. The proposed IDBI Bank stake sale is divided into two sequential stages.
India's immediate focus is to ensure that Afghan soil is not used for terrorist activities directed against it, the ministry of external affairs said.
Sushma Swaraj startled Modi when she said she would like to be defence minister. That set the PM thinking, says Rajeev Sharma.
'If the mandis were not working in Delhi, or the onion market in Nashik got affected, or there were disruptions because of unloading or loading in any sector in south India, we intervened.'
Former Vice President Hamid Ansari on Wednesday refuted the allegation that he had invited to India a Pakistani journalist who has claimed to have spied for Inter-Services Intelligence, and said a 'litany of falsehood' has been unleashed against him in sections of media and by a Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson.
Rana was arrested in 2009 on the charges of plotting the 26/11 terror attack. Some 166 people, including US nationals, were killed in the attack carried out by 10 Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured and hanged after handed down death sentence by an Indian court.
'Given his stint in Beijing, as India's longest serving ambassador there and that too through some challenging and interesting times, Jaishankar ought to have been appointed as foreign secretary in 2013 itself,' says Sanjaya Baru.
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said a total of 2,51,447 persons travelling in 2,315 flights have been screened so far.
