As its factories resumed operations after over two-month of grim battle against coronavirus, China is busy tapping into the vast business opportunities of export of key medical goods, specially ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE), across the world, including India, where both private and government bodies are placing orders for the import of these products.
They shared the dais but other than a formal handshake, there was no exchange of courtesies between prime ministers of India and Pakistan during the nearly three-hour South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit in Kathmandu on Wednesday.
Seven months after cancelling talks, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday.
In another tweet, the PMO said Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Modi spoke to Sharif and conveyed best wishes for the showpiece event.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time addressed the leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Kathmandu in Nepal. Here are the top quotes from his speech:
According to a survey despite the intensity and magnitude of attacks, Indian businesses are still not prepared to defend themselves against determined attackers
Faced with high energy costs hitting economies of the region, leaders of Association of South East Asian Nations and their dialogue partners on Monday agreed to strengthen regional cooperation on energy security
'The worst case scenario is for China to behave like a bull in China shop, and brazenly and wantonly indulge in further encroachments, create obstacles to free navigation and convert SCS into an Air Defence Identification Zone.'
Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.
Pakistan will not engage with India 'until and unless they lift the siege' in Kashmir, it said.
The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. But after the terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit
Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will represent Bangladesh at the swearing in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi on May 26.
"It was a formal courtesy call, nothing else," an official said.
To tap into the growing demand for offices, several global and Indian co-working entities are creating stock in the top cities.
India's full membership of the grouping would extend its reach to the Central Asian region in whose peace and stability it is a major stakeholder, says Sana Hashmi.
It is a simple vegetarian spread 'with less spices and oil' for Prime Minister Narendra Modi while his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif is having halal meat dishes during their stay in Nepal for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit.
India said it firmly believes that a peaceful and secure neighbourhood will yield "rich dividends" for SAARC nations.
The Jaishankar-Wang talks came amid the dragging border row in eastern Ladakh that entered its fifth year in May.
PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Saturday appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative 'to reach out to Sharif.
He added that the risks can increase if the Chinese slowdown gathers more speed.
A Chinese bid to host the 2026 World Cup would be reliant on the failure of the four Asian countries angling to be selected as the venue for the previous tournament, regional soccer chief Mohammed Bin Hammam said.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry 'condemned the unprovoked firing by' Indian forces on the Line of Control in which two Pakistani soldiers were killed, Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will only travel to Kathmandu when he will leave on Tuesday to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Nepal, despite his wish to visit other parts of the country including Janakpur, the revered Hindu religious site.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi in Delhi, ending two-day suspense over his decision amid reports that there was stiff opposition from hardliners in the establishment.
India and Pakistan should move from confrontation to cooperation, Pakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basit on Tuesday said while adding that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is keen to normalise bilateral relations.
'We have communicated that SAPM (Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister) on Health (Zafar Mirza) will be available to participate in the video conference of SAARC member countries on the issue,' Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said in a tweet on Friday.
Moon Jae-in's visit will play a crucial role in exploring complementarities between India's Act East policy and South Korea's New Southern policy, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
India is not expecting any dramatic results from Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's visit to Pakistan on Tuesday, senior officials said on Friday emphasising that his visit was a "SAARC yatra and not a Pak yatra".
During her week-long stay, Swaraj, leading a high-powered Indian delegation, is expected to hold about 20 bilateral and trilateral meetings with leaders attending the session.
New Delhi appeared to relent on Wednesday by stating that it had approved travels of 19 Pakistan High Commission officials and was prepared to consider more such requests.
Pakistan has been favouring China's inclusion in SAARC but the regional grouping's charter specifies that any new\n\nmember can be included when there is consensus among all member-countries.
'Narasimha Rao asked me why China was doing so well in attracting foreign investments and I gave my frank opinion.' 'I told him that giving thrust to exports had to be a national effort.' 'But in India, the system was very centralised in the Government of India and the state governments had no role to play.'
A Chinese fighter jet performed an unsafe manoeuvre after it came as close as 20 feet within a United States military aircraft over the South China sea, The Hill reported on Thursday citing the US Indo-Pacific Command.
Australia has welcomed the idea of possibly competing at the Asian Games after Asian Olympic officials agreed to let Oceania nations join them in smaller multi-sports events.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to announce a host of initiatives for the health sector on Independence Day with the highlights being the 'Heal in India' and 'Heal by India' projects and a roadmap to eliminate sickle cell disease by 2047, official sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a $1 million ad-hoc grant for the operational budget for the BIMSTEC secretariat and another $3 million assistance to revive the grouping's centre for weather and climate.
After suffering the wrath of a massive earthquake that left their lives imperilled, the Nepalese people saw insult added to injury when food packets, which came in as part of Pakistani aid, included packets of ready-to-eat 'beef masala'.
SAARC countries are facing common challenges and they should cooperate with each other to address them, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, underlining that India is committed to reviving the grouping as a major forum to promote active regional collaboration.
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