He appreciated Prime Minister Koirala for successfully moving ahead with the peace process.
India is expected to share details of the Mumbai terror attacks with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday when he meets External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and urge him to press Pakistan to cooperate.
Adani, Reliance Industries, DLF, Omaxe and Singapore-based Ascendas Group had plans to set up mega multi-product SEZs, with some of them having infrastructure like ports and air-cargo complexes.
PM taken out of ICU, likely to attend the last day of the Parliament session.
"We are for fight against terrorists and all sorts of terrorism. Therefore, we have no sympathy for any terrorist activity indulged in by any organisation, particularly LTTE (which) is a banned organisation in India," he told media persons. He made the remarks hours before his departure to Sri Lanka, where the government has claimed to have captured Mullaithivu, the last bastion of LTTE.
Sources in the party say the Congress ranks are divided over the issue. While one group of leaders backs Pranab for the prime minister's post and feels that this should have been done way back, another section is glad that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh didn't pass over the baton to the External Affairs Minister.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will "officiate" on urgent matters of governance after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on Friday afternoon, a senior Congress party source told rediff.com
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.
India on Friday said it was concerned about possible linkages of terrorists to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in its neighbourhood and emphasised the need for greater international cooperation to counter this threat.
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.
India on Friday said there was no dilution in its stand that Pakistan must hand over the perpetrators of terrorism to face the law in India. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked Pakistan to undertake a full investigation into the November 26 Mumbai attacks in a sincere, transparent and verifiable manner to unveil the full conspiracy into the terror strikes.
In its first formal response to India with regard to the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan on Friday said it had initiated a 'series of actions' in connection with the probe into the terror strikes.Pakistan's response was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal, a day after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Islamabad should inform New Delhi through diplomatic channels about steps it had taken in the wake of the Mumbai strike
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.
Angry at Islamabad's rejection of evidence on Mumbai attacks within 24 hours, India on Wednesday said the Pakistani contention is not 'credible' and that it has resorted to the 'previous patterns of denial of facts, evidence and reality'.
"There are new developments in the neighbouring country. We are keeping a close watch on the happenings. I and the prime minister are taking stock of the situation," he told reporters.
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.
The problem is not just India's. China, too, must deal with a commercially resurgent Russia. Beijing had signed, in 2005, a $1-billion order for 34 giant IL-78 transport planes and 4 IL-78 refuelling aircraft. Now Russia has realised that it cannot meet its own as well as Beijing's requirements. That contract is being renegotiated at a higher price.
The ministerial group is to look into pricing of some essential commodities, including petrol, diesel, domestic cooking gas and PDS kerosene. The GoM also includes Defence Minister A K Antony, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister T R Baalu and Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Pawar.
"Terrorism remains a scourge for our region. If a country cannot keep the assurances that it has given, then it obliges us to consider the entire range of options that exist to protect our interests and people from this menace," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, without naming Islamabad.
"We expect that good sense will prevail and we expect that the assurances that are coming (from Pakistan) will translate into action. Because assurances are coming from established leadership of that country, we expect conducive atmosphere will prevail to act on the promises made," Mukherjee said, responding to questions.
After his meeting with Pakistan's caretaker Foreign Minister Inamul Haq in New Delhi on Friday, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Foreign Secretaries of the two countries will hold talks to wind up the fourth round of Composite Dialogue after formation of new government in Pakistan.
"There is no denying the fact that we voted against Iran at IAEA. The intention was to ensure that its nuclear issue does not go to the Security Council as it would entail sanctions and more problems," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while rejecting allegations that India's foreign policy was being affected by the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Rubbishing reports that he had made a threatening phone call to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari after Mumbai strikes, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today regretted Islamabad giving credibility to a "hoax" call and said it was a bid to divert attention from the fact that Pakistani elements had launched "attack on India".
Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen will be provided shelter in India, says the Centre.
In a stern warning to Pakistan, India on Wednesday said it was 'determined to take strongest' possible steps to ensure that there is no repetition of incidents like the Mumbai terror attacks.
Addressing media persons along with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India was determined to act decisively to protect its territorial integrity.
Congress sources have told rediff.com that Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram or External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will replace Shivraj Patil, who resigned on Sunday, as home minister. The announcement is likely to be made in the next couple of hours after the all-party meeting called to discuss the Mumbai terror attacks.
Highlighting the mockery of proliferation controls made by the network of Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan, India on Wednesday warned that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) could fall into the hands of terrorists and sought a "new approach" to address the critical challenge.
Speaking to media persons aboard Air India 001, conveying Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Moscow, Menon said, "This is one relationship without any wrinkles or difficulties." The foreign secretary was reacting to an inquiry whether Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's refusal to meet External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the latter's visit to Moscow last month.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday spoke to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee over telephone about the bilateral nuclear deal. During the conversation, Rice conveyed to Mukherjee that the US was keen on moving ahead with the civilian nuclear deal, informed State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. McCormack said, "She (Rice) still supports it going forward. We have conveyed that to the Indian government at a number of different levels."
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads an Empowered Group of Ministers on Special Economic Zones, is likely to consult Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resolve the dispute between finance and commerce ministries over tax exemption for export profits from the zones.
India on Wednesday asked the international community to show 'zero-tolerance' towards terrorism while emphasising that the Taliban remnants in Afghanistan should not be allowed to take control of parts of the strife-torn nation.
"India does not take part in such military arrangement. Therefore the question of our participation does not arise," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said during a joint press conference in Harbin, China, at the conclusion of the third standalone trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers of India, China and Russia.
The prime minister wished her well during the telephonic talk, his media adviser Sanjaya Baru said. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also spoke to Bhutto and condemned the dastardly act.
Ridiculing the Left for opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the parties were suffering from 'Americaphobia just like some people have hydrophobia.' "They have Americaphobia, just like some people have hydrophobia. They may have it, but they must understand that the the US is technologically advanced and we need that advanced technology," Mukherjee told a seminar in Kolkata on the N-deal.
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.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met his Myanmarese counterpart U Nyan Win in New York on Monday
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads the three-member committee, said on Monday he had discussed the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A K Antony. After the government notification was issued on August 29, the issues of 'anomalies' in the pay for officers was first raised by Air chief Fali Homi Major in his letter in his capacity as acting Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee.
India has said it is committed towards the "historic and consistent" support for the Palestinian people's struggle for a homeland of their own so that they can take their "rightful" place in the comity of nations.
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