External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Communist Party of India - Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday to discuss the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement. Mukherjee asked the Left Front to allow the United Progressive Alliance government to go ahead with the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The minister handed over to Sichuan Province Vice Governor Huang Xiaoxiang the supplies brought by an Indian Air Force aircraft to Chengdu as part of the $5 million aid announced by India. Huang said the provincial government and the people were grateful to India for offering help during difficult times, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China on Thursday expressed its concern over the activities of the Dalai Lama and his supporters in India but thanked New Delhi for ensuring a smooth run of the Beijing Olympic torch in the Indian capital.The Tibet issue was raised by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, during his talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in Beijing.Briefing reporters after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said China 'naturally' raised the issue of Tibet.
Beijing: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's scheduled meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday has been called off after he had to rush to the earthquake-shattered southwest China, official sources said on Thursday Mukherjee, who arrived on Wednesday on a four-day visit to China, will instead meet Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping.
After the announcement of the death of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief V Prabhakaran, the Congress on Monday said the Sri Lankan issue is a sensitive one and External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the matter. "Sri Lanka is a sensitive issue, our foreign minister is meeting the prime minister. The government of India will contact the Sri Lankan government to ascertain the facts,"said a Congress leader.
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.
The meeting of UPA-Left Committee on nuclear issue, scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed, putting back further a decision on whether India should sign the safeguards agreement with IAEA. The meeting is now expected in the first half of next month.
Pakistan on Friday freed 96 Indian fishermen and three other civilian prisoners from a jail in Karachi as a goodwill gesture, close on the heels of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to the country. The Indian fishermen and other prisoners will be taken from Karachi to Lahore before being handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah land border on Saturday, officials said. The three civilian prisoners had been held in prison for at least 20 years.
After a six-month pause, India and Pakistan on Tuesday resumed their composite dialogue with the Foreign Secretaries meeting here to discuss various bilateral issues including terrorism, Kashmir and confidence building measures. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and his counterpart Salman Bashir held delegation level discussions to review the fourth round of composite dialogue. Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and various confidence building measures were discussed.
Noting that bilateral trade with Russia has been below potential, India has hoped that obstacles like lack of direct routesa and difficulties in market access would be overcome to help correct the situation.
Mukherjee said he was well and hoped to be back at work after 48 hours.
India named a road in the national capital after the slain Afghan war hero, Ahmad Shah Massoud, the first such honour extended to a leader from that country.
The composite dialogue between India and Pakistan will resume on May 21 and the two countries will review progress made so far in confidence-building measures, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Wednesday. "We will review the results of the fourth round of talks (under the composite dialogue) and then plan the agenda for the fifth round to be held after this meeting," Qureshi said.
During his talks and public speeches, Mukherjee urged Japan to look at India's "impeccable" non-proliferation record and back the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting.
The mother of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai terror attack case, is coming to India to meet him, as the stage is set for the start of the trial of the Pakistani national in Mumbai on Wednesday.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India not signing NPT does not mean it is part of the nuclear arms race.
The kin of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row in a Lahore jail, on Sunday expressed gratitude to the Pakistan government for proposing to President Pervez Musharraf that all death sentences be commuted to life imprisonment.The family will be making an application in the Pakistan High Commission on Monday for the permission to meet Sarabjit in jail.Kaur said former Pakistan Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney has promised that he will appeal to Musharraf.
The delay in making payments to India and other troop contributing countries is mainly due to some member states withholding or delaying their mandatory financial contribution to the world body, the minister said.
As many as 641 Indians, including 436 fishermen, are languishing in different Pakistani jails, said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. He said that lists of prisoners exchanged by the two governments on March 31 were under study, adding that absence of consular access was making it difficult to determine the exact number of prisoners and the details of sentences awarded.
The execution of Sarabjit -- sentenced to death for alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990 -- was deferred for 30 days by President Pervez Musharraf so that the new government could review his case. Sarabjit was originally set to be hanged on April 1.
At least clear zones where firms have own land, says minister.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday refuted the claim made by the Communist Party of India-Marxist that the government had 'substantially cut' the quota of rice meant to be given to the people through the Public Distribution System. However, despite the minister's denial, the Left parties continued to insist that there has been substantial cut in the quota in West Bengal and Kerala, in particular.
The dialogue will resume with Foreign Secretary-level talks in Islamabad on May 20, to be followed a day later by talks between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.During the talks, the Indian side will be eagerly looking for a clear official position of new government of Pakistan on Kashmir, as different leaders have been speaking in different voices on the subject.
"Instances of inhuman treatment of Indian prisoners have come to the notice of consular offices of our mission in Islamabad from time to time," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a written reply.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said his country was always committed to maintaining peace in the world and outer space.
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.
The statement was made after Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh met Rahul Gandhi on Monday and sought the government's intervention to save the life of her brother. "We appeal to the government of Pakistan to treat Sarabjit Singh's case with clemency on humanitarian grounds," Mukherjee said in his one-page statement read out by him soon after Question Hour in Parliament.
"Iran and India enjoys close friendly relations," the spokesman was quoted in Tehran Times as saying.
Ahead of the United Progressive Alliance-Left coordination committee meeting on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the government on Saturday expressed hope that the differences with the supporting allies on the issue will be resolved. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Chandigarh that he was engaged in talks with the Left on the deal to sort out the matter.
CP!-M general secretary Prakash Karat has written to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, government's key interlocutor with the allies on the deal, asking for immediate convening of a meeting of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal by mid-March.
India on Tuesday said the inclusion of Afghanistan in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation would go a long way in establishing lasting peace and stability in the region.
India on Thursday approved crucial amendments in the WTO agreement on TRIPS permitting governments to break the monopoly of manufacturers of patented drugs by giving 'compulsory licenses' in emergency situations.
He also expressed 'optimism and hope' over the Indo-Pak peace process.
The party also wanted to know from Pranab as to why he did not bring up the issue of terrorism during his discussions with the Pakistan administration.
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.
The two leaders would also discuss the proposed visit of Dr Singh to Pakistan, the sources said.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also managing the finance ministry, presented the Interim Budget for 2009-10 in Parliament on Monday. Following is the text of the entire Budget Speech:
The presentation of the Interim General Budget for 2009-10 was on Monday interrupted briefly as the Lok Sabha adjourned after JD(S) member M P Veerendrakumar complained of uneasiness.
Mukherjee said India's position has always been that the solution has to be found 'through dialogue, discussion and negotiations.'
Azad has been making clear that the proposals needed to be discussed thoroughly and there should be synchronisation between public posturing and the stand taken at the negotiating table.
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