The United States has assured India of providing 'fair solution' to Indian students affected by the shut down of California-based Tri Valley University, which has been accused of a massive visa fraud.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Monday said that New Delhi would continue to give more financial aid to Sri Lanka for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the war-ravaged Tamil-dominated northern areas.
Hoping that India and Pakistan could come to a satisfactory conclusion about what is required for the 26/11 trial to go ahead, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Friday said that 'justice has to be done' by bringing to book all those responsible for Mumbai terror strikes.
"You have caught the imagination of millions across the world, including the people of India who are anxiously waiting for your visit."
India made plain its opposition to China on issuance of stapled visas to Kashmiris and developmental work in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Wednesday, even as the two sides inked an agreement to set up a hotline between their prime ministers.
The External Affairs ministry was at odds with the Jammu and Kashmir government over reports on Chinese intrusion in Ladakh, saying no such incident had taken place and the media reports carrying the same were "baseless".
The uncertainty over the fate of the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill in Parliament has caused a considerable amount of concern to members of the United States-India Business Council, as some of them had lobbied feverishly in the US Congress to get the agreement approved.USIBC President Ron Somers voiced his concerns at an interaction with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, during her six-day visit to the United States
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao reviewed the progress of India-United States strategic dialogue with top Obama administration officials, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and briefed them on the recent Indo-Pak talks as well as New Delhi's view point on Afghanistan.
New Delhi identified the specific barriers which it said were coming in the way of high-technology trade at the day-long seventh meeting of the US-India high-technology cooperation group in Washington.
India has assured Sri Lanka of its support to the process of resettlement and rehabilitation of Tamil civilians displaced due to the war and pushed for a political solution to the decades-old ethnic question.
Following is the transcript of Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao's media interaction
India demanded the handover of retired Army Major Iqbal besides Hafiz Saeed and some Lashkar operatives like Muzzamil, Abu Hamza, Abu Kahfa, Usman and Sajjid Mir in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks. The other fugitives demanded by India were Indian Mujahideen chief Asif Raza Khan and its senior member Riaz Bhatkal
Barely minutes before the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met for crucial and significant day-long talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said both Balochistan and Kashmir will be on the agenda for Thursday's talks.Bashir made these remarks shortly before leaving his hotel for Hyderabad House. Bashir is leading a four-member delegation in the talks to be held with Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.
India and Pakistan are talking once again today at the official level. The preparation on the Indian side leaves no doubt that the focus will be on terrorism. The foreign ministry is consulting with the home ministry, defence ministry and security agencies. Pakistan will be placed in the dock. We can reasonably expect Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao to press for the complete unravelling of the 26/11 conspiracy.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir will be meeting at New Delhi on February 25,2010, under a face-saving formula which would enable both the governments to claim that the respective stand taken by them after the 26/11 terrorist strike in Mumbai stands vindicated by this meeting.
Ahead of the foreign secretary- level talks, India said on Monday that it was ready to explore a "meaningful" relationship with Pakistan if it seriously addressed the threat of terrorism and stops terror acts against this country.
Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik on Wednesday met Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and discussed issues related to the India-Pakistan meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on February 25. Malik met Rao after his return from Islamabad, where he held consultations with the Pakistan government on the forthcoming meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries, sources said. After a 14-month hiatus, India on January 28 offered to hold talks with Pakistan.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao today got a seven-month extension with the government deciding to have a tenure of upto two years in the key post.
Pakistan has indicated its readiness for the foreign secretary-level talks on February 25, saying the two sides need to 'move forward' but insisted on resumption of composite dialogue covering Kashmir and other outstanding issues that is 'meaningful and result-oriented.'
In an ice-breaking decision that could end the post-26/11 stalemate, India has offered to have Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan to discuss terrorism and any other issue that could lead to peace between the two neighbours.
India and China held their fourth round of strategic dialogue to discuss a host of issues such as New Delhi's concerns relating to issuance of stapled visas by Beijing for Kashmiris and its bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
United States President Barack Obama's Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, who is currently on a three-day visit to Pakistan, is expected to make a short visit to New Delhi on Friday.
The Indian Embassy in Beijing immediately took up the matter with the Chinese government and sought Consular access to them, they said. The Consular access has been granted for Wednesday.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in New Delhi on Sunday night on her maiden visit, which India sees as "a path-breaking and historic opportunity" to forge a "new and forward-looking" relationship amid hopes that its security concerns would be addressed.
India's demand that Pakistan should do more to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to justice is not an "unrealistic" one, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.
"As far as arrangements for reprocessing talks are concerned these are ongoing. We are not looking at finalising them on Wednesday in any case," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told media-persons, hours ahead of Singh-Obama talks at the White House.
India and the US will have a series of high-level meetings starting from this week with the visit of Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao to that country to set the agenda for President Barack Obama's tour in November.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to articulate his concerns on the terrorism emanating from Pakistan during his meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington on November 24. Dr Singh is also expected to tell Obama that India wants Pakistan to dismantle the terrorism infrastructure operating on its soil and ensure that its land is not used to launch acts of terror against India.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday took strong objection to the absence of Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Commerce Secretary Rahul Kullar and top intelligence officials from the Standing Committee meeting of the home ministry. Friday's meeting was held to discuss a bill on Land and Port Authority.
Answering a question with reference to a bomb attack near the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, which is about 75 km from Islamabad, and reportedly houses some of the country's nuclear assets, Rao said that New Delhi was aware of the attack and hoped authorities in Islamabad would ensure the safeguarding of those assets.
Hinting at Pakistani link to the Kabul embassy attack, India on Saturday said Afghanistan faces threat from terrorists and their "patrons residing across the border" and that the blast was handiwork of those who want to undermine Indo-Afghan friendship.
For the last eight years, since the Taliban fled from Kabul in November 2001, India has staunchly opposed a dialogue with any section of it. India's position has remained: there is no purpose in talking to the Taliban; there is no such thing as a moderate Taliban.
On the eve of crucial talks between Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers, top diplomats of the two countries met in New York on Saturday to prepare ground for the parleys, where India is expected to demand speedy probe into the Mumbai attacks and decisive action against their mastermind, Jamaat-ud-Dawaah chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has met Home Secretary G K Pillai against the backdrop of apparent differences between the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of home affairs in connection with the Indo-Pak talks held recently. Rao met Pillai on Thursday and is understood to have briefed him about the recent talks between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he would adopt a "positive approach" for his meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao met her US counterpart William Burns and discussed a wide range of bilateral issues, including counter-terrorism and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's proposed visit to America in November.
"We hope and expect that Pakistan will focus in a meaningful manner on our concerns on terrorism. It is our hope and expectation that Pakistan fulfills all its commitments," Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.
Pakistan's Foreign Office apparently sent an official known for his ability to read faces to receive Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on her arrival in Rawalpindi in a bid to find out what was on her mind.
Ahead of a series of bilateral meetings, India demanded "credible" action by Pakistan in the 26/11 terror attack case on Tuesday, saying the core issue of addressing the country's concerns on the issue will be part of these parleys.
Pakistan will try to find a 'common denominator' during the upcoming talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, without 'forgetting' outstanding issues like Kashmir, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has said. "We do not have a prepared agenda. We will see what can be identified as doable and then take it to the foreign ministers' level. In this meeting, we will try and find a common denominator," Bashir said, referring to talks he will hold with Rao in Islamabad.
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