Categoría: Politics

“On UN Security Council reforms, President Obama reiterated the support that he has publicly articulated in favour of India being a permanent member of the UN Security Council. There was discussion that now that the inter-governmental negotiations process is going to start on the basis of a text, how India and US can collaborate on that front,” Swarup told reporters at a news conference here. Responding to a question on India’s push for reforms in the 70th year of the United Nations, Swarup said discussions were on that level of specificity. “As you know, US is also participating in the inter-governmental, India is also participating. But the fact that President Obama reiterated support for India’s candidature as a permanent member is significant. Now, we need to see how the inter-governmental negotiations process advances,” he said. Earlier in his remarks to the press at the end of his meeting with President Barack Obama, Modi thanked him for his support to India on joining various export control regimes. “I expressed our appreciation for continued US support for India’s membership of the international export control regimes within our targeted time frame,” the Prime Minister said. –

See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/pm-modi-hold-talks-with-obama-on-trade-and-climate-change/#sthash.pMsGxC6y.dpuf

In a country that played host to the charismatic Pope Francis, and the powerful Chinese President Xi Jinping among 150 other world leaders, it was difficult for anyone else to be heard this week. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s U.S diary did not do badly. His diary had no blank pages. With a stress on optics rather than “specific outcomes”, the hectic six-day visit to the United States included a number of engagements at the United Nations, and a short but signficant weekend in Silicon Valley on the West Coast. So much so that Modi’s meetings were the envy of the Pakistani media, which criticized Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for closeting himself in the Waldorf-Astoria with old friends from Pakistan instead of seeing and been seen.

The much talked about possibility of a Modi-Sharif meeting did not materialize. At a summit of countries that contribute to UN peacekeeping, Modi’s last engagement before he flew out, Sharif waved to the Indian Prime Minister, and he waved back. Prime Minister Modi held meetings with the Who’s who of America’s big capital, business and industry, seeking to allay their concerns on the slow pace of deregulation and India’s poor “ease of doing business” climate. On the West Coast, he and the tech biggies wooed each other assiduously. In his bilateral meetings with a galaxy of world leaders, he pushed India’s case for the expansion of the permanent seats in the Security Council, and for a global convention on combating terror.

See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/pm-modi-in-us-perfect-pitch-now-delivery/#sthash.ALmLuONI.dpuf

Environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday that the rich world could not wish away its responsibility for man-made global warming. Javadekar urged developed nations to do more to help India deal with the impact of climate change.

India is one of the last major economies still to submit its plans to tackle global warming ahead of a United Nations summit in December where more than 190 countries will seek a deal to halt a damaging rise in temperatures.

Despite its low per-capita emissions, India is already the world’s third-largest carbon emitter. Its huge population of 1.2 billion, a fast-growing economy and rising use of coal make its role crucial if the UN summit is to succeed.

Javadekar said India was in the final stages of preparing its submissions to the UN, and that he was confident  a global deal could be reached at the summit in Paris.

But, he added, the rich world had so far failed to make sufficient money and cutting-edge technology available to help poorer countries that were not to blame for global warming.

«Historical responsibility is a fact. It cannot be wished away. We are just 2.4% of the world’s historical emissions,» he told reporters in New Delhi.

Unlike other large emitters like the United States and China, India has said it will not commit to a «peak year» for its own emissions, arguing that doing so would hamper its drive to beat poverty through economic growth.

Info: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-urges-rich-world-to-help-in-curbing-climate-change/article1-1383717.aspx

India and Mexico are working out dates for a possible visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the north American country that has a privileged partnership with Asia’s third largest economy.

Modi has so far visited the US in September and Canada in April, with Mexico being the third country on the continent but the only one the Indian prime minister has not visited so far.

Mexican ambassador to India Melba Pria said the two countries were trying to work out dates around the time of the UN General Assembly session in September that will see Modi travelling to New York.

“The problem is with the dates, the president of Mexico is adddressing the United Nations General Assembly before Prime Minister Modi and therefore, the days that prime minister Modi initially proposed are exactly the dates that my president is at the United Nations,” Pria said. “We are trying to finalise dates after his visit (Modi’s visit) to the United Nations but it has not been confirmed,” she said.

Meanwhile, the two countries are also looking at dates for a possible visit by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to India next year.

Modi’s predecessor Manmohan Singh visited Mexico in 2012 for the G20 Summit in Los Cabos.

Modi had met some heads of state and goverment from Latin America during his visit to Brazil last year for the sixth summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa emerging economies but Mexico was not part of the group.

The Indian prime minister had met Nieto on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Australia in November.

Bilateral trade between India and Mexico is about $7 billion in 2014 that includes crude oil imports by India. India’s exports $3.73 billion mainly comprise vehicles and auto parts, organic chemicals, electrical machinery and electronic equipment, aluminium products, readymade garments, iron and steel products. India’s imports $2.72 billion consist of crude oil, electrical goods and machinery, organic chemicals, vehicles and auto parts and iron and steel.

Info: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/auto/news/passenger-vehicle/cars/mexico-set-to-become-the-biggest-export-market-for-indian-carmakers-this-fiscal/articleshow/48521482.cms

Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday to discuss opportunities to strengthen ties between the two countries post the end of economic sanctions that isolated Tehran. Sources said that the focus of the conversation would be “strengthening connectivity” and “boosting oil trade”.

Discussion about Modi visit to Iran was also on the agenda. Zarif, who arrived Thursday evening, was expected to start his day Friday with a meeting with the PM at 10 am, followed by meetings with Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Vice-President Hamid Ansari. He is scheduled to wrap up his visit Friday night. A top official told The Indian Express, “The focus of the discussions will be how to make the most of the relationship, as the economic sanctions are lifted. In short, it will be about life after sanctions.”

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/iran-foreign-minister-javad-zarif-meets-pm-modi-today/