Jaishankar engages with EU leaders on socio-economic issues, climate change

The minister also held "positive and productive" parleys at the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met top leaders of the European Union and held wide-ranging talks on issues, including economic cooperation, climate change and capacity building, that would "benefit both India and EU".

Jaishankar, who was in Germany during the weekend for the Munich Security Conference, arrived here on Monday to prepare the ground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit for the India-EU summit here next month.

The foreign minister met EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen and the two leaders discussed experiences in capacity building and development partnerships.

"Coordination on these issues would be to the benefit of both India and EU," Jaishankar tweeted.

The minister also held "positive and productive" parleys at the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU.

"Thank the attending Foreign Ministers, Ambassadors & senior officials and most of all HR (High Representative) @JosepBorrellF. Looking forward to working together to strengthen this key partnership," he said.

Jaishankar also met EU Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan and "exchanged views on the prospects for India-EU economic cooperation."

He appreciated President of the European Council

Charles Michel for his vision for the EU and Eu-India relations and expressed confident that "his (Michel) leadership can translate that into substantive outcomes."

India valuable partner for us, want to work with new government: UN Chief

Prime Minister Modi was on Thursday administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony just before sunset at the forecourt of majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that India is a "very valuable partner" of the United Nations and he looks forward to working with the new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Modi was on Thursday administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony just before sunset at the forecourt of majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan, capping a landslide win for the BJP which won 303 of the 542 seats.

UN Secretary-General Guterres has worked very closely with Prime Minister Modi, including on the issue of climate change, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told PTI on Thursday.

"We will look forward to working with the government as it has now taken office. India is a very valuable partner of the United Nations," Haq said at the daily press briefing on Guterres' message for Modi as he was sworn-in as India's Prime Minister for a second five-year term.

Last week, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN chief very much looked forward to working with Modi and the two leaders have a "strong relationship" on issues such as the climate change.

Monica Grayley, the spokeswoman for President of the General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa, said last week that the UNGA President congratulates India and the people of India, as well as all newly-elected representatives in the election.

Espinosa "looks forward to continuing to work with India in the months to come," Grayley said.

Espinosa had met Modi during her visit to India in August 2018 and her interaction and cooperation with India is a "very good one," Grayley had said, adding that Espinosa, if given the opportunity, would definitely congratulate the Prime Minister in person.

Business Standard

India to continue growing fastest; be second-largest economy by 2030: PM

He also said that India has made rapid strides in achieving COP21 targets and are on way to achieve those.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi exuded confidence on Monday that India would continue to be the fastest-growing large economy, and could be the second-largest economy in the world by 2030.

"Leading agencies such as IMF and World Bank project the same trend to continue in the coming years. In an uncertain global economic environment, India has shown tremendous resilience as an anchor of the world economy," Modi said addressing inaugural address of Petrotech 2019 here.

Modi said, currently, India is fastest-growing large economy in the world... and it "recently became the sixth-largest economy in the world. According to a recent report, by 2030 India could be the second-largest world economy."

As per a Standard Chartered report, India is likely to pip the United States to become the world's second-largest economy by 2030. China will on the top spot surpassing US, which will be at the third place, the report said.

On the roller coaster movement of crude oil and pricing of petroleum, he said, "We need to move to responsible pricing which balances interests of both producers and consumers. We also need to move toward transparent and flexible market for both oil and gas, only then we can serve energy needs of humanity in optimal manner."

He also said that India has made rapid strides in achieving COP21 targets and are on way to achieve those.

He said, "India has the fourth-largest refining capacity in the world. This will further grow up by about 200 million metric tonnes by 2030. Our national bio fuel policy has enacted last year... research on second and third generation bio fuel is being promoted. 12-second generation bio refineries are being set up in 11 states."

Talking about energy policy of India he said, "We have adopted an integrated approach in energy planning. During the last Petrotech Conference in 2016, I mentioned four pillars for India's future - energy access, efficiency, sustainability and security."

He was of the view that energy justice is also key objective for him and a top priority for India.

"Toward this end, we have developed and implemented many policies. The results of these efforts are now evident. Electricity has reached all our rural areas. This year, we aim to achieve 100 per cent electrification of households in India through a targeted programme called Saubhagya. As we raise production, we also aim to reduce losses in transmission and distribution," he added.

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Pakistan releases Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari from prison: Report

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.

Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari was on Tuesday released from a Pakistani jail to be repatriated to India, six years after he was detained by the country's intelligence agencies and subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card, according to a media report.

Ansari, a 33-year-old Mumbai resident, was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.

The Indian national was released from Mardan jail on Tuesday and was shifted to Islamabad for his onward journey to India, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Ansari went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

He entered Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

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Modi govt can only divide Hindus, Muslims, can't resolve Kashmir: Shourie

He also took a dig at the much publicised surgical strike against Pakistan and termed it as 'farzical' (fake) strike.

Taking a dig at the Narendra Modi government, former Union Minister Arun Shourie on Monday said that it was a "one-trick horse" with no policy either on Kashmir or Pakistan.
"There is no government and no policy regarding Kashmir or Pakistan or even the banks ... What we have is a one-trick horse that only knows how to divide the Hindus and Muslims of this country," he said at the launch of the book "Kashmir: Glimpses of History..." penned by senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz.
Terming the Modi government as "event-oriented and election-oriented", Shourie said that the focus was on organising events and winning elections with little heed to policy or governance.
He also took a dig at the much publicised surgical strike against Pakistan and termed it as "farzical" (fake) strike.
Commenting on the Kashmir unrest, the former Union Minister said the situation has been hurting the whole country and not just the Kashmiris and people should realise that fact.
On the Centre's newly-declared "all out action" stance on Kashmir, Shourie said that what he understood of it was there would be "more aggressive target killings of individuals" but stressed that it would not be wise to use "foolish force" against the people.
He said there was no alternative to the talks and with "everyone" in the Valley including the Hurriyat.
"If you say Hurriyat is being controlled by Pakistan, I think that is precisely the reason we must talk to them. We have to wean away the Hurriyat from Pakistan and talks are the only way to do it. So keep talking and keep talking to everyone," Shourie said.
He said that the security agencies need to identify the emerging leadership in Hurriyat and engage them.
Contending that the real problem with Kashmir and the northeast has been in the way the Centre has dealt with these states, he said: "You engage a sub-contractor and tell them, 'I give you money and keep running the semblance of the government there'. But the money is not reaching the common man on the ground. They are not getting the basic facilities of roads, water, hospitals, schools. Where is the money going? It means the officials and the politicians in these troubled states are cornering it."

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