India and Afghanistan have a strong relationship based on historical and cultural links. India has played a significant role in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan. We believe that democracy and development are the key instruments to ensure that Afghanistan becomes a source of regional stability. This has been reflected in the Strategic Partnership Agreement, signed between Afghanistan and India during Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to India in October 2011, which reinforced the strong, vibrant and multi-faceted relations between the two countries and at the same time formalized a framework for cooperation in various areas between the two countries: political & security cooperation; trade & economic cooperation; capacity development and education; and social, cultural, civil society & people-to-people relations. This agreement is a strong signal of our abiding commitment to peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan during this critical period of security and governance transition. The commitment is also reflected in our extensive developmental assistance programme, which now stands at around US $2 billion, making India the 5th largest bilateral donor in Afghanistan after the US, UK, Japan and Germany. This, by any reckoning, is a substantial amount for a non-traditional donor like India.
There also exists a high-level political engagement with Afghanistan, which is reflected in the large number of bilateral high-level visits. There have been frequent high level visits from both sides in 2011-12, including among others, External Affairs Minister (EAM) and National Security Adviser (NSA) in January and March 2011 respectively; Prime Minister in May 2011; Special Envoy to PM to Kabul in June 2011 for a meeting of the International Contact Group; Foreign Secretary in September 2011; Minister of Law & Justice Shri Salman Khurshid on September 24, 2011 after the demise of Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani, and again on June 14 for the Heart of Asia Conference in Kabul, and Minister for Steel Shri Beni Prasad Verma in April 2012.
From the Afghan side high level visits to India include: President Hamid Karzai in February, 2011; Defense Minister Wardak in June, 2011; First Vice President Marshal Fahim in June 2011; a Parliamentary delegation led by Speaker of the lower house of the Afghan Parliament Mr Ibrahimi to India in July, 2011; a delegation from the High Peace Council headed by its Chairman, late Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani in July 2011; Afghan NSA Mr Rangin Dadfar Spanta in August, 2011; Afghan Minister of Mines Mr Shahrani for the TAPI meeting in September, 2011; Afghan Commerce Minister Mr. Anwar ul Ahady in October 2011 for the CII, SME summit, President Karzai in October 2011, Minister of Mines and Finance Minister in January 2012 for the CII Partnership Summit in Hyderabad and Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul at the first Partnership Council meeting on May 1, 2012.
Lately Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Omar Zakhilwal, Minister of Mines, Mr. Wahidullah Shahrani, Minister of Mines and Mr. Asef Rahimi, Minister of Agriculture were in Delhi on June 28 for the Delhi Investment Summit on Afghanistan, which sought to provide
a forum for potential investors from the region and beyond to meet and explore possible cross-country company partnerships on investments in and around Afghanistan in various sectors where Afghanistan holds the promise of significant potential, opportunity and need, as a means of bringing stability and development to Afghanistan through economic means in the challenging post-2014 phase.
India has played an active role in the development of Afghanistan based on the understanding that social and economic development in Afghanistan is crucial to regional stability. The principal objective of India’s development partnership is to assist in building indigenous Afghan capacity and institutions and to ensure that development touches all the regions of Afghanistan and encompasses all the sectors of development. India’s pledged assistance to Afghanistan stands at a little under U.S. $2 billion, making it the fifth largest bilateral donor in Afghanistan. All the projects are undertaken in partnership with the Afghan government, in consonance with the Afghanistan National Development Strategy.
India’s programs cover four broad areas – infrastructure projects, humanitarian assistance, small and community based development projects, and education and capacity development. The 218 km road project from Zaranj to Delaram in south- western Afghanistan to facilitate movement of goods and services to the Iranian border and, onward, to the Chahbahar Port was inaugurated by the Afghan President and Indian External Affairs Minister in January 2009. India constructed the 202 kms long 220 kV DC transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul and a 220/110/20 kV sub-station at Chimtala, bringing Uzbek electricity and lighting up the city of Kabul throughout the year. This project was completed in collaboration with the Afghan Government, ADB and the World Bank, with inputs from USAID and international energy firms, and is an outstanding example of regional and international cooperation in Afghanistan. The other two major infrastructure projects, the construction of the Afghan Parliament in Kabul and the construction of Salma Dam power project in Herat province, are under progress and would be completed by 2012.
Under humanitarian assistance, India supplies 100 gms of fortified, high-protein biscuits every day to each of the nearly two million school children in 33 of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan under a School Feeding Programme administered through the World Food Programme. During the visit of President Karzai to India in January 2009, India announced the gift of 250,000 metric tons of wheat to assist Afghanistan tide over its food shortage. The Indian Medical Missions in the five major cities are providing free medical consultations and medicines to over 30,000 Afghans every month.
An innovative scheme focusing on small and community-based development projects, with a short gestation period and having a direct impact on community life was unveiled during Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s visit to Afghanistan in August 2005. So far, 101 such projects with emphasis on local ownership and management in the field of agriculture, rural development, education, health, vocational training, and solar energy have been initiated.
In education and institution development, India is providing every year 675 long-term university scholarships, sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) for under-graduate and post-graduate studies for Afghan students in India. Similarly, another 675 annual short-term India Technical and Educational Cooperation (ITEC) training scholarships for Afghan public servants are provided in Indian technical and professional institutions. More than 20 Indian Civil Servants served as coaches and mentors under Capacity for Afghan Public Administration programme supported by UNDP and the Governments of Afghanistan and India. Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) built an India-Afghanistan Vocational Training Centre for training Afghan youth in carpentry, plumbing, welding, masonry and tailoring. Another innovative programme was executed by the well-known Indian NGO, SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association), which built a Women’s Vocational Training Centre in Bagh-e- Zanana in Kabul for training of Afghan women (War-widows and orphans) in garment making, nursery plantation, and food processing and marketing.
Capacity Building Programs are also underway in the fields of diplomacy, media and information, civil aviation, agricultural research and education, health care and medicinal science, tourism, education, standardization, rural development, public administration, electoral management and administration and local governance. Besides these, India is involved in reconstruction of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health and the Habibia School in Kabul. India has assisted in expansion of Afghan National TV network by providing an uplink from Kabul and downlinks in all 34 provincial capitals for promoting greater connectivity. It has also gifted around 1,000 vehicles including buses, utility vehicles and ambulances to Afghanistan.
Agriculture being the key to the development of Afghanistan, India announced at the London Conference in January 2010, 100 fellowships for Masters and Ph.D. programs for existing faculty members and another 200 for fresh graduates each year for the next five years to assist in faculty and student development in the agricultural sector. To build indigenous Afghan capacity and institutions, India also announced its strong support to the proposed Afghan National Institution Building Project of the UNDP.
In regional cooperation, Afghanistan joined SAARC at the 14th SAARC Summit held in Delhi in April 2007, opening possibilities of Afghanistan becoming a trade, transportation and energy hub linking together the countries of the region from Central to South Asia. India has also encouraged Afghanistan’s efforts at capitalizing on its unique geographical location at the heart of the Asian continent by supporting regional initiatives like the Istanbul process and RECCA that seek to assist in Afghanistan’s development through cooperation in a various sectors of the economy.
August 2012
India and Australia have several commonalities, which serve as a foundation for closer cooperation and multi-faceted interaction, on lines similar to what India has developed with other Western countries. Both are strong, vibrant, secular and multicultural democracies. They both have a free press and an independent judicial system; the English language is an important link, Cricket, and now the large numbers of Indian students coming to Australia for education, are significant elements in awareness at the popular level.
The relationship has grown in strength and importance since India’s economic reforms in the nineties and has made rapid strides in all areas - trade, energy and mining, science & technology, information technology, education and defense.
Australia is in India’s extended neighborhood, a point made by then Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith when he made a key note address in September 2008 at the University of Western Australia: “It is under-appreciated that Perth and Chennai are closer to each other than Sydney is to Seoul, to Shanghai, or to Tokyo.” ……As the world sees the potential of an Asian/Pacific century unfolds, Australia sees India at the heart of this historic shift in political and economic influence.”
While there has been a regular exchange of visits at Ministerial level, bilateral visits at Head of Government/Head of State level have been limited, especially from our side. PM John Howard visited India in July 2000 and again in March 2006. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd visited India in November 2009, when it was agreed to take the relationship to the level of a Strategic Partnership. A Joint Declaration on Security Co-operation was signed. Vice-President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari represented India at the CHOGM 2011 held in Perth from 28-30 October 2011.
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard paid a state visit to India from 15-17 October, 2012. The decision of the Australian Government to supply uranium to India was taken during her time and finally now Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement has been signed between the two countries when Prime Minister Tony Abbott visited India in September 2014. Other MoUs signed during his visit were Cooperation in Sports, Renewal of MoU on Cooperation in the field of Water Resources Management and Cooperation in Technical Vocational Education and Training.
Before this, Mr. Richard Marles, the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs represented Australia at the IORA Council of Ministers' meeting held in Gurgaon, India on 2nd November 2012. Australia took on the two year position of Vice Chair in 2011 and assumed the role of Chair in 2013-2015. In Gurgaon Communique, Union of Comoros has been admitted as 20th member of the IOR-ARC and USA as the 6th Dialogue Partner. Mr. Salman Khurshid visited Perth in end October/beginning November 2013 for FMFD and IORA meets.
Earlier, Mr Simon Crean, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government and Culture visited Mumbai, India from 3-11 November 2012 to confer an honorary member of the Order of Australia to India's cricketer Sachin Tendulkar for his service to Australia-India relations by promoting goodwill, friendship and sportsmanship through the medium of cricket.
Trade Minister Craig Emerson visited India to co-chair the 14th Australia-India Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) held on 28th January 2013 at New Delhi. The Minister discussed trade and investment relationship between the two countries, as well as global issues such as food security, poverty alleviation and trade liberalization.
India and Australia co-operate in various multilateral fora. Australia supports India’s candidature in an expanded UN Security Council. Both India and Australia are members of the G-20, Commonwealth, IORA, ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia Pacific Partnership on Climate and Clean Development, and have participated in the East Asia Summits. Both countries have also been cooperating as members of the Five Interested Parties (FIP) in the WTO context. Australia is an important player in APEC and supports India's membership of the organization. In 2008, Australia became an Observer in SAARC.
Defense Cooperation between India and Australia has expanded significantly in recent years. An MoU on Defense Cooperation has been signed as well as a Joint Declaration on Security Co-operation. There are frequent exchanges of visits including at the level of Service Chiefs, regular Naval, Air Force and Army Talks; joint naval exercises; regular exchanges at each other’s training institutes and seminars. Defense Minister Stephen Smith visited India in December 2011 for Defense Ministers' Dialogue.
Raksha Mantri Shri A K Antony paid the first ever official visit by an Indian Defense Minister to Australia from June 4-5, 2013. In talks with Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith, the two Ministers recognized the rapid progress made in Defense relations through the framework of bilateral talks.
A delegation led by Shri Sachin Pilot, Hon’ble MoS(IC) for Corporate Affairs visited Australia between 3-8 June 2013 to interact with counterparts and Australian regulators to share experiences on corporate regulation, corporate governance and competition policy issues.
In July 2013, Dr. M. Pallam Raju, Minister for HRD visited Australia for the Annual Education Ministers’ Dialogue. The 2nd Australia India Vice-Chancellors’ Conference was also held which reviewed Australia-India university partnerships and Australia-India industry/sector skill council partnerships.
Ms. Julie Bishop visited India in the first half of December 2013 and had discussions with her counterpart Mr. Salman Khurshid. She said that the present Government of Mr. Tony Abbot is determined to make the Australia-India a relationship as a Foreign Policy priority. She added that we have a strategic partnership, a strong base in terms of economic relationship and in the global forums we have to work together as members of the G20 and the East Asia Summit. She again visited India in April 2015 for the Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue.
Shri Beni Prasad Verma, Minister for Steel visited Australia in end January 2014. Focus of the visit was on strengthening bilateral relations in the areas of resources, particularly coal as Australia is world's second largest producer of coking coal. Mr. P Chidambaram visited Australia on the eve of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meet in February 2014 along with RBI Governor Shri Raghuram Rajan. Later on, Mrs. Nirmala Sithraman, MoS for Commerce and Industry represented India at the G20 Trade Ministers' Conference in Cairns in September 2014.
PM Shri Narendra Modi paid a successful visit to Australia after a period of 28 years when he visited Brisbane on the eve of G20 Leaders' Summit in November 2014. His multilateral visit was further extended to a bilateral one when he visited Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. In Sydney, he addressed about 15,000 persons at the Allphones Arena. Eminent Political leaders from Australia along with Persons of Indian Origin attended his speech. In Canberra, the PM addressed both Houses of Parliament and met Leader of the Opposition and Presiding Officers of both Houses. Two Agreements and three MoUs were also signed during his visit to Canberra. It was also announced to hold a 'Make-in-India' Show in Australia in 2015. Australia would also be holding Business-Week in India in January 2015. The Australian businessmen headed by their Minister of Trade would also attend 'Vibrant Gujarat' 2015 in Gandhinagar. During his visit to Melbourne, PM addressed the Business Community and invited Australian investors to participate in 'Make-in-India' Campaign. PM Tony Abbott hosted a big reception (a Gala Dinner) at Melbourne Cricket Ground in honor of our PM where around 1000 persons participated.
Australia’s trade in goods and services with India was A$14.76 (US$11.45) billion in 2013-14 with Indian exports of goods amounting to A$2.85 (US$2.21) billion. Australia’s exports of goods to India were A$8.36 (US$6.48) billion. Australia’s exports of goods to India have declined by an annual average of nearly 21.76 percent during 2013-14. India’s ranking among Australia’s export destinations has dropped from fifth to seventh in this period. India’s exports of goods and services to Australia have increased by an annual average of 18.45 percent during 2013-14. India’s main exports to Australia are passenger motor vehicles and machinery, pearls, gems and jewelry, refined petroleum and textiles while our major imports are vegetables, wools, non-monetary gold, coal, copper and fertilizers.
India is Australia’s largest export market for gold and chickpeas, second largest market for coal and copper ores and third largest market for lead and wool.
Four products – coal, non-monetary gold, copper ores & concentrates and petroleum – accounted for over 80 percent of India’s imports from Australia, with coal and gold being the dominant imports in 2013-14.
India’s major exports to Australia in 2013-14 are pearls and gems, jewelry, medicaments and passenger motor vehicles.
The India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission was established in 1989 and has held fourteen meetings to date, the last one was in New Delhi on 30 January 2013 which was co-chaired by Australian Trade Minister Dr Craig Emerson and Shri Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce & Industry. Negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) has already begun and sixth round took place in Delhi in December 2014. The seventh round of CECA negotiations recently took place in Canberra in April 2015. India and Australia also have a CEO Forum with the inaugural Co-chairs being Mr. Navin Jindal, MP on the Indian side and Mr. Lindsay Fox on the Australian side. Three meetings of the CEO Forum have taken place, the last held in Melbourne on 6th December, 2013. This Forum was reconstituted soon after, as declared by our Prime Minister during his visit to Australia in November 2014. The new Co- chairs of the India-Australia CEO Forum are Mr. Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, from the Indian side and Mr. Sam Walsh, CEO, Rio Tinto, from the Australian side.
Indian investment in Australia is growing. Major Indian investments in Australia include Sterlite Industries (copper mines; Aditya Birla Group (copper mines); Gujarat NRE Co. (coal mines); Asian Paints; Reliance has entered into a partnership agreement with Uranium Exploration; IFFCO and Legend Holdings of Australia have entered into an agreement involving investment of over A$100mn by IFFCO in Legend’s phosphate projects with buyback arrangements; NMDC and Rio Tinto have entered into an agreement for joint exploration in India, Australia and other countries. Tata Power and Australian company Geodynamics have entered into an agreement involving Tata Power taking an 11.4 per cent stake in Geodynamics for A$ 44.1 million. Petronet LNG, New Delhi has signed an agreement with Exxon Mobile in August 2009 to source 1.5 mmtpa of LNG from the Gorgon Project, for 20 years starting from 2014. The Adani Group of India, owners of the country’s largest private port have acquired a coal mining prospect from Linc Resources in the Galilee Basin in Queensland. The deal is valued at $1 billion. $500 million in cash paid to Linc Resources and a royalty of $2 per tonne over 20 years. Adani has also acquired rights to manage the Abbot Point Coal loading terminal for a period of 99 years at a cost of A$1.83 billion. Lanco Infratech made an investment in Australia, spending almost A$850 million to buy Griffin coal assets. GVK Power and Infrastructure has finalized purchase of two thermal coal mines from Australia’s Hancock Prospecting for about US$ 2.4 billion and is also investing in development of rail network from the mine to the nearest port, which entails a total investment of U$10 bn. Infosys has acquired Portland Group, a sourcing and category management services firm in Australia for A$ 37 million. ICICI Bank has obtained necessary RBI approval to open its branch office in Australia.
All the major Indian IT companies have a presence in Australia and are rapidly growing. These include Infosys; Satyam Mahindra; TCS; HCL; Polaris Software Lab Ltd; Birlasoft; NIIT; ICICI Infotech; Wipro; Mahindra-British Telecom Ltd among others. Satyam Mahindra has the largest product development center outside India in Melbourne.
Tourism is growing rapidly. The tourist traffic between the two countries is increasing steadily. It is understood that 219,000 Australian tourists visited India and 160,000 Indian tourists visited Australia last year. The resumption of direct flights between Sydney/Melbourne and New Delhi on a daily basis has proved a big booster to travel between the two countries.
There are many Indian Associations in Australia and they play key role for promoting Indian culture by organizing cultural functions occasionally. High Commission of India & ICCR sponsor the Dance troupes from India to Australia to perform Traditional Indian cultural Programs during Diwali celebrations with the help of Indian Associations in various cities in Australia.
ICCR deputed a 6-member Odissi Dance Troup which gave performance in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne during October 2014.
Earlier, ICCR deputed a Sattriya Dance Troup to Perth in June 2014 and Bollywood Dance Group to Darwin in October 2014.
Know India programme is also is a great learning Experience for Diaspora children about the rich Heritage and cultural of India, the Economic progress and Social Development taking place in India.
We also have visiting Chairs for Indian Studies in Australian Universities.
There is an Indian community of nearly 295,000 (persons born in India) in Australia which is contributing to the Australian economy in their role as teachers, doctors, accountants, engineers and researchers. India is the third largest source of immigrants for Australia.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Conference was organized under the aegis of the High Commission in Sydney from 10-12 November 2013. A strong business delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) participated in the Convention. The conference had strong support, sponsorship and participation from Indian companies in Australia and Australian Universities.
There are currently about 46,000 Indian students studying in Australian Universities compared to more than 48,000 in 2011. The decline in number of students since 2009 is a consequence of tightening visa regulations, changes in general skilled migration rules, the negative impact of the attacks on students in 2009-10 and the rising value of the Australian dollar. The number of attacks has declined sharply in the recent period owing to the remedial measures taken by the Australian authorities and the police.
Besides the High Commission in Canberra, India has Consulates in Sydney, Melbourne & Perth and an Honorary Consul in Brisbane.
Government of India offices and PSUs in Australia include the Tourist Office; State Bank of India branch office (since April 2004) received license for full trade finance activities in 2007; New India Assurance Co Ltd (in Australia since 1955); and Air India (offline station). Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and Punjab National Bank have their representative offices in Sydney.
India was the first country to recognize Bangladesh as a separate and independent state and established diplomatic relations with the country immediately after its independence in December 1971. India's links with Bangladesh are civilizational, cultural, social and economic. There is much that unites the two countries – a shared history and common heritage, linguistic and cultural ties, passion for music, literature and the arts.
This commonality is reflected in our multi-dimensional and expanding relations. India and Bangladesh’s geographical locations complement each other and present an opportunity for both to further develop their connectivity links and economies.
High-level exchanges, visits and meetings take place regularly alongside the wide ranging people-to-people interaction. The landmark visits of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in January 2010 and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh in September 2011 have opened a new chapter in our bilateral relations with Bangladesh.
The visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to Bangladesh in March 2013, on his first trip abroad since assuming this post, reflects the highest importance that Government of India attaches to its relationship with Bangladesh, which is based on the principles of equality, partnership and mutual growth. Smt. Sushma Swaraj’s first “stand-alone” visit to Bangladesh as the External Affairs Minister in the last week of June 2014 had provided further momentum to the close and friendly relationship between India and Bangladesh.
In the last more than four decades, the two countries have continued to consolidate their political, economic, trade and cultural relations and have built a comprehensive institutional framework to promote bilateral cooperation. Both countries share 54 rivers, out of which, a treaty is already in existence for sharing of the Ganges water and both sides are working for early finalization of agreements for sharing of water of other common rivers. Both countries are also cooperating in the conservation of the entire Sunderbans ecosystem, which is a common biodiversity heritage.
Bangladesh is an important trading partner for India. The two-way trade in FY 2012-2013 was US $ 5.34 billion with India's exports to Bangladesh accounting for US $4.776 billion and imports US $ 0.564 million with the duty free access given by India to Bangladesh for all items except 25. Two border haats are already operational with a few more on the anvil along the India-Bangladesh border. Investment by Indian companies (Airtel, CEAT, Marico etc.) in Bangladesh continues to grow with the signing of bilateral
Investment Promotion and Protection agreement. For the first time in their post- independence history, India and Bangladesh have established inter-grid connectivity for the flow of bulk power from India to Bangladesh. Prime Ministers of both the countries inaugurated the grid-connectivity; Bangladesh has started importing 500MW of Power from India since October 2013.
India has always stood by Bangladesh in its hour of need with aid and economic assistance to help it cope with natural disasters and floods. To express India's sympathy at the loss of lives and destruction as a result of cyclone 'Sidr' which hit the Bangladesh coastal areas in November 2007, the then External Affairs Minister, Shri Pranab
Mukherjee visited Bangladesh in December 2007. He also visited the cyclone-hit areas and expressed India's sympathy to the affected people of Bangladesh in their hour of need. Prior to the visit, India had declared an elaborate aid package. Aid worth over Taka 250 crore (over US $ 37 million), including supply of relief materials consisting of medicines, tents, blankets, ready-to-eat meals, portable water-purifiers, 1,000 MT of skimmed milk powder and 40,000 MT of rice was handed over to Bangladesh. The Government of India also worked with the Government of Bangladesh for rehabilitation of ten cyclone-affected villages in the southern part of Bangladesh. India has also completed and handed over 2,800 core shelters in the affected villages in Bagerhat district in southern Bangladesh. Similarly, 2800 solar lamps have also been handed over to the beneficiaries of these core shelter houses. Similarly, Taka 230 million in the form of relief goods comprising clothing, water purification equipment and dry food was also supplied to Bangladesh after 1991 cyclone, which killed more than 1,35,000 Bangladeshi nationals.
India has extended a line of credit of US$ 800 million to Bangladesh for a range of projects, including railway infrastructure, supply of Broad Gauge microprocessor-based locomotives and passenger coaches, procurement of buses, and dredging projects. US$ 150 million out of the US$ 200 million grant has already been released to Bangladesh in three installments for utilization in projects of priority to Bangladesh.
Scholarships and training programs under ITEC, TCS of Colombo Plan, ICCR,
AYUSH, Commonwealth, SAARC and IOR-ARC scholarships/ fellowship schemes are being offered to Bangladesh nationals. Muktijoddha Scholarship Scheme extended by the Government of India to Higher Secondary-level students (200 scholarships) and Graduate-level students (478 scholarships). Bangladesh Diplomats are also imparted training at Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi in 2011.
India and Bangladesh are also engaged in regional cooperation through multilateral forum such as SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and IOR- ARC (Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation) etc. In pursuance of directions of the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh, both sides have also commenced implementation of sub-regional cooperation initiatives along with Nepal and Bhutan.
Given the shared history and commonality of language, cultural exchanges form an important bond of friendship between the people of two countries. Special emphasis has been laid on promotion of exchanges in the fields of music, theatre, art, painting, books, etc. A bilateral Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) provides the framework for such exchanges. To promote bilateral cultural exchanges, the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) of Indian Council for Cultural Relations was inaugurated at Dhaka on March 11, 2010. Both countries jointly celebrated year-long celebrations of the 150th birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore and the 90th Anniversary of the publication of the poem 'Bidrohi' by Kazi Nazrul Islam in 2011-12.
July 2014
On 1 April, 1950, India became the first non-socialist bloc country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Prime Minister Nehru visited China in October 1954. While, the India-China border conflict in 1962 was a serious setback to ties, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s landmark visit in 1988 began a phase of improvement in bilateral relations. In 1993, the signing of an Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the India-China Border Areas during Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s visit reflected the growing stability and substance in bilateral ties.
Cumulative outcomes of nine key visits in recent times have been transformational for our ties. These were that of Prime Minister Vajpayee [2003], of Premier Wen Jiabao [2005 &2010], of
President Hu Jintao [2006], of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [2008 and 2013], of Premier Li Keqiang [2013], of President Xi Jinping [2014] and of Prime Minister Narendra Modi [2015].
During Prime Minister Vajpayee’s visit, the two sides signed a Declaration on Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation and also mutually decided to appoint Special Representatives (SRs) to explore the framework of a boundary settlement from the political perspective.
During the April 2005 visit of Premier Wen Jiabao, the two sides established a Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, while the signing of an agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles, signaled the successful conclusion of the first phase of SR Talks.
During Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India in November 2006, the two sides issued a Joint Declaration containing a ten-pronged strategy to intensify cooperation.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited China in January 2008. A joint document titled "A Shared Vision for the 21st Century" was issued during the visit. When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India in December 2010, the two sides agreed to establish the mechanism of annual exchange of visit between the two Foreign Ministers.
Mr. Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China paid a State visit to India (Delhi-Mumbai) from 19-21 May 2013. During this visit, the two sides signed eight agreements and released a Joint Statement. Some of the significant proposals included in the Joint Statement were the decisions to designate 2014 as the Year of Friendly Exchanges between India and China and hold the first High Level Media Forum. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Premier Li Keqiang in November 2015 (on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lampur).
Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh paid an official visit to China from 22-24 October 2013. Agreements relating to border, trans-border Rivers, establishing service centers for servicing power equipment in India, road transport and Nalanda University were signed. Also signed were three agreements establishing sister-city partnership between Delhi-Beijing, Kolkata Kunming and Bangalore-Chengdu.
Vice-President Hon’ble Shri Hamid Ansari paid a visit to China on 26-20 June 2014. During the visit the Vice President met with President Xi Jinping, held talks with Vice President Liu Yuanchao, attended events to mark the 60th anniversary of ‘Panchsheel’, and visited Xian in Shaanxi Province. Three agreements related to industrial parks, training of public officials, and exchange of flood season data on the YarlungZangbu River were signed. The two Vice-Presidents also jointly released the English and Chinese versions of the Encyclopedia of India-China Cultural Contacts.
Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping paid a state visit to India from 17 to 19 September 2014. During the visit, President Xi Jinping met with President Pranab Mukherjee and held talks with Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. A total of 16 agreements were signed during the visit in various sectors including, commerce & trade, railways, space-cooperation, pharmaceuticals, audio- visual co-production, culture, establishment of industrial parks, sister-city arrangements etc. The two sides also signed a MoU to open an additional route for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Nathu La. The Chinese side agreed to establish two Chinese Industrial Parks in India and expressed their intention to enhance Chinese investment in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China from May 14-16, the visit was rich in symbolism and substance and it opened up a new chapter in India-China relations. For the first time, Chinese
President Xi Jinping travelled outside Beijing to receive a foreign leader, in Xi’an in his home province of Shaanxi. President Xi also accompanied Prime Minister to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and organized a grand welcome ceremony at the Xi’an city wall. Premier Li Keqiang joined Prime
Minister at the Yoga-Taichi performance in Beijing on 15 May with the world heritage site of Temple of Heaven as the backdrop, the first ever such event, which highlighted the cultural connectivity between the two countries.
There were 24 agreements signed on the government-to-government side, 26 MoUs on the business-to-business side and two joint statements, including one on climate change. The fact that India and China could come up with over 50 outcome documents in just eight months reveals the huge potential that exists between our two countries, as well as the efforts that we have made to elevate our partnership. The inter-governmental agreements covered, as Premier Li said, areas from the heaven to the earth! They included such diverse fields as space cooperation, earthquake engineering, ocean sciences, mining, railways, skill development, education, culture, Yoga, tourism and many more. The strength of our economic partnership could be gauged from the business events in Shanghai.
Prime Minister interacted with 21 CEOs of leading Chinese companies and over 40 prominent Indian CEOs attended the Business Forum along with their counterparts from China. The 26 business understandings worth over US$ 22 billion signed at the Forum covered such varied sectors as industrial parks, renewable energy, thermal energy, telecommunication, steel, capital goods, IT and media. Besides, there was a clear consensus among the leaders of the two countries on correcting the existing imbalance in the bilateral trade and injecting sustainability into it. With this in mind, they agreed to establish a high-powered task force that will go into issues relating to the trade deficit as well as expansion of economic engagement.
There was, moreover, an action-oriented accord on broad-basing the bilateral partnership, as could be seen from the range of agreements signed and in the establishment of new dialogue mechanisms, such as the one between the DRC and the NITI Aayog and the Think Tanks’ Forum, besides a bilateral consultative mechanism on WTO negotiations. Three new institutions were launched in partnership, the Centre for Gandhian and Indian Studies in Shanghai, Yoga College in Kunming, and National Institute for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in Ahmedabad.
Both sides decided to establish new Consulates in each other’s country, in Chengdu and Chennai and to expand our interactions at the sub-national level. Two agreements signed – one on cooperation between the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPC and another on the establishment of a State/Provincial Leaders’ Forum – reflect this understanding. Prime Minister Modi and Premier Li addressed the opening session of the new Forum in Beijing on 15 May, which is a significant initiative, considering that this is the first time that India has established such a dialogue mechanism with any country. A number of sister-city and sister-state relations agreements between: Karnataka and Sichuan, Chennai and Chongqing, Hyderabad and Qingdao, Aurangabad and Dunhuang were also signed.
Prime Minister also announced the extension of the e-visa facility to Chinese nationals wishing to travel to India. Prime Minister addressed university students at the Tsinghua University and also gave a speech at the reception hosted by the Indian community in Shanghai, the largest ever gathering of the community in the region.
The visit also went on to deliver a message to the international community on cooperation between India and China. There was agreement among the leaders that our relationship is poised to play a defining role in the 21st century in Asia and beyond, with the recognition that the simultaneous re- emergence of India and China as two major powers would have a profound impact on the course of this century. The Joint Statement has a separate section on “shaping the regional and global agenda” where India and China, as two major poles in the global architecture, agree to cooperate on a host of issues ranging from WTO, climate change and terrorism to regional organizations.
Hon’ble Home Minister of India Sh. Rajnath Singh visited China from 18-23 November, 2015 and met with Minister of Public Security of China.
Hon’ble External Affairs Minister, Smt. Sushma Swaraj met Foreign Minister Wang Yi in June 2015 (on the sidelines of the international donors’ conference in Kathmandu).
External Affairs Minister, Smt. Sushma Swaraj paid an official visit to the People’s Republic of China from 1-3 February 2015 during which she met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, had formal talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and also had a meeting with Mr. Wang Jiarui, Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. External Affairs Minister also inaugurated the 2nd India-China High-Level Media Forum and attended the launch of Visit India Year during her stay in Beijing. On 2 February, EAM also participated in the 13th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of Russia-India-China Trilateral.
Hon’ble Minister for Environment and Forest Sh. Paraksh Javdekar visited China in October 2015 to attend the 21st BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change.
Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh (Retd.) visited China in September, 2015 and met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and he also attended the SCO HOG Meeting in Zhengzhou on 14th December, 2015.
The 18th round of talks between the Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question, Shri Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor and Mr. Yang Jiechi, State Councilor was held in New Delhi on 23 March, 2015. Both Sides agreed to take necessary steps to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas which is a pre-requisite for continued growth of bilateral relations. The two sides agreed to build on the momentum provided by President Xi’s visit to further expand bilateral relations in areas such as railways, smart cities, vocational education, skill development, clean and renewable energy and manufacturing sector. Both sides agreed that growing linkages between Indian States and Chinese Provinces through sister-city and sister- province mechanism plays an important role in deepening bilateral ties. The two sides exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest and agreed to enhance their consultations on counter-terrorism, maritime security, climate change, reform of United Nations and civil nuclear energy cooperation.
To facilitate high level exchanges of Party leaders from China and State Chief Ministers from India, a special arrangement has been entered into by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA-ILD) since 2004. There are regular Party-to-Party exchanges between the Communist Party of China and political parties in India.
Trade and economic relationship has seen rapid progress in the last few years. India-China bilateral trade which was as low as US$ 2.92 billion in 2000 reached US$ 41.85 billion in 2008, making China India’s largest trading partner in goods. By 2015, as per DGC&IS provisional data India-China bilateral trade stood at US$ 70.4 billion. India’s exports to China touched US$ 8.86 billion whereas China’s exports were US$ 61.54 billion. However, India still faces a growing trade deficit vis-a-vis China. In 2015 trade deficit stood at US$ 52.67 billion. Apart from trade, India is also one of the largest markets for project exports from China. Currently, projects under execution are estimated at over US$ 63 billion. As per Chinese figures, cumulative Chinese investments into India till December 2014 stood at US$ 2.763 billion while Indian investments into China were US$ 0.564 billion.
India and China are not mere societies; they are civilizations. We do not know exactly when and how they started exchanging their cultural elements, but we do know that they grew in parallel and shared their cultural traits since the beginning of human history and this tradition of sharing has continued ever since.
Even before the advent of Buddhism, the Shang-Zhou civilization and the ancient Vedic civilization in 1500-1000 B.C. showed some evidence of conceptual and linguistic exchanges. For instance, “wumingzhi" (nameless finger) in Chinese is called "anamika" (nameless) in Sanskrit and in Pali. Similarly, some ancient Indian literature mentions "chinas" referring to the Chinese people.
The Mahabharata of the fifth century B.C. contains reference to China. Chanakya of the Maurya dynasty (350-283 B.C.) refers to Chinese silk as "chinamsuka" (Chinese silk dress) and "chinapatta" (Chinese silk bundle) in his Arthashastra. Likewise, the Record of the Grand Historian of Zhang Qian and Sima Qian has references to "Shendu", may be referring to “Sindhu” in Sanskrit.
In sixth century B.C., the birth of Confucius and Sakyamuni heralded a new period of exchanges between the two civilizations. Emperor Ashoka’s propagation of Buddhism after his conversion in 256 B.C. brought both civilizations even closer. Ashoka’s bilingual (Kharoshti and Greek) edict points at extension of Buddhism in the direction of China and Central Asia. The trend continued in first century A.D. during emperor Kanishka’s period. His empire, with its capital at Purushpura (now Peshawar in Pakistan), enabled Buddhist pilgrims and scholars to travel on the historic “silk route”. Kashyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna made the White Horse monastery at Luoyang their abode. Along the silk route, Khotan Turpan and Kucha became prominent centers of Buddhism and India-China exchanges. The great scholar Kumarajiva initiated efforts to collect and translate important Buddhist texts at a great Buddhist conclave in Chang’an (present Xi’an) where he stayed until his death in 413 A.D. and managed to have 98 major Buddhist canonical works translated into Chinese. He is widely believed to be responsible for bringing in Mahayana Buddhism and Madhyamika doctrine into Chinese philosophy. In the beginning of the fifth century A.D., Dharmakshema, an Indian Buddhist scholar came to China bringing with him the “Mahaparinirvana Sutra” which was translated into Chinese about the year 415 A.D. Meanwhile, the Chinese Pilgrim Fa Hein visited India along the Silk Route in 405 A.D. Batuo (464-495 A.D.) and Bodhidharma visited China; Xuan Zhang (604A.D.) and I Ching were students at the prestigious Nalanda University. All along, there is ample evidence of India-China cultural, commercial and technological exchange.
Both civilizations also shared scientific knowledge. In eighth century, Indian astronomer Aryabhata's astronomical signs were translated into Chinese in the book "Kaiyuan Zhanjing" compiled by Gautama Siddha, an astronomer in Chang'an of Indian descent. It is also believed that he translated the Nabagraha calendar into Chinese. During the Ming Dynasty, navigator General Zheng He’s arrival at Calicut in early 15th century is also a testimony of China’s ancient maritime linkage with India.
Exchanges between India and China continued during the days of India’s struggle for self- governance. In early 20th century, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore visited China twice, in 1924 and in 1929. Since 1911, Chinese scholars and intellectuals have been visiting and revisiting Tagore’s life, works and philosophy.
Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis sacrificed his life in the service of the Chinese people during the Sino-Japanese war. His mortal remains rest in the North China Martyrs' Memorial Cemetery in Hebei Province. A part of a 1938 medical team comprising five Indian doctors, he stayed in China working in mobile clinics to treat wounded soldiers. He was eventually appointed as Director of the Doctor Bethune International Peace Hospital built by the Eighth Route Army. On 2nd July 2015 Dr.Manorama Kotnis, the sister of Dr. Kotnis, passed away.
Both India and China began their journey of independent governance almost at the same time, India in 1947 and the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In 1955, the first Indian cultural delegation headed by then Deputy Minister of External Affairs Mr. A. K. Chanda visited China which was warmly received by the Chinese leaders and people during their tour. In the 1960s and 1970s Bollywood movies such as Do Bigha Zameen, Awara and Sree 420 of Raj Kapoor and Noorie struck an emotional chord in the hearts and minds of the Chinese people. Even today, people on the street hum the tunes of the songs of these films. Movies like ‘pk’, 3 Idiots and The Life of Pi have been well received in recent times.
Since 1988 both countries are bringing their people together through structured Cultural Exchange Programs. The latest CEP signed in October 2013 during the visit of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s to China, provides for cooperation in a gamut of cultural fields including exchanges of visits of performing artists, officials, writers, archivists and archaeologists, organizing cultural festivals, film festivals and exchanges in the field of mass media, youth affairs and sports.
In 2003, Prime Minister Vajpayee had committed to build an Indian style Buddhist temple in Luoyang, Henan province and President Pratibha Devisingh Patil inaugurated the temple during her visit to China in May 2010. In February 2007, the Xuanzang memorial was inaugurated at Nalanda. In June 2008, joint stamps were released, one stamp depicting the Mahabodhi temple at Bodhgaya and the other depicting the White Horse temple at Luoyang. A Centre for Indian studies was set up in Peking University in 2003. Chairs of Indian Studies/Hindi have also been established in Shenzhen University, Jinan University, and Fudan University, Guangdong University and in Shanghai International Studies University. The 60th anniversary of the establishment of India-China diplomatic relations was celebrated with much fanfare in both countries in 2010.
Exchange of Youth delegation between Indian and China has been continuing since 2007.
During the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to India in November 2006, the two sides had agreed to launch a five year programme for mutual exchange of youth delegation. In this context, the China had invited five hundred youth from India over the next five years. Later, during the visit Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to India in December 2010, the two sides agreed to continue youth exchange activities in next five years. Reciprocal visits were also paid by the Chinese side each year. During the visit of President Xi to India in September 2014 the two sides recognizing the significance of youth exchanges in increasing mutual understanding, the two sides agreed to continue with the annual exchange of 200 youth from 2015 to 2019.
During the visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Premier Li Keqiang in 2013 the leaders designated 2014 as the Year of Friendly Exchanges between India and China. To mark this special year, Glimpses of India Festival was organized across several cities of China through 2014 showcasing Indian performing arts, exhibitions of modern Indian arts, depictions of Buddhism links between the two countries, food and film festivals. As part of the festival Kalashetra, Kathak Kendra Troupe, Sangeet Natak Akademi and a Bollywood Troupe from Indian Council for Cultural Relations visited China. SangeetNatakAkademi performed at the Reception Marking the 60th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence at the Great Hall of People. Food Festivals were also organized in cities like Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, and Hong Kong to give the local people a taste of authentic Indian cuisine. Yoga Festivals were organized in the month of July, 2014 in Beijing, Shanghai and Dali in partnership with Department of AYUSH, Government of India. Buddhist Art Exhibitions were organized in cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chengdu. Indian Film Festivals were also organized in cities like Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Hong Kong and Xi’an in partnership with Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
During the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to India in December 2010, the leaders of India and China agreed on a project involving compilation of an Encyclopedia of India-China Cultural Contacts. The Encyclopedia of India-China Cultural Contacts was released in both English and Chinese versions during Hon’ble Vice President of India’s visit to China on June 30, 2014 in Beijing. The Encyclopedia features over 700 entries, encapsulating the rich history of contacts and exchanges between the two countries in the trade, economic, literary, cultural and philosophical spheres.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a three day state visit to China from May 14th to 16th 2015. Prior to the visit, Prime Minister launched his own ‘Weibo’ handle to connect with the Chinese people. The details of the visit were first shared with the public via this Weibo handle, and the handle has since become immensely popular among Chinese netizens. The Prime Minister’s visit was rich in symbolism, reflecting the growing closeness between India and China. For the first time, President Xi Jinping travelled outside Beijing to receive a foreign leader in Xi’an, in his home province of Shaanxi. President Xi also accompanied Prime Minister to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda – itself a symbol of the shared legacy of our two great civilizations – and organized a grand welcome ceremony at the Xi’an city wall. Premier Li Keqiang joined Prime Minister at the Yoga- Taichi performance with the world heritage site of Temple of Heaven as the backdrop, the first ever such event, which highlighted the cultural connectivity between the two countries. The two leaders even clicked a ‘selfie’ which went viral with over 33 million hits on the Weibo. There were 24 agreements signed on the government-to-government side, 26 MoUs on the business-to-business side and two joint statements, including one on climate change Expanding people-to-people exchanges and cultural contacts figured as a major theme of the visit. Prime Minister’s visit to the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, joined by President Xi, and his attendance at the Yoga-Taichi event along with Premier Li exemplified the importance that our leaders attach to tapping the shared cultural heritage. Moreover, three new institutions: the Centre for Gandhian and Indian Studies in Shanghai, Yoga College in Kunming, and National Institute for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in Ahmedabad were launched.
On December 11, 2014, the 193 member UNGA approved by consensus with a record 177 co-sponsoring countries including China a resolution to establish 21st June as "International Day of Yoga". In its resolution, the UNGA recognized that Yoga provides a holistic approach to health and well-being and wider dissemination of information about the benefits of practicing Yoga for the health of the world population. Embassy of India Beijing and Consulates at Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong celebrated the First International Day of Yoga today on 21st June, 2015 in China.
The event was celebrated in more than 14 cities of China including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Kunming, Xiamen, Wuxi, Hangzhou,
Wenzhou and Changzhou in which thousands of people participated enthusiastically. Several Chinese celebrities including musician Ms. Siqin Gaoli, actors Mr. Wang Baoqiang, Mr. Du Yiheng, and snooker champion Mr. Ding Junhui gave personal video endorsement messages, congratulating on the occasion of International Day of Yoga and inviting people to participate in the event.
On 23rd October 2015, an Indian modern art exhibition titled’ The Eye and the Mind’ was inaugurated at Beijing Minsheng Art Museum. This two month long exhibition has been curated by Mr. Rajeev Lochan, Director, and National Gallery of Modern Art and comprises a number of exhibits by well-known artists in contemporary Indian art. ‘India Culture Week’ was organized from 4th November 2015 in Shanghai as part of the ‘Shanghai International Arts Festival.’ This cultural fiesta comprised ‘Bollywood Love Story’ musical, ‘Sari’ Dance composition by Daksha Sheth
Company, folk music by Rajasthan Josh and the exhibition ’Forms of Devotion.’ India Culture Week provided glimpses of the multi-faceted cultural traditions of India and encouraged greater understanding of India among Chinese people.
Both India and China have vibrant cultures and vibrant people. Buddhism, Xuan Zhang, Tagore, Dr. Kotnis, Nalanda, Yoga and Cinema are only symbols of our long tradition of exchanges. They are testimonies of our shared heritage. The momentum has been set and the pace can only increase in the 21st century.
The Indian community in the consular jurisdiction of the Mission is growing. Present estimates put the community strength within this Mission’s jurisdiction to around 21,000. A major part of this comprises of students (around 7500), who are pursuing courses in various universities in China. A number of Indians and PIOs are also working as professionals with various multinational and Indian companies.
The Mission maintains regular contact with the Indian community directly as well as through the “Indian Community in Beijing “, which is an association of Indians and PIOs based in Beijing. Since its formation in 1999, ICB has been acting as a platform for Indian nationals and PIOs for get-togethers and organizing events during Independence Day, Diwali as well as an annual Indian Bazaar.
The Mission regularly organizes annual community events to maintain contact with the community. The Mission has been encouraging Indian nationals in China to register online through the facility provided in the embassy website. As of now more than 1200 persons have registered with the Embassy.
India and China signed Education Exchange Programme (EEP) in 2006, which is an umbrella agreement for educational cooperation between the two countries. Under this agreement, government scholarships are awarded to 25 students, by both sides, in recognized institutions of higher learning in each other’s country. The 25 scholarships awarded by India are offered by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). A revised EEP was signed during the visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi to China in May 2015. The same provides for enhanced cooperation between institutions in the field of vocational education; collaboration between Institutes of higher learning, etc.
Apart from this, Chinese students are also annually awarded scholarships to study Hindi at the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Agra to learn Hindi. For the year 2015-16, 8 Chinese students have been selected to study in Agra under this scheme.
In 2010, it was decided to introduce Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language in the Central
Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in August 2012, between Central CBSE and Confucius Institute, where both signatories agreed to exchange academic staff, teachers and trainees as well as exchange information on the system and structure of teaching Mandarin Chinese as a second language in schools in India. As a part of this MoU, the first batch of 22 Chinese teachers taught in select CBSE schools for two years, from January 2014 to January 2016.
The cooperation in the education sector between the two sides has resulted in an increase in the number of Indian students in China. As for academic year 2014-2015, there were 12998 Indian students studying in various Universities in China in various disciplines. Similarly, around 2000 Chinese students are studying in various educational institutions in India.
January 2016
The Strategic Dialogue in 1998, soon after India’s nuclear tests, led to India and France entering into a strategic partnership encompassing security, space, defense and civil nuclear cooperation sectors. India-France relationship enjoys bipartisan support in France and has been accorded a high priority by all the Presidents of France. With the establishment of the strategic partnership, there has been significant progress in all areas of bilateral cooperation through regular high-level exchanges at the Head of State/Head of Government levels.
Indo-French relations received a boost in 2015 with high level engagements and expansion of the already strong cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a landmark visit to France from 09-12 April, 2015. Prime Minister Modi and President of France Mr. Francois Hollande held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2015. They again met in Paris on 30 November 2015 at the Leaders’ Event of CoP-21 (21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in Paris.
There has been a significant progress in bilateral relations through regular Ministerial and official visits and exchanges in strategic areas of security, defense, nuclear energy, space as well as in other areas of bilateral cooperation like science and technology, culture, education etc. France has continued to support India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council and multilateral export control regimes like the NSG, MTCR etc.
President of France, Mr Francois Hollande will be paying a visit to India from 24-26
January, 2016 and will be the chief guest at the 67th Republic Day Parade.
PM’s visit to Paris for CoP-21 (29-30 November, 2015): Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi travelled to Paris to attend the Leaders’ Event on 29 November 2015 at the beginning of CoP-21. Prime Minister met President Hollande and they together attended the launch of International Solar Alliance on 30 November at Le Bourget, in which 120 countries participated. PM Modi and President Hollande jointly released a book of quotations titled, ‘Ecology of Our Worlds’, for which the two leaders also co-authored the preface. Prime Minister Modi, along with President Hollande, US President Obama and entrepreneur Bill Gates, also spoke at the event of ‘Mission Innovation’ for promoting renewable energy.
Visit of Prime Minister (April 2015): Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, paid an official visit to France during 9-12 April, 2015. This visit was the first visit to a European country by the Prime Minister. This was also the first full bilateral visit to France in 9 years. Though an Official visit, French Government considered it as ‘Official Plus’ Visit and included elements that are normally part of a State visit (for visiting foreign Heads of State). Prime Minister was given Ceremonial Welcome and a banquet was hosted in his honor by French President Francois Hollande at the Elysees Palace.
Prime Minister had a tete-a-tete with President Hollande and discussed various bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest during delegation-level talks. President Hollande also extended a unique honor of inviting Prime Minister for a boat ride with him on Seine River. They were accompanied by Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development and Mr. Jean- Yves Le Drian, Minister for defense, as well as Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris. The co-Chairs of the CEOs’ Forum presented the outcome of the 7th meeting of India France CEOs Forum which was held on 09 April 2015, to Indian PM and French President at a function organized at Elysee Palace on 10 April 2015. A statement was made to the Press by both the leaders and a joint statement covering the various decisions taken and future areas of bilateral cooperation was issued. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Prime Minister on 11 April 2015.
Prime Minister also met Parliamentary leaders of France. Mr. Claude Bartolone, President, French National Assembly hosted a lunch in honor of Prime Minister, after their meeting at the National Assembly, in which regional and global issues and Parliamentary exchanges between the two countries were discussed. Prime Minister was invited by MEDEF (French Business Confederation), to address business round-tables on Infrastructure and Defense-Manufacturing. 15 CEOs of top French companies attended each of the two round-tables. French Foreign Minister attended the round-table on Infrastructure and French Defense Minister attended the round- table on defense-manufacturing. Prime Minister also addressed a large gathering at UNESCO, Paris, after a meeting with Ms. Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO where he launched a website specially dedicated to the International Day of Yoga which was celebrated on 21 June. Prime Minister also paid his tributes to the statue of Sri Aurobindo, installed in the UNESCO premises.
Prime Minister travelled to Toulouse city in Midi-Pyrenees Region of France. In Toulouse, Prime Minister paid a visit to the manufacturing unit of Airbus, French Aircraft manufacturer where he met Indian Engineers working with Airbus. He also visited CNES (French National Centre for Space Studies) where he was given an overview of Indo-French cooperation in the field of Space, spanning five decades. Prime Minister also interacted with elected representatives from French Regions, including the President of the Regional Council of Midi-Pyrenees.
Prime Minister travelled to NeuveChapelle in the north of France, accompanied by Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Defense. The NeuveChapelle Memorial commemorates over 4,700 Indian soldiers who lost their lives on the Western Front during the First World War. Prime Minister paid homage to the Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice. This was the first time a Prime Minister of India visited NeuveChapelle. Prime Minister addressed a large gathering of Indians and Persons of Indian Origin in France at the Carrousel du Louvre which was also broadcast live in Saint Denis and other places in Reunion and Guadeloupe Islands where large Indian origin communities live.
Nineteen Agreements/MoUs were signed during the visit encompassing diverse areas of cooperation between India and France, such as Nuclear Energy, Space, Railways, Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Science and Technology, Sports,
Tourism, Human exchanges, Renewable energy and Twinning of historical monuments. The two leaders also unveiled an Indo-French joint stamp commemorating the Fifty years of Space cooperation between the two countries. A list of the Agreements/ MOUs signed during the visit is enclosed (Annexure).
President Hollande’s Visit to India (February 2013): President Hollande visited India in February 2013. He was accompanied by six Ministers, including Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, External Trade Minister, Culture Minister, Higher Education & Research Minister and Deputy Minister in-charge of Transport, as well as a 50-member business delegation. He had detailed discussions with President and PM on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. EAM, UPA President, Leader of Opposition and Governor of Maharashtra had called on him. In Mumbai, he interacted with Indian business leaders. During President Hollande’s visit, a Joint Declaration was issued. Four agreements in the fields of culture, space, railways and education were signed. India and France agreed to give further impetus to their strategic partnership and to reinvigorate bilateral economic engagements by harnessing the synergies between their economies. In the field of defense, they reaffirmed their continued interest to enhance bilateral cooperation. They agreed to further strengthen bilateral civil nuclear cooperation and expressed hope for increased cooperation in science and technology as well as research and education. France reiterated its support to India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council as well as membership of the NSG and other export control regimes.
Other Visits: Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change attended the pre-CoP-21 ministerial consultations in Paris on 9- 10 October, 2015. He also led the Indian Delegation at the Informal Ministerial Consultations held in Paris on 20-21 July, 2015 and again on 6-7 September 2015. Minister for Civil Aviation ,Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State for Planning and Defense visited Paris for Paris Air Show during 14- 18 June 2015. Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Commerce (IC) visited Paris from 03-06 July, 2015.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius visited India on 5 February 2015 in connection with Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), New Delhi. During the visit, he called on PM and met with EAM, Minister of Railways, and Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change and discussed issues of bilateral importance. Ms. Segolene Royale, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy also attended DSDS. Mr Fabius again visited India on 20 November 2015 and called on PM in preparation of CoP-21 in Paris. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited India on 24 February 2015 and met with his counterpart and NSA. He again visited India and held talks with Raksha Mantriin May, 2015.
India-France Strategic Dialogue: France and India have instituted Strategic Dialogue at the level of National Security Advisors. The latest round was held in Paris recently on 12-13 January, 2015between NSA Shri Ajit Doval and Mr. Jacques Audibert, Diplomatic Advisor to French President. Earlier, the 26th round was held in New Delhi on 09 October 2014 and the 25th round was held in Paris on 30 January, 2014.
Foreign Office Consultations: The last round of Annual Foreign Office Consultations at the level of Foreign Secretaries was held in Paris on 17 June, 2013. An Agreement on Mutual Exemption for Short Stay Visas for Diplomatic Passport Holders was signed during the visit. Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar visited Paris in March 2015 in preparation to Prime Minister’s visit to France in April, 2015.
Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism: The 9th meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism was held in Pairs on 20 June 2014 and the tenth round has been recently held on 8 December, 2015 in New Delhi.
Cyber Dialogue: The second round of the India-France cyber dialogue was held in Paris on 17 March, 2015 in New Delhi. The two sides decided to carry forward their cooperation on cyber security issues.
Dialogue on Maritime Cooperation: The Inaugural dialogue on Maritime cooperation was held in Paris during 14-15 January, 2016. Deputy NSA Shri Arvind
Gupta headed the Indian delegation for the dialogue.
Dialogue on non-proliferation and disarmament: A delegation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense of France visited India on January 28, 2014 for talks on Arms Trade Treaty.
Track 1.5 Dialogue: The first round of the Track 1.5 India-France Annual Dialogue between the Observer Research Foundation, India and the Centre for International
Studies and Research (CERI, Science Po – Paris) was held in Paris on 23 May, 2013.
Joint Committee for Economic and Technical Cooperation: The 16th session of the Joint Committee for Economic and Technical Cooperation, at the level of Ministers of Commerce was held on 23-25 June, 2010 in Paris.
CEOs’ Forum and other economic dialogues: The latest session of India-France CEO’s Forum was held on 09 April, 2015 during PM’s visit. The first Annual Economic and Financial Dialogue was held in Paris on 29th October 2013 between Ministries of Finance of India and France. The first meeting of Joint Working on Sustainable Urban Development was held in Paris on 20 September 2013. The 9th meeting of Joint Working Group on IT was also held in Paris during October 2013.
Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation: A landmark Agreement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation was signed between India and France on 30 September, 2008 during the visit of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to France. Subsequently, during the visit of President Nicolas Sarkozy to India from 4-7 December 2010, the General Framework Agreement and the Early Works Agreement between NPCIL and Areva for implementation of EPR NPP Units at Jaitapur were signed.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in April, 2015, two MoUs were signed, one between L&T and Areva and another Pre-Engineering Agreement between NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.) and Areva. The discussions on implementation are going on.
Space Cooperation: France and India view each other as important partners in space technology and applications. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and its French counterpart, the Centre National de Etudes Spatiales (CNES) have a rich history of cooperation and collaboration spanning five decades. During the visit of the Prime Minister to France in April 2015, joint stamps were released to commemorate the completion of 50 years of Cooperation in Space. A program agreement for a reinforced cooperation in space activities was signed between the two countries during the visit. The program envisages joint development of an earth observation satellite, cooperation in inter-planetary missions and hosting of a French payload on an Indian satellite. Following the signing, an ISRO-CNES meeting was held at SAC, Ahmedabad on June 24, 2015 and the two sides agreed on a broad configuration for a future joint Thermal Infra-red satellite mission.
Two other MoUs on Space, signed during the PM’s Visit, include the extension of the ISRO-CNES MoU on Megha Tropiques satellite for two years and MoU between ISRO, CNES and ONERA for Ka-band propagation experiment over Indian tropical region. Towards this, the installation of the CNES instruments at Hassan (ISRO center) has since been completed satisfactorily.
ISRO and CNES had jointly developed the Satellite for ARGOS and ALTIKA (SARAL) carrying a radar altimeter and a data collection platform. The SARAL satellite was launched on-board ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in February 2013. The Megha Tropiques satellite for monitoring tropical atmosphere was launched in late 2011. Both satellites continue to provide useful data for atmosphere monitoring, environment monitoring and ocean surface topography. The 2nd annual review of exploitation (REVEX) of SARAL was held at Toulouse during the period 11-14 October, 2015.
Under a commercial Launch Service Agreement between Antrix Corporation Limited and ASTRIUM SAS, an advanced Remote Sensing satellite - SPOT-7 built by ASTRIUM SAS was successfully launched on-board PSLV from India in June 2014. Arianespace, France has been the major provider of launch services to Indian Geo- Stationary satellites. As many as 19 Indian satellites have been launched by Arianespace on a commercial basis. On 7th December 2014, India’s multi-band telecommunications satellite GSAT-16 was precisely placed into the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by the Ariane-5 launch vehicle. ISSRO’s advanced communication satellite GSAT-15 was successfully launched from French Guiana on November 10, 2015. Two Indian communication satellites (GSAT-17 and GSAT- 18) are scheduled to be launched in 2016 onboard Ariane-5 rocket from Arianespace.
Recognizing the importance of space cooperation between the countries, the Indian government has felicitated Professor Jacques Blamont (French Scientist), one of the chief architects of this cooperation, with the Padma Shri Award in 2015.
Defense Cooperation
The defense relations between the two countries are strong and have been growing within the framework of structured talks under the Indo- French Defense Cooperation Agreement. Several meetings on industrial collaboration and service exchanges are held regularly.
High level Visits: French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited India and met Shri Manohar Parrikar, Raksha Mantri on 23 February 2015. He had earlier visited India on 01 December 2014. He again visited India and held talks with Raksha Mantri in May, 2015.RakshaRajyaMantri Shri Rao Inderjit Singh led the Ministry of Defense delegation to the 51st edition of the biennial Paris Air Show, held from 15 to 21 June 2015. A Cabinet Secretariat delegation also visited the show. Gen. Jean-Pierre Bosser, the Chief of Army Staff, French Army visited India in March 2015. The Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army visited France in May 2013. Admiral Bernard Rogei, the
Chief of Naval Staff, French Navy visited India in November 2014. An official invitation has been extended to French Chief of Air Staff to visit India and the visit may take place in March, 2016.The French Vice Chief of Air Staff visited the biennial Aero-India Air Show held at Bangalore from 18 - 22 February 2015 air show on behalf of the Chief of the French Air Force while Director, Asia Pacific represented the French DGA. France had the second largest participation (after the USA) in the air show with 58 participating companies.
Joint exercises: Joint service level exercises are held regularly in India and France. The next edition of Joint Army exercise, ‘EX-SHAKTI’ is to be held in Rajasthan, India from 19-21 January, 2016. The first such joint exercise was conducted in India at Chaubattia from 09 – 22 October 2011 while the second was conducted in the French Alps from 09 - 20 September 2013. The platoon level training exercise was based on Counter Insurgency / Counter Terrorism in mountainous environment. The fifth edition of the joint air exercise EX- GARUDA was held in Jodhpur in June 2014. The French complement included four Rafales from their air base at Al Dhafra, UAE and their Air to Air Refueller. The French Chief of Air Staff Gen. Denis Mercier visited India during this exercise on 09 June 2014.The latest edition of the Indo - French naval exercise EX - VARUNA, was held off the coast of Goa in May 2015. An aircraft carrier from each country participated in the exercise along with their support ships. The Indian Naval Ship Tarangini made a maintenance call at Le Havre port from 26 August to 10 September, 2015. Vice Admiral SPS Cheema, FOC-in-C West visited France when INS Trikand made a port call at Toulon from 25-29 September 2015. Three Indian Naval ships made a port call at Saint Denis in the Reunion Islands in October 2014.
High Committee on Defense Cooperation (HCDC): The High Level Committee for Defense Cooperation (HCDC) at the level of Defense Secretaries, met in Paris on 12 January 2015. Defense Secretary, Shri R. K. Mathur was the Indian co-chair while Mr Philippe Errera, Director General of the Directorate of International Relations and Strategy, under the French MoD, represented the French side. Various areas of defense cooperation including, Army, Navy and Air Force professional exchange visits, joint exercises as well as industrial and technology cooperation were discussed. On 13 January 2015, the Defense Secretary called on the French Defense Minister and also held meetings with the DGA, Chief of Defense Staff and the Special Advisor to the Defense Minister. The 16th HCDC meeting is likely to be held in New Delhi.
In 2014, the total trade in goods between France and India was worth € 7.92 billion, registering an increase of 10.7% from 2013. India’s exports to France were valued at € 5.21 billion (+18.4%) whereas French exports to India totaled € 2.7 billion (-0.33%). The trade surplus which is in favor of India for the past 10 years stood at 2.5 billion euros in 2014 up from 1.7 billion euros in 2013. India had a 1.04% share in French imports in 2014 while French exports to India represented 0.63% of total French exports.
Trends in 2015: In the first ten months of 2015, India France bilateral trade was worth 7.23 billion euros (+11.15% over the corresponding period last year). India’s exports to France increased by 6.53% to 4.57 billion euros during this period with exports of all top product categories registering an increase: minerals fuels & oils (2.38%); articles of apparel & clothing accessories (5.62%); machinery and mechanical appliances (11.85%); organic chemicals (6.62%); electrical machinery & equipment (1.64%); footwear (9.13%); leather goods (6.98%); vehicles and accessories (28.38%); and gems & jewelry (29.46%). Meanwhile, French exports to India increased by 20.10% from January-October 2015: Exports of following top 10 ranked products increased: aircraft, spacecraft & parts thereof (3.8%); electrical machinery & equipment (48.26%); machinery and mechanical appliances (8.71%); optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus & parts thereof (96.89%); organic chemicals (14.49%); plastics & articles thereof (10.43%); miscellaneous chemical products (43.11%); pharmaceutical products (6.81%). However, exports of iron & steel & articles thereof fell by 14.37%.
French investments in India: France has emerged as a major source of FDI for India with about 750 big French companies already present in India. France is the 9th largest foreign investor in India with a cumulative investment of USD 4.77 billion from April 2000 to September 2015 which represents 1.80% of the total FDI inflows into India according to statistics provided by the DIPP. The highest FDI equity inflows are in the services sector (19%), with cement & gypsum products (18%) in second place followed by food processing industries (6%), industrial machinery (6%) & drugs & pharmaceuticals (5%).
Practically all the big French Groups have their subsidiaries in India. However, there are a few joint ventures and liaison offices of French companies in India. 39 of the 40 CAC 40 (French stock market index) companies are present in India. Around 50-70 SMEs are also present in India essentially in the mechanical & pharma-chemical sectors. French companies are present in a wide range of sectors: services (BNP Paribas, Cap Gemini, Havas, Sodexho etc.); pharmaceutical-chemical (Arkema, l’Oréal, Sanofi, Total etc); aero-space (Airbus, Dassault, Eurocopter, Safran, Thales etc); agro-food (Bongrain, Danone, Lactalis, Lesaffre Pernod Ricard etc); electronics (Crouzet, Gemalto, Oberthur, Safran, STMicroelectronics etc); construction mechanics (Alstom, Cermex, Legris Group, Poclain, Sidel); electrical components (Hager, Legrand, Schneider Electric etc); automobile (Faurecia, Michelin, Plastic Omnium, Renault, Valeoetc). French investments cleared during 2015 include amongst others, proposals from Louis Vuitton Malletier (Luggage & Luxury Leather Goods), Freyssinet International & Compagnie (Constructing Heavy Construction Projects), Sanofi Pasteur (Healthcare Solutions), Safran Engineering Services (Engineering services to the aerospace, energy & ground transport industries), Serap Industries (Liquid & food preservation), Arkadin (Conferencing services), Aubert & Duval (alloy steels, stainless steel & special steels), Beaujon (Insurance & Asset Management) and Péters Surgical (surgical sutures & meshes).
Indian Investments in France: There are almost 75 Indian companies operating in France (more than 100 including sub-subsidiaries), employing more than 7,000 people. Nine new Indian investments were recorded in 2014, creating or maintaining 657 jobs. Fifty-six percent of Indian investments in France were in business services, followed by 22% in decision-making centers (first-time investments) and 22% in production/manufacturing. Twenty-two percent of these investments were made in the aerospace equipment sector, while Indian companies were responsible for 21% of jobs generated by foreign investment in the agro-food sector. Indian companies invested primarily in the Paris Region (Ile-de-France), which attracted 33% of all Indian investments. India was the 30th largest foreign investor in France with cumulative FDI inflows amounting to € 457 million (acc. to 2013 statistics by the French Central Bank). Indian Investments in France have been growing and it is estimated that the total stock of Indian investments in France is approximately € 1 billion. Indian investment in France has come in different sectors such as pharmaceuticals (Ranbaxy & Wockhardt), software and IT (Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys & Wipro), wine (Kingfisher), steel (Tata Steel, Electrosteel), plastics (Sintex Industries), railway wagons (Titagarh Wagons), aerospace (Cades, Axis Aerospace & Technologies), Auto Parts (Jyoti), Two-wheelers (Mahindra& Mahindra), Metal Forging (Bharat Forge). In 2014, Sintex Industries, Tata Group, Mahindra & Mahindra and Mahajan Group were the four largest Indian employers in France. The following Indian companies invested in France in 2015: Mahindra & Mahindra which acquired 51% share of Peugeot Two-Wheelers and Bharat Forge which acquired MécaniqueGénéraleLangroise (MGL).
Indian culture enjoys a wide audience among the French population, as is evident in the numerous and frequent cultural events organized all over France, spanning the entire spectrum of Indian art, music, dance, cinema and literature. The Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) for 2013-15 was signed during the visit of President Hollande to India on 14 February 2013. Both sides are considering the renewal of the CEP during forthcoming visit of President Hollande to India.
The Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) regularly sponsors visits of Indian artists to France and also assists in exchange of students in the field of culture and arts. A significant number of Indian artists also regularly perform in France on commercial basis or at the initiative of various local cultural associations, outside the purview of official exchanges.
A 15 month long cultural festival- ‘Namaste France’ was held from April 2010- June 2011 showcasing the Indian culture including art, music, dance, films, cinema and literature. The French government has organized two editions of ‘Bonjour India’, a French cultural festival in India in 2009-10 and January- March 2013.
The second edition of ‘Namaste France’ festival will be organized in several cities of France in September- November 2016. ICCR empaneled and several other renowned artists will perform in ‘Namaste France’ festival. Several Indian cultural associations and Indian diaspora in France will participate in these celebrations. In addition to ICCR, other organizations like Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and Air India will also participate in the celebrations. The festival aims to create mutual awareness and understanding about Indian culture among the French youth, by associating them with cultural events. This festival also provides an excellent opportunity to promote tourism to India and further our soft power in France.
During the visit of Prime Minister to France in April 2015, both the governments agreed to cooperate on urban heritage preservation within the ambit of Joint Working Group (JWG) on urban development and also on twining of historical monuments and sites in both the countries. During this visit, the following MoUs/Letter of Intent (LoI) were also signed to promote cooperation in the area of culture and heritage between India and France: Arrangement for training of Indian Heritage Professionals between French and Indian Ministries of Culture, in presence of the Institut National du Patrimonie (INP)
Promotion of Yoga and Ayurveda in France has been given significant attention. A letter of Intent on Ayurveda was signed between Ministry of AYUSH and University of Strasbourg. Subsequently, University of Strasbourg held a conference on Ayurveda.
Several Indo-French friendship associations and cultural organizations are promoting Indian languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu etc. In view of growing interest in Hindi in France, Government of India is planning to organize a Regional Hindi Conference in Paris in 2016.
Joint Statement issued during Prime Minister’s visit to France in April 2015 emphasized the role of Indian Cultural Centre in France along withAlliances Françaises in India and the InstiutFrançaisenInde in the promotion of cultural relations between the two countries. India is taking steps to open an Indian Culture Centre in Paris by 2017.
Cooperation in the field of sports: During the visit of PM in April, 2015, India and France signed a MoU providing for exchanges on sports medicine, training of executives, exchanges on expertise in high level sports, institutional cooperation, and promotion of participation of women in sports and prevention and fight against doping in sports.
Tourism Promotion: Under the new areas for deepening India-France partnership, the Mission has identified the sector of skill building and cooperation in tourism as having potential and continues to focus on them in coordination with India Tourism Office, Paris. The Mission works to promote India as a tourist destination and provides support to Road shows held by State Governments and co-organizes with
India Tourism Office interactive sessions with Indian tour operators to assess their challenges in the French market. The GOI has introduced e-tourist visa for French nationals since May 2015. French travelers whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visit can apply for this category of visa and obtain the visa through their e-mail account. This has promoted ease in obtaining visa for India.
Educational and Technical Cooperation: The bilateral educational and S&T cooperation between India and France has grown over the last few years. During Prime Minister’s visit to France in April 2015, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi and National Architecture Institute in Paris signed a MoU and Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India and University of Strasbourg signed a Letter of Intent on Ayurveda. There are approximately 5000 Indian students in France. Necessitated by the growing number of Indian students in France, a project for construction of an annex for Maison De L’Inde, hostel for Indian students and researchers in Paris, was taken up and completed in October 2013. Under the extension project, 72 additional rooms have been constructed adjacent to the present Maison De L’Inde building. There is also a vibrant school exchange program between the two countries with 15 Indian schools visiting France and 30 French schools visiting India in 2015.
In the field of S&T, the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA) based in New Delhi plays a major role in enhancement of S&T cooperation. Regular CEFIPRA meetings are held to discuss funding of joint proposals for research in sciences and review and evaluate existing research projects. The last meeting was held in Bangalore in November 2015.Raman- Charpak scholarships have been started from 2013 for Indian and French scholars.
During Prime Minister’s visit to France in April 2015, both countries agreed to establish a Joint Indo-French Science and Technology Committee. Two MoUs, one between Department of Science & Technology and CNRS, France and another between Department of Biotechnology and CNRS, France along with UPMC, a French university, on collaboration for establishment of a National Institute of Marine Biology and Biotechnology in India were signed to take forward this cooperation.
Following India-France Agreement to facilitate professional experience for their students in both countries after the completion of their courses, signed during Prime Minister’s visit to France in April, 2015, the French Government has started granting second “authorization provisoire de sejour” of 12 months following the first period of 12 months already granted to Indian students of masters level and above while the Government of India has implemented Volontariat International enEntreprises (VIE) Scheme for the French students.
Cooperation in the field of Railways: There has been longstanding cooperation in the field of railways between India and France. During the visit of President Hollande to India in February, 2013, a joint statement to strengthen the cooperation in the Railways sector between the two countries, and a Memorandum of Understanding for Technical Cooperation in the field of Railways between Indian Railways and Société Nationale des Chemins de FerFrançais (SNCF), the French National Railways were signed. On 24-25 November 2014 Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the Indo-French Rail seminar on ‘High & Semi Higher Speed, Multimodal Stations, Infrastructure & Financing’ in New Delhi.
A Railway Protocol was signed between Indian Railways and SNCF during PM’s visit to France in April, 2015. In October 2015, French company Alstom entered into an agreement with Indian railways for commercial manufacturing of 800 locomotives for the latter at the plant to be located in Madhepura, Bihar. The contract is worth Euro 3.2 Billion.
People to People Contacts: The Indian community, including NRIs, in mainland France is estimated to be around 106,000, largely originating from Puducherry, Karaikal, Yanam, Mahe and Chandranagar. There are also large communities of PIOs in the overseas territories/departments of France including Reunion Island (about 250,000), Guadeloupe (about 57,000), Martinique (about 6,000) and St. Martin (about 300). Indian community organizations, which are around 50 in number, have been playing an important role in contributing towards the enhancement of closer people-to-people links.
Cooperation between States: Cooperation between Indian States and French regions is being promoted. An MoU on Cooperation between Telangana and the Bordeaux Metropole was signed in September 2015. The Karnataka government held investment roadshows in Paris and Toulouse in December 2015.
January 2016
India is one of the first countries to end the state of war with post-war Germany in 1951 and amongst the first countries to recognize the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The relationship, based on common values of democracy and rule of law has been strengthened significantly in the 1990s following India’s economic liberalization and the end of Cold War. In the last decade, both political and economic interaction between and Germany has enhanced significantly. Today, Germany is amongst India’s most important partners both bilaterally and in the global context.
The course of the bilateral relationship was set by the two visits of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to Germany in 1956 and 1960. There are regular bilateral exchanges, including at the highest level. In recent years, there have been regular high level visits from both sides. Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Germany in 2006, 2010 and 2013.
Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi paid an official visit to Germany on April 12-14, 2015 on the occasion of participation of India as Partner Country in the Hannover Messe-2015. From the German side, Chancellor Angela Merkel visited India in 2007 and again in 2011. German President Joachim Gauck paid a State visit to India in February 2014.
India and Germany have a ‘strategic partnership’ since 2001, which has been further strengthened with two rounds of Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC) in New Delhi in May 2011, as well as in Berlin in April 2013. The next IGC is scheduled to take place in India in October 2015. The two countries have several institutionalized arrangements to discuss bilateral and global issues of interest viz. Strategic Dialogue, Foreign Office Consultations, Joint Commission on Industrial and Economic Cooperation, High Technology Partnership Group, High Defense Committee, Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, Indo-German Energy Forum, Indo-German Environment Forum, Indo-German Consultative Group, etc. Germany and India cooperate closely on the issue of UN Security Council expansion within the framework of G-4. Both sides have regular consultation on foreign policy issues such as East Asia, Central Asia, UN issues, Disarmament & Non-proliferation, etc.
There have been regular interactions between Parliamentarians of the two countries.
The Indo-German Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, established in 1971, has contributed to strengthening links between the two Parliaments. A 16-member India-Germany Parliamentary Friendship Group has been constituted in the 18th Bundestag under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ralph Brinkhaus, an MP from the CDU. A group of MPs led by Mr Brinkhaus visited India in February 2015.
In the field of defense, bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement was signed in 2006 which provides a framework for annual consultations. High Defense Committee (HDC) meetings at the Defense Secretary level take place annually, alternately in New Delhi and Berlin. India was the Partner Country in ILA Berlin Air Show in 2008. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R. K. Dhowan paid an official visit to Germany on July 7-10, 2014. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visited India on May 26-28, 2015. She called on PM and had a meeting with Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikar.
Among important visits in recent times, Minister of Communications and IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad visited Germany in September 2014. Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change Shri Prakash Javdekar visited Germany on May 17-19, 2015 to attend 6th Petersburg Climate Dialogue in Berlin. Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar visited Berlin on March 25-26, 2015. Visits from the German side include those of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (September 2014), Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (January 2015) and Environment Minister Dr. Barbara Hendricks (January 2015) and Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (May 2015).
Economic and commercial relations between India and Germany date back to early 16th century when German trading companies from Augsburg and Nuremberg, developed new sea route around Africa, as they sailed in search of precious stones and spices. Thereafter, a number of German companies were established with the purpose of trading with India and other Asian countries in the 16th and 18th centuries. Werner Von Siemens, founder of Siemens, personally supervised the laying of telegraph line between Kolkata and London, which was completed in 1870. The first wholly - owned subsidiary of Bayer in Asia “Farbenfabriken Bayer and Co. Ltd.” was set- up in Mumbai in 1896.
Indo-German cooperation in trade and technology is one of the most dynamic facets of the bilateral partnership. Joint Commission on Industrial and Economic Cooperation is led by the Finance Minister from the Indian side, and the Economics Minister from the German side. In addition, there are several Joint Working Groups in the fields of agriculture, automobile sector, infrastructure, coal, tourism, standardization, vocational education, etc. Two new JWGs on (i) Water and (ii) Waste Management and Circular Economy have been constituted in 2015. The Indo- German Energy Forum focuses on renewable energy, alternative fuels, energy efficient technologies and power sector.
The Indo- German Environment Forum focuses on water supply and sanitation, waste management, energy efficiency, and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) proposed in the Kyoto Protocol.
Germany is one of India’s preferred partners in the field of vocational education and training. Efforts are being undertaken to encourage greater engagement of German companies with India in the specific sectors of renewable energy, post-harvest infrastructure, transport infrastructure (including railways & ports), vocational education & training, water & waste management, urban infrastructure, etc.
The economic relationship has expanded significantly over the years. Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe and 2nd most important partner in terms of technological collaborations. However, bilateral trade has stagnated in last couple of years due to various domestic and international factors. Bilateral trade during 2014 was valued at Euro 15.96 billion.
While India is growing in significance as a trading partner for Germany, there is clearly a great deal of potential to be realized. Apart from traditional sectors, knowledge-driven sectors hold good potential for collaboration in the fields of IT, ITES, biotechnology, auto components, renewable energy, green technology, urban mobility & development and the entertainment industry. There are several important Trade Fairs held in Germany, in which Indian companies regularly participate to promote their products and technology. India was the partner country in Hannover Messe-2015.Most of the leading German companies have already entered the Indian market. German Medium Enterprises (Mittelstand), which constitutes the backbone of the German economy, are also showing greater interest in India.
Garments and textile products, chemical products, leather & leather goods, iron, steel and metal goods, electronic components, electrical components, pharmaceutical products, and auto components are major items of exports from India to Germany. The key German exports to India include electrical generation equipment, auto equipment, complete fabrication plants, bearings, gear equipment, measurement and control equipment, primary chemical products, synthetic material, machine tools, aircrafts and iron and steel sheets, etc.
Germany is the 8th largest foreign direct investor in India since 2000. German FDI in India during the period 1991-February 2015, was valued at US$ 8.25 billion. German FDI in India in 2014 was to the tune of US$ 1.15 billion. There are more than 1600 Indo- German collaborations and over 600 Indo-German joint ventures in operation. Indian investments in Germany have also shown a remarkable increase in the last few years and have invested over US $ 6 billion in Germany, mainly through M&As.
The German Indian Roundtable (GIRT), established in 2001 has the objective of spreading information about India and facilitation of Indo-German business ties. There are 14 chapters of GIRT in Germany which are engaged in promoting Indo-German business as well as cultural relations through the regular ‘Stammtisch’ meetings.
Indo-German Science & Technology cooperation started with the signing of the Intergovernmental S&T Cooperation Agreement in 1971 and 1974.Today, Germany is one of the most important global partners of India for S&T cooperation. There are more than 150 joint S&T research projects and 70 direct partnerships between the Universities of both countries. India's scientific establishments have close partnerships with premier German R&D institutions, including the Max Planck Society, Fraunhofer Laboratories and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The jointly funded Indo-German Science & Technology Centre was set up in 2008 in New Delhi with an annual contribution of €1 million from each side which is now doubled to €2 million per year by each side with extension of the Centre till 2017. India has invested in major science projects in Germany such as the Facility for Anti-Proton and Ion Research (FAIR) at Darmstadt and the Deutsche Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY) for experiments in advanced materials and particle physics.
Germany has also been an important development cooperation partner for several decades. Total bilateral Technical and Financial Cooperation since cooperation began in 1958 amounts to € 12 billion. Energy, sustainable economic development and environment & management of natural resources are priority areas under development cooperation. Financial Assistance from Germany has been provided mainly as soft loan, composite loans as well as grants routed through KfW, the German Government's Development Bank. The technical assistance is provided through GIZ- the development agency of German Government. Germany enhanced its assistance to India by committing total funds of over € 1.2 billion for 2014, which has been the highest ever annual commitment made by Germany.
India and Germany have a long tradition of academic and cultural exchanges. German scholarly tradition has played a key role in introducing Indian art, culture, literature and philosophy to the wider world. India and Germany marked 60 years of establishment of diplomatic relations through ‘Year of Germany in India’ in 2011-12 and ‘Days of India’ in Germany in 2012-13. The Tagore Centre, set up by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Berlin in 1994, regularly organizes programs to showcase the Indian heritage and diversity of its culture, through a broad spectrum of dance, music, literary events, films, talks, seminars and exhibition events. It organized a Yoga performance at the historic Brandenburg Gate of Berlin on the eve of International Yoga Day on June 21, 2015.
There has been growing interest in Indian dance, music and literature as well as motion picture and TV industry, in particular Bollywood. Indian films and artists are regular feature not only at the reputable Berlin International Film Festival but also at other festivals all over Germany. Bollywood films find regular release here and dubbed versions are telecast on television networks. Indian food is popular in Germany with more than 200 restaurants estimated in Berlin only.
The Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft (Indo-German Society) is engaged in promoting inter- cultural understanding by bringing together people of both countries and conveying information about modern India to the German public. There are 33 independent affiliates of the Society in Germany with around 3,500 members engaged in various socio-cultural activities.
German interest in the Indian philosophy and languages resulted in the first Chair of Indology at the University of Bonn in 1818. The Government of India has funded several rotating chairs of Indian studies in German Universities. There have been 29 rotating chairs in various German universities till date. In addition, ICCR supports both long-term and short-term Chairs of Indian studies in Germany. In 2014, ICCR set up two short- term Chairs in Germany: at Free University Berlin and at Philips University of Marburg.
In 2015, ICCR set up two short-term Chairs in Germany: at Humboldt University, Berlin and at University of Leipzig. Dr. Annette Schmiedchen, a Sanskrit Scholar and Indologist from Germany, was conferred with the Padma Shri by Government of India in 2015.
Approximately 10,000 Indian students are pursuing various courses in Germany, while around 800 German students are studying or doing their internships in India. Many Indian students are opting for Engineering and Management courses in German Universities . Some German companies also offer scholarships for Indian students to undertake postgraduate courses in German Universities. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) facilitates joint research, training and exchange of young scientists/research scholars and the jointly funded Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS) at IIT, Chennai is carrying out research in the field of climate change and environmental science. In addition, Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha is supporting research in Ayurveda by Charité Medical University, Berlin on Osteoarthritis of the knee, which is the first systematic clinical trial for use of Ayurveda in Europe.
There are about 1,43,000 persons of Indian origin in Germany including Indian passport holders and Persons of Indian Origin. The Indian diaspora mainly comprises of technocrats, businessmen/traders and nurses. There are a number of Indian organizations and associations active on business/cultural front, cementing ties between India and Germany at the people-to-people level.
June 2015
October 2015
India-Iran relations span centuries marked by meaningful interactions. The two countries shared a border till 1947 and share several common features in their language, culture and traditions. Both South Asia and the Persian Gulf have strong commercial, energy, cultural and people-to-people links.
Independent India and Iran established diplomatic links on 15 March 1950. In addition to the Embassy in Tehran, India currently has two Consulates in Iran - Bandar Abbas and Zahedan. The Shah visited India in February/March 1956 and Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited Iran in September 1959.
Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi visited Iran in April 1974 and Prime Minister Shri Morarji Desai visited in June 1977. The Shah, in turn, visited India in February 1978.
The Iranian Revolution in 1979 introduced a new phase of engagement between India and Iran marked by exchange of high level visits of Indian Prime Minister Shri Narasimha Rao in September 1993, Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in April 1995 and Indian Vice President Shri K. R. Narayanan in October 1996. The trend was consolidated and enhanced at the turn of the millennium with visits by Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee in 2001 and a return visit by President Mohammad Khatami in 2003, when he was also the Chief Guest at the Republic Day function. The Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited India on 29 April 2008.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Iran to attend the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit held in Tehran on 28-31 August 2012. Iran assumed the Presidency of NAM in 2012. On the sidelines, Hon’ble Prime Minister met Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and called for further strengthening the centuries old relationship between India and Iran. Hon’ble External Affairs Minister Shri. Salman Khurshid (EAM) visited Tehran for the 17th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) on 03-05 May 2013. He called on President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmandinejad, Majlis Speaker Dr. Ali Larijani and Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati, Senior Advisor to the Supreme Leader on International Affairs.
Hon’ble Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari graced the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected Iranian President Dr. Hassan Rouhani on 04 August 2013. Hon’ble Vice President met Dr. Hassan Rouhani and the two leaders discussed issues of mutual interest in the bilateral, regional and international arena. On the sidelines of the ceremony, Hon’ble Vice President also met Dr. Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Majlis.
Hon’ble EAM met Iranian President Dr. Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the Heads of State Summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek on 13 September 2013.
The two countries have in place several bilateral consultative mechanisms at various levels which meet regularly. Foreign Offices of both countries also hold regular consultations on bilateral and regional issues. Dr. S. Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary visited Iran on 13-14 June, 2015. FM Zarif visited India on 28 February, 2014 and on 14 August 2015. FM Zarif met EAM on 9 December, 2015 in Islamabad on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia Conference. Shri Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor visited Iran on 10-11 February, 2015. Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble PM met Iranian President Dr. Hassan Rouhani in Ufa (Russia) on 09th July, 2015.
India-Iran enjoys economic and commercial ties covering many sectors. However, the trade relations have traditionally been buoyed by Indian import of Iranian crude oil resulting in overall trade balance in favor of Iran.
The India-Iran bilateral trade during the fiscal 2014-15 was USD 13.13 billion.
India imported US$ 8.95 billion worth of goods mainly crude oil and exported commodities worth US$ 4.17 billion. The unilateral economic sanctions imposed on Iran have had an adverse effect on the bilateral trade as the international banking channels have gradually become non-existent.
India and Iran hold regular bilateral discussions on economic and trade issues within the framework of India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM). The 18th India-Iran JCM was held in New Delhi on 28 December, 2015. It was chaired by Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Hon’ble External Affairs Minister and Mr. Ali Taiebnia, Minister of Economy and Finance of Iran. A MOU on cooperation in trade, finance, energy, infrastructure and cultural issues was signed during the JCM.
The Visa facilitation agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders was exchanged in the meeting.
A conference of private freight forwarders and other stake holders from INSTC countries was held in Mumbai on 12 June, 2015. The Sixth Coordination Council Meeting of INSTC was held in New Delhi on 21 August, 2015.
Shri Rajeev Kher, Commerce Secretary visited Iran from 5-8 April, 2015.
Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, Finance Secretary visited Iran on 25-26 July, 2015.
A nine-member delegation from the Tata Group visited Iran on 30 May–01 June, 2015. A 15-member business delegation led by CII visited Iran from 22-24 July, 2015. ASSOCHAM led 97 Indian companies to textile exhibition “Irantex” in Tehran from 4-6 September, 2015. FIEO led a delegation of 45 Indian companies for participation in the Tehran Internal Industry Exhibition from 5-8 October, 2015.
Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Roads, Transport and Shipping visited Iran on 5-7 May, 2015. A MoU was signed during the visit on India’s participation in the Chabahar Port.
On 03 May, 2013 Shri Salman Khurshid, Hon’ble External Affairs Minister of India, officially inaugurated the India Cultural Center in Tehran, when he visited Iran for the 17th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM). The cultural center regularly organizes seminars/conferences and musical concerts of bilateral interest.
Embassy has been bringing out a bi-monthly magazine named “Ain-e-Hind’ (Mirror of India) taking India to the drawing rooms of the general Iranian public.
There are about 8,000 Iranian students studying in India. India provides 67 scholarships every year to Iranian students under ITEC, ICCR, Colombo Plan and IOR-ARC schemes.
India over the years has emerged as one of the favorite tourist destinations for Iranian tourists and every year around 27,000 Iranians visit India for various purposes. In February 2011, India successfully outsourced the tourist visa collection in Tehran to facilitate the visa services for Iranian tourists visiting India.
The Ninth Meeting of the Joint Consular Committee of India and Iran was held in New Delhi on 18 December, 2015. The Indian delegation was led by Shri P. Kumaran, Joint Secretary (CPV), and MEA. The Iranian delegation was led by Mr. Ali Chegini, Director General, Consular Department, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran.
The Indian community in Iran, which was sizeable earlier, has dwindled and now it is a small one consisting of about 100 families in Tehran and about 20 in Zahedan. There are a number of Indian students in Iran, approximately 1300, a large number of whom pursue theological studies in Qom. There is an Indian school run by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan in Tehran and another in Zahedan.
January 2016
India announced its recognition of Israel on September 17, 1950. Soon thereafter, the Jewish Agency established an immigration office in Bombay. This was later converted into a Trade Office and subsequently a Consulate. Embassies were opened in 1992 when full diplomatic relations were established.
Since the upgradation of relations in 1992, defense and agriculture formed the two main pillars of our bilateral engagement. In recent years, relations have seen rapid growth across a broad spectrum of areas and the future vision of the cooperation is of a strong hi-tech partnership as befits two knowledge economies.
Political ties between the two countries are friendly. The last visit at the level of President/Prime Minister was by the then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who visited India on a state visit in September 2003. During the visit the Delhi Statement on Friendship and Cooperation between India and Israel was signed. Then External Affairs Minister Shri S M Krishna visited Israel in 2012, which marked the 20th anniversary of establishment of full diplomatic relations between India and Israel. Increased high-level exchanges and ministerial visits on both sides have expanded cooperation in different functional areas such as trade, agriculture, S&T, culture and security.
From US$ 200 million in 1992 (comprising primarily trade in diamonds), bilateral merchandise trade has diversified and reached US$ 5.19 billion in 2011. However, the past few years have seen a decline in total trade due to the global economic recession. In 2013, the bilateral trade stood at US$ 6.01 billion (Source: Dept. of Commerce, GOI) with the balance of trade in Israel’s favor. Trade in diamonds constitutes over half of bilateral trade. In 2013,
India was Israel's tenth largest trade partner overall, and Israel's third largest trade partner in Asia after China and Hong Kong. In recent years, the bilateral trade has diversified somewhat with the inclusion of several sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, IT and telecom, and homeland security. Potash is a major item of Israel’s exports to India, with India buying a significant percentage of its requirement from Israel. Major exports from India to Israel include precious stones and metals, chemical products, textiles and textile articles, plants and vegetable products, and mineral products. Major imports by India from Israel include precious stones and metals, chemicals and mineral products, base metals and machinery and transport equipment. The total bilateral trade in services was about US $ 407 million in 2012. India's services exports to Israel were about US$ 317 million, of which US$ 162.6 million was in R&D services. In recent years, Israel has taken a strategic decision to strengthen economic relations with China and India.
Since 2010 the two sides are negotiating an FTA covering trade in goods and services and the eighth round was held in Israel in November 2013.
During April 2000-November 2013, Israel ranked 43rd among foreign direct investors with FDI into India of US$ 73.7 million. The data does not capture FDI flows from Israel to India that flow through USA, Europe and Singapore. Israeli companies have invested in India in energy, renewable energy, telecom, real estate, water technologies, and are also setting up R&D centers or production units in India.
While official data about India’s investment in Israel is not available, significant investments from India in Israel include 100% acquisition of Israeli drip-irrigation company Naandan by Jain Irrigation, Sun Pharma’s 66% stake in Taro Pharmaceuticals and Triveni Engineering Industries’ investment in
Israeli waste-water treatment company Aqwise. TCS started operations in Israel in 2005, and the State Bank of India opened a branch in Tel Aviv in 2007.
India and Israel have a bilateral agreement for cooperation in agriculture. Under the bilateral Action Plan for 2012-2015, agricultural cooperation has been expanded to seven states including Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Punjab. Around ten India-Israel Centers of Excellence for cooperation in agriculture have been set-up so far, of the thirty centers that are expected to be established by 2015.
India has benefited from Israeli expertise and technologies in horticulture mechanization, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro- irrigation and post-harvest management particularly in Haryana and Maharashtra. Israeli drip irrigation technologies and products are now widely used in India. Some Israeli companies and experts are providing expertise to manage and improve dairy farming in India through their expertise in high milk yield.
India imports critical defense technologies from Israel. There are regular exchanges between the armed forces. The last major visit from the Indian side was that of the Chief of Army Staff and Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee General Bikram Singh (March 2014). Four Indian naval ships from the Western Fleet made a port call in Haifa in Aug 2012.
There is cooperation on security issues and there is a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism that meets periodically. In February 2014, India and Israel signed three important agreements on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Cooperation in Homeland and Public Security, and Protection of Classified Material.
India-Israel cooperation in S&T has evolved on two tracks. There is joint research by S&T institutions under an S&T Cooperation Agreement signed in 1993. Secondly, under an MOU on Industrial Research and
Development Initiative signed in 2005, a joint industrial R&D fund i4RD was set up to promote bilateral industrial R&D and specific projects. Under i4RD, joint projects by the industry are funded, involving at least one Indian and one Israeli company. Since the launch of this programme in 2006, seven projects have been approved. On May 7, 2013 Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology and the Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion
Society signed an MoU with Israel’s MATIMOP, the Israeli Industry Center for R&D, for industrial R&D partnership. Through the program, industries may seek financial support through partner matching and funding for joint bilateral R&D projects, involving at least one small/medium scale company of Karnataka and one Israeli company. MATIMOP is discussing similar programs with Gujarat and Rajasthan.
In January 2014, India and Israel held extensive discussions to establish an India-Israel Cooperation Fund aimed at promoting innovations through joint scientific and technological collaborations. The Fund is envisaged to have a total corpus of US$ 40 million over a period of five years, with each side contributing US$ 20 million. On the Indian side, the Department of Science and Technology is the nodal Department.
Both sides are also discussing a joint fund for Industrial R&D in IT and electronics. The GOI has announced a contribution of US$5 million towards this fund.
Tata Industries and Ramot, Tel Aviv University (the University’s technology transfer company) have entered into an MoU to fund and generate commercialization-ready technologies in a wide range of fields, including engineering, exact sciences, environment and clean technology, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Under the MoU, Tata Industries, with an investment of US$ 5 million, will be the lead investor in Ramot’s US$20 million Technology Innovation Momentum Fund.
India is known in Israel as an ancient nation with strong cultural traditions, and in popular Israeli perception, India is an attractive, alternative tourist destination. Israeli youth are particularly attracted to India. India is a destination of choice for over 40,000 Israelis who visit India every year for tourism and business. Over 40,000 Indians visited Israel in 2013, the largest number of tourists from an Asian country. They are mostly pilgrims who visit the holy sites.
Several courses related to India are taught at Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University and Haifa University. India has signed an MoU with Tel Aviv University for a Chair for Indian studies in the Department of East and
South East Asian Studies under which Indian Professors have been coming for a semester. Some private and public Indian universities have entered into agreements with Israeli universities for faculty exchange under which Israeli professors spend a semester teaching in India.
In May 2013, India and Israel launched a new funding programme of joint academic research, the first round of which will focus on both exact sciences and humanities. Each government is contributing US$ 5 million annually for five years. The programme will provide support for nearly 50 collaborations providing up to US$ 300,000 for an experimental project or US$180,000 for a theoretical project for up to three years. The counterpart organizations are University Grants Commission and the Israel Science Foundation.
Since 2012, Israel offers post-doctoral scholarships to students from India and China in all fields over a period of three years with triennial grants of NIS 100,000. Although no quota is provided for participant countries, in 2013-14, 78 of the 100 fellowships awarded were to Indian students. The Government of Israel has also approved 250 summer scholarships for eight courses for Indian and Chinese students in prestigious Israeli universities like Technion (IIT Haifa), Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University and Ben Gurion University. India offers seven ICCR scholarships and Know India Scholarships to Israelis every year.
In 2013, the Naan Dan Jain Irrigation Company instituted two annual scholarships for Israeli exponents of Indian art and culture to continue studies in India. Four Israelis have been awarded the scholarship so far. This year, the Indian diamond community have set up a fund to finance study tours to India of meritorious Israeli students of Hindi.
There are approximately 80,000 Jews of Indian-origin in Israel, most of whom are now Israeli passport holders. The main waves of immigration into Israel from India took place in the fifties and sixties. The majority is from Maharashtra (Bene Israelis) and relatively smaller numbers from Kerala (Cochini Jews) and Kolkata (Baghdadi Jews). In recent years some Indian Jews from North Eastern states of India (Bnei Menache) have been immigrating to Israel. While the older generation still maintains an Indian lifestyle and their cultural links with India, the younger generation is increasingly assimilated into Israeli society.
Shri Eliyahu Bezalel hailing from Chennamangalam, Cochin has distinguished himself as an eminent agriculturalist and became the first Israeli of Indian origin to receive Bhartiya Pravasi Samman in 2005. Sheikh Ansari, who manages the Indian Hospice in Jerusalem, a unique Indian connection to the Holy City, was honoured with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in 2011.
In 2013, the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv facilitated the first-ever National Convention of Indian Jews in Israel that was held on September 23, 2013 in Ramla. The event brought together nearly 5,500 people from all the four major groups of Indian Jews.
There are about 10,000 Indian citizens in Israel, of whom around 8,000 are care-givers. Others are diamond traders, some IT professionals, students and unskilled workers.
July 2014
The friendship between India and Japan has a long history rooted in spiritual affinity and strong cultural and civilizational ties. The modern nation states have carried on the positive legacy of the old association which has been strengthened by shared values of belief in democracy, individual freedom and the rule of law. Over the years, the two countries have built upon these values and created a partnership based on both principle and pragmatism. Today, India is the largest democracy in Asia and Japan the most prosperous.
India’s earliest documented direct contact with Japan was with the Todaiji Temple in Nara, where the consecration or eye-opening of the towering statue of lord Buddha was performed by an Indian monk, Bodhisena, in 752 AD. In contemporary times, among other Indians associated with Japan were the Hindu leader Swami Vivekananda, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, entrepreneur JRD Tata, freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Judge Radha Binod Pal. The Japan-India Association was set up in 1903, and is today the oldest international friendship body in Japan.
Throughout the various phases of history since civilizational contacts between India and Japan began some 1400 years ago, the two countries have never been adversaries. Bilateral ties have been singularly free of any kind of dispute – ideological, cultural or territorial. The relationship is unique and one of mutual respect manifested in generous gestures and sentiments, and of standing by each other at times of need. Post the Second World War, India did not attend the San Francisco Conference, but decided to conclude a separate peace treaty with Japan in 1952 after its sovereignty was fully restored, marking a defining moment in the bilateral relations and setting the tone for the future. The sole dissenting voice of Judge Radha Binod Pal at the War Crimes Tribunal struck a deep chord among the Japanese public that continues to reverberate to this day.
In the first decade after diplomatic ties were established, several high level exchanges took place, including Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi’s visit to India in 1957, Prime Minister Nehru’s return visit to Tokyo the same year (with a gift of two elephants) and President Rajendra Prasad’s visit in 1958. The visit of their Highnesses, the then Japanese Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko in 1960 took the relations to a new level.
The momentum of bilateral ties, however, was not quite sustained in the following decades. This is evidenced by the fact that after Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda’s visit to India in 1961, the next Prime Ministerial visit from Japan was by Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1984.
Prime Ministerial visits from India included Smt. Indira Gandhi (1969 & 1982), Shri Rajiv Gandhi (1985 & 1987) and P. V. Narasimha Rao (1992). But a transformational development in the economic history of India was Suzuki Motor Corporation’s path breaking investment in India in the early 1980s that revolutionized the automobile sector, bringing in advanced technology and management ethics to India. Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) also continued to flow helping to supplement the work of the Indian government and helping to plug the gaps in economic development. A test of the reliability of Japan as a friend was witnessed in 1991, when
Japan was among the few countries that bailed India out of the balance of payment crisis.
The beginning of the 21st century witnessed a dramatic transformation in bilateral ties. During Prime Minister Mori’s path-breaking visit to India in 2000, the Japan-India Global Partnership in the 21st century was launched providing the much needed impetus for the trajectory of relations to soar to new heights.
The Global Partnership formed the foundation for the strengthening ties in diverse fields, including identifying strategic convergences. The joint statement signed by Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Shinzo Abe in 2006 added a new dimension to factor in new challenges as they emerged, and the relationship was upgraded to a Global and Strategic Partnership with the provision of annual Prime Ministerial Summits. A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Japan and India was concluded in 2011.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Japan from 30 August – September 3, 2014 for the 9th Annual Summit Meeting with Prime Minster Shinzo Abe. The visit commenced in Kyoto. PM Abe received PM Modi in Kyoto and hosted a private dinner.
During the visit, the two sides decided to upgrade the relationship to a ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership’ and launched an India–Japan Investment Promotion Partnership under which Japan announced its intention to invest in India approximately USD 35 billion over the next 5 years.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid an official visit to India for the 8th Annual Summit with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh from 25-27 January 2014 and was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. Following their restricted meeting and delegation level talks, both the Prime Ministers signed a Joint Statement sharing their vision on intensifying the India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership.
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko were on a week-long visit to India from 30 November – 6 December 2013. Their official engagements in Delhi included visits to Raj Ghat, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India International Centre, Lodhi Gardens; calls by Vice-President, Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha. President Shri Pranab Mukherjee hosted a banquet in their honor. In Chennai, Their Majesties visited Kalakshetra Foundation, Guindy National Park and Spastic Society of Tamil Nadu. Governor of Tamil Nadu hosted a lunch in their honor.
The Foreign Minister level 8thStrategic Dialogue was held in New Delhi on 17 January 2015. The two Foreign Ministers reviewed all aspects of the bilateral Strategic and Global Partnership and discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest. The next dialogue is scheduled to be held in Tokyo.
Bilateral Foreign Office Consolation was also held between Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Shinsuke Sugiyama and Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on 6 April 2015 alongside the 2+2 bilateral dialogue at the level of Foreign and Defense Secretaries. Visiting Japan’s Vice-Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki also held talks with Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar on 9 June 2015.
Hon’ble Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh led an Indian Delegation to participate in the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) from 14-16 March 2015 in Sendai, Japan. Hon’ble Home Minister delivered a country statement in Hindi at the conference on 14 March 2015. He also chaired a Ministerial Round-table on “International cooperation in Support of Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction” and co-chaired the Asian Leaders’ Meeting held on the sidelines of the conference.
Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikar visited Japan (30-31 March) to take part in the Annual Defense Ministers’ Dialogue with his counterpart Gen Nakatani on 30 March.
The two leaders exchanged views on the recent changes in each other countries’ security policies and welcomed the first JWG on Defense Equipment and Technology Transfer held on 23 March in Tokyo. Hon’ble Raksha Mantri also called for increased defense collaboration between Indian and Japan in light of ‘Make in India’ drive launched by Government of India.
Under the Parliamentary exchanges programme between India and Japan, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF), in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has been organizing the visit of Members of Parliament since 2004. Under this exchange, so far, 11 Parliamentary delegations have visited Japan between 2004 and 2014. The India-Japan Forum of Parliamentarians (IJFP) was established by
FICCI in 2005. Under this programme, two Parliamentary delegations have visited Japan so far between 2005 and 2011. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs sent a good will delegation of Parliamentarians to Japan from 26 January – 2 February 2011. Smt. Meira Kumar, Speaker, Lok Sabha, accompanied by a delegation of MPs visited Japan from 2-6 October 2011 at the joint invitation of the leaders of the Japanese Diet.
In the economic sphere, the complementarities between the two countries are particularly striking. (i) Japan’s ageing population (23% above 65 years) and India’s youthful dynamism (over 50% below 25 years); (ii) India’s rich natural and human resources and Japan’s advanced technology; (iii) India’s prowess in services and Japan’s excellence in manufacturing; and (iv) Japan’s surplus capital for investments and India’s large and growing markets and the middle class.
Economic relations between India and Japan have vast potential for growth, given the obvious complementarities that exist between the two Asian economies.
Japan's interest in India is increasing due to variety of reasons including India's huge and growing market and its resources, especially the human resources. The signing of the historic India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and its implementation from August 2011 is expected to further accelerate growth of trade, economic and commercial relations between the two countries.
Japanese ODA, for long the backbone of the bilateral relationship, still continues to provide long-term loans for India’s infrastructure development. New Delhi metro network has been realized with the Japanese assistance which helped to conceptualize and execute the prestigious Delhi Metro Project. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor with eight new industrial townships, the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) are all mega projects on the anvil which will transform India in the next decade.
In FY 2013-14, Japan-India bilateral trade reached $16.31 billion, which is 11.89% lower than $18.51 billion in the previous fiscal year. The fall in the total trade is mainly due to reduction in Japanese exports by 23.53%. However, India’s exports have risen by 4.36% in 2013-14. The share of the India-Japan bilateral trade has been hovering around 1% of Japan's total foreign trade, while it was in the range of 2.2 to 2.5% of India's total trade in the last couple of years. Total bilateral trade was US$ 12.11 billion during April-December 2014.
India’s primary exports to Japan have been petroleum products, chemicals, elements, compounds, non-metallic mineral ware, fish & fish preparations, metalliferous ores & scrap, clothing & accessories, iron & steel products, textile yarn, fabrics and machinery etc.
Japanese FDI into India grew exponentially from US$ 139 million in 2004 to all time high of US$ 5551 million in 2008 due to mega deals particularly acquisition of Ranbaxy by Daichi Sankyo. Subsequent years have seen decreasing trend in Japanese FDI to India in line with overall FDI to India. However, in 2012, Japan's FDI into India increased by 19.8% over 2011 to reach $2786 million, although it accounted for only 2.3% of Japan's overall FDI outflow in 2012. In 2013, the FDI declined by 22.64% which is1.6% of the total FDI outflow from Japan. FDI from Japan to India was US$ 1.7 billion during January-December 2014. Japanese FDI has mainly been in automobile, electrical equipment, telecommunications, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors.
The number of Japanese affiliated companies in India has grown significantly over the years. Presence of Japanese companies in India has been increasing steadily.
As on December 2014, there are 1209 Japanese companies registered in India which constituted a 13% increase over 2013 figures. There were also a total of 3961 establishments of Japanese businesses operating in India- a rise of 56% compared to the year before.
Japan has been extending bilateral loan and grant assistance to India since 1958. Japan is the largest bilateral donor to India. Japanese ODA supports India’s efforts for accelerated economic development particularly in priority areas like power, transportation, environmental projects and projects related to basic human needs.
The Science & Technology Cooperation Agreement between India and Japan was signed on 29th November 1985 with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan and Department of Science & Technology, India as nodal agencies on behalf of the two governments. The cooperation picked up its momentum after establishment of India- Japan Science Council (IJSC) in the year 1993 and so far 17 annual meetings of IJSC have taken place. The IJSC activities include collaborative research projects sessions, academic seminars, and exploratory visits by scientists from both countries and Raman-Mizushima lecture series. Under the collaborative projects, 6 priority themes for research in the basic sciences were identified.
Another important cooperation under the new science and technology initiative between JST and DST is a theme based activity. The initial theme was information and communication technologies (ICT) under which several projects were supported during 2006-2012. The current theme for JST-DST collaboration is on biomedical research.
Under the S&T cooperative agreement between the two countries, MEXT and DST have signed Implementation Arrangement on 25 January 2014 during the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India.
A cultural agreement was signed between India and Japan on 29 October 1956, which came into effect on 24 May 1957. In 1951, India established a scholarship system for young Japanese scholars to study in India. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi attended the April 1988 opening ceremony of the Festival of India. The year 2012 marked the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Japan. The Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Tokyo was inaugurated during the visit of ICCR President on 25 September 2009. The Centre offers classes on Yoga, Tabla, Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Sambalpuri, Bollywood dances and Hindi and Bengali languages.
During the visit of Prime Minister of India to Japan, a year-long Festival of India in Japan 2014-15 was announced. The festival was formally launched by Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of Culture & Tourism of India and Mr. Akihiro Ohta, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism of Japan on 27 October 2014. The dance festival organized in October included more than 20 performances in 20 cities across Japan by Bharatanataym, Manipuri, Kudiyattam and Mohiniyattam dance groups from India. As a part of the festival, Hon’ble Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh, along with the Japan’s
State Minister for Internal Affairs & Communication, Mr. Kosaburo Nishime inaugurated the Exhibition of Buddhist Art at the prestigious Tokyo National Museum on 16 March 2015. Other programs under the festival included a Symposium on Buddhist Manuscripts, Food Festival and India-Japan Literary Festival.
The arrival of Indians in Japan for business and commercial interests began in the 1870s at the two major open ports of Yokohama and Kobe. More Indians entered Japan during World War I when Japanese products were sought to fill gaps in demand that war-torn Europe could not meet. Following the great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, most of the Indians in Yokohama relocated to the Kansai region (Osaka-Kobe) and the city hosted the largest migrant Indian population in Japan. Yokohama authorities offered special incentives to the Indian community after World War II to revive their old base in Kanto. The old Indian community in Japan focused on trading in textiles, commodities and electronics. With close linkages to India as well as connections in Hong Kong and Shanghai, they became major players in trading activities across Asia. A newer segment of the community is engaged in gems and jewelry. The Indian community established the Indian Merchants Association in Yokohama (IMAY) in 1929.
In recent years, there has been a change in the composition of the Indian community with the arrival of a large number of professionals. These include IT professionals and engineers working for Indian and Japanese firms as well as professionals in management, finance, education, and S&T research who are engaged with multinational as well as Indian and Japanese organizations. The Nishikasai area in Tokyo is emerging as a “mini-India”. The community is engaged in a range of cultural and social activities. This maintains their links with the motherland and also promotes contacts with their Japanese neighbors. Their growing numbers had prompted the opening of two Indian schools in Tokyo and Yokohama. The community is actively engaged in events organized by the Embassy. The Indian community lives harmoniously with its neighbors and has developed relations with local governments to become valuable members of the Japanese community.
July 2015
India desires peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with Pakistan, which require an environment free from violence and terrorism.
In April 2010, during the meeting between Prime Minister and then Pak PM Gilani on the margins of the SAARC Summit (Thimpu) PM spoke about India's willingness to resolve all outstanding issues through bilateral dialogue. Follow up meetings were held by the two Foreign Ministers (Islamabad, July 2010), and the two Foreign Secretaries
(Thimphu, February 2011). During the latter meeting it was formally agreed to resume dialogue on all issues:
Since then several efforts have been made by the two countries to enhance people-to-people contacts. Cross-LoC travel and trade across J&K, initiated in 2005 and 2008 respectively, is an important step in this direction. Further, India and Pakistan signed a new visa agreement in September 2012 during the visit of then External Affairs Minister to Pakistan. This agreement has led to liberalization of bilateral visa regime.
Two rounds of the resumed dialogue have been completed; the third round began in September 2012, when the Commerce Secretaries met in Islamabad. Talks on conventional and non-conventional CBMs were held in the third round in December 2012 in New Delhi. A meeting of the Working Group on Cross-LoC (Line of Control) trade and travel CBMs was held in New Delhi on March 4, 2014 in which issues including strengthening of standard operating procedures were discussed.
Pakistan's PML (N) party received a strong mandate in the elections held on 11 May 2013 which allowed its leader Mian Nawaz Sharif to form a new Government. In his letter of congratulations (May 12), Prime Minister expressed desire to work with the new Pakistan government "to chart a new course" in bilateral ties. PM's Special Envoy Ambassador S.K. Lambah met Nawaz Sharif on 27 May 2013 in Lahore to personally convey PM's message even before the latter formally assumed office - a gesture that was appreciated by the new Pakistan PM. Ambassador Shahryar Khan also visited India (4-6 July) as PM Nawaz Sharif's Special Envoy and met PM (5 July); during the meeting he also handed over a personal letter from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to PM.
Following the dastardly attack on 6 Aug 2013 in which five Indian jawans were killed along the LOC with the involvement of Pak army, India called upon Pakistan to maintain ceasefire and uphold the sanctity of LOC, which is the most important Confidence Building Measure between the two countries and, together with Pakistan's assurance not to allow territory under its control to be used for anti-India activities, which formed the basis of bilateral dialogue. It was conveyed that such unprovoked incidents on LOC by the Pak Army would have consequences for our bilateral ties.
In their meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly on September 29, 2013 in New York, Prime Minister and PM Nawaz Sharif agreed that the precondition for a forward movement in the relationship, which they both desired, was an improvement of the situation on the LoC where there had been repeated ceasefire violations and incidents. They decided to task the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) to suggest effective means to restore the ceasefire and a way forward to ensure that that remains in force and in place. The meeting of the DGMOs took place at Wagah on December 24, 2013.
Terrorism emanating from territory under Pakistan's control remains a core concern in bilateral relations. This is precisely why India has sought a firm and abiding commitment from Pakistan that it will not allow its territory and territory under its control to be used for the aiding and abetting of terrorist activity directed against India and for providing sanctuary to such terrorist groups. India has consistently stressed to its interlocutors the need for Pakistan to fulfill is oft-repeated assurances, given to us at the highest level, that territory under its control would not be allowed to be used for anti-India activities in any manner. It is critical for the security of the region that Pakistan undertakes determined action to dismantle the terrorist networks, organizations and infrastructure within its own territory. However, internationally sanctioned entities such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) continue to function in Pakistan under various aliases. LeT's leader Hafiz Saeed and his followers also continue to incite violence against India. Moreover, in the recent months, key terrorists such as Masood Azhar and fugitives from Indian law have resurfaced in Pakistan.
Progress in the ongoing Mumbai terror attack case in Pakistan is seen as an important marker of Pakistan's commitment to combat terrorism emanating from its soil.
The trial of seven persons in an Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) for their involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks has however proceeded at a glacial pace. The trial has been subject to repeated adjournments, non-appearances of lawyers, and frequent changes of prosecution lawyers and judges. A Pak Judicial Commission undertook its second visit to India in September 2013 and cross-examined key prosecution witnesses. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told PM in New York on September 29, 2013 that effective action on bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to book was indeed Pakistan's intention, and now that the Judicial Commission had returned to Pakistan after gathering depositions and evidence in India, there would be further progress. Hearings in the case, however, continue to be disrupted for one reason or another.
Formally accounted India-Pakistan bilateral trade in 2012-13 was US$2.6 billion (Indian exports to Pakistan were US$2.064 bn and imports from Pakistan US$ 541 million). Pakistan exports to India crossed $500 million mark for the first time during this period. [Trade through third countries is variously estimated at US$ 3.5-4 billion]. Main items of export from India to Pakistan are: cotton, organic chemicals, food products including prepared animal fodder, vegetables, plastic articles, man-made filament, coffee, tea and spices, dyes, oil seeds and olea, etc. Main items of import by India from
Pakistan are: copper and copper articles, fruits and nuts, cotton, salt, sulphur and earths and stones, organic chemicals, mineral fuels, rubber plastic products, wool, etc.
India had accorded MFN status to Pakistan in 1996. A cabinet decision of November 2011 by Pakistan to reciprocate remains unimplemented. Pakistan, however, substituted in March 2012 a 'positive list' of a little more than 1950 lines, permitted for import from India, by a 'Negative List' of 1209 lines which cannot be imported from India.
In August 2012, India announced reduction of 30% in its SAFTA Sensitive List for non-Least Developed Countries, bringing down tariff on 264 items to 5% within a period of three years. This measure benefited Pakistan's exports to India in sectors of key interest to Pakistan.
During the Commerce Secretary-level talks September 20-21, 2012 in Islamabad, a roadmap was established to move forward for full normalization of bilateral trade. However, in the absence of the first step of the road map, viz, Pakistan permitting all importable items through Wagah/ Attari land route (as against current only 137), the roadmap remained unimplemented.
In their meeting in New Delhi on January 18, 2014, Commerce Ministers of India and Pakistan reaffirmed the commitment to expedite establishment of normal trading relations and in this context to provide Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA), on a reciprocal basis. They decided to intensify and accelerate the process of trade normalization, liberalization and facilitation and to implement the agreed measures before the end of February 2014. Implementation of these steps, inter alia, removal of 'Negative List' and removal of restrictions on the number of importable items via Wagah land route by Government of Pakistan is awaited.
With a view to build confidence of the business community on both sides, representatives of various trade regulatory bodies of India held meetings over 2011-12 with representatives of leading chambers of commerce and industry of Pakistan to discuss matters pertaining to trade regulations, standards, labeling and marking requirements. Three agreements, viz., Customs Cooperation Agreement, Mutual
Recognition Agreement and Redressal of Trade Grievances Agreement, were signed during the Commerce Secretaries' talks on September 21, 2012.
The then Home Minister of India, in the presence of, among others, the Commerce Ministers of India and Pakistan, and the Chief Ministers of the states of Punjab of the two countries inaugurated the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari on
April 13, 2012. The Attari ICP represents vastly improved infrastructure to facilitate trade and travel. Spread over 118 acres, it contains a passenger terminal measuring 9,600 sq mts, a dedicated cargo terminal measuring 4,700 sq mts, and separate import and export warehouses measuring over 10,000 sq mts, apart from over 50,000 sq mts of parking space for trucks, and equally large area for future expansion. The two sides have discussed initiatives such as 24x7 operation at Attari-Wagah trade route, movement of containers between Amritsar and Lahore and meeting point for business persons at Attari/ Wagah. Various segments in Pakistan have spoken in favor of opening more land trade routes with India, including Munabao-Khokhrapar. A Joint Working Group has been established to look into this.
In response to a request made by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for assistance to tackle power crisis in Pakistan, the possibility of supplying up to 5 million cubic meters gas per day (by extending the Dadri-Bawana-Nangal pipeline from Jalandhar via Amritsar to Lahore), and establishing a 500 MW HVDC link from Amritsar to Lahore to facilitate power trading were explored. A composite Indian delegation comprising officials and public sector representatives from electricity and gas utilities visited Lahore and Islamabad on June 9-12, 2013 to hold discussions at technical level and made presentations to the Chief Minister of Punjab and Member of Prime Minister's Energy Committee Shehbaz Sharif, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. After a hiatus of a few months since July/ August 2013, when visit of a delegation from Pakistan to India for follow up was expected, further talks were held in Delhi on March 5, 2014 on trade in power, and on April 1, 2014 on cooperation in gas and petroleum sector.
Pakistan welcomed India's decision to allow investment from Pakistan (notified by the Government of India on August 1, 2012). The decision to allow investment from Pakistan in shares and convertible debentures was notified by RBI on August 22, 2012.
In September 2012, RBI removed restriction on investment in Pakistan from India.
A strong tradition of exchange of trade delegations has also been built up over the last two years. The first meeting of the newly created Joint Business Council (JBC)/Forum, comprising 15 top level business representatives from each country was, held in Islamabad on 29 June 2013. The JBC decided to form ten task forces to examine the priority areas of economic cooperation in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and healthcare. Its second and third meetings were held in New Delhi and Lahore, respectively in October 2013 and February 2014.
Among business-to-business exchanges since April 2012 are participation of a CII-organized high level business delegation in the 2nd Indo-Pak Aman ki Asha Economic Conference 'Dividends: Profits on Peace' in Lahore on 7-8 May 2012, Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 'My Karachi' exhibition in Karachi from 13-15 July 2012, 'India Expo' in Karachi in 2013, the second edition of 'India Show' in Lahore (February 14-16, 2014) - which was inaugurated by Federal Minister for commerce of Pakistan Khurram Dastgir Khan, 'Made in Pakistan' Exhibition mounted by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Mumbai from August 31-September 4, 2012, and again from April 3-7, 2014, participation of Pakistan in Indian International Trade Fair in November 2012 and 2013, and in a number of other trade exhibitions and events, including those arranged by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Delhi, etc. The next edition of 'Lifestyle Pakistan' is being planned.
A joint 'Judicial Committee on Prisoners' comprising retired Judges from the higher judiciary of both countries looks into humanitarian issues related to prisoners and fishermen in each other's jails, which it visits alternatingly twice a year. Its last visit to India was in October 2013. The Committee's recommendations on better consular access, expeditious trial, provision of legal aid, humanitarian treatment, early repatriation after completion of sentences, and repatriation of fishermen along with their boats, are examined for implementation by the government on both sides. As a result of constant efforts by the Government, release of close to 2,000 Indian fishermen and 100 prisoners has been secured from Pakistani prisons since 2008. At present, there are over 300 fishermen and estimated over 200 prisoners believed to be Indian in
Pakistani jails. Some of them have completed their sentences and await release. Since 2008, deaths of eight Indian fishermen and 3 prisoners while in custody of Pakistani authorities have been reported, with a few of these known or believed to have resulted from unnatural causes. The matter of reported auctions of confiscated boats of apprehended Indian fishermen has been taken up with concerned Pakistani authorities.
April 2014
Relations with Russia are a key pillar of India's foreign policy, and Russia has been a longstanding time-tested partner of India. Since the signing of “Declaration on the India- Russia Strategic Partnership” in October 2000 (during the visit of Russian President H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin to India), India-Russia ties have acquired a qualitatively new character with enhanced levels of cooperation in almost all areas of the bilateral relationship including political, security, trade and economy, defense, science and technology and culture. Under the Strategic Partnership, several institutionalized dialogue mechanisms operate at both political and official levels to ensure regular interaction and follow up on cooperation activities. During the visit of the Russian President to India in December 2010, the Strategic Partnership was elevated to the level of a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.”
Annual Summit meeting between the Prime Minister of India and the President of the Russian Federation is the highest institutionalized dialogue mechanism under the Strategic Partnership between India and the Russian Federation. So far 15 Annual Summit meetings have taken place alternatively in India and Russia with the 15th Annual Summit held in New Delhi during the visit of President Putin to India on 11 December 2014. During the Summit, 20 documents were signed covering cooperation in nuclear energy, defense, hydrocarbons, science & technology, trade and investment etc. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President Putin also adopted a Joint Statement “'Druzhba-Dosti: A Vision for strengthening the Indian-Russian Partnership over the next decade.” Besides the Annual Summit meeting in December 2014, our PM met the Russian President on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Fortaleza in Brazil on 15 July 2014 and the Russian Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Dmitry Medvedev ahead of the 9th East Asia Summit in Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar) on 13 November 2014. President Shri Pranab Mukherjee participated in the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of victory in the World War II on 9 May 2015 in Moscow, and on the sidelines held a bilateral meeting with President Putin.
There are regular high-level interactions between the two countries. Two Inter- Governmental Commissions - one on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), co-chaired by the External Affairs Minister (EAM) and the Russian Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and another on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC- MTC) co-chaired by Russian and Indian Defense Ministers, meet annually. Russian DPM Dmitry Rogozin visited India thrice last year, including to co-chair with External Affairs Minister the 20th session of the IRIGC-TEC. The Foreign Ministers of India and Russia met on the sidelines of the Russia-India-China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting in Beijing on 2 February 2015. The last annual Foreign Office Consultations was held in Moscow from 15-17 April, 2014. Foreign Secretary met Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Moscow on 8 May 2015.
Chairman of the State Duma (Lower House of the Russian Parliament) visited India in February 2015 to co-chair with Lok Sabha Speaker the 3rd session of the India-Russia Inter-Parliamentary Commission. He also called on the President and Vice-President of India. In March 2015, Russian Minister of Telecom and Mass Communication,
Nikolay Nikiforov visited Delhi, where he met his Indian counterparts the Minister of Communication and IT, and the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting. In April 2015,
Indian Minister of State for Defense visited Moscow and attended the 4th Moscow Conference on International Security and also addressed the Assocham-Sberbank Conference on Defense Industry Cooperation.
The Chief Justice of India and the Minister of Law and Justice participated in the St Petersburg International Legal Forum in May 2015. In June 2015, Commerce and Industry Minister visited St Petersburg to participate in the 15th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPEIF) and also met the Russian Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Denis Manturov. Russia assumed the BRICS Presidency in April 2015, and since then, it has been organizing a number of events and meetings under the BRICS format. The Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change visited Moscow for the BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting on 21 April; Secretary (East) attended the BRICS Consultations on Middle East and North Africa in Moscow on 22 May; National Security Adviser visited Moscow to participate in the 5th Meeting of BRICS High Representatives for Security Issues from 25 - 26 May; and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs participated in the BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Moscow on 8 June
2015.
India has longstanding and wide-ranging cooperation with Russia in the field of defense. India-Russia military technical cooperation has evolved from a simple buyer - seller framework to one involving joint research, development and production of advanced defense technologies and systems. BrahMos Missile System, Joint development of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft and the Multi Transport Aircraft, as well as the licensed production in India of SU-30 aircraft and T-90 tanks, are examples of such flagship cooperation. Last year in June, the Prime Minister dedicated to the nation the Russian-built aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya at a special ceremony off the coast of Goa. The two countries also hold exchanges and training exercises between their armed forces annually.
An Indian contingent participated in the military parade in Moscow on 9 May 2015 during the 70th anniversary of the victory in the World War II.
The Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC- MTC) co-chaired by the two Defense Ministers and its Working Groups and Sub-Groups review defense cooperation between the two countries. The Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu visited New Delhi for the last meeting (14th session) of the Commission on 21 January 2015 to review the ongoing cooperation and future opportunities for progressing bilateral defense cooperation. In December 2014, the two governments signed the Agreement for Training of Indian Armed Forces Personnel in the Military Educational Establishments of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation.
Enhancing trade and economic cooperation between India and Russia is a key priority for the two governments. During 15th Annual Summit, the two leaders set a target of US$30 billion bilateral trade by 2025. Bilateral trade during in 2014 amounted to US$ 9.51 billion, with Indian export amounting to US$ 3.17 billion (an increase of 2.6 % over 2013) and imports from Russia amounting to US$ 6.34 billion (decline of 9.2 % over 2013). Major items of export from India include pharmaceuticals, miscellaneous manufactures, iron & steel, apparels, tea, coffee and tobacco. Major items of import from Russia include defense and nuclear power equipment, fertilizers, electrical machinery, steels and diamonds.
Indian investment in Russia are estimated to be about US$ 7 billion which include Imperial Energy Tomsk; Sakhalin I; Volzhsky Abrasive Works Volgograd; and Commercial Indo bank. Russian investments in India total about US$ 3 billion, including Kamaz Vectra in Hosur; Shyam Sistema Telecom Ltd, Sberbank and VTB.
Inter- Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) is the apex G2G forum to review economic cooperation. It reviews sectoral cooperation under working groups on trade and economic cooperation, priority investments, modernization and industrial cooperation (sub-groups on civil aviation, mining, fertilizer, and modernization), outstanding issues, energy & energy efficiency, science and technology, communications & IT, tourism and culture, and sub-groups on banking & financial matters and on conservation of tigers & leopards. The 20th session of the IRIGC-TEC was held in New Delhi on 5 November 2014.
India - Russia Forum on Trade and Investment co-chaired by the Commerce and Industry Minister of India and the Russian Minister for Economic Development, and India-Russia CEOs’ Council are the two primary mechanisms to promote direct bilateral business-to- business contacts between India and Russia. Mechanisms such as India- Russia Business Council (partnership between FICCI of India and CCI of Russia), India- Russia Trade, Investment and Technology Promotion Council (partnership between CII of India and RUIE of Russia), India–Russia Business Dialogue (partnership between CII of India and Russia’s Business Council for Cooperation with India) and India-Russia Chamber of Commerce (with focus on SMEs) supplement the efforts to build direct business - to - business ties. The 8th India-Russia Forum on Trade & Investment was held in New Delhi on 5 November 2014.
During the 15th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in June 2015, India and Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) signed a joint statement to undertake joint feasibility study for the FTA between India and EaEU.
Hydrocarbons is an active area for exploring cooperation between the two countries. In May 2014, ONGC and Rosneft signed an MoU for bilateral cooperation in subsurface surveys, exploration, appraisal and hydrocarbons production in the offshore Arctic region of Russia.
In June last year, a Russian company Gazprom International signed an MoU with Oil India Limited for cooperation in the oil and gas sector which include joint exploration, training, development of oil fields and sharing of information. In December 2014, Rosneft signed an MoU regarding the possibility of a long-term contract with the Essar group for supply of crude oil.
Russia is an important partner in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and it recognizes India as a country with advanced nuclear technology with an impeccable non-proliferation record. In December 2014, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Russia’s Rosatom signed the Strategic Vision for strengthening cooperation in peaceful uses of atomic energy between India and Russia. Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is being built in India with Russian cooperation. KKNPP Unit 1 became operational in July 2013, and attained full generation capacity on 7 June 2014, while its Unit 2 is in the process of commissioning in the later part of 2015. India and Russia have signed a General Framework Agreement on KKNPP Units 3 & 4 and subsequent contracts are under preparation. Secretary, DAE visited Moscow on 9 June to review the wider cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
India-Russia cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of outer space dates back to about four decades. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of India’s first satellite “Aryabhatt” on a Russian (then USSR) launch vehicle ‘Soyuz.’ In 2007, India and Russia signed a framework agreement on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, including satellite launches, Glonass navigation, remote sensing and other societal applications of outer space. In June 2015, the space agencies have signed an MoU on expansion of cooperation in the field of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
The Working Group on Science and Technology functioning under IRIGC-TEC, the Integrated Long Term Programme (ILTP) and the Basic Science Cooperation Programme are the three main institutional mechanisms for bilateral Science and Technology cooperation, while the Science Academies of the two countries promote inter-academy exchanges. ILTP during its 25-year long implementation period, supported over 500 joint R&D projects and setting up of 9 thematic centers in India and Russia that resulted in generation of over 1500 joint publications and many new products, processes, facilities, and research centers besides developing over 10,000 scientific contacts. India-Russia Science and Technology Centre with a branch each in Delhi-NCR and Moscow was set up in 2011-12 in order to promote two-way transfer of technologies and their commercialization.
Two new Programs of Cooperation in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation and in Biotechnology concluded in October 2013 have become active mechanisms; these have already supported first batch of 11 joint R&D projects in 2014. In December 2014, Indian Council of Medical Research and Russian Foundation of Basic Research entered into an MoU for cooperation in health research.
On 8 May 2015, Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Russian Science Foundation signed an agreement to support basic and exploratory research.
There is a strong tradition of Indian studies in Russia. Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre at the Embassy of India, Moscow (JNCC) maintains close cooperation with leading Russian institutions, including the Institute of Philosophy (Moscow), Russian State University for Humanities (Moscow), Institute of Oriental Studies(Moscow), Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Moscow State University, School of International Relations at the St. Petersburg University, Kazan Federal University, Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok), and Russian Institute for Cultural Research (Krasnodar). There is a Mahatma Gandhi Chair on Indian Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy, Moscow. About 20 Russian Institutions, including leading universities and schools, regularly teach Hindi to 1500 Russian students. Apart from Hindi, languages such as Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Urdu, Sanskrit and Pali are taught in Russian Institutions.
There is general interest among Russian people in Indian dance, music, yoga and Ayurveda. JNCC conducts classes in yoga, dance, music and Hindi for approximately 500 students every month. There are regular cultural initiatives to promote people-to-people contacts between India and Russia, including reciprocal Years of each others’ culture. The President of India inaugurated the Year of Indian Culture ‘Namaste Russia’ in Moscow on 10 May 2015.
About 15 performances in 8 cities are planned as part of ‘Namaste Russia’ across various parts of Russia over 2015. On 21 June 2015, the first International Day of Yoga (IDY) was organized across Russia covering more than 60 regions with over 250 events and involving about 45000 Yoga enthusiasts.
Indian Community in the Russian Federation is estimated at about 14,500. In addition, about 1,500 Afghan nationals of Indian origin live in Russia. About 500 Indian businessmen reside in Russia out of which around 200 work in Moscow. An estimated 300 registered Indian companies operate in Russia. Majority of Indian businessmen/companies in Russia are involved in trading while some represent Indian banks, pharmaceuticals, hydrocarbon and engineering companies. Tea, coffee, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, rice, spices, leather footwear, granite, I.T. and garments are amongst the products being imported by these companies from India. There are approximately 4,500 Indian students enrolled in medical and technical institutions in the Russian Federation. About 90% of them pursue medical studies in about 20 universities/institutions across Russia. Hindustani Samaj is the oldest Indian organization in Russia functioning since 1957. Other Indian organizations in Moscow include, Indian Business Alliance, Overseas Bihar Association, AMMA (All Moscow Malayalee Association), DISHA (Indian-Russian Friendship Society), Textile Business Alliance, Bhartiya Sanskritik Samaj, and Ramakrishna Society Vedanta Centre. Embassy of India School in Moscow is affiliated to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan in New Delhi with teachers deputed from India. The School has classes from I to XII and has about 350 students.
June 2015
India and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial and friendly relations reflecting the centuries old economic and socio-cultural ties. The establishment of diplomatic relations in 1947 was followed by high-level visits from both sides. King Saud visited India in 1955 and the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited the Kingdom in 1956. The visit of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Saudi Arabia in 1982 further boosted the bilateral relations. In the recent times, the historic visit of King Abdullah to India in 2006 resulted in signing of „Delhi Declaration‟ imparting a fresh momentum to the bilateral relationship. The visit provided the framework for cooperation in all fields of mutual interest. The reciprocal visit by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia in 2010 raised the level of bilateral engagement to „Strategic Partnership‟ and the „Riyadh Declaration‟ signed during the visit captured the spirit of enhanced cooperation in political, economic, security and defense realms. In February 2014, during the visit of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to India (now King), a Joint Statement was issued. In November 2015, on the sidelines of G20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi met with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and discussed areas of bilateral interest.
The bilateral Agreements and MoUs signed are as follows:
Economic & Commercial Relations: Saudi Arabia today is our 4th largest trade partner and is a major source of energy as we import around 19% of our crude oil requirement. During 2014- 15, our bilateral trade reached USD 39.3 billion registering a decrease of 19.24% compared to 2013-14 (USD 48.62 billion) due to sharp decline in oil prices since June 2014. During this period, our imports from Saudi Arabia reached USD 28.1 billion, registering a decline of 22.79% over previous year whereas our exports to Saudi Arabia reached USD 11.2 billion registering a decline of 8.65% over previous year. Saudi Arabia is the 5th largest market in the world for Indian exports and is destination of 3.6% of India’s global exports. On the other hand, Saudi
Arabia is the source of 6.3% of India’s global imports. For Saudi Arabia as per 2014 data, India is the 5th largest market for its exports, accounting for 8.87% of its global exports. In terms of imports by Saudi Arabia, India ranks 7th and is source of around 3.61% of Saudi Arabia’s total imports. Review meeting for the 11th JCM was held in Riyadh on December 29, 2015.
The import of crude oil by India forms a major component of bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia being India’s largest supplier of crude oil, accounting for almost one-fifth of its needs. MoS (IC) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan visited Kingdom from October 27-29, 2014 and held 2nd bilateral energy consultations with HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MoS (IC) also held a bilateral meeting with Saudi Petroleum and Mineral Resource Minister Eng. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi and matters of mutual cooperation were discussed. He was accompanied by the Chairmen of IOC, HPCL & GAIL.
According to Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), it has issued 426 licenses to Indian companies for joint ventures/100% owned entities till April 2015, which are expected to bring total investment of USD 1.6 billion in Saudi Arabia. Actual investment figures as on date are not available. These licenses are for projects in diverse sectors such as management and consultancy services, construction projects, telecommunications, information technology, pharmaceuticals, etc. Moreover, several Indian companies have established collaborations with Saudi companies and are working in the Kingdom in the areas of designing, consultancy, financial services and software development. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is the 47th biggest investor in India with investments from April 2000 to September 2015 amounting to USD 58.83 million. In addition, Saudi Petrochemical joint SABIC had set up its R&D Centre in Bangalore with an investment of over USD 100 million in November 2013.
A cultural troupe from ICCR comprising of a Shehnai and a Qawwali group, performed in Jeddah and Riyadh from 25-29 January 2012, coinciding with the Republic Day celebrations. A 45-member Saudi youth delegation visited India on 10-day tour from March 22, 2012, to strengthen the cooperation in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector and to step-up efforts to promote understanding and friendship among the youth of the two countries. A 54-member cultural delegation visited the Kingdom to participate in the „Indian Cultural Week‟, organized in Riyadh in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Culture from November 3-7, 2012. Shri Parvez Dewan, Secretary Tourism, Government of India, led a high- level delegation consisting of State Tourism officers and private tour operators to the Kingdom to participate in „Road Shows‟ in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam on 19th, 21st and 22nd May, 2013, respectively.
The 2.96 million plus strong Indian community in Saudi Arabia is the largest expatriate community in the Kingdom and is the most preferred community due to their expertise, sense of discipline, law abiding and peace loving nature. The contribution made by Indian community to the development of Saudi Arabia is well acknowledged. In April 2013, His Majesty King Abdullah announced a grace period allowing overstaying expatriates to correct the status, get new jobs or leave the country without facing penal action till the end of the grace period i.e. November 3, 2013. More than 1.4 million (14 lakhs) Indians have availed the concessions during the grace period. The Haj pilgrimage is another important component of bilateral relations. During Haj 2015, around 136,000 Indians visited the Kingdom to perform Haj. Approximately 300,000 Indians perform Umrah every year.
India’s links with the struggle for freedom and justice in South Africa date back to the period during which Mahatma Gandhi started his Satyagraha movement in South Africa over a century ago. India was at the forefront of the international community in its support to the antiapartheid movement; it was the first country to sever trade relations with the apartheid Government (in 1946) and subsequently imposed a complete - diplomatic, commercial, cultural and sports - embargo on South Africa. India worked consistently to put the issue of apartheid on the agenda of the UN, NAM and other multilateral organizations and for the imposition of comprehensive international sanctions against South Africa. The ANC maintained a representative office in New Delhi from the 1960s onwards. India actively worked for the AFRICA Fund to help sustain the struggle through support to the frontline states.
Following talks between the then South African Government and the ANC, India’s relations with South Africa were restored after a gap of over four decades with the opening of a Cultural Centre in Johannesburg in May 1993. Formal diplomatic and consular relations with South Africa were restored in November 1993 during the visit to India of the then South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha. A Consulate General was thereafter established in Johannesburg. The Indian High Commission in Pretoria was opened in May 1994, followed by the opening of the Consulate General in Durban the same month. Since Parliament in South Africa meets in Cape Town, a permanent office of the High Commission was opened there in 1996, which has been re-designated as Consulate General of India with effect from January 2011. In addition to its High Commission in Delhi, South Africa has a Consulate General in Mumbai.
Development of political relations since 1994
Against the background of India’s consistent support to the anti-apartheid struggle, there has been a steady consolidation of our close and friendly ties with South Africa, both bilaterally and through BRICS, IBSA and other Fora. A number of bilateral agreements have been concluded between the two countries since the assumption of diplomatic relations in 1993 in diverse areas ranging from economic and commercial cooperation, defense, culture, heath, human settlements, public administration, science and technology and education. India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) has been a useful medium of promoting cooperation in development of human resources.
Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi met with South African President Mr Jacob Zuma on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Fortaleza in Brazil in July 2014, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia in November 2014, on the sidelines of the 7th BRICS Summit in Ufa, Russia on 9 July 2015 and on the sidelines of the third India-Africa Forum Summit on 28 October 2015.
President Jacob Zuma led a South African delegation to India for third India- Africa Forum Summit and was accompanied by Foreign Minister Ms. Maite Nkoana- Mashabane. On the sidelines of Summit, President Zuma had a bilateral meeting with Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 28 October 2015.
On the passing away of Dr Nelson Mandela on Dec 5, 2013, President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee led a multi-party delegation, comprising of UPA Chairperson & Congress Party President, former Commerce and Industry Minister, former Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Smt Sushma Swaraj, the then Members of Parliament from CPI (M) and BSP and other senior officers of Government of India to Johannesburg on Dec 10, 2013.
Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh visited South Africa in March 2013 to attend 5th BRICS Summit held in Durban. The official delegation included the then Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram, the then Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Anand Sharma; and other senior officials. Former President Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil accompanied by the then Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Shri Sachin Pilot and a trade delegation paid a State Visit to South Africa in May 2012. The delegation visited Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban.
President of South Africa Mr Jacob Zuma paid a visit to India in March 2012 for 4th BRICS Summit. President Zuma, accompanied by Mrs Nompumelelo Ntuli- Zuma, had earlier paid a State Visit to India in June 2010. President Zuma’s delegation included seven Cabinet Ministers [Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation, Defense, Public Enterprises, Trade & Industry, Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, Transport and Communications].
Three MOUs/Agreements were signed during the visit: (i) MOU on Cooperation in the Field of Agriculture and Allied Sectors; (ii) Air Services Agreement; and (iii) MoU on cooperation between the Foreign Service Institute of India and the Diplomatic Academy of South Africa.
A 200- member strong business delegation as well as senior officials accompanied President Zuma on his visit. President Zuma met the then President, Vice President and Prime Minister; the then MOS for External Affairs, Chairperson of UPA and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha called on him. Discussions reflected the fraternal warmth and affection as well as the strategic partnership that characterize bilateral relations. President Zuma and his delegation also met Indian business leaders in Mumbai in June 2010.
The regular Parliamentary exchanges between India and South Africa continued. From South Africa, a joint Parliamentary delegation led by Speaker Mr. Max Sisulu and Chairperson, National Council of Provinces, Mr. M.J. Mahlangu, visited India in July, 2012. A goodwill Parliamentary delegation led by the then Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Shri Pawan Bansal, visited South Africa in October, 2012.
There have been regular exchanges at Ministerial level including, visit of Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil, the then MOS(Coal) in October 2012 and Shri Anand Sharma, former Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles in January 2013. Shri Sharad Pawar, then Minister of Agriculture & Food Processing visited South Africa for 3rd meeting of BRICS Ministers for Agriculture and Agrarian Development on October 28-29, 2013. Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Health Minister participated in BRICS Health Ministers’ meeting held in Cape Town in November 2013. Shri Shiv Shankar Menon, former NSA participated in BRICS NSAs meeting held at Cape Town in December 2013. A 28 member Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers’ delegation led by Shri A. R. Rather, former Finance & Ladakh Affairs Minister, Jammu & Kashmir visited South Africa in July-August 2013. Shri Anand Sharma, leader of INC attended the Presidential Inauguration ceremony on behalf of INC on 23rd May 2014. CM of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan accompanied by high level delegation visited South Africa on June 7-14, 2014 to promote MP’s Global Investors Summit 2014. Hon’ble Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Shri Kalraj Mishra visited South Africa on 17-21 Jan 2015. During his visit, he attended the seminar on “India Model on Small Business Development” organized by Black Business Council, SA and witnessed the signing of MOU between NSIC and Black Business Council on 19 Jan 2015. He also met the
Premier of Western Cape, Minister of Economic Development, Minister of Finance, in Cape Town.
Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations & Cooperation of South Africa (FMM) visited Gandhinagar, India on 7-9 Jan 2015 to attend Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2015 as the Guest of Honour. On the sidelines of PBD 2015, FMM called on Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi and met with Hon’ble EAM Smt Sushma Swaraj. Mr. Malusi Gigaba Home Minister of South Africa visited India from 5-9 July 2015. During his visit he met with Hon’ble Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh.
Joint Commission and Foreign Office Consultations
The India-South Africa Joint Commission at the level of Foreign Ministers was set up in 1994 to identify areas of mutually beneficial cooperation. The 7th session of the JMC was held in Pretoria in February 2008. During the visit, three Agreements on Customs Cooperation, S&T and visa free travel for diplomatic and official passport holders were signed. India hosted the 8th session of the JMC in March, 2011 in New Delhi. The then EAM Shri S.M. Krishna headed the Indian delegation, while Minister Mashabane led the South African side. 9th session of India-South Africa Joint Ministerial Commission meeting was held in Durban on 19 May 2015. It was co-chaired by Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs & Overseas Indian Affairs and South Africa’s Minister of International Relations & Cooperation Ms. Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. During the visit, EAM paid a courtesy call on President Jacob Zuma.
The 7th session of the India-South Africa Foreign Office Consultations was held in New Delhi in January 2015. It was co-chaired by Shri Vinay Kumar, the then Joint Secretary (E&SA) from Indian side and Amb. (Dr.) Anil Sooklal, Deputy Director General, Asia and the Middle East, Department of International Relations & Cooperation from South African side.
On June 6, 2003, the Foreign Ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa met in Brasilia and agreed to set up a Dialogue Forum for regular consultations. Subsequently, in 2006, this was upgraded to Summit level; five Summits have been held so far, the last in Pretoria in October 2011. IBSA Trilateral Ministerial meeting was held in New Delhi in March 2011. 16 Sectoral Working Groups have been established in areas such as health, agriculture, education, human settlements, S&T and defense. The next IBSA Summit is likely to be held in India in mid-2015.
South Africa was also admitted as a member of the BRICS grouping and attended the BRICS meeting held in April 2011 at Sanya, attended the BRICS Summit held in March 2012 in New Delhi and South Africa hosted the 5th Summit at Durban in March 2013. Thereafter, BRICS Summit was held in Fortaleza, Brazil in July 2014 and 7th BRICS Summit was held in the Russian city of Ufa in July 2015.
Commercial relations have flourished since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1993. During the visit of President Zuma to India, both sides agreed to work towards a target of US$ 10 billion in bilateral trade by 2012. The trade target was revised to US$ 15 billion by 2014 during the visit of the then Commerce and Industry Minister in January 2011 to South Africa as the bilateral trade target was almost achieved in FY 2011-12. India’s imports from SA in 2012-13 and 2013-14 declined mainly due to restrictions on gold imports by GOI and hence, the target of US$15 billion could not be achieved
There is substantial potential for trade growth between the two countries. Exports from India to South Africa include vehicles and components thereof, transport equipment, drugs and pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, footwear, dyes and intermediates, chemicals, textiles, rice, gems and jewelry, etc. Import from South Africa to India include gold, steam coal, copper ores & concentrates, phosphoric acid, manganese ore, aluminum ingots & other minerals.
Major Indian investors in South Africa include Tata (automobiles, IT, hospitality and ferrochrome plant), UB Group (breweries, hospitality), Mahindra (automobiles) and a number of pharmaceutical companies, including Ranbaxy and CIPLA, as well as IT companies and some investments in the mining sector. There is also growing South African investments in India led by SAB Miller (breweries), ACSA (upgradation of Mumbai airport), SANLAM and Old Mutual (insurance), ALTECH (set top boxes), Adcock Ingram (pharmaceuticals), Rand Merchant Bank (banking). First National Bank, a leading bank of South Africa opened its branch in Mumbai in April 2012. Annually approx. 1.2 lakh Indian tourists visit South Africa while approx. 60,000 South African tourists visit India.
A 25-Member delegation led by Secretary, Mines, visited Cape Town in February 2013 to attend Mining Indaba (Africa’s largest mining event). A 42-member delegation led by Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council visited Cape Town in March 2013 for India Clothing and Textile Trade Show. Shri Anand Sharma, former Commerce & Industry Minster visited South Africa in Sep-Oct 2013 for 3rd India- Africa Trade Ministers’ meeting. A 24-member delegation led by Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Steel & Mines visited Cape Town in February 2015 to attend Mining Indaba. Shri Rajendra Shukla, Minister for Mineral Resources, Energy & Public Affairs, and Govt. of Madhya Pradesh also accompanied the delegation.
With the help of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an intensive programme of cultural exchanges is organized throughout South Africa including scholarships for South African nationals. In addition to such cultural programming, a ‘Shared Histories’ Festival organized as a public-private partnership is also held, which held its ninth edition in 2015. The SA Minister of Arts & Culture Mr. Pallo Jordan visited India in December 2007 during which he also inaugurated a major
South African art exhibition. Mrs. Ambika Soni, the then Minister for Tourism and Culture visited South Africa in August 2008 and signed the Programme of Cooperation (POC) in Arts and Culture. A Festival of India in South Africa was jointly organized by Department of Arts and Culture South Africa and High Commission in Pretoria during June-August 2011 & a Festival of South Africa in India was organized in February-April 2013 under the POC. The 9th World Hindi Conference was held in September 2012 at Johannesburg. A Festival of India in South Africa was jointly organized by High Commission in Pretoria and Department of Arts and Culture of South Africa during July-August 2014 commemorating 20 years of our diplomatic relations and also 100 years of Gandhiji’s return to India from South Africa.
International Yoga Day was celebrated on 21 June 2015 by the Mission/Posts in collaboration/association with local organizations in 13 cities across South Africa.
ITEC / ICCR
In FY 2014-15, under ITEC, 100 slots were allocated to South Africa, out of which, 80 slots were utilized. For the year 2015-16, a total of 80 ITEC slots have been allocated and so far 48 slots have been utilized.
ICCR offered a total of 52 slots to South Africa in 2014-15 out of which 37 were utilized. For the year 2015-16, ICCR has offered a total of 52 slots for South Africa and so far 59 slots have been (over) utilized.
The major part of the Indian origin community came to South Africa from 1860 onwards as farm labor to serve as field hands and mill operatives in the sugar and other agricultural plantations of Natal (which was then a British colony). Most of these initial migrants were from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with some from eastern UP and Bihar. A second wave of Indians came after 1880. These were the “passenger Indians” – so-called because they paid their fares as passengers on board a steamship bound for South Africa. This was the community of traders who mainly hailed from Gujarat.
The South African Indian origin community numbers around 1.5 million and constitutes about 3% of South Africa’s total population. About 80% of the Indian community lives in the province of KwaZulu Natal, about 15% in the Gauteng (previously Transvaal) area and the remaining 5% in Cape Town. South Africans of Indian origin are well-represented in Government, business, media, legal and other professions. The year 2010 marked the 150th anniversary of the first arrival of Indians in South Africa. 2014 marked 100 years of Gandhiji’s final departure to India from South Africa; he reached India on 9th Jan 1915; this date is now commemorated annually as Pravasi Bhartiya Divas.
January 2016
India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) enjoy strong bonds of friendship based on age-old cultural, religious and economic ties between the two nations. The relationship flourished after the accession of H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan as the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966 and subsequently with the creation of the UAE Federation in 1971. Since then, both sides have made sincere efforts to improve relations in all fields.
India-UAE bilateral relations have received impetus from time-to-time with exchange of high-level visits from both sides. Important visits at different level include:
December 2013.
From the Indian side, visits include
IRENA General Assembly meetings).
From the UAE side, visits include
India-UAE signed several bilateral agreements which are listed as annexure 1.
India and UAE have institutional mechanisms in place for addressing the sector- specific issues. This is in the form of Joint Commission for Economic and Technical Cooperation (JCM); Foreign Office Consultations (FOC); High Level Task Force on Investment (HLTFI); Joint Committee on Security Matters (JCSM); Joint Committee on Consular Matters (JCCM); Joint Defense Cooperation Committee (JDCC); Joint Working Group (JWG) on Renewable Energy and Joint Committee on Manpower Resources (JCMR). JCM, FOC and HLTFI are held at the Ministerial/Assistant Ministerial levels. JCSM, JCCM, JDCC and JSMR are held at senior official (Secretary/Additional Secretary) levels. In addition to above a Local Coordination and Grievance Redressal Mechanism to redress grievances of the Indian community is also in place in the form of a Local Coordination Committee (LCC). LCC, comprising of officers from the Embassy and their UAE counterparts meets on a regular basis to follow-up on consular, manpower and community related issues.
Economic and Commercial cooperation with the UAE is a key aspect of overall bilateral relationship. The traditionally close and friendly India-UAE bilateral relationship has evolved into a significant partnership in the economic and commercial sphere. Indians have emerged as important investors within the UAE and India as an important export destination for the UAE manufactured goods. India-UAE trade, valued at US$180 million per annum in the 1970s is today around US$60 billion making UAE, India’s third largest trading partner for the year 2014-15 after China and US. Moreover, UAE was the second largest export destination of India with an amount of over US$ 33 billion for the year 2014-15. For UAE, India was the largest trading partner for the year 2013 with an amount of over US$ 36 billion (non-oil trade).
India's major export items to UAE include petroleum products; precious metals, stones, gems and jewelry; minerals; food items (cereals, sugar, fruits & vegetables, tea, meat, and seafood); textiles (garments, apparel, synthetic fiber, cotton, yarn); engineering & machinery products and chemicals. India’s major import items from UAE include petroleum and petroleum products; precious metals, stones, gems & jewelry; minerals; chemicals; wood & wood products. With respect to oil trade, UAE was the sixth largest import source of crude oil for India in 2014-15.
With respect to bilateral investments, total FDI from UAE to India is estimated to be US$3.01billion (Jan. 2015) and ranked as tenth biggest investor in India. At the first meeting of India-UAE High Level Task Force on Investment (HLTFI) held on February 18, 2013 in Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) announced its plans of investing US$ 2 billion in Indian Infrastructure sector. The second meeting of HLTFI was held in March 2014. Also several joint working groups were set up to address issues of mutual interest in sectors including infrastructure, energy & investment.
The two nations share historical ties and have maintained regular cultural exchanges both at official and popular levels. India and UAE signed a Cultural Agreement in 1975. The ICCR had opened a Culture Centre in Abu Dhabi in 2009 but it was closed in June 2014. Prominent events organized by the Culture Centre include handicraft bazar – Discover India (February 2011); poetry reading session by Dr. Satchidanandan, an Indian poet and Arabic Translations by Arabic poet Dr Shihab Ghanem; a session on Indo-Arab Relations through the ages in History, Art & Culture, with special emphasis on UAE (November 2011); retrospective of Shyam Benegal’s film (October 2012); Pt. Prahlad Tipania and Group’s renditions on “Kabir Bhajans” (January 2014); talks by Ms Shehnaz Hussain (March 2013) & Dr. Anil Kakodkar (January 2014); photo exhibition on the Islamic monuments of India (March-April 2014) etc. Even after closing of the ICCR’s Culture Centre at Abu Dhabi, the Embassy continued to organize various cultural activities at its own as well as by collaborating with Indian Associations/Cultural Organisations based in UAE. Some of the events held were as follows; Padmshree Pt. Satish Vyas’ Santoor Concert (December 2014); Karnataka artists’ musical concert (December 2014); Bihu Dance by Assam – Bihu Group (November-December 2014); launching of books/book chat of Ambassador Talmiz Ahmed (May 2014); Mr Venu Rajamony (June 2014); (December 2014); and Ambassador T.P. Sreenivasan (December 2014). ICCR’s cotemporary painting exhibition on “Kerala Green” – a compilation of works by artists from SAARC countries and exhibition of group of Indian artists was also organized in September 2014 at Embassy Residence. An ICCR sponsored Santoor recital by Ms Varsha Aggarwal was organized in the embassy auditorium in March 2015. An interactive session with Dr G. Madhvan Nair was organized in the Embassy premises in April, 2015. In April-May, 2015, ICCR-sponsored Bhangra & Gidda Group and Puppetry Group performed in UAE.
UAE is home to Indian expatriate community of more than 2.6 million – the largest expatriate community in the UAE. Professionally qualified personnel constitute about 15 & 20 percent of the community, followed by 20 percent white-collar non- professionals (clerical staff, shop assistants, sales men, accountants, etc.) and the remainder 65% comprises blue-collar workers. There is a significant business community from India. The Indian community has played a major role in the economic development of the UAE. The annual remittances made by the large Indian community in UAE amount to over US$15 billion (2013).
With a large number of blue-collared Indian workers, focus of bilateral relations is also on developing efficient grievance-redressal mechanisms for the Indian workers in the UAE. The UAE’s Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs are working closely to evolve a new arrangement that would make the system of recruitment and contracting more transparent. India and UAE signed a MoU in the field of Manpower Sourcing in December 2006 and a Protocol to streamline the admission of Indian contract workers by way of an electronic contract registration and validation system was signed on April 4, 2012. Two-day International employers’ conference was organized by the MOIA on October 27-28 2014 in Dubai, which dealt with the situation of Indian workers in the Gulf and steps to be taken to further improve them. The Embassy of India organized a States’ Conference on 13 September, 2014 in Abu Dhabi to bring representatives of various State Governments from India in direct interaction with the representatives of Indian community in UAE. The Embassy brought out “Guidelines for Indian” for benefits of Indian Community in UAE. A comprehensive online web-based ‘NRI registration system’ has been developed for Indians resident in UAE to register themselves on the system by filling in the requested details The Embassy has Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) for providing short term economic assistance (food, shelter, passage expenses etc...) to destitute workers/housemaids in distress. Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) with a 24- hour helpline is operating in Dubai since November 2010. Regular visits to jails and labor camps by the officers of the Embassy and Consulate and Open house held every working day of the week at the Embassy and Consulate for the Indian Community members, are some of other mechanisms to ensure regular communication between the Embassy & and Consulate with the Indian community.
June 2015
India and the United Kingdom share close and friendly ties. The bilateral relationship that was upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2004 was further strengthened with the visit of British Prime Minister Cameron to India in 2010 during which the foundation for Enhanced Partnership for the Future was laid. In his first term as Prime Minister, he visited India thrice viz. in 2010, in February 2013 and again in November 2013 to reinforce UK Government’s commitment to further relations with India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to UK from 12-14 November, 2015 took the relationship between the largest and the oldest democracies to new heights.
During the visit, the two Prime Ministers endorsed a Vision Statement setting out the fundamental principles on which UK-India partnership is built and outlined a roadmap for deepening cooperation. Both Prime Ministers resolved to hold biennial PM-level Summits to advance the partnership and agreed on a new Defense and International Security Partnership aimed to intensify cooperation on defense and security, including cyber security, counter-terrorism and maritime security. They also endorsed a Joint Statement on Energy and Climate Change and issued a Statement of Intent to scale up bilateral cooperation to a global partnership for development cooperation in third countries.
The India-UK economic engagement was further reinforced by several important initiatives in this area during PM’s visit to UK. It was agreed that the City of London could play an important role in channeling investments into Indian infrastructure projects, leveraging its capital and expertise. Government of India announced its intention to issue the first Government-backed Rupee Bond in London and several private sector entities including HDFC, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India and Yes Bank announced their plans to raise finance through the City of London. The inaugural meeting of the revived India-UK CEO Forum was convened by the two
Prime Ministers. Commercial deals worth over £9.3 billion between Indian and British companies were announced. It was decided to establish a fast-track mechanism to facilitate UK’s investments into India and to set up an India-UK Partnership fund under the National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) to facilitate global investments through the City of London for Indian infrastructure projects. UK has announced its interest in partnering with India in the development of Smart Cities in Indore, Pune and Amravati.
The two sides have had a number of high level bilateral visits and interactions, the most recent ones in the year 2016 being Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s visit to UK in January 2016 to attend the 8th India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue, , UK NSA’s visit to India on 18th January, 2016, UK Immigration Minister James Brokenshire’s visit to India on 16-19 February 2016, UK Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Harriet Baldwin and UKPM’s Special Envoy for Infrastructure Alok Sharma’s visit to India on 15-18 February, 2016 and UK MoS for Defense Procurement Philip Dunne’s visit to India on 18-19 February, 2016.
India and UK have a number of bilateral dialogue mechanisms in place, covering a wide spectrum of areas including political, trade, education, science & technology, defense etc. The significant ones are Economic and Financial Dialogue at Finance Minister-level, Joint Economic & Trade Committee at Commerce Minister-level, Strategic Dialogue at NSA-level, Foreign Office Consultations at Foreign Secretary-level, Defense Consultative Group at Defense Secretary-level, Cyber and Counter-Terrorism Dialogues at Senior Officials-level and other thematic dialogues between the two Foreign Offices.
Inter-Parliamentary Contacts:
The Parliaments of India and the UK have close relations. There are Friends of India Groups in the two major political parties (Labor and Conservative). There is an All-Party Parliamentary Group on relations with India. Parliamentary exchanges have also taken place under the banner of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
UK is among India’s major trading partners and during the year 2014-15, UK ranked 18th in the list of India’s top 25 trading partners. As per data published by Department of Commerce, two-way merchandise trade during 2014-15 was US$14.33 billion, marking a decrease of 9.39% as compared to 2013-14. UK’s share in India’s global trade has gone down from 2.07% in 2013-14 to 1.89% in 2014-15. India’s main exports to the UK are garments and textiles, machinery and instruments, petroleum products, footwear and leather, manufactures of metals, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, transport equipment and parts, spices, drugs & pharmaceuticals and marine products. The main imports from the UK to India are machinery and equipment, ores and metal scraps, precious and semiprecious stones, silver, metals, aircrafts parts, beverages and spirits, machinery, engineering goods, and other professional instruments other than electronics, non-ferrous metals and chemicals.
As per UK’s Office for National Statistics, India-UK bilateral trade in services (excluding travel, transport and banking) in the calendar year 2014 amounted to approx. £2.5 billion. India's exports to the UK in services (excluding travel, transport and banking) in the calendar year 2013 amounted to £1.5 billion and India's imports from the UK in services (excluding travel, transport and banking) in the calendar year 2014 amounted to £975 million.
UK is the 3rd largest inward investor in India, after Mauritius, and Singapore with a cumulative equity investment of US $22.56 billion (April 2000- September 2015). UK ranks first among the G20 countries and accounts for around 9% of all foreign direct investment into India for the period April 2000 – September 2015. Foreign Direct Investment in the last five years has dropped from US$7.8 billion in 2011-12 to US$1.4 billion in 2014-15. India continues to be one of the largest source markets for FDI projects in the UK. According to the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) in their ‘2014/15 Inward Investment Annual Report’, India undertook 122 FDI projects in 2014-15 in the UK, marking an increase of 65 per cent over last year and making it the UK’s third largest source of FDI, accounting for over 9,000 new jobs. According to UK Office for National Statistics, the value of Indian
FDI into the UK has registered a notable increase between 2004 and 2013, from £164 million to £1.9 billion. UK attracts more Indian investments than the rest of the EU altogether.
Bilateral mechanisms like India-UK Economic & Financial Dialogue (EFD) and India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) form the basis of institutional engagements between the two countries. The India-UK
Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) was officially established in February 2005 through signing of an agreement between Finance Ministers of the two countries to strengthen the financial and economic relationship between India and the UK. The 8th India-UK EFD co-chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, explored new areas of cooperation in the financial services sector. The Dialogue covered discussions on Global Economic Challenges, Macroeconomic Risks and Policy Responses, Infrastructure Finance and Financial Services. UK Government agreed to support the delivery of major infrastructure projects in India across key sectors including smart cities, renewable energy and railways, all of which are vital for India’s future economic growth. Both India and the UK welcomed the prospect of a pipeline of Rupee Bond issuance in London by Indian companies and agreed that the first such public sector issuance would be made by the Indian Railway
Both sides agreed to substantially strengthen links between the leading Fin-Tech communities in India and Britain and made significant joint commitments to high-profile Fin-Tech trade missions between the two nations and major steps towards UK Fin-Tech companies helping to deliver ‘digital India’, covering priority areas like access to finance for micro-enterprises.
In the last India-UK Financial Partnership (IUKFP) meeting held in London on November 2, 2015, it was decided that the Partnership would focus on the following work-streams - Development of Corporate Bond Market, Mutual sharing of expertise on Financial Sectors and Market Regulations (with an initial focus on India’s Insolvency Regulation), Pensions, Infrastructure Funding, Financial inclusion, Internationalization of the Rupee, Cross-border Provision of Financial and Insurance Services (with an initial focus on Re-insurance), Enhancing financial training and qualification and Divestments India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) represents a business driven institutional framework which was established on January 13, 2005 to develop a strategic economic relationship. JETCO delegations meet annually under the leadership of the Minister of Commerce and Industry (CIM) and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), alternately in Delhi and London. The 10th JETCO meeting was held on January 19, 2015 in London which witnessed both industry and Government stakeholders coming together for productive discussions in three Working Groups constituted on the themes of Education & Skill Development, Smart Cities and Technological Collaboration, Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering.
Education is an important plank of the India-UK bilateral relationship. Over the last 10 years, the relationship has grown substantially with the introduction of bilateral mechanisms such as the India-UK Education Forum UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), Joint Working Group on Education, Newton-Bhabha Fund and Scholarship schemes. During the visit of Prime Minister to UK in November 2015, the following announcements relating to education were made:
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Sajid Javid and the Minister for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson visited Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore from 9-11 December, 2015, accompanied by a large academic delegation including Vice Chancellors of Universities of Birmingham, Warwick, Nottingham and Leicester. During the visit, an event to launch 2016 UK-India Year of Education, Research and Innovation was held which was attended by Human Resource Development Minister, senior Indian officials and faculty, school and college principals, education agents, students, business organizations and media.
UK has traditionally been a favorite destination for international students. Management, computing, engineering, media studies, art and design are the preferred courses of the Indian students. At present, there are approximately 20,000 Indian students pursuing Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses in the UK. In the last few years, the number of Indian students enrolling in the UK Universities has come down by around 50%. One factor is the closure of the old Tier 1 Post Study work route in 2012. Changes introduced by UK Government necessitate that non-EU students will only be able to remain in UK, if they get a graduate level job with an annual salary of at least £20,800 or going rate for the job.
2016 was announced as the UK-India Year of Education Research and Innovation during the visit of Prime Minister’s visit to UK in November 2015 with the aim to celebrate the achievements between the two countries to date, take stock and use this campaign to plan the transformational future of the important partnership for the next decade. The agreed activities include placements under Generation UK-India including TCS sponsored 12-month internships supporting mobility of UK students to
India; launch of UKIERI Phase 3; 40 Newton-Bhabha PhD students placements in UK and India; Academic conferences; UK academics to teach in India under Global Initiative Academic Network. The culminating event for the Year will be 2016
Technology Summit in Delhi with UK as the partner country.
Global Initiative of Academic Network (GIAN) is a new network in Higher Education aimed at tapping the talent pool of eminent scientists and academicians, internationally to encourage their engagement with the Institutes of Higher Education in India, during Summer/Winter term, so as to augment the country’s existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and elevate India’s scientific and technological capacity to global excellence. An announcement was made to confirm UK’s plans to send 100 academics to India over the next two academic years as part of the GIAN during PM’s visit to UK. National launch of GIAN was done by Human Resource Development Minister on 30 November, 2015 at IIT Gandhi Nagar and simultaneously at IIT Kharagpur through webcast.
As on date, 337 courses have been approved for engagement with foreign faculty and out of 337 foreign faculties, 31 are from the UK.
Cultural linkages between India and UK are deep and extensive, arising out of shared history between the two countries. There has been a gradual mainstreaming of Indian culture and absorption of Indian cuisine, cinema, languages, religion, philosophy, performing arts, etc. There are several Indian cultural organizations in the UK, which have been actively promoting Indian culture by involving the Indian Diaspora, British organizations and people.
The Nehru Centre is the cultural wing of the High Commission of India in UK which was established in 1992, and is currently one of ICCR’s flagship cultural centers abroad. There is also a Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation signed at Minister-level between India and the UK in October 2014 that is effective till end October 2019.
During PM’s visit to the UK in November 2015, both Prime Ministers announced that a UK-India Year of Culture will be organized in 2017 to celebrate our deep cultural ties and mark the 70th anniversary of Indian Independence. They also committed support to the digitization of the shared archival collections housed in the British Library and the National Archives of India.
The India Diaspora in UK is one of the largest ethnic minority communities in the country, with the 2011 census recording approximately 1.5 million people of Indian origin in the UK equating to almost 1.8 percent of the population and contributing 6% of the country’s GDP. During the visit of Prime Minister to UK, a community reception was organized on 13 November, 2015 at Wembley Stadium which was attended by over 60,000 persons of Indian origin. The reception was addressed jointly by the Hon’ble PM along with British PM. Independence Day celebrations organized jointly by the Mission with the cooperation of prominent community leaders and Indian associations on 16 August, 2015 was a record success with an attendance of over 12,000 persons. The Mission also organized the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2016 on 9 January, 2016 with live video interaction with the External Affairs Minister. A presentation/reception was held in the evening of 9 January 2016 which was attended by about 150 prominent community leaders. The Mission continues to remain in touch with the Indian Diaspora in seeking their advice on taking India UK relationship forward.
February 2016
India-U.S. bilateral relations have developed into a "global strategic partnership", based on shared democratic values and increasing convergence of interests on bilateral, regional and global issues. The emphasis placed by the Government in India on development and good governance has created opportunity to reinvigorate bilateral ties and enhance cooperation under the motto --- “Chalein Saath Saath: Forward Together We Go”, and "Sanjha Prayas, Sab ka Vikas" (Shared Effort, Progress for All) adopted during the summits of our leaders in September 2014 and January 2015 respectively.
Regular exchange of high level political visits has provided sustained momentum to bilateral cooperation, while the wide-ranging and ever-expanding dialogue architecture has established a long-term framework for India-U.S. engagement. Today, the India-U.S. bilateral cooperation is broad-based and multi-sectoral, covering trade and investment, defense and security, education, science and technology, cyber security, high-technology, civil nuclear energy, space technology and applications, clean energy, environment, agriculture and health. Vibrant people-to-people interaction and support across the political spectrum in both countries nurture our bilateral relationship.
The frequency of high-level visits and exchanges between India and the U.S. has gone up significantly of late. Prime Minister Modi visited the U.S. on 26-30 September 2014; he held meetings with President Obama, members of the U.S. Congress and political leaders, including from various States and cities in the U.S., and interacted with members of President Obama's Cabinet. He also reached out to the captains of the U.S. commerce and industry, the American civil society and think-tanks, and the Indian- American community. A Vision Statement and a Joint Statement were issued during the visit.
The visit was followed by President Obama's visit to India on 25-27 January 2015 as the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day. During the visit, the two sides issued a Delhi Declaration of Friendship and adopted a Joint Strategic Vision for Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region. Both sides elevated the Strategic Dialogue between their Foreign Ministers to Strategic and Commercial Dialogue of Foreign and Commerce Ministers.
Prime Minister Modi again visited the U.S. on 23-28 September 2015, during which he held a bilateral meeting with President Obama, interacted with leaders of business, media, academia, the provincial leaders and the Indian community, including during his travel to the Silicon Valley.
There is frequent interaction between the leadership of the two countries, including telephone calls and meetings on the sidelines of international summits. A hotline has been established between the Prime Minister's Office and the U.S. White House
There are more than 50 bilateral dialogue mechanisms between the two governments. The first meeting of the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue at the level of EAM and MoS(Commerce & Industry) was held in Washington DC on 22 September 2015; it has added a commercial component to the five traditional pillars of bilateral relations on which the erstwhile Strategic Dialogue has focused, namely: Strategic Cooperation; Energy and Climate Change, Education and Development; Economy, Trade and Agriculture; Science and Technology; and Health and Innovation.
In addition, there are Ministerial-level dialogues involving home (Homeland Security Dialogue), finance (Financial and Economic Partnership), commerce (Trade Policy Forum), HRD (Higher Education Dialogue), Science & Technology (Joint Commission Meeting on S&T) and energy (Energy Dialogue).
There were a number of high-level delegations in both directions in 2015. In January, Secretary of State John Kerry led the U.S. delegation to the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Ahmedabad. In February, U.S. Secretary of Treasury Jacob Lew visited India for the fifth meeting of the Economic and Financial Partnership Initiative with our Finance Minister. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx visited India in April for meeting with his counterpart Ministers in India. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter paid a bilateral visit to India in June. From the Indian side, Finance Minister and MOS (IC) for Environment, Forests & Climate Change visited Washington DC in April, the former for the Spring meeting of the IMF/World Bank and the latter for the Major Economies’ Forum meeting. Finance Minister again visited the U.S. in June to promote Investment into India. External Affairs Minister and MOS(IC) for Commerce & Industry co-chaired the first meeting of the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue with their U.S. counterparts in Washington DC in September. MOS(IC) for Power held the Energy Dialogue with his U.S. counterpart in September in Washington DC. MOS(IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy also attended the Climate and Clean Energy Investment Forum 2015 hosted by Secretary of State Kerry in Washington DC in October. MOS(IC) for Commerce & Industry held the 9th meeting of the Trade Policy Forum with the U.S.
Trade Representative in Washington DC in October. Raksha Mantri visited the U.S. at the invitation of his U.S. counterpart in December 2015. Chief Minister of Haryana led a delegation of the State government in August. There have been numerous visits of parliamentarians and senior officials in both directions.
There have been regular contacts at political and official levels on bilateral, regional and global issues. Foreign Office Consultations, at the level of Foreign Secretary of India and US Undersecretary for Political Affairs, are an important part of the dialogue structure. The last round of Foreign Office Consultations was held in New Delhi in April 2015. A new High-level Consultation between Foreign Secretary of India and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, and a Policy Planning Dialogue were launched in September 2015; these two mechanisms have already met for the first time, respectively in December 2015 and November 2015 in New Delhi. India and U.S. have in recent years instituted structured dialogues covering East Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, Africa and the Indian Ocean Region. India and the U.S. also have a trilateral with Japan (the first Ministerial-level meeting of the Foreign Ministers took place on 29 September 2015 in New York) and a trilateral with Afghanistan (last meeting held in 2013). Matters relating to international security and disarmament, multilateral export control regimes are reviewed under the Strategic Security Dialogue, while issues relating to high-technology trade are discussed in the India-U.S. High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG); both these groups, led by Foreign Secretary of India and her counterparts in the US Departments of State and Commerce respectively, last met in November 2014 in New Delhi. The two sides have agreed to work closely for India’s phased entry into the global export control regimes to strengthen global non-proliferation, arms control, as well as nuclear security.
The bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement was finalized in July 2007 and signed in October 2008. During Prime Minister Modi's visit to the US in September 2014, the two sides set up a Contact Group for advancing the full and timely implementation of the India-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, and to resolve pending issues. The Group has held five meetings so far, and reached agreement on the compatibility of India's nuclear liability law with relevant international conventions and creation of an insurance pool drawing experience of best practices to take care of nuclear liability risk. Currently, company-level discussions are on with two U.S. companies --- M/s Westinghouse and GE Hitachi --- regarding techno-commercial viability of their reactors in sites in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh respectively.
Defense relationship has emerged as a major pillar of India-U.S. strategic partnership with the signing of ‘New Framework for India-U.S. Defense Relations’ in 2005 and the resulting intensification in defense trade, joint exercises, personnel exchanges, collaboration and cooperation in maritime security and counter-piracy, and exchanges between each of the three services. The Defense Framework Agreement was updated and renewed for another 10 years in June 2015.
The two countries now conduct more bilateral exercises with each other than they do with any other country. An Indian Navy ship took part in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in 2014 for the first time. Bilateral dialogue mechanisms in the field of defense include Defense Policy Group (DPG), Defense Joint Working Group (DJWG), Defense Procurement and Production Group (DPPG), Senior Technology Security Group (STSG), Joint Technical Group (JTG), Military Cooperation Group (MCG), and Service-to-Service Executive Steering Groups (ESGs). Aggregate worth of defense acquisition from U.S. Defense has crossed over US$ 13 billion. India and the United States have launched a Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) aimed at simplifying technology transfer policies and exploring possibilities of co-development and co-production to invest the defense relationship with strategic value. The DTTI Working Group and its Task Force will expeditiously evaluate and decide on unique projects and technologies which would have a transformative impact on bilateral defense relations and enhance India's defense industry and military capabilities. During President Obama's visit in January 2015, the two sides agreed to start cooperation on 4 DTTI pathfinder projects and 2 pathfinder initiatives, which are currently at various stages of execution. During RM's visit in December 2015, the two sides also identified opportunities for bilateral cooperation in production and design of jet engine components.
Cooperation in counter-terrorism has seen considerable progress with intelligence sharing, information exchange, operational cooperation, counter-terrorism technology and equipment. India-US Counter-Terrorism Cooperation Initiative was signed in 2010 to expand collaboration on counter-terrorism, information sharing and capacity building. A Homeland Security Dialogue was announced during President Obama's visit to India in November 2010 to further deepen operational cooperation, counter-terrorism technology transfers and capacity building. Two rounds of this Dialogue have been held, in May 2011 and May 2013, with six Sub-Groups steering cooperation in specific areas. In December 2013, India-U.S Police Chief Conference on homeland security was organized in New Delhi. Police Commissioners from India's top four metropolis paid a study visit to the U.S. to learn the practices of megacities policing in the U.S. in November 2015. The two sides have agreed on a joint work plan to counter the threat of Improvised Explosives Device (IED).
From a modest $ 5.6 billion in 1990, the bilateral trade in merchandise goods increased to $ 66.9 billion in 2014. India's merchandise exports to the U.S. stood at $34.57 billion during the period January - September 2015, while US exports of merchandise to India was worth $ 16.54 billion in the same period. India - U.S. bilateral merchandise trade during the period January - September 2015 was $ 51.11 billion. During the year 2012 (the latest year for which complete data on services trade is available), bilateral trade in services totaled $58.76 billion, of which U.S exports of services to India amounted to $30.17 billion and India’s exports of services to the U.S. added up to $28.59 billion. During Prime Minister's visit to the U.S. in September 2014, the two sides set a target to increase bilateral trade in goods & services to $500 billion.
According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S direct investments in India is estimated at about $28 billion in 2014. As per Indian official statistics, the cumulative FDI inflows from the US from April 2000 to September 2014 amounted to about US$ 13.19 billion constituting nearly 6 % of the total FDI into India, making the U.S. the sixth largest source of foreign direct investments into India. In recent years, growing Indian investments into the US, has been a novel feature of bilateral ties. More than 65 large Indian corporations, including Reliance Industries Limited, Essar America, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Piramal, have together invested about US$ 17 billion in the U.S.
There are several dialogue mechanisms to strengthen bilateral engagement on economic and trade issues, including a Ministerial level Economic and Financial Partnership (last met in New Delhi in February 2015) and a Ministerial Trade Policy Forum (last met in Washington in October 2015). For greater involvement of private sector in discussion on issues involving trade and investment, there is a bilateral India- US CEO's Forum, which held its last round of meeting in September 2015 in Washington D.C. coinciding with the Strategic & Commercial Dialogue.
During Prime Minister Modi's visit in September 2014, it was decided to establish an India-US Investment initiative, with a special focus on facilitating FDI, portfolio investment, capital market development and financing of infrastructure and an US-India
Platform to deploy cutting edge U.S technologies to meet India’s infrastructure needs. Both these dialogues have held meetings in 2015. US firms will be lead partners in developing Allahabad, Ajmer and Vishakhapatnam as Smart Cities. USAID will serve as knowledge partner for the Urban India Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) alliance with to help leverage business and civil society (Gates Foundation) to facilitate access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation in 500 Indian cities.
The U.S.-India Energy Dialogue was launched in May 2005 to promote trade and investment in the energy sector, and held its last meeting in September 2015 in Washington DC. There are six working groups in oil & gas, coal, power and energy efficiency, new technologies & renewable energy, civil nuclear co-operation and sustainable development under the Energy Dialogue.
Investment by Indian companies like Reliance, Essar and GAIL in the U.S. natural gas market is ushering in a new era of India-U.S. energy partnership. The US Department of Energy has so far given its approval for export of LNG from seven liquefaction terminals in the US, to countries with which the US does not have a free trade agreement (FTA) - with two of these five terminals, the Indian public sector entity, Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has off-take agreements, totaling nearly 6 million metric tons per annum (MTPA). These terminals are expected to be complete and in a position to export cargoes by late 2016/early 2017.
As a priority initiative under the PACE (Partnership to Advance Clean Energy), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Government of India have established the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC) designed to promote clean energy innovations by teams of scientists from India and the United States, with a total joint committed funding from both Governments of US$ 50 million.
India and the US are advancing cooperation and dialogue on climate change through a high-level Climate Change Working Group and a Joint Working Group on Hydrofluorocarbon. In November 2014, an MoU between US EXIM Bank and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) was concluded to provide US$ 1 billion in financing for India’s transition to a low-carbon economy. A new U.S.-India Partnership for Climate Resilience has been agreed to, in order to advance capacity for climate adaptation planning, as also a new U.S.-India Climate Fellowship Program to build long-term capacity to address climate change-related issues.
Cooperation in education sector has been made an integral part of the strategic partnership between the two countries. The Fulbright program was renewed in 2008, with enhanced mandate and joint funding, to provide more student and scholar exchange grants. About 130,000 Indian students are pursuing advanced degrees in the US. The Higher Education Dialogue, which has had four meetings since 2011 (last in November 2014 in New Delhi), laid out the road map for promoting strategic institutional partnerships, deepening collaboration in research and development, fostering partnerships in vocational education and focusing on junior faculty development.
India is learning from the U.S. experience in community colleges in order to meet our demands for skill-development. It has been agreed to collaborate with U.S. institutions in the area of Technology Enabled Learning and Massive Open On-line Courses (MOOCs) to extend the reach of education in India. Under the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) launched by India, up to 1000 American academics will be invited and hosted each year to teach in Indian universities at their convenience. The two sides are also collaborating to establish a new Indian Institute of Technology in Ahmedabad.
A bilateral Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation provides a forum for discussion on joint activities in space, including
The last meeting of the JWG was held in September 2015 in Bengaluru. NASA and ISRO are collaborating for India's Mars Orbiter Mission and for a dual-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR).
The India-U.S. S&T cooperation has been steadily growing under the framework of U.S.-India Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement signed in October 2005. There is an Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Joint Commission, co-chaired by the Science Advisor to U.S. President and Indian Minister of S&T. The U.S. attended as the partner country at the Technology Summit 2014 at New Delhi.
In 2000, both the governments endowed the India-U.S. Science & Technology Forum (IUSSTF) to facilitate mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in science, engineering, and health. Over the past decade, the IUSSTF has facilitated more than 12,000 interactions between Indian and U.S. scientists, supported over 250 bilateral workshops and established over 30 joint research centers. The U.S.-India Science & Technology Endowment Fund, established in 2009, under the Science and Technology Endowment Board promote commercialization of jointly developed innovative technologies with the potential for positive societal impact.
Collaboration between the Ministry of Earth Sciences and US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has been strengthened under the 2008 MOU on Earth Observations and Earth Sciences. A "monsoon desk" has been established at the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction. India's contribution of $250 million towards Thirty-Meter Telescope Project in Hawaii and Indian Initiative in Gravitational Observations (IndiGO) with U.S. LIGO Laboratory are examples of joint collaboration to create a world-class research facilities.
Under the 2010 U.S.-India Health Initiative, four working groups have been organized in the areas of Non-Communicable Diseases, Infectious Diseases, Strengthening Health Systems and Services, and Maternal and Child Health. In order to build up the disease surveillance and epidemiological capacity in India, Global Disease Detection-India Centre was established in 2010 and an Epidemic Intelligence Service program launched in Oct 2012. U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and India's Department of Biotechnology have developed a robust relationship in the biomedical and behavioral health sciences, research related to HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, eye disease, hearing disorders, mental health, and low-cost medical technologies. In the first meeting of the Health Dialogue in September 2015 in Washington DC, both sides agreed to collaborate institutionally in the new areas of mental health and regulatory and capacity-building aspects of traditional medicine.
The 3.5-million-plus strong Indian American community is an important ethnic group in the U.S., accounting for about 1% of the total population in the country. Indian American community includes a large number of professionals, business entrepreneurs and educationalists with increasing influence in the society. With two Indian Americans occupying high level posts of Governor and several representatives of the people, the Indian Diaspora has assimilated into their adopted country and is acting as a catalyst to forge closer and stronger ties between India and USA.
Cultural cooperation between India and the U.S. is rich and manifest in diverse ways. Apart from the India-focused educational programs at the Universities and educational institutions, many private institutions teach Indian cultural arts. In addition to the website ‘www.indianembassy.org’ and social media channels, the Embassy provides updated information on various aspects of India that are relevant to the United States, through its various digital newsletters, including the weekly “India: Partner in Growth”, focusing on business and strategic matters, and the monthly “India Live", providing information on initiatives of the Embassy and the Consulates, major developments in India, and in culture and tourism.
Cultural activities by the Embassy are grouped into five distinct series viz. Reading India Series (featuring events related to Indian authors and writings), Performing Indian Series (featuring music, dance and theatre), Beholding India Series (film screening, art and photo exhibitions), Understanding India Series (featuring lectures on comprehensive and cross-sectional views of India), and Young India Series (cultural events catering specifically to younger audience).
Indian media is present in strength in the U.S., including PTI, IANS, Times of India, The Hindu, The Hindustan Times, Outlook, Pioneer and other Indian media organizations, which have correspondents based in Washington D.C. and other major cities. The Indian TV channels represented in the U.S. include NDTV, Times Now, CNN-IBN and Asia TV. Reflecting the growing relevance of Internet based information dissemination, correspondents from websites like Rediff.com, Firstpost.com based here also cover the India-U.S. relations.
January 2016