Netherlands
On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, who recently secured his fourth term in office following a win in the Netherlands’ parliamentary elections. During the virtual meet, the leaders are scheduled to discuss further strengthening their bilateral friendship during Rutte’s tenure.
United States
American Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry concluded his visit to India on Thursday, during which he focussed on bolstering bilateral ties between the two countries, with a specific focus on addressing climate change.
During his trip, Kerry met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to a statement by the United States (US) Department of State, the two leaders reiterated their combined commitment to “combat climate change” and to “creatively collaborate on a 2030 agenda for clean and green technologies in the service of the planet”. In this regard, Kerry spoke of American President Joe Biden’s support towards the “enduring comprehensive global strategic partnership with India and the importance of two of the world’s largest economies leading together on climate action”. The statement further said that the two sides agreed on the importance of bolstering bilateral cooperation on several related issues, including “energy storage, green hydrogen, clean industrial processes, and sustainable urbanisation and agriculture”.
Apart from his meeting with the prime minister, Kerry also convened discussions with Indian Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh, Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Pramod Kumar Mishra, and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change
The virtual two-day discussion of the 30th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was concluded on Thursday. Indian Minister for Environment Prakash Javadekar chaired the meeting, which saw the participation of Ricardo Salles, the Minister of the Environment of Brazil, HUANG Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, Xie Zhenhua, China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Barbara Creecy, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment of the Republic of South Africa.
A joint statement issued following the talks said that the ministers extended their support to the ongoing Chilean presidency of COP 25, along with the upcoming presidency of the United Kingdom (UK) of COP 26. Further, it said that the ministers “reiterated the need to organise work in a manner that upholds the principles of inclusivity, transparency, and effective participation so that the negotiated outcome is one that is Party-driven, and consensus-based.” Keeping this in mind, they expressed their commitment to work for COP 26’s success and support developing countries to ensure their participation in any virtual meetings. Additionally, they called upon developed countries to “revisit their targets on mitigation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, and fulfil their commitments of providing support to developing countries”.
The leaders also discussed the various challenges faced by members in achieving their climate action ambitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and reviewed the steps taken by the BASIC countries in furtherance of their climate commitments.
Seychelles
On Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a virtual discussion with the President of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalwan. The meeting was held to inaugurate several India-backed development assistance projects in Seychelles. The two leaders participated in the e-inauguration of the Magistrates’ Court building in Seychelles, a 1 MW ground-mounted Solar Power Plant, and ten High Impact Community Development Projects. Furthermore, Prime Minister Modi also handed over a 48.9 m Fast Patrol Vessel to Ramkalwan.
According to a statement released by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Prime Minister Modi “emphasised the importance of development partnership in people-oriented infrastructure projects in further strengthening cooperation with Seychelles.” In response, President Wavel Ramkalawan “expressed his deep gratitude for India’s continuous support in meeting the security and developmental needs of Seychelles as reflective of the strong and close ties between the two countries.”
Maldives
On the same day, India and the Maldives came together for the First Meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, Countering Violent Extremism and De-Radicalisation. Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, represented the Indian side. Meanwhile, the Maldivian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed.
During the discussion, the leaders celebrated the “cordial and constructive atmosphere” between the two countries, which they attributed to the joint leadership of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. According to a statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, they “strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terrorism and emphasised the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner”. Further, they exchanged views on several related issues, including “countering radicalisation and violent extremism, combating the financing of terrorism, preventing exploitation of the internet for terrorism and violent extremism, information sharing, capacity building and establishing institutional linkages between police, security forces, Customs, Immigration and other relevant agencies”.
Bahrain
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar co-chaired the 3rd India-Bahrain High Joint Commission (HJC) along with his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani on Wednesday. According to a statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, they discussed the need to collaborate on issues including “oil and gas, trade and investment, health, food security, defence, security, renewable energy, education, culture and digital technologies.”
The Bahraini minister celebrated the role played by the Indian community in furthering the development of Bahrain. Further, he expressed his gratitude to the Indian side for supplying Covishield vaccines and helping the country combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In turn, S. Jaishankar thanked the Bahraini side for their support to the Indian community in Bahrain during the coronavirus crisis. He also celebrated Bahrain’s inauguration as the Chair of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Russia
Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in New Delhi on Tuesday for extensive talks on the nations’ bilateral partnership and various areas of mutual concern. Lavrov arrived in India on Monday evening for a nearly 19-hour visit.
At a press conference following their meeting, Jaishankar said that much of their discussions focused on preparations for the upcoming summit between President Putin and Prime Minister Modi later this year. The countries have a mechanism under which their leaders meet annually to review bilateral ties, and 20 of such dialogues have taken place alternatively in India and Russia so far. The 2020 conference was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lavrov said that the talks between the officials were “constructive, useful, and trustworthy, as is usual in relations between Russia and India,” and expressed satisfaction that the political dialogue between the two sides had remained “dynamic” despite the pandemic. The minister said that they agreed to collectively step up efforts to boost bilateral trade and build investment cooperation under the countries’ national programs. Jaishankar added that the talks also featured discussions on the countries’ “longstanding partnership in nuclear, space and defence sectors,” UN Security Council (UNSC) issues, initiatives aimed at building connectivity, “including the International North-South Transport Corridor and the Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor,” and opportunities for pharmaceutical collaboration.
The ministers also spoke about the Afghan peace process, and the role their nations could play in facilitating a long-lasting solution to the country’s civil war. Lavrov stressed that any conflict resolution efforts “must include the participation of all political, ethnic and religious groups in Afghanistan,” including the Taliban, to ensure sustainable peace. “Any other approach that leaves a particular group out of the process will not lead to a realistic and sustainable agreement, and will include the risk of renewed hostilities, which is not what the participants of the current process are trying to achieve,” he added.
Jaishankar echoed this sentiment, saying that there was a need to “harmonise” the interests of various stakeholders in and around the country. “For India, what happens in Afghanistan impacts its security directly. I shared our approach that a durable peace there would require harmonising interests of all, both within and around that country. The peace process must be based on foundational principles to which we all subscribe. And a political solution should mean an independent, sovereign, united and democratic Afghanistan,” he said.
Vietnam
On the same day, India and Vietnam met virtually to discuss ways to strengthen their maritime security cooperation to adapt to the evolving regional environment. The discussions took place as part of the second maritime security dialogue between the two allies. According to a statement released by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, “The consultations involved exchanges on developments in the domain of maritime security, regional cooperation activities and opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.”
In recent years, defence and security ties between the two countries have expanded steadily. In 2016, India and Vietnam upgraded their relationship to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership. Since then, defence cooperation has been a strong pillar of the rapidly expanding bilateral relationship and India has been an enthusiastic supporter of Vietnam’s naval modernisation.
Under a $100 million defence credit line, India is currently in the process of building 12 high-speed patrol boats for Vietnam, while talks on “collaboration on ship construction and surface and subsurface capacity at sea” have also taken place. Further, the Indian Armed Forces have assisted the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in capacity building, especially in the field of human resource development. India has also expressed a willingness to enhance the scope and level of training for all three sectors of the Vietnamese defence force in Indian defence institutes.
Indian Diplomacy: Weekly Round-Up (3 - 9 April, 2021)
This week, Indian authorities convened several meetings with officials from the United States, Bahrain, and Russia, amongst others.
April 9, 2021
American Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. SOURCE: SIASAT