BILATERAL ISSUES

ISRAEL

Statement by the Official Spokesperson on the full normalisation of relations between UAE and Israel, during the virtual weekly media briefing, New Delhi, 14 August 2020.

India has consistently supported peace, stability and development in West Asia, which is its extended neighbourhood. In that context, we welcome the full normalization of ties between UAE and Israel. Both nations are key strategic partners of India.

India continues its traditional support for the Palestinian cause. We hope to see early resumption of direct negotiations to find an acceptable two-state solution. Source: Embassy of India, Tel Aviv.

KUWAIT

Third Open House Session of Embassy of India - “Special Focus – Indian Engineers in Kuwait”, Kuwait, 31 August 2020.

The next Open House meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 02, 2020. Open Houses will continue to be held every Wednesday at 3:30 P.M. at the Embassy premises. Ambassador/Deputy Chief of Mission/Heads of Community Welfare, Consular and Labour Wings and other concerned officers of the Mission will be present at the Open House meetings. These open house sessions will be in addition to the daily open house meetings currently being held by the Consular officer.

The Focus of this upcoming Open House will be “Indian Engineers in Kuwait”

The Open House sessions will be held in complete adherence to all the COVID-19 related health and safety guidelines, including on social distancing, set by the concerned authorities of the State of Kuwait.

In view of the prevailing situation due to COVID-19, participation at the Open House meetings would be limited and registrations for the meetings will be on a first come first serve basis. For registering interest, please send an email, which may also contain a gist of the grievances/suggestions, to community.kuwait@mea.gov.in. A confirmation email will be sent to the registered attendees. Source: Embassy of India, Kuwait.

LEBANON

India sends humanitarian aid to Lebanon, Beirut, 14 August 2020.

Embassy of India, Beirut today handed over more than 70 MT of emergency humanitarian aid on behalf of the Government of India to the Government and People of Lebanon.

India has been standing in solidarity with Lebanon ever since the tragic explosions of August 4, 2020, which led to loss of more than 170 lives and left a major part of central Beirut damaged and devastated.

The aid contains crucial medical supplies for handling immediate aftermath of the trauma and other illnesses. Food aid includes wheat flour, sugar and lentils. The aid also contains other relief supplies like blankets and mattresses which are required in light of large number of people being rendered homeless. The aid, which was brought by a special Indian Air Force C-17 plane was handed over by Ambassador Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan, today morning, to the senior officials of Lebanese Armed Forces which is coordinating all the relief efforts.

In light of the spike in the Covid-19 cases in Lebanon, Government of India will also supply Personal Protection Equipment to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, including surgical gloves and surgical gowns, shortly.

India and Lebanon have been close friends, and India has been helping Lebanon with capacity building programmes as part of its ITEC programme. Indian contingent at UNIFIL has been discharging its duties with utmost professionalism for the past 20 years and has won hearts and minds of the local communities with its various socially meaningful outreach programmes.

The Embassy of India, Beirut once again expresses sincere condolences to the people of Lebanon for loss of lives due to August 4 explosions and reiterate that India stands ready to help its friends as a dependable partner. Source: Embassy of India, Beirut.

TURKEY

Reaction of Official Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, India, to the statement made by the Official Spokesperson the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey, New Delhi, 07 August 2020.

“We have seen the statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. The statement is factually incorrect, biased and unwarranted. We urge the government of Turkey to get proper understanding of the situation on the ground and refrain from interfering in the matters internal to India”. Source: Embassy of India, Ankara.

UAE

External Affairs Minister and Foreign Minister of UAE Co-Chair 13th India-UAE JCM, New Delhi, 17 August 2020.

​The 13th Session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation was held virtually on 17 August 2020. The meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of India and H.H. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates.

​On 13 August 2020, the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) was also held virtually between H.E. Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Secretary (Consular, Passport and Visa & Overseas Indian Affairs), Ministry of External Affairs of India and H.E. Abdul Nasser Al Shaali, Assistant Minister of Economic and Trade Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates.

​In preparation for the JCM and SOM, virtual meetings of the members of the 5 Sub-Committees from India and the UAE on Overview and High-level exchanges; Economic, Trade and Investment cooperation; Consular & Community Affairs cooperation; Defence and security cooperation; and Education, culture and youth cooperation were held on 10 and 11 August 2020.

​Wide-ranging discussions were held in a friendly, frank and constructive atmosphere, reflecting the strong bilateral ties between the two strategic partners.

​Noting the close political relations between the two countries, both sides expressed satisfaction over the sustenance of momentum in the bilateral relations in various areas for mutual benefit under the aegis of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. They agreed to strengthen cooperation in ongoing areas and also to explore cooperation in newer areas reflecting the changing times.

​​In this context, both sides welcomed the close cooperation during the last few months in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and discussed a joint strategy to offset the economic and social impact of the pandemic on both countries.

​Both Ministers noted with satisfaction the progress on institutional mechanisms which continue to guide and promote the multifaceted bilateral cooperation through an extensive framework of agreements.

​Both sides also discussed the regional issues pertaining to their neighbourhood and cooperation at the United Nations and other multilateral fora.

​Both sides expressed optimism over the growing trade, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries. The Indian side invited further investments from UAE in key sectors of the Indian economy such as infrastructure including logistics, food parks, highways, ports, airports, renewable energy and defence. The UAE side conveyed appreciation for the significant contributions made by the Indian expatriate community and expressed its willingness to further strengthen links in energy and food security.

​Both sides agreed to hold the next Session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting in Abu Dhabi in 2021. The specific dates of the Meeting will be finalised by both sides through diplomatic channels. Source: Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi.

MULTILATERAL ISSUES

OIC

OIC Urges Again for Abstention from Changing the Demographic Composition of Jammu and Kashmir, Jeddah, 04 August 2020.

A year has elapsed since the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was withdrawn. On this occasion, the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) calls again for abstaining from changing the demographic composition of the disputed region.

Recalling the resolutions of the Islamic Summit and Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) on Jammu and Kashmir, the General Secretariat reaffirms the OIC’s solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and urges for security operations against the people of Jammu and Kashmir to be halted immediately and for basic human rights to be respected, while abstaining from changing the demographic composition of the disputed territories.

The OIC General Secretariat reiterates its call for the settlement of the conflict in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Source: Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

As part of the policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spellings and date format to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND P R Kumaraswamy