New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will pay a three-day visit to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia starting from Friday, the first visit by an Indian foreign minister in the last five years, during which the kingdom's Nitaqat work policy, regional and international issues would be discussed.
As many as 56,700 Indians face deportation from Saudi Arabia in the next one-and-half months and ten officials have been dispatched to the kingdom to help the Indian mission prepare emergency certificates for their exit, Khurshid said on Thursday.
Khurshid's visit comes days after the trip of a high level Indian delegation, led by Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, to the kingdom to discuss the Nitaqat law, under which is it mandatory for local companies to hire one Saudi national for every 10 migrant workers.
Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed and Advisor to Prime Minister TKA Nair were also part of the delegation that met Saudi Arabian Labour Minister Adel Fakieh last month to convey India's concern over the Nitaqat programme introduced eariler this year....
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06:15 AM, May 24, 2013
New Delhi: As many as 56,700 Indians face deportation from Saudi Arabia in the next one-and-half months and ten officials have been dispatched to the kingdom to help the Indian mission prepare emergency certificates for their exit, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday. "As of now, 56,700 Indians have registered with the Indian mission for getting exit permits as they have no valid passports or other travel documents,"...
05:05 AM, May 24, 2013
New Delhi: The first meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) to ensure greater independence for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will take place on Thursday in the Finance Minister's office. The government had set up the GoM after the Supreme Court had pulled it over the lack of functional autonomy to the CBI. The Supreme Court in its order has asked the government to bring a law which...
02:20 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Congress leader Salman Khurshid hit a optimistic note when he told CNN-IBN on Wednesday that the UPA-II government was not in a crisis and hoped to complete its term. The Minister of External Affairs was speaking on the performance of the UPA-II as it completes its four years on Wednesday. The Union minister also took on the Bharatiya Janata Party for obstructing Parliament and stalling the government's initiatives...
04:58 PM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: India had flagged its concerns about Chinese construction activity in Pakistan-administered Kashmir during talks between Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said in Delhi on Tuesday. "Chinese construction activity in PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) is a cause of concern for us. We raised the issue during talks... We flagged our concerns... We were assured they are development projects," Khurshid told reporters here...
03:51 AM, May 22, 2013
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who is on a three-day tour to India, said that the two countries have far more common interests than differences. ...
01:50 PM, May 21, 2013
Beijing: India is ready to write a new chapter of its relationship with China and the two countries should align their positions in many areas despite differences, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on the eve of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to India. "This visit is special because it is the first visit abroad by the Chinese premier since he assumed office in March. The relationship between our two...
03:05 AM, May 19, 2013
Thimpu: Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai arrived here on Wednesday to hold consultations with senior Bhutanese officials during which status of India-assisted projects and other key bilateral issues will be discussed. Mathai is scheduled to meet the Chief Adviser of the Interim Government Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay and call on the King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck apart from meeting other senior officials, during his three-day visit. Earlier this year, External...
06:05 PM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will visit Saudi Arabia on May 24-27, the first visit by an Indian foreign minister in the last five years, during which the kingdom's Nitaqat work policy, regional and international issues would be discussed. Then external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee had visited Saudi Arabia in 2008. Khurshid's visit comes days after the trip of a high level Indian delegation, led by Overseas Indian...
11:40 PM, May 14, 2013
A week after the Supreme Court pulled up the Government over its control on the functioning of the CBI, the Prime Minister on Tuesday constituted a Group of Ministers to review the SC's directives on CBI autonomy. The GoM is headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram and will include V Narayanasamy, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and Manish Tewari. ...
07:14 PM, May 14, 2013
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday hoped that India will continue to have good relations with Pakistan if former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif comes to power after the general elections there. "A new government is going to be formed in Pakistan and we believe that setting up of a democratic government will strengthen our bilateral ties. Our Prime Minister will soon be sending across his best wishes...
06:17 PM, May 12, 2013
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said that India favours whatever result that comes out of a democratic election. ...
10:59 AM, May 12, 2013
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who reached New Delhi on Saturday after his two-day China visit, said that his meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing was "fruitful" and the two countries are working on new border agreement. "India and China underlined things like recent incursion should not happen and agreed that this issue should not come in way of improving ties," the minister said at a press...
05:18 PM, May 11, 2013
Beijing: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's visit to China reaffirmed the consensus of the two neighbours to achieve win-win results despite attempts by Western media to drive a wedge between the two counties, Chinese media said on Friday. Khurshid's trip drew world's attention as it took place soon after a border incident between the two nations, and Western media tended to cast China-India ties in the light of "border row"...
08:30 AM, May 11, 2013
Beijing: China-India relations have "strategic significance" and "global impact" as both are large developing countries and emerging markets, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told India's visiting External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in Beijing on Friday. Later, Khurshid also met Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who also pledged to strengthen ties between the two countries. Premier Li highlighted the importance that the new Chinese government has placed on developing ties with India,...
04:25 AM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: Four days after the face off with Chinese troops ended at Raki Nulla in eastern Ladakh, there's no clarity in Delhi on just why it happened. Indian diplomats expect some of the fog will clear when External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid returns from Beijing. "It could have been a signal to India, that they wanted movement on the draft of the defence cooperation agreement they had handed over...
03:35 PM, May 10, 2013
Beijing: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday said China has responded positively to India's concerns over dams being built by them on the River Brahmaputra. Khurshid was all praise for the Chinese and said both countries have shown maturity in dealing with the border crisis. Khurshid is likely to meet the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang later on Friday. "We raised the Brahmaputra issue. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too raised...
10:07 AM, May 10, 2013
Bejing: China has not yet given any reason for the recent intrusion in Ladakh, an episode that has cast a shadow on bilateral ties, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday. The three-week stand-off figured prominently in talks between Khurshid and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi with both expressing satisfaction on its resolution while skirting a detailed discussion on why the Chinese troops intruded 19 kms into Indian territory...
12:46 AM, May 10, 2013
Beijing: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid arrived in Beijing on Thursday on a two-day visit for the talks with Chinese leaders, just days after the resolution of a row over Depsang Valley in Ladakh where the troops of People's Liberation Army intruded recently. Besides talks with his counterpart Wang Yi, Khurshid is expected to meet new Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who is planning to visit India later this month, making...
11:40 AM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday said there was "no deal" between India and China for ending the 21-day stand-off between the armies of the two countries in Ladakh. "No deals in international levels... we do not do deals at this level," he said when asked if India and China had cut a deal to end the stand-off. Reports have suggested that it was only after India...
03:46 PM, May 08, 2013
