INDIA Newsletter
#1 2016 January - March
Message from H.E. Mrs. Banashri Bose Harrison Ambassador of India to Sweden and Latvia Dear Readers of our Newsletter; Dear Friends of India in Sweden & Latvia, The team at the Indian Embassy hopes that the first quarter of 2016 has been as good for all of you as it has been for India-Sweden Relations. Prime Minister Löfven paid an immensely successful visit to Mumbai on 13-14 February during which he had a very fruitful meeting with Prime Minister Modi. The Joint Statement issued after this meeting was very aptly titled ‘New Momentum, Higher Ambition’ and sets out the roadmap for the bright future of bilateral ties. Prime Minister Löfven was accompanied by a high-level government and business delegation which participated actively in the first Make in India Week, where Sweden had the largest country pavilion. The visit was the occasion for the launch of the Sweden-India Business Leaders Roundtable (SIBLERT) which would be chaired by Mr. Marcus Wallenburg and Mr. Baba Kalyani. To highlight Sweden’s longstanding role in India’s growth, the Indian Embassy had taken the initiative of bringing out a booklet called ‘Sweden Makes in India’ which compiled the stories of eleven leading Swedish companies that have been making in India, many for several decades and also the thoughts of the global CEOs of these companies about the impact of Prime Minister Modi’s Make in India programme. You can imagine how proud my team and I felt when Prime Minister Modi handed over this booklet to Prime Minister Löfven as soon as they started their bilateral meeting! You can read this booklet on our website and if you want a hard copy, please send an email to amboffice@indianembassy.se. As in previous years, the 67th Republic Day was celebrated twice over. A reception on 25th January was attended by a host of dignitaries including the Hon’ble Minister of Housing, Urban Development and information Technology Mr. Mehmet Kaplan and the Hon’ble Defence Minister Peter Hulqvist. The guests enjoyed the cultural performances as well as the flavourful Indian cuisine. In addition, they had the chance to learn about Indian teas, coffees and handicrafts. The unfurling of the Indian flag followed by a webcast of the Hon’ble President’s Address to the Nation on 26th January concluded the celebrations. I would like to thank each and every one who participated in these celebrations. Talking of celebrations, it is heart-warming to see the way in which Holi, the most joyous and colourful Indian festival has become increasingly popular in Sweden and an occasion for the Indian community to share the Indian culture and traditions with the people of Sweden, who join in so enthusiastically. I have attended two such celebrations already and two more are planned in April. The spirit of Holi clearly doesn’t remain confined to the actual date of the festival in India! With Latvia, the bilateral relations got a big boost with the visit of the Culture Minister Ms. Dace Melbarde. We are also very pleased about the eager support we are seeing in Latvia for promoting Yoga and Ayurveda. We were also very glad to start a little ‘India corner’ in the impressive National Library of Latvia. As some of you may know, exciting events are in the offing over the next few weeks under the India Unlimited platform- the 3rd Cinema Indien - a unique festival of Indian films from April 21 to 24 in Sture Biografen (see cinemaindien.se for the programme and other details), a Hackathon on April 22-23, a business conference on the broad theme of ‘Making & Innovating in a New India’ on May 2-3 in Stockholm and May 4 in Gothenburg and the 2nd Namaste Stockholm on May 21 (for details see http://indiaunlimited.se/2016program/. We will also be celebrating the 2nd International Day of Yoga on June 21 in Riga as well as Stockholm. Save the dates and come in large numbers to make these events a success! As always, I look forward to receiving your feedback through emails to ambassador@indianembassy.se. Sincerely, (Mrs) Banashri Bose Harrison / ( Ambassador of India / 1
INDIA & SWEDEN
Swedish PM visits India
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven visited India from February 13-14 for the ‘Make in India’ Week in Mumbai. He was accompanied by State Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Hans Dahlgren, State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Jan Salestrand and the State Secretary in the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation Mr. Oscar Stenström and a large business delegation. He had bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Modi on February 13. The Joint Statement issued after the meeting identified, inter alia, defence, infrastructure, urban development, education, S&T, environment, health and space as important sectors for further cooperation.
Swedish Prime Minister with the Indian Prime Minister
PM Löfven gave an address at the inauguration of the Make in India Week on February 13. On February 14, Prime Minister Löfven and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley jointly launched the Sweden-India Business Leaders Round Table (SIBLERT). This event was attended by more than 60 leading business persons from both sides. He also met the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Prime Minister Löfven also visited the facilities of Swedish companies Tetra Pak and Ericsson in Pune on February 14. Pune is one of the major investment and industrial hubs for Swedish companies in India. State Secretary for Enterprise & Innovation.Mr. Oscar Stenström and the members of the Swedish business delegation had several important meetings including with the Minister of Communications & Information Technology Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Minister for Road Transport, Highways & Shipping Mr. Nitin Gadkari and the Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Mr. Anant Geete on February 14-15. State Secretary for Defence Mr. Jan Salestrand had a meeting with the Minister for Defence Mr. Manohar Parrikar on February 15. A Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in Railways was signed on February 15.
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The Two Prime Ministers inaugurating the Swedish pavilion in the Make in India Centre
Maharashtra’s Minister of Foods; Women and Child Development and Ambassador Harrison bid farewell to Prime Minister Löfven as he leaves Mumbai to go to Pune
The visit of the Swedish Prime Minister in February 2016 following the landmark visit of President of India to Sweden in June 2015 has further strengthened mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation between the two countries and added momentum to collaboration in the important focus areas identified during the meeting between the two Prime Ministers.
Prime Minister Löfven with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra & Mr. Martin Lundstedt, CEO of Volvo at the handing over of the first Volvo electric bus to Mumbai municipality
Seminar on ‘Make in India’ Embassy, in collaboration with the Sweden India Business Council, organized a Breakfast Seminar on January 18 on “Make in India : Updates & Results” with the twin objectives of presenting the progress report of the Make in India Programme and to inform about the Make in India Week from February 13-18, 2016 in Mumbai. Ambassador briefed the audience on the steps taken and results achieved including 48% increase in FDI since the launch of the programme. A film received from the Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy on the results of the Make in India was screened followed by a panel discussion and an interactive session. The seminar was attended by more than 70 executives from Swedish and Indian companies including SAAB, Ericsson and Volvo Trucks.
Republic Day Celebrations
Indian Ambassador and Defence Attaché Group Captain Wahi with the honoured guest - Swedish Minister for Housing, Urban Development & IT, and Swedish Defence Minister
A reception to celebrate India’s 67th Republic Day was organized on January 25 at Hotel Sheraton. The Swedish Minister for Housing, Urban Development and IT, Mr. Mehmet Kaplan, was the Chief Guest. The reception was attended by over 250 guests including the Swedish Defence Minister, Mr. Peter Hultqvist; the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms. Esabelle Dingizian; the State Secretary of Finance, Mr. Ulf Holm; the President of the India Friendship Group in the Parliament, Ms. Asa Coenrad and the former Speaker, Mr. Per Westerberg, senior government officials as well as members of the business community, diplomats and 3
the Indian Community. The playing of the national anthems of India and Sweden by the gifted children from different countries studying in the Lilla Akademien of music enthralled the audience. A short film on the Indian Constitution was shown. Thereafter, the guests enjoyed a virtuoso performance by the noted young violinist Hugo Ticciati, followed by a scintillating performance by the Jhanjhariya group led by the talented danseuse Sunita Singh, which was based on a medley of patriotic songs from Indian films. The cultural programme concluded with ‘Colours of India’, created and choreographed by the melodious Ananya Dutta which presented four states of India and portrayed its amazing diversity. An exhibition of Indian handicraft and handloom products, tea and coffee was also organized at the venue and attracted a lot of interest. The next day, a flag hoisting ceremony was organized at India House, the residence of the Ambassador. President’s Address to the Nation was webcast followed by an address by the Ambassador. After a lively cultural programme by students from KTH University, refreshments were served to the guests.
Seminar on India-Swedish cooperation in innovation To promote the Make in India Week, the Embassy organized a breakfast seminar on February 4, under the India Unlimited platform on the theme of "Cycle of change and innovation : an Indo-Swedish success story". Ambassador Banashri Bose Harrison highlighted the matching strengths of the two countries and opportunities for partnerships in the field of innovations. She highlighted that as one of the leading innovation countries in the world, Sweden could take advantage of the human resources as well as the big market that India offers. She welcomed the fact that some Swedish companies had already set up R&D centres in India. Dr. Manas Fuloria, the Co-founder and CEO of the India-based IT Solutions company Nagarro and Mr. Ingemar Berg, Manager of Swedish Company Assa Abloy were other speakers. Coordinated by Mikolaj Norek, Managing Director of the Forum for Innovation Management the event ended with interaction session which explored the potential for India-Sweden collaboration for innovation.
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Mr. Sanjoo Malhotra , Chief Executive Director of India Unlimited , Mr. Ingemar Berg, Manager of Assa Abloy, Dr Manas Fuloria , CEO of Nagarro and Mikolaj Norek, Managing Director of the Forum for Innovation Management with the Indian Ambassador
Sustainability Seminar at Stockholm School of Economics focuses on India
Panel discussion with Ambassador Harrison, Ms. Renee Andersson, Sustainability Consultant and former Manager of Ethics and Environment, Indiska Magasinet , Dr Manas Fuloria, CEO of Nagarro, Ms. Kristin Pålsson, Deputy Director, International Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Lars Jonsson General Manager and CEO of Uppsala University Holding Company
A seminar was organized by the Mistra Centre for Sustainable Markets (MISUM) on the theme of ‘Promoting Sustainable markets for Sustainable Development’ at the Stockholm School of Economics on February 4 with a focus on India. Ambassador Harrison delivered one of the keynote addresses at this seminar. She began her presentation on the theme “India’s Sustainability Agenda” with a short and informative film on ‘How is India Tackling Climate Change’. She recalled the words of Mahatma Gandhi – ‘“Earth has enough resources to meet people’s needs, but will never have enough to satisfy people's greed” to underline the importance of a sustainable way of life. She shared with the audience the main points of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the COP 21 in Paris on December 1, 2015. She went on to briefly describe the various steps taken by the Indian Government related to Climate Change and the ambitious targets announced by the country in the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, in particular, the goals set for 2030 to reduce emissions intensity by 33 to 35% per cent of 2005 levels and to take non-fossil fuels to 40 per cent of total installed energy capacity. She concluded by summarizing what India views as critical for success including an ambitious technology initiative, driven by a public purpose, not just market incentives; scaling up of Green Climate Fund that will improve access to technology and intellectual property, recognizing the need for continued use of conventional energy, especially for development, develop and use technologies to make it as clean as possible and moderating our lifestyle for a low carbon future. Ms. Kristin Pålsson, Deputy Director, International Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the another keynote speaker, who spoke about the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Swedish experience to tackle sustainability issues through it. There were a number of speakers from the private sector. The event concluded with a panel discussion and a Q & A session.
The panelists with the organizers: Ms Lin Lerpold, Executive Director of MISTRA Centre for Sustainable Markets and Ms Ranjula Bali Swain, Visiting Professor at the Centre
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Malmö Children’s Film Festival opens with an ‘India Evening’ The mingle on the opening day of Malmö Children’s Film Festival on March 14 had an Indian theme, thanks to the Indian Association of Skane (IAS), which organized a great show of Indian culture with performances of bharatnatyam, folk dance and Bollywood items. The festival included some Indian films. Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador thanked the organizers for focussing on India, which was the World’s largest producer of films. Earlier the Ambassador had meetings with the President and other members of IAS and an official responsible for the Malmö Festival in August 2016 to discuss the possibility of organizing Indian cultural performances during the festival.
Holi celebrated in Sweden Festival of colour, Holi, was celebrated in Sweden. Indian Culture Centre organized ‘Flower Holi 2016’ on March 25 which was a colourful celebration infused with cultural performances and delightful Indian cuisine. Ambassador Banashri Bose Harrison was the Chief Guest at the function. Holi was also celebrated earlier at Gothenburg by ‘Rang’ a cultural group of Indian students at the Chalmers University on March 20. The function was jointly inaugurated by the Ambassador and Ms. Cecilia Magnusson, Member of Swedish Parliament. The programme included cultural performances by the students, Indian cuisine and traditional playing of Holi with dry colours in which all the participants joined enthusiastically.
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The Ambassador of India with Ms. Cecilia Magnusson, Member of Swedish Parliament
India-Sweden Joint Statement
1) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven met in Mumbai on 13 February on the occasion of the Make in India Week.
engagement on issues of mutual strategic interest. They further looked forward to the next round of Foreign Office Consultations and the next bi-annual ministerial meeting of the Indo-Swedish Joint Commission on Economic, Industrial and Scientific Cooperation.
2) The two Prime Ministers welcomed the growing vigour in relations between the two countries. Both Prime Ministers recognized how the respective strengths and character of the two countries and economies together underpin the great potential in the bilateral partnership.They noted that India’s economic development and rise as a global power has created new opportunities to further deepen and extend this partnership to foster economic growth and inclusive development in both countries as well as to meet global challenges.The Prime Ministers agreed to scale up bilateral relations and committed to a close bilateral dialogue at all levels.
A growing Economic Partnership 4) Prime Minister Modi welcomed the high-level business delegation accompanying Prime Minister Lofven. Both Prime Ministers noted with satisfaction the upward trend in bilateral trade and investments. 5) Prime Minister Lofven welcomed the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The two Prime Ministers noted with satisfaction that Swedish companies had been Making in India for many decades and had created employment opportunities directly and indirectly for approximately 1.2 million people. They agreed that the ‘Make in India’ initiative had improved conditions for these companies to expand and deepen their investments. Prime Minister Lofven welcomed the Indian government’s efforts to improve the Ease of Doing Business. The leaders noted
3) They welcomed the successful State visit of the Honourable President of India to Sweden in 2015.They appreciated the revival of the NSA-level bilateral dialogue and welcomed the commitment of the counterparts to develop a roadmap for a deepened
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with satisfaction the favourable result of the recent Sweden Business Climate Survey, where 80 % of Swedish companies in India shared their intent to invest further in the coming years.
chairman of the Swedish National Innovation Council, extended an invitation to an Indian delegation to visit Sweden for a bilateral Sweden-India Innovation Dialogue. 10) The two Prime Minister welcomed the ongoing bilateral cooperation in Education and the many new academic partnerships that were agreed during the visit to Sweden of the President of India.
6) The two Prime Ministers committed to a continued dialogue within the framework of the Joint Commission to enhance the environment for doing business in their respective countries and further facilitate and promote bilateral economic cooperation. Both Prime Ministers supported a stronger business-to-business dialogue between the two countries and welcomed the creation of an India-Sweden Business Leaders' Round Table.
11) The two Prime Minister took note of the active cooperation in Science & Technology under the inter-governmental agreement and welcomed the new programme launched between India's Department of Science & Technology and the Swedish Research Council on collaborative research projects, with support from other Swedish governmental agencies.
7) The two governments underlined the particular importance of information technology and digital industries in both countries as a key driver of growth and prosperity. Prime Minister Lofven welcomed the “Digital India” initiative of the Indian Government. Recognizing the potential benefits of expanding and deepening cooperation in this area, both sides endorsed the creation of a new Joint Working Group on Digital Technologies and Economy.
12) The two Prime Ministers recognized the great potential for exchange in the area of Transport and Infrastructure and agreed to explore a deeper collaboration. They welcomed the finalization of the text of a MoU on Cooperation in the Rail sector and acknowledged the potential business opportunities for the rail industry as well as opportunities of cooperation in research and education in the sector.
8) Prime Minister Lofven welcomed India’s “Smart Cities” programme. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the launch of the Joint Working Group on Sustainable Urban Development under the MoU signed in 2015 and agreed to encourage their companies and government agencies to support the development of Smart Cities. They looked forward to the finalization of a Joint Action Plan, focusing on digital land management, solid waste management and urban transport. In the context of the MoU, the Swedish side also expressed interest in focusing on one or more cities for development as smart cities.
13) The Prime Ministers expressed their appreciation for the ongoing cooperation under the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the field of Environment, signed in November 2009. They looked forward to future cooperation within the IndoSwedish Working Group on Cooperation in the field of Environmental Protection.
14) The two Prime Ministers emphasized the importance of skills development to prepare young people for the jobs of the 21st Century and noted with satisfaction the important contribution made by the skills development programmes of Swedish companies in India. They encouraged the companies to consider opportunities to scale up skill development to cover larger number of people. Both sides also noted the mutual benefits of facilitating labour mobility.
9) The two Prime Ministers noted that Sweden is recognized as one of the leading nations in the world in innovation and that India has a vast pool of talented professionals and is known for its world-class engineering.They agreed that this creates synergies to be explored by both business and government partnerships. Prime Minister Lofven,
15) The two Prime Ministers welcomed the
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ongoing cooperation under the Memorandum of Understanding on Health, covering a large variety of areas including maternal and child health and public health policy as well as antimicrobial resistance.The Prime Ministers also recognized the potential business opportunities in the health sector and looked forward to the next meeting in the Joint Working Group, in March, as an occasion to further strengthen bilateral cooperation.
agreedto ‘’observe this day in an appropriate manner and in accordance with national priorities, in order to raise awareness of the benefits of practising yoga’’. A deepened dialogue on Global Affairs 19) Both Prime Ministers agreed to a deeper bilateral dialogue on UN Issues at both capital and UN-Mission-level. They reiterated the need for urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council through an expansion in both categories of membership, to make it more effective and representative of the contemporary geo-political realities. Prime Minister Lofven expressed the view that it would be inconceivable that an important global actor such as India not be a Permanent Member of an enlarged Security Council and said that he will seek Parliamentary support for this view. The two countries called for forward movement in the Intergovernmental Negotiations on United Nations Security Council reform, and stressed their commitment to initiate text-based negotiations within the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly. Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed India’s support for Sweden’s candidature for a nonpermanent seat in the UN Security Council for 2017-2018.
16) The Prime Ministers welcomed cooperation under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB) signed in 1986 and agreed to intensify collaboration in space science, exploration of the solar system, earth observation, climate and environmental studies and efficient use of space-related resources available in India as well as in Sweden such as satellite ground stations. Cooperation on Defence matters 17) It was agreed that India and Sweden will enhance dialogue on Defence in key areas. They welcomed progress in the Joint Working Group under the MoU on Defence including plans for India-Sweden defence seminars in India in spring 2016 focusing on aviation, maritime security as well as combat training and simulation in the army domain. The two prime ministers acknowledged the potential for successful collaboration and agreed that under the rubric of Make in India, cooperation possibilities between their respective defence industries could be identified and taken forward appropriately, including in the field of aviation.
20) In their joint efforts to strengthen global nonproliferation and disarmament objectives, India and Sweden committed to work towards India’s further participation in the multilateral export control regimes. 21) The two prime ministers recognized the common interest in preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism and the benefits of a closer dialogue and mutual exchange of information and good practices. They looked forward to an exchange of visits of their respective Special Envoys, with a view to explore agency level cooperation, capacity building, countering violent extremism experience sharing, and cooperation in developing an international framework against terrorism including elaborating and finalizing a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
People-to-people ties 18) Both sides recognized that enhancing awareness of each other’s cultures boosts people-to-people ties and welcomed reciprocal festivals of ‘Namaste Stockholm’ in Sweden and Sweden-India Nobel Memorial Week in India. Both sides welcomed the designation of 21st of June as the International Day of Yoga by the UN General Assembly and recalled that all member states of United Nations had
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22) The Prime Ministers are committed to promote human rights online, cyber security, combat cybercrime, and develop a common understanding on international cyber issues and support an open, inclusive, transparent and multi-stakeholder system of internet governance as well as the application of international law in cyberspace. In this regard, both sides agreed to explore cooperation among relevant agencies through a second round of bilateral consultations on cyber issues.
to continue and step up efforts to ensure gender equality, respect for women’s and girls’ rights, and empowerment of women and girls in all spheres of life. 27) The two Prime Ministers shared the conviction that the international humanitarian response system must be strengthened and in this context noted the problems of providing timely assistance and relief to people affected by natural disasters and crises.They welcomed the recent India-Sweden Joint Statement to the UN General Assembly on the Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations.They looked forward to the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit on 23-24 May in Istanbul, and stressed the need for constructive and inclusive outcomes.
23) The two Prime Ministers welcomed the Paris Agreement and its objective to hold the global temperature increase well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C. Addressing climate change and promoting secure, affordable and sustainable supplies of energy are shared strategic priorities for India and Sweden, and the Prime Ministers welcomed the active ongoing c ollaboration under the Memorandum of Understanding on SwedenIndia Renewable Energy Cooperation and the announcement by the Swedish Energy Agency to contribute US Dollars 5 million towards funding for research and pilot projects in India in 2016-2018.
28) The two Prime Ministers agreed on the need to tap the full potential of the EU-India strategic partnership, and welcomed the intention of the two sides to hold a summit in 2016.They also welcomed the prospect of resumption of talks on the India – EU Broadbased Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA). 29) Both the Indian and Swedish side remain committed to the WTO and a transparent, fair and predictable global trade regime.
24) The two Prime Ministers also welcomed the adoption of the “Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development” and committed to supporting its implementation.They recognised the universal, indivisible and integrated nature of the Agenda 2030 which balances the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, the social and the environmental.
Other issues 30) The two Prime Ministers also discussed other issues of regional and global interest. 31) Prime Minister Lofven invited Prime Minister Modi to visit Sweden on mutually convenient dates, to be decided through diplomatic channels.
25) Based on long democratic traditions in both countries, the two Prime Ministers expressed a continued commitment to democracy, rule of law, promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.They welcomed the fruitful cooperation between the two countries on strengthening the role of democratic governance globally, both through the UN, and its subsidiary bodies including the Human Rights Council, and through organizations like International IDEA.
26) The two Prime Ministers agreed on the need
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INDIA & LATVIA
Latvian Culture Minister visits India Minister of Culture of Latvia Ms. Dace Melbarde visited India and had bilateral discussions with India’s Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Dr. Mahesh Sharma on March 11. They agreed that a programme on cooperation in culture between India and Latvia for 2017-2019 should be worked out at the earliest. She visited the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and met its Director General Mr. C. Rajasekhar and discussed bilateral cultural exchanges. She also attended the World Culture Festival from March 11-13, 2016. Organized by the Art of Living Foundation, the event celebrated cultural diversity and brought together a large number of participants from over 150 countries.
Preparations begin for the 2nd International Day of Yoga in Riga On February 27, the Ambassador attended a brainstorming session, a joint initiative of Indian Embassy and the IDY organizing committee chaired by Ms. Agita Baltgalve, Director of the Centre of Indian Studies and Culture at the University of Latvia on celebrations of 2nd IDY in Latvia. It was attended by around 70 participants from the main yoga schools, associations and institutions in Latvia in addition to leading members of Indian community. 11
Top: Bilateral discussions b/w Latvian Cultural Minister and India’s Minister of State for Culture and Tourism
Down: Latvian Cultural Minister with DG, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
Ambassador calls on the Latvian Culture Minister
Ambassador and Mr Vijai Kumar, Deputy to the Ambassador with the Culture Minister of Latvia Her Excellency Ms Dace Melbarde
Ambassador Banashri Bose Harrison visited Riga on February 27-29. She met Latvia’s Culture Minister, Ms. Dace Melbarde on February 29. The meeting, before Minister Melbarde’s visit to India from March 11 to 13 to participate in the World Culture Festival in New Delhi and her scheduled bilateral discussions with India’s Minister of Tourism and Culture Dr. Mahesh Sharma, proved very fruitful. Both exchanged views on further strengthening of cultural and educational cooperation between the two countries. Towards this, the Ambassador requested her support for reviving the Cultural Exchange Programme between the two countries. The Ambassador also briefed the Minister on the preparations of celebrations of the 2nd International Day of Yoga in Latvia in June 2016.
Ambassador visits Latvian National Library Ambassador Harrison visited the National Library of Latvia and met its Director Andris Vilks and gifted 20 books on India. She also suggested opening a separate section on India in the Library to which more books could be presented by Government of India.
Visit to Riga Port
Ambassador Harrison gifts books on India to Mr Andris Vilks, the Director of the National Library of Latvia, Riga
The Ambassador also held meetings with the management team of ‘Bhandar’, proposed warehouse and cold storage facility at Riga Freeport for Indian agro and other products consigned for Russia, CIS and Northern European countries; Deputy State Secretary of Ministry of Transport of Riga Mr. Dins Merirands, who assured of the Latvian government support to the project; and the CEO and other officials of the Riga Freeport Authority who gave a detailed presentation on the port of Riga. Ambassador also visited the site of the proposed warehouse.
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INDIA & WORLD
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends 13th India-EU Summit Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his first official visit to Brussels on March 30 for the 13th India-EU Summit at the invitation of the President of the European Council, Mr. Donald Tusk and the President of the European Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker. EU is India’s leading trade and investment partner and biggest export destination. India and EU are also Strategic Partners since 2004. The 13th India-EU Summit aims to deepen the India-EU Strategic Partnership and advance collaboration in priority areas for India’s growth and development. Indian Prime Minister at 13th India-EU Summit
Prime Minister Modi also held a bilateral Summit meeting with the Belgian Prime Minister Mr. Charles Michel in which they on further enhancing the economic partnership. The two Prime Ministers also held discussions on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Vice President of India visits Thailand
Vice President of India Mr. Hamid Ansari paid an official visit to Thailand from 3 to 5 February 2016 at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Thailand. This was the first Vice President level visit from India after a gap of 50 years. The Vice President was accompanied by a high-level delegation including a Minister of State, Members of Parliament and senior officials. The Vice President had an audience with Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and met the Prime Minister of Thailand General Prayut Chan-O-Cha.
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Vice President of India Mr. Hamid Ansari with the Prime Minister of Thailand
He delivered a speech at the prestigious Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok on the topic 'From Look East to Act East: India's Partnership with Thailand and ASEAN'. He also met the Indian community in Thailand at a reception hosted in his honour by the Ambassador of India to Thailand. India's excellent relations with Thailand are an important and integral component of India's strategic partnership with ASEAN. Sustained high level bilateral exchanges and regular meetings of bilateral institutional mechanisms have provided a major fillip to IndiaThailand relations and achieved progress in key areas of cooperation such as security, defence, commerce, science & technology and education.
India’s 1st international flagship dialogue ‘Raisina Dialogue’ takes place
The External Affairs Minister of India with Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Former President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Hamid Karzai, Former President of Afghanistan, Sir James Mancham, Former President of Seychelles, Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar, senior functionaries of Observer Research Foundation
The Ministry of External Affairs co-hosted the first Raisina Dialogue with the Observer Research Foundation on March 1-3, 2016, in New Delhi. Visualized as India's flagship international dialogue, the first Raisina Dialogue focussed on the theme of 'Asia: Regional and Global Connectivity'. Prominent among participants were Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Former President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Hamid Karzai, Former President of Afghanistan, Sir James Mancham, Former President of Seychelles, Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar, senior functionaries of Observer Research Foundation, and distinguished guests from India and abroad. The Dialogue attracted more than 450 participants from around 40 countries and enabled the Ministry of External Affairs to reach out to a wider international multidisciplinary audience.
Prime Minister of Finland visits India Prime Minister of Finland, Mr. Juha Sipilä, led a large business delegation to India for the ‘Make in India Week’ at Mumbai from February 12-14. He participated in the inauguration of the Make in India Week. Prime Minister Sipilä had bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2016, in Mumbai. A Joint Statement was issued after the meeting
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in which the Prime Minister of Finland reiterated the support of Finland to India to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Prime Minister Sipilä took a positive view on India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and Missile Technology Control Regime. Prime Minister Modi thanked Finland for its support for India becoming an observer in the Arctic Council. Both sides encouraged enhanced efforts towards making progress on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. There are more than 100 Finnish companies established in India and some 25 Indian companies in Finland. The two Prime Ministers also inaugurated digitally Trivitron's Labsystems Diagnostics IVD (In vitro diagnostics) factory in Chennai.
Indian Prime Minister with the Finnish Prime Minister
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi visits India At the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces paid his first State visit to India from February10 to 12, 2016. He was accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Ministers, senior officials and captains of industry. He called on the President and Vice President of India and held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi on issues of mutual interest. The visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi follows the visit of Prime Minister Modi to UAE in August 2015, during which the two countries agreed to elevate the relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. UAE is India’s third largest trading partner with bilateral trade of US$ 59 billion in 2014-15. UAE also hosts about 2.6 million strong Indian diaspora which is the largest expatriate group in UAE. The Crown prince and his delegation visited Mumbai and met with Indian business leaders in the financial sector at the Mumbai Stock Exchange. Eight agreements covering the fields of cyber security, infrastructure investment, renewable energy and currency swap arrangements, insurance, culture, skill development and an agreement between EXIM Bank of India and Dubai Economic Council was signed during the visit.
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Indian Prime Minister with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces
External Affairs Minister visits Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with Indian External Affairs Sushma Swaraj in Jerusalem, January 18 2016
External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj visited Israel on January 17-18, 2016. This was the first visit of External Affairs Minister to Israel and came after the State visit of The President of India to Israel in October 2015. During the visit she held discussions with the Israeli leadership and reviewed entire gamut of India Israel bilateral relations. The two sides share firm belief in the values of democracy and free market economy. India and Israel also share close relation in the fields of agriculture, science & technology and education. EAM also interacted with the Indian community in Israel during her visit. The visit augmented India’s bilateral relations with Israel and further strengthen the linkages between the two sides. India’s relations with Israel are part of its engagement with the broader West Asia region and are independent to its relations with any country in the region.
External Affairs Minister visits Palestine
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with the Palestine Officials
External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj visited the State of Palestine on January 17, 2016. This was the first visit of EAM to West Asia region and Palestine is the first destination in the region which in itself reflects the importance India holds for Palestine in its engagement with the countries of the region. The visit also came after the state visit of President of India to Palestine in October 2015. During the visit, EAM met with the Palestinian leadership and reviewed India Palestinian bilateral relations. India shares traditionally close relations with the State of Palestine and contributes actively through capacity building and human resource development initiatives with Palestine. The visit also reaffirmed India’s continued political, diplomatic and developmental support to Palestine. EAM also inaugurated the Palestine Digital Learning & Innovation Centre in Ramallah. 16
India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by US$ 943 million to US$ 352 billion in the week ending December 26, 2015: Reserve Bank of India.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India has increased by 24 per cent to US$ 60.69 billion in the last 16 months: Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in November 2015 increased 6.5 per cent year-on-year to reach 815,000: Ministry of Tourism.
Indian start-ups raised Rs 36,000 crore (US$ 5.5 billion) from venture capital (VC) and angel investors in 2015 through 1,096 deals, which roughly translates to an investment in a start-up every eight hours : VCCEdge.
India is expected to become the world’s third largest economy just behind China and US post 2030: Centre for Economics Business and Research (CEBR).
India’s urban infrastructure sector offers investment opportunity of Rs 73 lakh crore (US$ 1.08 trillion) over the next fifteen years, as per Mr Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development who elaborated on investment potential while speaking on Current status, Outlook and Investment opportunities in developing urban infrastructure" at the India Investment Summit organized in New Delhi in February 2016.
Sales of utility vehicles (UVs) have grown at 20 per cent year on-year in November 2015 as compared to 5 per cent in the previous financial year and have outpaced the growth of passenger vehicles (PVs): Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM).
India has surpassed the US in terms of active unique smartphone users in 2015, crossing 220 million during the year, thus becoming the second largest smartphone market in the world: Counterpoint Research.
Indian e-commerce sales are expected to reach US$ 55 billion by FY2018 from US$ 14 billion in FY2015: eMarketer.
Tourists arrival in India through the online visa scheme registered a growth of 1,040.4 per cent in 2015 reaching a total of 445,300 tourists, led by introduction of e-tourist visa for 113 countries: Ministry of Tourism.
Indian renewable energy sector is expected to receive around Rs 1 lakh crore (US$ 14.94 billion) from Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to refinance their loans.
India will adopt the toughest emission standards of BS-VI, the Indian equivalent of Euro Stage VI, from the current standard BSIV by 2020, as per a joint decision taken by Ministers of Transportation, Heavy Industries, Environment and Oil.
India’s internet usage has increased by 49 per cent so far in 2015, and the number of rural mobile internet users is expected to reach 87 million by end of December 2015. India’s industrial output increased at a rate of 9.8 per cent in October, 2015 which is the fastest rate of growth in the last five years: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
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