Indian Foreign Affairs News & Discussions (non-US & Pakistan related

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Partnerships with India, S Korea to be practical, effective​

HA NOI — Viet Nam's hosting of the first ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus has made a significant contribution to enhancing co-operation, understanding and trust among ASEAN member countries and their partners, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

During receptions for visiting Indian Defence Minister Shri AK Antony and his South Korean counterpart Kim Tae-young, Dung stated that bolstering regional co-operation aimed to ensure peace and stability while fostering development in the region as well as around the world.

In separate meetings, he stressed that Viet Nam always wanted to make its strategic partnerships with India and South Korea practical and effective in all domains.

"The Viet Nam – India strategic partnership is a good model," he said. "Our traditional and friendly co-operation has always been consolidated by generations of the two sides' leadership."
Dung said he highly valued the results of earlier talks between the guests and their Vietnamese counterpart, General Phung Quang Thanh.

The Vietnamese Government would back the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence in working with Indian and Korean counterparts to realise all signed agreements, said Dung.

He also asked India for help in teaching English to Vietnamese army officers, while also sharing experiences on ways to develop the armed forces.

Antony confirmed India's active implementation of deals signed between India and Viet Nam, and said India would be willing to co-operate with Viet Nam in training naval officers, pilots and army medical staff.

Receiving South Korean Defence Minister Tae-young, Dung said Viet Nam and South Korea should enhance their defence relationship, following the memorandum of understanding signed between the two defence ministries.

"The two sides should strive to efficiently realise our commitments while accelerating dialogue at the deputy ministers' level and strengthening co-operation in personnel training, defence techniques and information sharing," Dung said.

"The defence ministries' agreements will make an active contribution to the two countries' strategic partnership."

Tae-young expressed his satisfaction with the development of bilateral relations.

He said South Korea would strive to further reinforce defence ties between the two countries. He expressed the hope that the government and people of both countries would continue sharing and further tightening ties as brothers and sisters for mutual development in the future.

Tae-young said the ADMM Plus was an important channel in settling matters of concern in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and provided opportunities for participants to join hands for mutual development and prosperity.



Chairman's statement

The first ADMM Plus wrapped up on Tuesday with a 23-point Chairman's statement.

The statement highlights positive contributions by the "Plus" countries in enhancing peace, stability and development in Southeast Asia.

It affirmed the importance of ASEAN centrality in the ADMM Plus process, and that co-operation within the framework of ADMM Plus should follow the ASEAN principles of respect for independence and sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs of member states, consultation and consensus, and moving at a pace comfortable to all parties.
The statement also affirmed that the ADMM Plus is a key component of a robust, effective, open and inclusive regional security architecture.
It further affirmed that peace, stability and development remained the prevailing trends in the Asia-Pacific region. However, it noted that there existed complex and trans-national security challenges that are beyond the scope of any country to handle alone, such as natural disasters, maritime security, terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, climate change, trans-national crimes and outbreaks of infectious diseases.

The statement said terrorism continued to pose a key challenge to the security of the region, thus ADMM-Plus had significant potential for member countries to share information, build vital networks and enhance capabilities to combat the threat of terrorism.

ADMM Plus appreciated the opportunity to have an open and candid exchange of views on the key security challenges faced by the region.
It agreed to establish an ASEAN Defence Senior Officials' Meeting-Plus (ADSOM-Plus), comprising senior officials from all the ADMM-Plus member countries. The ADSOM-Plus would be responsible for implementing agreements and decisions made at ADMM-Plus meetings, including exploring the various areas for practical co-operation. — VNS


Politics & Laws

 

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French Chief of Defence Admiral Edouard Guillaud to Visit India; Military Ties on the Rise

2010-10-14 In a bid to enhance military ties between the two countries, French Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud will be on a four-day visit to India starting Saturday. The French Admiral is scheduled to hold meetings with top brass of Indian military including his counterpart Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and Army chief General V K Singh, a French Embassy press release.

Admiral Guillaud will also hold high-level discussions with National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon along with other senior officials. He is also scheduled to go to Mumbai and meet Western Naval Commander Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin there, it added. Admiral Guillaud will also visit the Mazagon Dockyards Limited, where India is building its six conventional submarines with French shipbuilding company DCNS.

The visit of the French defence chief comes at a time when the two countries are going to sign a deal expected to be worth over USD two billion for upgrading the 50 Mirage-2000 aircraft of the Indian Air Force. France, which won the over Rs 18,000-crore deal for building six Scorpene submarines in 2005, is also one of the contenders for the Rs 30,000-crore contract for building another six submarines.

French aircraft manufacturer Dassault is also in the race for the deal for supplying 126 multi-role combat aircraft to the IAF and has offered its Rafale fighters.

 

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Rupee at fresh 25-mth high on heavy forex flows​

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MUMBAI: The Indian rupee strengthened to a fresh 25-month high on Friday, buoyed by heavy foreign fund inflows towards share sales this month, but dollar demand by oil companies limited the gains, dealers said.

At 11:26 a.m. (0556 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 44.0525/0550 per dollar, after rising to 44.02, its highest since Sept. 1, 2008. It had ended at 44.11/12 per dollar on Thursday. "There is a lot of inflow happening and if the rupee rises more than 44, then it could rally to 43.85 levels," said a forex trader at a large state-run bank.

The rupee had fallen to 44.25 percent in early deals taking cues from choppy domestic shares. Indian shares flip-flopped in early trade on Friday, but skidded lower as investors booked profits ahead of an up to $3.5 billion initial public offering by state-owned Coal India next week that is expected to draw funds away from the market. [.BO] Traders said they will also closely watch the central bank, which had bought dollars to stem the rupee's strength on Thursday -- the move which they believe was the first intervention this year.

Record buying of domestic stocks by foreign funds has been the main driver for the rupee in recent weeks, and the inflows are expected to rise when Coal India opens its IPO on Monday. The world's largest coal miner plans to raise up to $3.5 billion in country's biggest IPO, and fund inflows towards this could push the rupee up to 43.50 and force further intervention, dealers said. Other state-run firms planning big share sales include Power Grid Corp and Steel Authority of India .

For the year to date, the rupee is up 5.6 percent on record $22.5 billion foreign fund inflows into shares. Oil is India's biggest import and refiners are the largest buyers of dollars in the domestic currency market. Oil was steady on Friday, heading for a third straight weekly close above $80 per barrel, as hopes for economic stimulus ahead of a speech by the U.S. Fed chief Ben Bernanke countered soft demand in top consumer, the United States.

Dealers were awaiting inflation data due around noon for cues on the central bank's stance ahead of its Nov. 2 policy review. India's wholesale price index (WPI) in September probably rose 8.5 percent from a year earlier, unchanged from its rise in August. Forecasts from 20 economists ranged from 8 percent to 8.7 percent.

One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 44.32, weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange , MCX-SX and United Stock Exchange were all at 44.1625, with the total traded volume on the three exchanges was a low $2 billion.

Rupee at fresh 25-mth high on heavy forex flows - The Economic Times

 

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Indo-German talks to include UN reforms, trade, defence ties​

New Delhi, Oct 15 (PTI)

Elected as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council recently, India and Germany will discuss the reforms in the world body during the visit of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who is arriving here on Sunday.

During the delegation-level talks led by Westerwelle and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Monday, the two sides are also likely to impart fresh impetus to trade ties and hold discussion for expansion of defence cooperation.

Observing that there was "room for improvement" in the area of defence cooperation, Joint Secretary (Europe West) in Ministry of External Affairs T P Seetharam today said India not only wants acquisition of equipment but was interested in transfer of technology, given that country''s technological capabilities.

He said both countries, which are part of G-4, have been recently elected as non-permanent members in UN for two years till 2012.

"Initially temporary, hopefully in long-term permanent," he said, adding that India already has support of several countries and UK and France have indicated their support for its bid for permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council and as part of G-4, Germany is part of that coordinated effort.

Official spokesman Vishnu Prakash said India has an impeccable record to become permanent member of the UNSC.

India and Germany see their bid to get non-permanent seat as a big boost to the process of expanding the UNSC in permanent category.

The three-day visit by Westerwelle is his first to the country since he became Germany''s foreign minister nearly a year ago.

The presence of an influential business delegation in minister''s entourage reflects the importance both countries attache to their trade and business ties and the visit is expected to further boost the same.

Noting that Germany was the largest trading partner of India in Europe, Prakash said the bilateral trade crossed nearly 13 billion Euros in 2009, despite of global slowdown.

Initial five months of the current year have already shown an increase of 26 per cent as against last year''s figure and both countries are well on the way of attaining the trade target of 20 billion Euros by 2012, Prakash said.

He said the accumulative investment of Germany, which is the eight largest investor in India, by May this year was around 3.5 billion Euros and another six billion Euros investment is understood to be in the pipeline.

He said that next year a festival of Germany will be held in India.

Seetharam also identified counter-terrorism as one of the important areas of cooperation between India and Germany.

"Counter-terrorism and working jointly to deal with threat of terrorism is very much part of our strategic cooperation and could take many forms-- whether it was real time information sharing or close interaction of agencies handling such issues," he said.



Indo-German talks to include UN reforms, trade, defence ties - *National News ? News ? MSN India

 

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Govt for land acquisition in Africa for agriculture​

New Delhi: The government has assured full support to Indian companies exploring opportunities to acquire agricultural land in Africa for cultivation of pulses in order to deal with its domestic shortage.

"We import pulses and we will be more supportive of more land being brought under cultivation and for value addition.

India is the market and we have been investing in agriculture...," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma had said.

With the unabated rise in demand for various food grains including pulses, Indian firms have already started scouting for agricultural lands overseas and the government's patronage in this endeavour would only fuel the pace.

Noting that the thrust area of the Indian firms would be on agro processing and food processing sectors, Sharma said that Africa would reap benefit with the Indian investment, its technology which would help the land of safari to generate employment.

Ficci president Rajan Bharti Mittal also said :"Various African governments have invited Indian government and through it to Indian farmers or companies to come and do farming as the African continent's climate is conducive for pulses".

Mittal said the African government has already invited Indian companies and farmers to take the advantage of vast land available in the region for cultivation of pulses, of which India is a net importer.

"India is a net pulse importer, it would be probably feasible for pulses to be grown there," Mittal said, adding that such developments (Indian firms going to Africa for cultivation) would be a win-win situation for both India and Africa as they are are destined to face the food crunch.

"I think for both countries food security will become the issue over a period of time and I think we need to take the next step forward," he added.

India has produced 4.3 million tonnes of pulses during the 2009-10 kharif season, which is likely to go up to six million tonnes in the same season of 2010-11.

PTI

Govt for land acquisition in Africa for agri

 

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PM To Meet His Chinese Counterpart On Oct 29​

 

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Air India-Boeing MRO JV project design soon​

PTI | 02:10 PM,Oct 24,2010



Mumbai, Oct 24 (PTI) US aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, which is setting up a multi-million MRO facility in a joint venture with Air India at the upcoming Special Economic Zone near Nagpur, is likely to submit the project design to the authorities soon, a top official said.


The company has already appointed an architect to prepare the design, the official said. "The architect has been appointed...they have taken the measurement...they will submit the (project) design very soon," Maharashtra Airport Development Company's Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, R C Sinha, told PTI. Once the design is finalised, it will be submitted to MADC for approval, Sinha said.



"Construction work is expected to start within this calender year," he said. The USD 100-million MRO, to be spread over an area of 50-acres, is a part of the industrial offset agreement between the national air-carrier and Boeing Company following the signing of a massive order for purchase of 68 Boeing aircraft including 27 Dreamliners 787 at USD 11-billion in January 2006.


The state-of-the-art facility would be used for major maintenance of the Boeing-777 and 787 fleet of the National Aviation Company of India (NACIL) which is the holding company of Air India. The Boeing Company on its part would facilitate in constructing and equipping the facility. The Air India-Boeing joint venture project also plans to render maintenance, repair and overhaul services to third parties.


Air India-Boeing MRO JV project design soon, IBN Live News

 

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Manmohan Singh lands in Tokyo for annual summit

Tokyo, Oct 24 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday arrived in the Japanese capital on a three-day visit during which he will hold extensive bilateral talks with his counterpart Naoto Kan.

In Tokyo for the India-Japan annual summit, Manmohan Singh will discuss with Naoto Kan the gamut of bilateral, regional and global issues.

India is expected to announce the conclusion of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Japan. However, the actual signing of the agreement will have to wait, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters in Delhi, for the internal processes that Japan has to go through and the “legal scrubbing of the documents”.

“That is the reality and we have to deal with realities in diplomacies,” Rao said, describing CEPA as a “win-win proposition for both countries”.

The civil nuclear deal is also still on its way. “We have had two rounds of discussion on the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” the foreign secretary said, adding that there was “political resolve” in both countries to take these discussions forward.

The Japanese involvement in major infrastructure development projects in India, like the dedicated freight corridor and the Delhi-Mumbai Industral corridor, will also be discussed by the two prime ministers.

 

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PM leaves on week-long visit to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam | NetIndian | India News | Latest News from India | Breaking News from India | Latest Headlines


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left here this morning on a week-long visit that will take him to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam at a time when India is qualititatively enhancing its synergies and linkages with East Asia and its economy is getting increasingly integrated with those of its partners in the region.

Dr Singh's first step will be Tokyo, where will be from October 24-26 for the annual summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan during which the two leaders will hold talks on enhancing the strategic and global partnership between the two countries.

"The tradition of Annual Summits with Japan has resulted in a strong, vibrant and multi-dimensional relationship between India and Japan. Strengthening of the India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership enjoys fullest support across the political spectrum in both our countries and is a factor of peace, prosperity and stability in Asia and the world," the Prime Minister said in a pre-departure statement.

He noted that Japan was a major economic partner of India. He said India had embarked upon mega infrastructure projects with Japanese assistance which had the potential of transforming its economy.

"Our trade and economic relationship is set to enter a new phase. I look forward to detailed discussions with Prime Minister Kan on bilateral, regional and global issues. I will also be addressing business leaders at the Nippon Keidanren, and will meet a cross-section of Japanese political leaders," he said.

Dr Singh and Mrs Gursharan Kaur will be received in audience by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.

Dr Singh's visit to Malaysia, from October 26-28, will be his first bilateral trip to that country, which plays a key role in the ASEAN region.

The visit follows the landmark visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammed Najib Tun Abdul Razak in January this year, which reflected the strong mutual desire for a qualitatively new partnership between the two countries.

"I will seek new areas of understanding with Prime Minister Najib that reinforce the rich bonds of history and culture that unite us. In today’s unsettled world, it is all the more important for societies that are democratic, multi-religious and multicultural to work together. We share a special bond with Malaysia because it is home to one of the largest People of Indian Origin (PIO) communities of over two million, and I look to forward to meeting some of them," he said.

Dr Singh said he expected his visit to lead to greater integration of the two economies and cooperation in the the areas of infrastructure development, railways, knowledge industries, energy, defence and greater people-to-people exchanges.

He is also scheduled to deliver the Khazanah Global Lecture 2010 on India’s development experience in Kuala Lumpur.

The Prime Minister will travel to Hanoi in Vietnam on the third and final leg of his tour for participating in the 8th India-ASEAN Summit and the 5th East Asia Summit (EAS) on October 30. India shares a close and strategic partnership with Vietnam.

"The scale and range of our interaction with the ASEAN countries has expanded significantly in the last six years. I will discuss with the ASEAN leaders a road map for our future cooperation which will be reflected in an India-ASEAN Plan of Action for 2010-2015," he said.

Dr Singh said the East Asia Summit represented the desire of the Asia Pacific region to build an open and inclusive architecture of regional cooperation.

"In its short period of existence, the EAS process has made significant progress. This year’s Summit is expected to welcome the United States and Russia into the EAS process. I will update the EAS leaders on steps taken by us on the revival of the Nalanda University, which was endorsed by the Summit in 2009," he said.

On the margins of the EAS, Dr Singh is slated to have bilateral meetngs with other world leaders, including the Prime Minister of Vietnam, the President of South Korea, the Australian Prime Minister, the Chinese Premier and the Prime Minister of Singapore.

Briefing journalists on Friday about the Prime Minister's visit, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had said Dr Singh and Mr Kan were expected to announce the conclusion of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Japan.

"The agreement signifies the economic alignment of two of the largest economies in Asia and would lead to a marked increase in our business and economic ties. CEPA is a win-win proposition for both our countries," she said.

Ms Rao said the two Prime Ministers would also discuss Japanese involvement in major infrastructure development projects in India, such as the Dedicated Freight Corridors and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

She said the India-Japan consultations were expected to cover bilateral security cooperation that has been progressing well in the context and framework of the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation and the Action Plan on Security Cooperation signed last December in New Delhi. High Technology Trade and Energy Cooperation including renewable and civil nuclear, are also subjects that are receiving high level attention in the two countries.

The two sides are expected to sign some agreements during the visit. Mr Kan will host a banquet in honour of Dr Singh and Mrs Gursharan Kaur.

Malaysia is India's second largest trading partner in the ASEAN region and Malaysian investors are increasingly viewing India as an attractive destination. Malaysian construction companies have a good presence in India and have already completed 52 construction projects worth $ 2.34 billion. About 35 more projects are in the pipeline.

Dr Singh and Mr Najib are expected to announce the conclusion of negotiations on the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between the two countries.

Dr Singh will meet the King and Queen of Malaysia and the two Prime Ministers will launch the CEOs' Forum. He is also slated to a pay a visit to "Little India" and attend an Indian community reception hosted by the Indian High Commissioner.

India and Malaysia are likely to sign a number of agreements during the visit as both countries strive to give a strategic orientation to their partnership and craft broad-based ties focusing on key sectors like IT, infrastructure, health & medicine, biotechnology and energy.

The India-ASEAN Summit will take place in the forenoon of October 30 when Dr Singh will hold discussions with his 10 ASEAN counterparts.

"Our relationship has indeed come a long way. The India-ASEAN Trade-in-Goods Agreement became operational on 1st January, 2010. We expect to complete negotiations on the Trade in Services and Investment Agreement soon. To give a fillip to our economic engagement an India-ASEAN Trade Fair and Business Summit is planned at New Delhi in March, 2011. The India- ASEAN Plan of Action for 2010-15, is proposed to be adopted during the Summit. A series of events are also being contemplated next year leading to the first ever India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit in India in 2012," Ms Rao said.

The 5th East Asia Summit, to be held on the same day, will deliberate on the issues of (a) Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development (b) Financial Cooperation (c) Pandemics (d) Natural Disaster Mitigation (e) Education and (f) Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA) and Economic and Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).

The leaders will also exchange views on regional and international issues and on the future cooperation in EAS.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will accompany Dr Singh on his visit to Japan while Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will be present during the visit to Malaysia.

Others in the Prime Minister's delegation include the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr T K A Nair, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and the Foreign Secretary.

 

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Manmohan to launch 'Little India' in Malaysia trip​

2010-10-25 14:30:00
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Kuala Lumpur, Oct 25 (IANS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address business honchos during his visit to Malaysia later this week and also launch the 'Little India' business centre here.

Manmohan Singh's visit comes after his Malaysian counterpart Najib Tun Razak went to India in January, when they pledged to further boost the 53-year old ties of the two countries, The Star newspaper reported.

The joint Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will not be signed during Singh's visit, but both leaders will make a declaration on the landmark trade pact that covers services, investments, customs and trade.

Singh will lead a 16-member delegation that includes Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and top corporate leaders.

Another highlight of his visit is the inaugural India-Malaysia CEO Forum, a proposal mooted by Najib in New Delhi. Both leaders are scheduled to speak at the event.

Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia Vijay Gokhale said Singh's visit was a clear sign of the priority accorded to Malaysia.

'The two PMs will seek ways to take the relationship forward as they did in Delhi. Our relationship is a work in progress,' he said.

India was Malaysia's 12th largest import source and 11th largest export destination last year, with bilateral trade reaching $7.3 billion.

The bulk of the trade is in Malaysia's favour with exports accounting for $5 billion.

'The forum is expected to come up with a set of recommendations for both PMs to act on,' said Gokhale.

Singh will also deliver the Khazanah Global Lecture 2010.

Malaysian High Commissioner to India Tan Seng Sung said memorandum of understandings (MoUs) will be signed on tourism, culture and traditional medicine.

Malaysia is home to 2.1 million ethnic Indians, one of the largst Indian diaspora. Singh will witness a progressive Indian diaspora, the official Bernama news agency reported.

Singh's launch of renovated 'Little India' business area in Brickfields locality here with Najib is a recognition accorded to Malaysians of Indian origin.

Malaysia National Sikhs Movement (GerakSikh) president G. Darshan Singh, who handed over his book titled 'Sikh Community of Malaysia' to Manmohan Singh earlier this year in New Delhi, said the Indian prime minister was impressed with Malaysia and the Indians here.

He said the Indian leader took great interest to find out about Sikhs and other Indians in Malaysia, and was pleased with Malaysia's achievements and the Sikh community's contribution to the country. Malaysia is home to over 100,000 Sikhs.


Manmohan to launch 'Little India' in Malaysia trip

 

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India is an inspiration: Rwandan minister​

2010-10-25 14:20:00
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New Delhi, Oct 25 (IANS) Rwanda, a Commonwealth nation in eastern Africa that is trying to evolve as a nascent democracy, wants the Indian government to get more of its dynamic companies to invest in the continent and is scouting for joint ventures in education, energy, health and other economic sectors.

'The Indian government needs to look at seriously projecting the country as a place of hope and encouraging more Indian companies to go to Africa,' Vincent Karega, the visiting minister of infrastructure, told IANS in an interview.

The minister, accompanied by a 15-member business delegation, is on a 10-day long visit to India, during which he has already been to Ahmedabad and Mumbai. His last leg is a four-day stay in India's technology capital of Bangalore.

'India is an inspiration in the way it has become a key global player,' said Karega, adding, 'This visit is a message that countries from the South, which have shared historical backgrounds, should work together'.

Rwanda is trying to come out of years of civil war that claimed the lives of a millon people. A country of 10.7 million, it is especially interested in capacity building to foster entrepreneurship among its people. 'We want Rwandans to come here to India and be exposed and learn from the business environment here,' he said.

Karega is highly impressed by the spirit of entrepreneurship in India. 'In Africa, there is a perception that you can start a business only if you have lots of money. But among Indians, they start with a small fund and family support and within a few years, they are in charge of companies with a hundred people. I want to encourage that kind of mindset,' he said.

Ticking off the areas where he would like collaboration with India, Karega said he was looking at the areas of energy, health and education and mining.

During his visit, Karega met with the union renewable energy minister, Farooq Abdullah. 'He (Abdullah) talked about ways to tap into opportunities in this sector in rural areas,' said Karega.

He was interested in learning about India's major plans in expansion of solar and bio-gas plants, in which the south Asian country had developed considerable expertise. The visiting minister was also impressed with the concept of mini-hydropower plants which has been advocated by the renewable energy ministry.

At the meeting, Abdullah offered to bring the benefits of India's knowledge in renewable energy to Rwanda. 'The Indian minister committed to do some pilot projects in one or two villages in Rwanda,' said Karega.

India is already investing in Rwanda's energy sector, with a line of credit of $80 million to fund the country's largest ever hydropower dam for 28 megawatt on the Nyabarongo river. A consortium of Indian private company Angelique International and state Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, is executing the project, which will be completed in 2012.

The Indian private sector is also showing interest in Rwanda, with Zyus Cadila committed to opening a pharmaceutical plant in India, said the Rwandan minister. 'Essar wants to come to look at prospects for geo-thermal energy and gold mining,' he added.

Besides, the large Tata conglomerate is being tapped to conduct urban transport studies in the country.

He pointed out that there were about 1,000 Rwandan students studying in various Indian institutions. He said collaborations with Indian educational institutions to upgrade his country's educational infrastructure would be highly desirable.

'There is a lot of things that we can do together,' said Karega.

India is an inspiration: Rwandan minister

 

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India Billionaires Go On Buying Spree in `Last Frontier' Africa - Bloomberg​

Indian billionaire Ravi Ruia flew to Africa every month for the past 18 months, buying coal mines in Mozambique, half an oil refinery in Kenya and a call center in South Africa for his Essar Group.

This month, executives of his Essar Energy Plc. attended a conference hosted by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to attract investors in the power grid. The officials, backed by $2 billion the company raised in an April listing on the London Stock Exchange, also mulled other “business opportunities” around Africa, the company said.

Ruia, who controls the $15 billion Essar Group with his older brother, Shashi, is not alone. Billionaire countrymen Sunil Mittal, chairman of India’s largest mobile phone provider, Bharti Airtel Ltd.; Adi Godrej, chairman of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.; and Harsh Mariwala, founder of Marico Ltd., have fueled a $15.8 billion buying spree in Africa since January 2005.

“Africa looks remarkably similar to what India was 15 years ago,” said Firdhose Coovadia, director of Essar’s African operations. “We can’t lose this opportunity to replicate the low-cost, high-volume model we’ve perfected in India.”

‘Last Frontier’

Indian companies acquired or invested in at least 79 companies in Africa, chasing business in less crowded markets after growing in a home economy that expanded by an average 8.5 percent since April 2005.

Africa’s gross domestic product expanded 4.9 percent a year from 2000 to 2008, McKinsey & Co. said in a June report. The continent’s GDP will rise to $2.6 trillion by 2020 from $1.6 trillion in 2008.

Consumer spending may double to as much as $1.8 trillion by 2020 as infrastructure is built and farm output increases, the report said. That is the equivalent of adding a consumer market the size of Brazil.

“Africa is seen by the investing community as the last frontier,” said Walter Rossini, who manages $330 million in an India fund at Aletti Gestielle Sgr Spa in Milan. “There is a higher risk, but then there is greater reward if the political situation remains stable over the next 10 years.”

Africa is new territory for Bharti, which paid $9 billion in June for mobile phone operations in 15 countries and will rebrand them by year’s end.

500 Million Roses

This month, Bharti executives sought advice at the Kenya offices of Bangalore-based Karuturi Global Ltd., the world’s largest rose-grower. Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi, the managing director, said Africa is driving his company’s success.

Six years ago, as he struggled to compete against flower growers in Africa and Europe with lower freight costs and larger tracts of land, he bought a small plot in Ethiopia. Sales since have grown 11-fold to $112.7 million in the fiscal year that ended March 31.

He leases 311,000 hectares of land -- larger than the U.S. state of Rhode Island -- in Ethiopia and Kenya, and his company sells more than half-a-billion roses a year.

“I got in on the ground floor, others got in on the second floor, but there’s a lot of floors left to go in Africa’s economic cycle,” Karuturi said. “Africa offered us a scale we could never reach in India.”

26 Deals

Indian acquisitions in Africa peaked in 2008, when companies closed 26 deals worth $3.1 billion. Those include the state-run Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd.’s $721 million purchase of Industries Chimiques du Senegal, an idle phosphates producer that once was the country’s largest industrial plant. New York-based Ernst & Young LLP handled 11 deals since 2005.

“We are seeing Indian companies look at Africa in a major way,” said Anuj Chande, the London-based head of the South Asia Group at advisory and accounting firm Grant Thornton U.K. LLP. “Compared to India, valuations are quite attractive. We’re expecting to see a lot of midsize deals across a variety of sectors.”

Apollo Tyres Ltd., India’s second-biggest tiremaker by market value, bought Durban, South Africa-based Dunlop Tyres International Pty for $62 million in April 2006. That gave Gurgaon-based Apollo two manufacturing plants and a retreading unit in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and brand rights to 32 African countries.

‘Tata, Ambani’

“If tomorrow the Indian economy was to take a U-turn, then at least you have other markets which are growing,” said Neeraj Kanwar, Apollo’s vice-chairman and managing director. “I can’t survive on the Indian market alone.”

The company aims to triple sales to $6 billion in five years, with 60 percent of revenue coming from outside India. In the fiscal year that ended March 31, 62 percent of its $1.7 billion in sales came from India.

Adi Godrej bought a hair-color company in South Africa and a soap and body-lotion maker in Nigeria. His Mumbai-based Godrej Consumer Products gets 23 percent of its total sales outside India, including Africa.

Marico paid 520 million India rupees ($12 million) to buy the consumer division of Durban-based Enaleni Pharmaceuticals Consumer Division (Pty) Ltd. in October 2007. Two months ago, it bought South African health-care brand Ingwe for an undisclosed price.

Dabur India Ltd. started shopping on the continent in 2004, when it bought a hair-care brand in Egypt and then a Nigerian cosmetics company.

“We need to now seek avenues of growth outside of India because India’s becoming saturated and hugely competitive,” Dabur Chief Executive Officer Sunil Duggal said.

One reason why smaller Indian companies ventured into Africa is that their budgets still attract attention in countries trying to woo foreign investors, Karuturi said.

“I am not even a fly on the wall in India, but in Ethiopia I am the largest investor, the second-largest employer after the government,” said Karuturi, whose company owns professional soccer and volleyball teams. “To do that in India, you have to be a Tata or an Ambani.”

 

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'Indian scientists to train in Israel for n-plant security'​

Islamabad, Oct 24 (IANS) More than 100 senior scientists from India's Tarapur Atomic Power Plant, near Mumbai, will be soon travelling to Israel to get acquainted with the latest developments in safety norms for nuclear plants, a Pakistani paper said Sunday.

The decision to send the team of 130 scientists was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a report in the Urdu daily Jang said.

Among other decisions taken at the meeting, also attended by the home and defence ministers and the Atomic Energy Commission chief, was to change the security system at the Tarapur plant. According to the report, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present at the meeting.

It was decided to appoint the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) former director Joginder Singh as head of a committee to oversee the new security systems, the report said.

 

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India to negotiate free trade agreements with Indonesia, Thailand soon​

2010-10-28 21:40:00




In a move that can change the dynamics of trade in East Asia and also throw a challenge to China's economic dominance in its own backyard, India is looking forward to negotiate comprehensive free trade agreements with Indonesia and Thailand.

India will step up efforts to negotiate comprehensive trade agreements with Thailand and Indonesia both at official and ministerial level, according to highly placed sources .

Meanwhile, it was disclosed that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will be the chief guest during India's Republic Day celebration in 2011.

It may be noted that in 2010, South Korean President was the chief guest at India's Republic Day. And, a comprehensive trade agreement with the country was signed later.

In a bid to activate its Look East policy , during Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Japan and Malaysia, India conducted prolonged negotiations on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) respectively.

India also hopes to achieve the target of holding 15 billion dollars trade with Malaysia and 20 billion dollars trade with Japan by 2015.

India has already signed comprehensive trade agreements with Korea and Singapore and has also concluded trade and goods agreement with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

India is also currently negotiating Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with ASEAN on investment and services, which is expected to be concluded by March 2011.

The bilateral trade pacts are more liberal than those under the ASEAN-India Trade and Goods Agreement.

In trade and services, the individual trade agreements with East Asian countries have progressively been liberalised on a preferential basis, with substantial sectoral coverage, including movement of professionals and skilled persons, cross-border supply, and telecommunication services to provide commercially meaningful market access to both parties.

India is hoping to increase its activities in ASEAN and East Asian region and want to be a part of Asia's success story. By Naveen Kapoor (ANI)

India to negotiate free trade agreements with Indonesia, Thailand soon

 

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Egypt says it voted for India for UNSC seat​

Ambassador of Egypt to India Khaled El Bakly has expressed “strong disappointment” on one of the items published in the Delhi Confidential column of The Indian Express on November 1 (“Who voted against India?”).

Denying the contents of the item that a large section of the MEA was convinced that Egypt was among the three countries which did not vote in favour of India becoming a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, the Ambassador, in a written statement, has said: “I wish to confirm that such information is baseless and incorrect, as Egypt did vote for India’s nomination, moreover it was one of the early countries to officially hail India’s election as non-permanent member of the UNSC.”

He added: “Most recently, the leaders of our two countries agreed on the establishment of a strategic dialogue. Egypt and India enjoy phenomenal bilateral relations and excellent coordination in multilateral affairs within the UN system and its specialised agencies as well as working closely on issues like peacekeeping operations, countering terrorism and piracy.”


Egypt says it voted for India for UNSC seat