by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
M.J. Akbar
Jakarta : The first India Indonesia Interfaith Dialogue (IIID) will be held on October 3-5 in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, the Indian Embassy here said on Tuesday.
The next steps to convening the IIID were discussed during a visit by Indian Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar to this southeast Asian nation from July 28 to 31, according to an embassy statement.
Akbar’s visit comes after the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Indonesia in May this year.
Akbar met Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi here on Monday.
“They discussed ways to ensure a substantive and outcome-oriented meeting of the First Interfaith Dialogue between India and Indonesia, as well as bilateral and multilateral issues,” the statement said.
“It was agreed to host the first IIID on October 3-5 in the historic city of Yogyakarta – a powerful symbol of Indonesia’s syncretic culture.”
Indonesia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population.
According to the statement, Akbar also met Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Gen. (Retd). Wiranto Monday and exchanged ideas for involving key stakeholders from both sides in the upcoming IIID.
“Both leaders reiterated their commitment to early reconvening of the second round of India Indonesia Security Dialogue later this year in Indonesia,” it stated.
“They agreed that it was as important to win the argument in the mind as to defeat terrorism in its chosen battlefields.”
Akbar also conveyed the Indian government’s deepest condolences to the Indonesian government on the loss of 14 lives at the earthquake in the tourist island of Lombok on July 29.
He also met with Haider Nashir, Chairman of Muhammadiah, and K.H. Said Aqil Siradj, Chairman of Nahldatul Ulama, which are Indonesia’s largest independent Islamic organisations and discussed steps to increase academic and educational exchanges amongst scholars from their organizations with appropriate counterpart institutions in India.
“Both organizations agreed to work in appropriate cooperation with India to spread the message of pluralism and harmony between different faiths,” the embassy statement said.
On Tuesday, Akbar met Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Agus Widjojo, Governor of Lemhannas, which is Indonesia’s premier training institution for senior leadership of its defence forces.
“Both sides discussed ways and means to deepen defence exchanges and institutionalise cooperation between defence institutes and think tanks of India and Indonesia,” the statement said.
During the course of his visit, Akbar also met members of IndCham in Jakarta, which is a leading association of Indian corporate entities and business leaders having interests in promoting economic and trade relations between Indonesia and India.
He encouraged them to work on deepening bilateral investments and called for creative thinking to augmenting tourism flows from Indonesia to India.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
M.J. Akbar
New Delhi : Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar on Thursday said that shared prosperity is the key to peace in the Indo-Pacific region, which has emerged as the most prominent source of prosperity in the world.
Delivering the keynote address at a workshop on “Strategic Stability in the Indo-Pacific” organised by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses think tank and the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, Akbar said that today’s world is very different from what it was a hundred years ago.
“In the political spaces that occupies the globe, a hundred years ago in 1919 there were only about 60 to 65 political spaces, you can call them nations or you can call them kingdoms or whatever you want,” he said.
“Today, there are around 195 countries. So it is a very different world and a very different phenomenon that we are facing.”
Akbar said that this phenomenon has to be recognised by governments and “recognised and corrected by ambitions of governance”.
In this, he said different regions in the world will be involved including the Indo-Pacific “which is going to become, which has already become the most prominent source of prosperity in the world”.
“We have to understand that in order to protect prosperity, we can only do it by sharing it, both the prospects as well as the process through which we ensure peace,” he stated.
In this context, he stressed on the importance of the Indian concept of SAGAR ( Security and Growth for All in the Region) the subtext of which he said is the concept of seas of freedom and prosperity.
Akbar said that cooperation is quite possible within the abilities of the Indo-Pacific region because the rights of sovereignty are enshrined as a global commitment.
“So, in order to look for prosperity, you don’t have to conquer anyone,” he said. “You merely have to discuss, you have to get rid of the notion that there are powers and super powers. You have to get rid of the notion that there are big nations and small nations.”
Speaking about regional geopolitics, he said to India’s immediate west is “the wall” of Pakistan that blocks trade and countries with governments that did not have full control of their territories because of active militias.
However, in the east, Akbar said, all countries have understood that the need in the 21st century is to meet the rising economic aspirations of the people.
“Today, it is not about sun never sets in the British empire, it is about the sun should not set without food at home,” he said.
Though man is a land-centric animal, that land is being replaced by the seas, skies, space and technology, Akbar said.
“When we talk about blue economy, we should not restrict ourselves to the seas. The sky is also blue.”
Akbar described Asia-Pacific as an old term that was basically a definition for war zones and was important for the US to assert control in terms of Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
“But war zones had to give way to trade,” he said. “Today, India’s fastest growing economic relationship is with the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), China and Japan.”
The minister said unlike in the past when India looked at the US from the lens of Europe and Britain, today India looks at the US through the east.
In this context, he said that Australia has become important and and referred to the recently revived quad of India, the US, Japan and Australia that seeks to work for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Stating that India’s interest today is increasing towards the east, Akbar said: “Security is important for freedom, not for control, but for freedom of passage.”
This assumes significance given China’s belligerence in the South China Sea and attempts to increase its footprint in the Indo-Pacific region.
Akbar also stressed that the answer to conflict lies in the three Cs – competition, connectivity and cooperation.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Investing
M.J. Akbar
New Delhi : The government is committed to extending every support to Indian industries focused efforts to increase investments in European countries, Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar said on Monday.
“I am happy that European businesses are looking towards India and are increasingly finding business toeholds in an outward looking manner,” Akbar said while delivering the keynote address at the Fourth India-Europe 29 Business Forum here.
“At the same time Indian businesses are becoming a significant investor in Europe,” he said.
“I would like to assure you that the government of India is fully committed and working towards supporting this.”
Organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and industry body Ficci, trhe Forum is an institutionalised platform to initiate and discuss business prepositions between India and European countries. This year, the Czech Republic is the focus country.
Akbar said India is undergoing a transformation in an unprecedented scale led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effective and transparent government.
“India is moving towards a knowledge-based society which aims to build a $5-trillion economy by 2025,” he stated.
“This will make us the third largest consumer market in the world by then. According to World Bank and IMF, our growth rate is going to be stable and high.”
The minister pointed out India ranked that Moody’s has upgraded India’s ratings on account of its economic reforms.
“India has climbed 30 places in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index last year, the biggest jump by any country,” he said.
Stating that India is a union of states, Akbar said many of these states have embarked on the process of being competitive.
“We call this competitive federalism,” he said.
“More than 90 per cent of the FDI rules have been put on automatic approval. As a result, there has been a sharp rise in FDI in the past three years from $36 billion in 2014 to $60 billion in 2016-17.”
The radical reforms that were introduced by the government of India some four years ago under the leadership of Modi have delivered robust results, Akbar said, while highlighting the government programmes that contributed to the socio-economic transformation of the country.
He cited how interventions in the areas of micro-finance and housing have strengthened the participation of women in development endeavours.
Pointing to the threat of terrorism confronting global societies, Akbar said that India and Europe have come together to fight the war against terrorism and make the world a peaceful place to live in.
Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Tomas Huner, in his address, said that India is one among the 10 most important non-European trade partners of Czech Republic. He underlined the immense scope for bilateral partnerships in the area of energy development.
Huner highlighted the core strengths of the Czech Republic, such as a highly qualified domestic workforce, investment protection laws, among others, as factors that would attract Indian investments to the country.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion of Malta Camelo Abela urged Indian industry to increase their investments in Malta and enjoy the benefit of easier access to the European and African markets.
“”Malta is open for business,” he said, and referred to pharma manufacturing, education, healthcare, consultancy, renewal energy, financial services, events, biotechnology research, knowledge-based industries among other sectors that would be particularly attractive for investments by Indian companies. He also mentioned about Malta being a global film production hub.
Ficci Vice President Sandip Somany, in his welcome address, said there is significant scope for increasing the India-Europe 29 bilateral trade flows that stood at $38 billion in 2016-17.
He also pointed to the need for strengthening these partnerships involving small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The conference attracted the participation of some 170 officials and business leaders from the European countries, and an equal number of Indian delegates.
During the inaugural session, a Ficci report on “India-Europe 29: Synergising Economic Vision for Expanded Relations” was released.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
MJ Akbar
Kolkata : Terming India’s engagement with its neighbours in recent times as “unprecedented”, Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar on Monday said the country has responded to the present day need for greater reach to neighbouring countries.
“Present day needs call for India’s greater reach and not just merely for trade and commerce,” he said here in an interactive session organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce.
Pointing out to recent acquisition of share in Abu Dhabi’s oil production after agreeing to pay $600 million for one tenth of one of the Emirates’ biggest offshore deposits, Akbar said that the success has come with India getting access to strategic resources.
“We are getting strategic resources in place and securing our energy needs. The time has come when neighbourhood means reach. India’s level of engagement with neighbours is unprecedented,” he said.
Responding to a query on the multi-crore banking fraud detected by Punjab National Bank, he said the Centre has been quick on “follow up action” and the raids are being conducted and FIRs are filed.
“Questions should also be put out to those who had opened showrooms for the accused,” Akbar added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
M.J. Akbar
Baku (Azerbaijan) : Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar on Friday said several countries, including India, have striven hard to improve the socio-economic and security situation in Afghanistan but a “certain neighbour” of Afghanistan has consistently indulged in violence, extremism, disruption and deceit as its only contribution to the region.
While many concerned members of the international community had invested billions of dollars in the search for peace, prosperity and stability in Afghanistan, one nation invested in death, destruction and destabilisation, Akbar said at the “7th Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process” here.
“When we discuss Afghanistan’s security, we can’t do so without recognising that the fountainhead of violence in Afghanistan is nurtured in the city of Quetta, which has become the biggest sanctuary and export hub of terrorism,” a release quoted him as saying.
“Afghanistan‘s people and government are at war with a force whose leadership lives not only outside the borders of Afghanistan but also outside the laws of humanity. They continue to thwart our collective efforts, in pursuit of narrowly defined and warped geo-theological priorities.
“It is time to call a spade a spade,” Akbar said.
“We must send a consistent and firm message to those who sponsor, arm, finance and supervise terrorism and violence from beyond Afghanistan’s borders. Security in Afghanistan is going to be a difficult proposition as long as sponsors of mayhem and chaos are not held accountable. The world is watching… The world cannot remain silent, for silence is an invitation to continued havoc,” he said.
The minister said India welcomed the growing determination and international consensus against terrorists and their supporters.
He pointed out that Afghanistan has the undeniable potential to emerge as the land-bridge between various parts of the vast and dynamic Eurasian landmass.
“We describe Afghanistan, correctly, as the Heart of Asia. This has been its vantage across the centuries, from an era that drifts back to the days of pre-recorded history. But what do we do when a deliberate attempt is made by one of its neighbours to choke an ancient and vibrant artery to this heart?” Akbar said.
—IANS
