by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
New Delhi:(IANS) India and the Arab League member states on Sunday condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and also called for urgent reforms in the UN Security Council.
“The #ManamaDeclaration condemns terrorism in all its forms and rejects associating terrorism with any religion,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.
The declaration was adopted after the first ever ministerial-level meeting of the India-Arab Partnership Conference in Bahrain’s capital Manama on Sunday, which was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
The Arab League comprises 22 countries in Middle East and northern Africa – Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, the State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The relationship between India and the Arab countries has been taken to the next level called India-Arab Partnership Conference, four meetings of which have already been held with New Delhi hosting the last one in 2014 and the next conference scheduled to be held in Oman in May this year.
“The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejecting associating terrorism with any religion, culture or ethnic group, emphasised the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and to develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism including its funding, as well as combating organised cross-border crime,” the Manama Declaration reads.
“They supported the efforts of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), at the earliest,” it states.
The Arab side also aspired “to an effective Indian role, in cooperation with Arab states, to enhance peace and security at the regional and international level”.
The declaration assumes significance as India is concerned over the deepening sectarian divide in the region and the growing footprint of terror groups like the Islamic State.
After Saudi Arabia executed a Shia cleric on charges of terrorism earlier this month, its missions in Iran came under attack and subsequently diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tehran were cut off.
According to the Manama Declaration, the two sides recalled the historic and civilisational ties that exist between the Arab world and India and underlined the contribution of the commercial and cultural ties in binding the two sides together.
“They hailed the strong foundation, great potential and wide-ranging prospects for the Arab-Indian co-operation and the role this forum can play to advance Arab-India relations towards capacious horizons,” it states.
“They confirmed their commitment to maintain international peace and security and to achieve sustainable development and expressed their commitment to work together to tackle political and economic challenges through closer consultation, cooperation and coordination in various fields.”
Both the sides also called for urgent reforms of the UN Security Council through expansion in both permanent and non-permanent membership to reflect contemporary reality.
“They agreed that the current structure of the UN Security Council was not representative of a majority of the people of the world but continued to perpetuate a system that was anachronistic,” the declaration states.
India and the Arab countries reaffirmed their commitment to verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mas destruction (WMDs) in an irreversible manner and agreed to strengthen collaboration to achieve this important objective according to relevant UN resolutions.
On the bilateral front, both sides recognised the need to hold more people-to-people interactions between the two sides, particularly exchanging youth delegations to share experiences and ideas about each other’s culture and traditions.
“It was also agreed to promote exchange of women’s delegations with a view to promote women empowerment,” the declaration states.
India and the Arab regional grouping also hoped to strengthen future cooperation in economic, trade and investment, within the framework of the existing mechanisms and further developing these mechanisms.
“In view of the great importance the two sides attach to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of energy, they expressed hope to reach a memorandum of understanding in the field of energy in order to enhance cooperation in this field, especially in the field of renewable Energy,” it states.
“Both the sides desire to strengthen cooperation in the fields of science and technology, information and communication technology (ICT), environment, agriculture and food security, tourism, health and establishing the necessary mechanisms to enforce cooperation in these fields to achieve common interest of India and Arab countries,” the declaration reads.
On regional issues, the two sides expressed deep concern over the situation in Syria and called on Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian “Arab” territories it seized in 1967.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Antalya (IINA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched the G20 Summit in Turkey’s southern Antalya city.
In his opening remarks at the summit Sunday, Erdogan urged countries to investigate whether unemployment, poverty and inequality were causes of latest terrorist attacks. Addressing a joint meeting of the Business 20 and Labor 20 groups under the G20 ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, the Turkish president said that the causes of terrorism need to be debated in order to defeat it, the World Bulletin reported. “I am wondering whether world capital and financial sectors are a little bit jealous. I think we have to think about that. When we look at the latest terrorist attacks, we have to wonder whether one of the causes of this terrorist attack is the jealousy. We have to investigate whether unemployment, poverty and inequality caused these terrorist attacks,” he said.
Erdogan said that the business community must act generously to eliminate this jealousy in the world. “This generosity will also lead to resolution of terrorism and poverty problem in the world. It will also eliminate this jealousy and envy. We have to solve this problem together,” he said.”Unemployed young people in the world, if they want to become entrepreneurs, I wonder whether the financial world is supporting them or whether the financial world is supporting unemployed women. In Turkey, we are taking new steps for young people and women who want to make investments, who will be supported by the government. This initiative is very important,” he added.
Erdogan also said that sustainable growth and implementation in the world are important as well as inclusiveness.”Inclusive growth is going to be permanent element of G20 thanks to contributions from B20 and L20,” he said.Erdogan also praised Turkey’s achievement about inequality. “The inequality rate is going down as growth increases. We actually achieved that. Minimum and average wages have increased in Turkey. We also took some important steps for the youth and women employment as well as in e-governance, SMEs, investment, in all of this, we have made significant progress. We believe that these are important elements of social policies,” he said.After his speech, the president also heard recommendations to G20 leaders from business and labor groups.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Business Summit, Economy, Events, News
Prime Minister,Narendra Modi with other Leaders in the G-20 family photograph, at the G20 Turkey 2015, in Turkey
Antalya (Turkey):(IANS) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that all humanity must stand united against terrorism as BRICS leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit that will get underway here later in the day.
We stand united in strongly condemning the dreadful acts of terror, Modi said two days after Islamic State terrorists massacred nearly 130 people in the French capital.
Entire humanity must stand together and be one against terrorism, he added.
He said the need for a united global effort to combat terrorism has never been more urgent.
This must also be a priority for BRICS nations, he said.
Modi said India attached the highest importance to BRICS, a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
We want to build on the great work done by other members, he said, adding that India would be honoured to assume the BRICS chair from Russia in February 2016.
Build responsive, inclusive and collective solutions… this will be the theme when India assumes presidency of BRICS, Modi said.
The prime minister said that BRICS has proved its relevance and value through its actions, when earlier its logic was being questioned.
The New Development Bank, the Currency Reserve Arrangement, Strategy for BRICS Economic Cooperation – these are clear evidence of our vision and our resolve. Together, we can also give shape to G20, Modi said.
Stating that India was pleased that China would take over the presidency of G20 in December 2015, he stated: “We assure China of full support during its presidency.”
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
By Aroonim Bhuyan
New Delhi:(IANS) Increasing bilateral investments, a greater role for India in regional security and stability and fighting terrorism are among the key issues that are likely to come up for discussion during External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Egypt early next week.
“The visit of the Indian external affairs minister next week is a continuation of the historic relations between India and Egypt,” Egypt’s Ambassador to India, Hatem Tageldin, told IANS in an intervieew.
“The Arab region and India are among the biggest trade partners and trade between the two sides is worth around $180 billion,” he said.
The ambassador said that Egypt is working on a number of mega projects from which Indian investors can benefit. “The New Suez Canal that was inaugurated on August 6 is one of them. We are planning to set up a special economic zone of around 500 sq km,” he said.
He said there are already over 50 Indian investors in Egypt and there was around $3 billion of private Indian investment in the north African country.
“Indian companies in the pharmaceutical, IT, infrastructure, energy and auto component sectors are exploring the Egyptian market with the intention of either exporting from India or producing in Egypt,” the ambassador said, citing Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and the Tata group examples.
Egypt is the hub of entry to as many as 26 African countries and with the signing of a number of pacts between these countries, Indian companies can move product within the region without paying any customs duties.
As for Egyptian investment in India, he said: “I have already visited Bangalore to lay the foundation stone of a new Egyptian factory. There is a second (Egyptian) factory already functioning in Noida and the negotiation process is on for a third factory.”
He also stressed on the issues of regional security and the fight against terrorism that will figure during Sushma Swaraj’s visit on August 24-25.
“The two sides will also discuss regional issues and the situations in countries like Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen,” Tageldin said.
“The Indian external affairs minister will also meet the secretary general of the Arab League apart from holding bilateral discussions with our minister for foreign affairs.”
According to the diplomat, Egypt believed in India’s role in the Israel-Palestine peace process. “We trust India to continue its historic support to the Palestine issue,” he said.
Cairo is also looking forward to attracting more Indian tourists to Egypt. “Last year,we had 10 million tourists. The number of Indian tourists was 61,000. I think that is a very humble number,” Tageldin said.
“We process Indian tourists’ visas in a maximum of three days. Also Indian tourists going in groups can get visa on arrival facility by requesting Egyptian tour operators.
Tageldin said Egypt Air, which currently flies to Mumbai, is exploring the possibility of introducing a direct flight to New Delhi too.
According to the ambassador, Sushma Swaraj’s visit is a reflection of the new Indian government’s thrust on looking west – Gulf and the Arab world – after having focussed on the Look East policy in the first year.
(Anoorim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)
