United Nations, Sep 20 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday continued hectic diplomatic parleys with top leaders from around the world on the sidelines of the high-level UN General Assembly session here and discussed issues ranging from counter-terrorism cooperation to COVID-19.

He called on Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo and “discussed our ongoing cooperation in the UN Security Council, especially on counterterrorism”.

Jaishankar tweeted that he “appreciated the achievements of our development partnership”.

In his meeting with Comoros President Azali Assoumani, Jaishankar welcomed his appreciation for India’s outreach in combating Covid-19 and dengue.

“Discussed taking forward our development partnership and working together on maritime security,” he tweeted.

After his meeting with Foreign Minister Denis Moncada of Nicaragua, Jaishankar tweeted, “Interesting discussion on the global situation and its multilateral implications.” PTI 

 Washington, Sep 21 (PTI) India and the US have common goals and stakes that bind the two nations together, visiting Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh has said, urging the American scientific community and entrepreneurs to work with their Indian counterparts in areas like health, clean energy and space.

“We have common goals. So we are in a common state, which also binds us together,” Singh on Tuesday said at a reception hosted in his honour at the India House by India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided a much more enabling environment in the field of science and technology and entrepreneurs than it was ever in the past, Singh said at the reception attended by several lawmakers, members of the scientific, academics, think tank community, and senior officials from the Biden administration.

India now has a government and the head of the government who has the capacity to think out of the box, and has the capacity to break the taboos of the past, the minister said.

Areas of health, clean energy, space, geospatial, and quantum are some of the propriety areas for both countries. “You would appreciate that after several years the Department of Space has been opened up for joint initiation, joint ventures, and public-private participation. And we will also look forward to international investments and we would rather be glad to incentivise that,” he said.

He pointed out that India has more than 60 startups in the space sector itself. The new geospatial guidelines also initiated at the behest of Modi would create a much more enabling atmosphere for future partnerships, Singh said.

Ambassador Sandhu in his welcome remarks highlighted the key pillars of the India-US relationship in the field of education, health, science, and technology, as well as, clean energy.

Sandhu said the US Congress had played a key role in strengthening the India-US relationship.

Today there are more than 200,000 Indian students in the US with one-third of them from STEM areas. US universities now want to establish a close relationship with India, the Ambassador said.

The Indian envoy during his tenure has had interactions with heads of 150 universities and academic institutions.

National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan in his remarks during the reception said he looked forward to a very strong partnership between the US and India.

“Any partnership between global partners is fundamentally premised on shared values and shared aspirations. In terms of shared values, we have the values of openness, transparency, reciprocity, research, integrity, and respect for intellectual property and a whole lot more,” he said.

“We share the fundamental bedrock of a foundation that clearly can build unbelievable scientific partnerships together,” Panchanathan asserted.

“On top of that, we share aspirations whether it is AI, quantum, Advanced Wireless biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, you name it, it doesn’t matter what the field is, we find that there is always a partner that you can locate in India where we can build partnerships together and set of outcomes to work on grand challenges like climate change, or in terms of industries of the future, both of that are possible because of this partnership coming together,” Panchanathan said. PTI 

London: The UK police said on Tuesday that they have made 47 arrests as part of an ongoing operation to deter further disorder in the eastern England city of Leicester, which saw scenes of violence over the weekend in a spillover of clashes since an India-Pakistan cricket match.

It comes as the Indian High Commission in London issued a strongly worded statement condemning the violence against the Indian community and called for protection for those affected.

Leicestershire Police said a 20-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon during clashes in the city.

Amos Noronha from the local area appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court after his arrest during Saturday’s incident and was quickly charged due to overwhelming evidence .

“The sentence is reflective of the fact that this was a serious offence and he has ended up with time in prison,” said Rob Nixon, temporary chief constable at Leicestershire Police.

“We will not stand for this unrest in our city. There is an extensive policing operation ongoing, acting on information and reports of gatherings and offering community reassurance. Be reassured: we are working to keep you safe and to arrest and bring to justice those that are causing harm in our communities,” he said.

It follows a weekend of what the police termed as serious disorder and significant aggression as Hindu and Muslim groups clashed in the wake of the India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match in Dubai at the end of last month.

“A policing operation to deter further disorder continued in east Leicester In total, 47 people have been arrested for offences in relation to the unrest in the east of the city. Some of those arrested were from out of the city, including some people from Birmingham,” Leicestershire Police said.

The force said it had to be supported by resources from a number of neighbouring police forces, including the mounted police unit, as the clashes escalated over the weekend. Dispersal and stop and search powers have been used repeatedly to restore calm. There were social media videos circulating showing a temple flag being ripped out and glass bottles being hurled.

The Indian High Commission said in its statement on Monday, “We strongly condemn the violence perpetrated against the Indian community in Leicester and vandalisation of premises and symbols of Hindu religion.”

“We have strongly taken up this matter with the UK authorities and have sought immediate action against those involved in these attacks. We call on the authorities to provide protection to the affected people.”

Diaspora group Insight UK has claimed that much of the violence was the result of misinformation and fake news circulating on social media. Leicester city mayor Peter Soulsby agreed, saying, “very, very, very distorting events were being shared on social media and blamed outsiders for coming into the city to stoke violence.”

“We condemn damages to Hindu temples which are a place of worship and should not be disrespected,” Hindu Council UK said in a statement.

“We call upon the Hindu community to work with the authorities to bring calm and peace as Leicester is renowned for its cultural diversity, unity and community cohesion,” the UK-wide community organisation said, adding that it is working on developing strategies to bring about stronger inter-community relations in the city.

Leicester, in the East Midlands region of England, is known as the city with a large chunk of population of South Asian descent. The city’s Belgrave Road is famous as the Golden Mile, packed with Indian-origin jewellery, food and other businesses, and also a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

The city’s former Indian-origin member of parliament, the first of South Asian heritage, took to social media to appeal for calm.

“To me Leicester is the greatest city in the world. Nowhere else so many different people of different languages, cultures and ethnicities live together in harmony,” said Goan-origin Keith Vaz, who was MP for Leicester East from 1987 to 2019.

“We celebrate Diwali, Eid and Baisakhi as one big happy family. I am saddened to see recent events a small minority of people are seeking to destroy the spirit of Leicester,” he said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the G20 grouping as well as the situation in Myanmar with Foreign Minister of Indonesia Retno Marsudi.

"So nice to meet my friend, Retno in New York. Discussed our commitment to make the Indonesian G20 Presidency successful. Also exchanged views on Myanmar, Jaishankar tweeted Monday.

Jaishankar, in New York for the high-level UN General Assembly session, began his hectic diplomatic week with a series of bilateral and multilateral engagements on the sidelines of the high-level session.

Indonesia is currently President of the G20 and will hand over the baton to India, which will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022 to November 20 2023.

Official sources here described the meeting with the Indonesian leader as good and particularly important during which the two sides exchanged notes on the G20, its challenges and the path forward.

 In a first, Google CEO Sunder Pichai visited the Indian Embassy in Washington and held discussions with India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, on various aspects of the tech company's activities in the country, particularly its aggressive push towards digitization.

“Thank you” Ambassador Sandhu for the great conversation, Mr Pichai said in a tweet after his visit to the Indian Embassy in downtown Washington DC late last week. This is for the first time that a top Indian American tech CEO has visited the embassy in Washington.

“Appreciated the chance to discuss Google's commitment to India and look forward to continuing our support for India's digital future,” said Mr Pichai, who in January this year was named among the 17 awardees to receive Padma Bhushan.

Technology that transforms; ideas that enable! tweeted Sandhu. Delighted to receive Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai at the Embassy, he said.

Exchanged thoughts on expanding India-US commercial, knowledge & tech partnership with Google, the Indian envoy said.

Google's investments in India

Google under Pichai has made massive investment in India and phenomenally expanded its footprint in a wide range of sectors including its training to the younger generation.

It has announced an investment of about USD10 billion under Google for India digitization. It also has partnerships with Reliance's Jeo as well as with Bharti Airtel. In addition, it is partnering with India on workforce development and skill development. They are working with the government on Digital India Program, and national digital literacy mission.

During the meeting with the Indian Ambassador, Pichai was very appreciative of the very initiatives that have been taken by India and underscored how Google is looking at India in a very positive framework. The Ambassador highlighted the knowledge and education partnership.

'Google an important partner for India'

The Google CEO, during the conversation, is also believed to have discussed various ways in which its partnership with India forward in particular in the education sector. They also discussed digitization efforts in India in which Google is involved including digital payments and infrastructure digitization.

The Indian Ambassador noted that Google is an important partner in India's digital transformation, which is a priority for the government.

Notably Google and its parent company Alphabet played an important role in the COVID-19 crisis last year. They put a lot of money in terms of supporting India, and they were part of the global task force of American CEOs set up in this regard.

The Indian government has intensified its engagement with American CEOs. The Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had a meeting with a number of CEOs from the Silicon Valley during his trip to California early this month.

Sandhu himself met several CEOs during his recent trips there. He also visited the universities in the Silicon Valley which are considered to be the hub of such innovation.

They also had a number of venture capitalists and start up entrepreneurs in San Francisco as part of India's latest push to have greater engagement with the American tech sector.

New York,(PTI) India, the UAE and France have held their first trilateral ministerial meeting here on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly session and exchanged ideas on a new and more contemporary way of doing diplomacy with a focus on “active exchange” of ideas between strategic partners and UNSC members.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in New York on Sunday to participate in the high-level 77th session of the UN General Assembly, which kick-starts September 20 with the opening of the General Debate.

“A productive first trilateral Ministerial meeting of India-UAE-France. Active exchange of ideas between strategic partners and UNSC members,” Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting, hosted by the UAE on Monday, with UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna.

Jaishankar began his hectic diplomatic week with a series of bilateral and multilateral engagements on the sidelines of the high-level session.

This was the first ministerial-level meeting of the India, the UAE and France trilateral.

The three countries, while different, are strategic partners to one another and discussions focussed on areas of commonalities and on working out how to specify and concretise these commonalities going forward, official sources said.

They said the three countries are very comfortable with each other and there are many areas where potentially they could be working in a more coordinated way.

Such plurilateral meetings signify a new and more contemporary way of doing diplomacy, they said, citing the example of Quad (Australia, India, Japan, the US), I2U2 (India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States), trilateral between India, France and Australia as forums emerging as effective ways of finding a common agenda.

They added that typically, groupings were regional and contiguous in nature such as SAARC, BIMSTEC, ASEAN, and the EU with the exception of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

The official sources added that diplomacy is now changing and there are countries which are not neighbours or next to each other in a region but which have certain common interests and are working with each other.

Following his bilateral meeting with the UAE Foreign Minister, Jaishankar tweeted: “Reviewed the continuing progress of our partnership. Appreciated his assessments and insights on the global situation.” Official sources said that for India, things are moving very well on multiple fronts with the UAE, against the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Gulf country in June this year and Jaishankar’s visit two weeks ago for the 14th India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting.

Jaishankar also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

“Our bilateral ties are growing strongly in the areas of defence, trade and investments. Cooperation in new initiatives like green hydrogen & ammonia and education sectors will further bolster them. Discussed our close cooperation at the UN and NAM. Recognised the value Egypt’s participation in G20 will bring next year,” he tweeted.

Official sources said that the meeting with the Egyptian leadership was important, asserting that Egypt is absolutely on the same page as India when it comes to issues such as refocusing the world on development concerns, Global South.

Describing the relationship as a big meeting of the minds, sources added that India’s economic relationship with Egypt is doing well, trade is at an all-time high and there are very strong investment interests.

Egypt is also chairing COP27 and they are big players in areas of renewables, especially green hydrogen and ammonia.

During a “useful exchange of views” with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Jaishankar said he was looking forward to “working together in the G-77 and other multilateral formats.” “Spoke about rice supplies and development projects. Welcomed his appreciation of the Panchakarma Centre in Havana,” he said.

India has given Cuba a 100-million-euro line of credit for buying rice. Cuba is also expected to take over as the Chair of G77, the global south grouping which permeates through the UN processes.

In his meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, Jaishankar appreciated his briefing on the latest developments in the African country.

“Discussed greater cooperation in education and trade,” he said.

In his meeting with Olta Xhaçka, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, Jaishankar said: “Valued our close cooperation in the UN Security Council. Discussed strengthening our bilateral relationship. Exchanged views on Ukraine and energy security.” Sources said that India and Albania working together in the UN Security Council has been a good experience and the two sides want to see whether they can build on the Security Council experience and take it into the bilateral relationship. PTI 

 London,  (PTI) India on Monday strongly condemned violence against the Indian community and vandalisation of Hindu premises in the eastern England city of Leicester as it sought immediate action against those involved in these attacks.

In a statement, the High Commission of India here said it had “strongly” taken up the issue and called for protection for those affected from the UK authorities following reports of clashes over the weekend in the city, described as “serious disorder” by the local police.

There have been reports of clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in the city since fans clashed following an India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match at the end of last month.

“We strongly condemn the violence perpetrated against the Indian community in Leicester and vandalisation of premises and symbols of Hindu religion,” the High Commission statement read.

“We have strongly taken up this matter with the UK authorities and have sought immediate action against those involved in these attacks. We call on the authorities to provide protection to the affected people,” the statement said.

Leicestershire Police said its operation in the east Leicester area affected by the disorder continues to prevent any further disorder, with 15 people arrested.

“The impact this disorder is having on our local communities is not acceptable,” the police said in a statement.

“We will not tolerate violence, disorder or intimidation in Leicester, and we continue to call for calm and dialogue. Our police operations and investigations continue with rigour and at scale,” it said.

The force said a number of neighbouring police forces, including the mounted police unit, had been deployed to bring matters under control. Dispersal and stop and search powers were also used to restore calm.

“Officers became aware of groups of young men gathering on Sunday afternoon in the North Evington area of the city. Officers spoke to them and took steps, including putting in place a temporary police cordon, to minimise harm and disturbance to communities,” the police said.

It followed clashes on Saturday evening, when the police said it became aware of a video circulating showing a man pulling down a flag outside a religious building on Melton Road, Leicester, and said the incident would be investigated. Videos circulating on social media showed a temple flag being ripped out.

Police had imposed similar dispersal orders earlier this month after a few days of unrest in the wake of the India versus Pakistan match in Dubai on August 28. The police and community leaders have been calling for calm over the past few weeks, amid reports of men coming in from other cities of the UK to stoke disorder in Leicester.

“It’s mostly young men in their late teens and early 20s and I have heard suggestions people have come in (to the city) from outside looking for an opportunity to have a set to. It’s very worrying for people in the areas where this has happened,” said Sir Peter Soulsby, Leicester city mayor. PTI

 LONDON: King Charles III of England has delivered a message of gratitude for his late mother’s ‘lifelong service’. Queen Elizabeth IIthe funeral of Westminster Abbey Monday morning in London.

 Toronto, (PTI) A 28-year-old Indian student has succumbed to the injuries sustained during a shooting rampage in Canada’s Ontario province that also claimed two other lives, including that of a police constable, police said.

Satwinder Singh, who was injured in the shooting last Monday in Milton, died at the Hamilton General Hospital with his family and friends by his side, the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) said in a statement on Saturday.

Singh was an international student from India who was working part-time at MK Auto Repairs at the time of the shooting, the statement said on Saturday.

“The HRPS would like to express heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the victim, and the communities impacted by this horrible tragedy,” it said.

Monday’s shooting resulted in the deaths of Toronto Police Constable Andrew Hong, 48, and Shakeel Ashraf, 38, a mechanic who owned MK Auto Repairs.

The gunman was identified as 40-year-old Sean Petrie. He was later shot dead by police in Hamilton.

At the Oakville home of a relative, Singh’s grieving father was surrounded by relatives and friends after giving staff at the Hamilton General Hospital permission to pull his son off life support Saturday afternoon, said Sarabjot Kaur, a cousin who grew up with Singh told Toronto Star newspaper.

The father, who had not seen his son since before the pandemic, had just arrived earlier from Dubai, where he works as a truck driver, Kaur said.

Tanner had previously confirmed that Petrie had worked briefly at MK Auto Repairs.

According to an online GoFundMe page honouring Singh, the former international student had been on life support and had been declared brain-dead.

He is described in the post as a “loving son, brother and grandson who will be missed daily.” He had a passion for reading and writing poetry.

Singh, who obtained an MBA in marketing in India, was a student at Conestoga College. He had been working part-time at MK Collision Centre in Milton.

The violence erupted in Mississauga shortly after 2 pm, when Constable Hong, who was in the city for a training session and on his lunch break at a Tim Hortons, was shot and killed at close range.

Investigators believe the killing was unprovoked and that the suspect was on the lookout for an officer, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported.

As of Sunday afternoon, the GoFundMe had raised more than 35,000 dollars to help support Singh’s family and return his body to India.

“He will leave us with a dent in our hearts for a lifetime,” the post said. “It is a tough time for our family, and we need prayers from all of you.” PTI 

 United Nations, (PTI) Counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, reformed multilateralism, climate action and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines will be among the key focus areas for India during the high-level UN General Assembly session that begins this week here.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will arrive in New York on Sunday to participate in the high-level 77th session of the UN General Assembly, which kicks off on September 20 with the opening of the General Debate.

Jaishankar will address world leaders from the UNGA podium on September 24, after a packed week of more than 50 official engagements including bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral meetings at the high-level session and on the sidelines.

The General Debate, during which world leaders deliver national statements from the UNGA podium, begins on September 20.

The US is traditionally the second speaker after Brazil on the opening day of the General Debate but since President Joe Biden is attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London on September 19, he will address world leaders on the second day of the high-level session on September 21.

The session comes after two years of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the high-level week, the Transforming Education Summit, SDG Moment, and a High-Level Meeting as part of the year-long commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious, and Linguistic Minorities will be among the highlights. India’s Permanent Mission to the UN said in a video posted on Twitter that the five S’s - Samman (Respect), Samvad (Dialogue), Sahyog (Cooperation), Shanti (Peace) and Samriddhi (Prosperity) - set out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be India’s “guiding light” in its approach to the 77th session of the General Assembly.

It said India will continue to showcase commitments and achievements in women-led development, particularly women’s leadership and political participation at the grassroots level, and attach greater prominence to issues relating to counter-terrorism.

India will engage substantively in matters relating to peacekeeping as a major troop-contributing country, reformed multilateralism, commitment to climate action and sustain equitable, affordable access to vaccines and strengthen engagement with fellow developing countries through the India-UN Development Partnership Fund and IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) Fund in the spirit of South-South cooperation.

“India's priorities during the 77th UNGA will also be guided by its core foreign policy objectives, including supporting and enhancing overall domestic socio-economic growth and strengthening security in its immediate neighborhood, and leading collective global action, in line with the vision” of Modi, the video said.

Jaishankar’s US visit from September 18-28 will also include a trip to Washington DC after the UNGA session. While in New York, he will meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President of the 77th UNGA Session Csaba Korosi.

The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that in keeping with India’s strong commitment to reformed multilateralism, Jaishankar will be hosting a Ministerial meeting of the G4 (India, Brazil, Japan, Germany), as well as participate at the High-Level Meeting of the L.69 Group on "Reinvigorating Multilateralism and Achieving Comprehensive Reform of the UN Security Council”.

The L.69 Group consists of developing countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Small Island Developing States, focused on reforms of the UN Security Council.

During the visit, he would also participate in plurilateral meetings of the Quad, IBSA, BRICS, India – Presidency Pro Tempore CELAC, India-CARICOM and other trilateral formats, such as India-France-Australia, India-France-UAE and India-Indonesia-Australia. He will also have bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers of the G20 and UNSC member states, amongst others.

The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) has emerged as a key grouping.

Commemorating and showcasing ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, he would address a special event "India@75: Showcasing India UN Partnership in Action” on September 24, which would highlight India’s development journey and its contributions to South-South Cooperation.

The event is expected to be addressed by the President of the 77th UNGA, along with Foreign Ministers of several member states, and UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

In Washington DC from September 25-28 for bilateral meetings with US interlocutors, Jaishankar will hold discussions with his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken; senior members of the US Administration, US business leaders, a round-table focused on S&T (Science & Technology ) and interaction with the Indian Diaspora.

The “visit would enable a high-level review of the multifaceted bilateral agenda and strengthen cooperation on regional and global issues to further consolidate the India-US strategic partnership.” India’s current two-year tenure at the UN Security Council ends in December this year, when India will be President of the Council.