Official Spokesperson (Shri Vikas Swarup):Good evening friends and welcome to the weekly media briefing. I thought I will begin the briefing today by briefing you on the two important meetings that were held a couple of days ago. The first one is the Senior Officials Meeting of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul process.
The first Senior Officials Meeting of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process for the year 2016 was held in New Delhi on April 26, 2016. Foreign Secretary Shri S. Jaishankar and Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Hekmat Khalil Karzaico-chaired the Senior Officials meeting.
The theme for Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process for 2016 is "Addressing challenges and achieving prosperity.” The SOM was attended by 29 countries and 5 International and Regional Organizations apart from India, Afghanistan and United Nations.
It was a consultative meeting to discuss priorities and agenda in 2016 leading up to the Ministerial to be hosted by India in December this year. As the co-chair with Afghanistan, India put forward certain suggestions to enhance regional cooperation within the Heart of Asia, to enhance stability, security and prosperity in Afghanistan and in the region including the on-going six Heart of Asia Confidence Building Measures (for those of you, who may not know what these six measures are, they are Education, Counter-terrorism, Regional infrastructure, Counter-narcotics, Disaster management and Trade-commerce and investment opportunities) as well as for augmenting regional connectivity.
There was consensus on condemning the terrorist attack in Kabul on April 19, 2016 which killed and maimed over 400 people. The participating and supporting countries and organizations agreed to continue to contribute to the ongoing political, security and economic transformations in Afghanistan.
This was the first of the Senior Officials Meeting for the year. We would have two more SOMs. One on the sidelines of the UNGA session in New York and one preceding the Ministerial Conference which will be at Foreign Ministers level in December 2016.
My second announcement pertains to the first round of India-Iran-Afghanistan trilateral consultations. The first round of Director General – Joint Secretary level India-Iran-Afghanistan trilateral consultations on Afghanistan was held in New Delhi on April 27, 2016.
During the consultations, the Afghan delegation gave a briefing on the status of efforts on peace and reconciliation following which the three delegations discussed various dimensions of the current situation.
Both the Indian and Iranian delegations extended support to the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan for peace, stability and prosperity of their country and to preserve the gains of the past fifteen years. The delegations also had a fruitful exchange of views on mutual cooperation in strengthening economic and commercial cooperation among the three countries including, by promoting regional connectivity such as through Chabahar.
In this regard they also agreed to explore avenues for attracting investment from other countries in the region and beyond. The Iranian delegation has offered to host the next round of consultations in Tehran.
Friends, I have a further update regarding the status of Shri Vijay Mallya. Some of you had asked me last time, what would be the consequences of the revocation of his passport. I can now confirm that as of today the Ministry has written to the High Commission of United Kingdom in Delhi, requesting the deportation of Shri Vijay Mallya so that his presence can be secured for investigations against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Our High Commission in the UK will also be issuing a similar note verbale to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As you are aware, Shri Vijay Mallya’s passport was revoked last week in view of these investigations and the non-bailable warrant issued by Hon’ble Special Judge, Mumbai.
We will continue to pursue this matter with the United Kingdom authorities. That concludes my announcements. Floor is now open for questions.
Question: Sir, Just a few days ago Dolkun Isa’s visa was in fact withdrawn by India. Now Times Now has spoken to two more activists in New York as well as in Hong Kong: Ray Wong and Lu Jinghua and you have seen the media reports. Under these circumstances, China has objected to it days after India withdrawing. Do we really see now that India is bowing down to Chinese pressure?
Official Spokesperson: Look, our visa policy is very clear. If a bona-fide applicant obtains visa based on furnishing correct information and after following due process, there would be no cause for any revocation.
In the specific case of Mr. Dolkun Isa, let me clarify the situation, since there seem to be a number of misconceptions on this matter. Mr. Isa applied for a tourist visa under the Electronic Travel Authorization system. He was accordingly granted a visa. After obtaining the visa, Mr. Isa stated publicly that he was coming to attend a conference in India, a fact that was suppressed in the visa form and something that a tourist visa does not permit. Furthermore, it came to the notice of the authorities that Mr. Isa was the subject of an Interpol Red Corner notice. It was in that situation that his visa was cancelled. I would caution against meanings being read either into the visa being given to Mr. Isa or its subsequent cancellation. We are a democratic society, conscious of its responsibilities. Those would remain the guiding factors in such matters.
Question: We just had a meeting between the two Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan. What is the status of the comprehensive bilateral dialogue? I mean, are we going to talk, when are we going to talk? Can you just elaborate on that?
Official Spokesperson: As you are aware, the decision to commence a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue between India and Pakistan was taken during External Affairs Minister’s visit to Islamabad on December 09, 2015. It was also agreed that the two Foreign Secretaries would meet to work out the modalities and schedule of the meetings under the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue.
Since then the two Foreign Secretaries have been in touch. What happened day before yesterday was a meeting between the two Foreign Secretaries on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia, Senior Officials Meeting. It was not a meeting to finalize the modalities of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue. Ideas were exchanged on how to take the relationship forward including on the logical follow-up to the visit of the Pakistan JIT and the ongoing investigation into the attack on the Pathankot air base. Both sides will reflect on those ideas. A relationship goes forward through such exchanges and let us remain hopeful.
Question: Sir, could you give us some details of this Chinese dissident activist who was apparently told at the New York airport today that his Indian visa had been cancelled?
Official Spokesperson: No, I am not aware of those details.
Question:Sir, NIA ki team ki visit ko lekar kya koi tareekh tay hui hai ya aupcharik taur se aap logon ne peshkash ki hai ki team jayegi, kab jayegi. Uska detail kya hai?
Official Spokesperson:Jaisa ki maine kaha ki jab dono Videsh Sachiv miley they, tab unhone Pathankot pe jo investigation ho raha hai, aur jo JIT team Pakistan se Bharat aai thi, uske baare mein vistrat charcha kee thi. Aur jo logical next steps hain, jo aap mention kar rahe hain, who usi ke tahat aata hai. Jo logical next steps hain uske baare mei bhi baatcheet hui thi. Lekin abhi filhal mere pass kuch definite nahi hain aapko ispe dene ke liye.
Question: You mentioned about the Dolkun Isa incident and our visa policy. Just to clarify, did China at any… we heard their public statement that they issued to journalists. But did they formally, at all, register any protest of any kind regarding Dolkun Isa.
Official Spokesperson: Well, I think they made their position clear that Mr. Isa has a Red Corner notice against him and countries which are members of Interpol should honor that notice.
Question: Can you confirm if President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to visit China next month?
Official Spokesperson: No, as I said we have a particular policy on declaring presidential visits. These are done in coordination with the host country. So as and when President visits China, we will let you know.
Question: Vikas, on the AugustWestland case, what are the details that Italian Government has shared with the Indian Government, in terms of the documents that have been shared so far?
Official Spokesperson: We are aware only of the judgment that has been made by the court in Milan, which of course is now with our authorities. Beyond that, I have already issued a statement yesterday pertaining to the limited aspect with which the Ministry of External Affairs was involved.
Question: Sir, Mr. V K Singh has described the Foreign Secretary level talks as "Shishtachar”. What exactly is the meaning of Shishtachar here, is it a courtesy call, is it a short meeting, informal meeting and was it a successful meeting according to you because you were saying the logical next steps are yet to be zeroed on.
Official Spokesperson: Well, it depends on what you definition of success is. I think the very fact that the two Foreign Secretaries met, you know there was speculation for a long time, is the dialogue process between India and Pakistan suspended, are the Foreign Secretaries never going to meet and things like that. So the very fact that they met, I think has the message in itself. As I said both sides have described the meeting as "frank but constructive.” You would have seen the comments made by the Pakistan Foreign Secretary yesterday and he also described the talks as being positive, we also would use the same adjective to describe the talks.
Both sides have exchanged views on how to take the relationship forward. As I mentioned in my earlier response, it is through these exchanges that the relationship moves forward and we of course being optimist would like to remain hopeful about the future of the process. In so far as the comments made by our Hon’ble Minister of State, what he meant was that this was not a meeting under the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue. Secondly it was not a bilateral bilateral, in the sense it was a meeting on the sidelines of a multilateral event namely the Heart of Asia Process and you know when you receive a senior level visitor from another country, a neighboring country, a country with which we want to have a normal relationship then you extend the courtesy of having a high level interaction, which was what happened.
Question: As far as the Christian Michel extradition is concerned.
Official Spokesperson: The request has been made. We have not had a response from the UK side yet.
Thank you all. This concludes the Press Briefing.
(Concludes)