Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Good evening friends, welcome to the weekly media briefing. I will begin with a couple of announcements.

Shri M J Akbar, Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs, will be on an official visit to Lebanon, Syria and Iraq from August 17 – 23, 2016 to strengthen our mutually beneficial bilateral ties with the West Asia Region.

In Lebanon, Hon’ble Minister is expected to meet the top leadership of the country. He is scheduled to have extensive discussions with the President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of Lebanon His Excellency Tammam Salam, bilateral interaction with the President of the National Assembly of Lebanon (Speaker of Parliament) Mr. Nabih Berry and will receive Director General of the Directorate General of General Security of Lebanon Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim apart from other dignitaries, academics and intellectuals. Hon’ble Minister in his discussions with the Lebanese leadership is expected to cover bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

In a continuing dialogue process with the leadership of Syria, Hon’ble Minister will pay a courtesy call on the President of the Republic of Syria His Excellency Bashar al-Assad and Prime Minister His Excellency Imad Mohammad Deeb Khamis. He will have bilateral discussions with first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates His Excellency Walid Al-Moallem. He will also meet the National Security Advisor Ali Mamlouk and interact with the Grand Mufti of Syria Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun during this visit. The discussions would focus on our bilateral cooperation and the unfolding security situation in the region.

During his visit to Iraq, Hon’ble Minister would hold discussions with Foreign Minister of Iraq His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim Al-Eshaiqer Al-Jafari on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. Our time-tested, warm and friendly relations with Iraq are underpinned by historical and religious linkages, strong people to people contacts, our energy security quest and capacity-building cooperation.

The visit is expected to add further impetus to our bilateral engagement. It will also provide an opportunity to meet with other senior leaders of Iraq, including religious leaders, and to convey India’s abiding commitment to the emergence of a stable, peaceful, united and democratic Iraq, which is in the interest of regional and global peace and security.

The visit of Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs to these three important countries in West Asia is a reaffirmation of our deep interest in promoting our bilateral relations as also in the peace and security in a region in our extended neighborhood.

My second announcement pertains to the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr. Raymond Tshibanda N’Tungamulongo accompanied by His Excellency Mr. Jeannot Matadi Nenga Gamanda, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, is visiting India from 10-12 August, 2016.

Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri M.J. Akbar and the visiting Foreign Minister held wide ranging discussions today on the entire gamut of the bilateral relationship. The Foreign Minister of DRC conveyed his Government’s deep appreciation for the assistance provided by India to his country in areas of skill development and capacity building.

India has funded several projects in DRC through concessional lines of credit amounting to approximately US $ 495 million. The projects have been in the diverse areas such as: setting up a cement plant, acquisition of buses, rural water supply, hydro-electric power projects and power distribution projects.

The visiting Foreign Minister condemned the recent unfortunate incidents related to two Congolese nationals in India as well as some incidents concerning Indian nationals in Kinshasa. He appreciated the pro-active steps undertaken by the Government of India in both the incidents and requested for speedy trial so that justice could be done. He also assured that the DRC Government will take all necessary measures to provide security to the Indian nationals residing in DRC. MoS, Shri Akbar, informed the visiting Minister of the swift action taken by our law enforcement agencies to apprehend the culprits involved and underlined that as a people, society and nation, we do not believe in racial discrimination.

The visiting Foreign Minister expressed DRC’s support to India’s candidature for a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the term 2021-22 for which elections will be held at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York in June 2020. He said that DRC is aware of India’s immense contribution to UN’s Peacekeeping operations as it itself hosts a strong Indian peacekeeping contingent in DRC.

The various projects, especially the hydroelectric power projects, were discussed in great detail during the meeting.

There will also be a meeting between Hon’ble External Affairs Minister and the visiting Foreign Minister of Democratic Republic of Congo.

This concludes my announcements, the floor is now open for questions.

Question:Foreign Minister of China Mr. Wang Yi isdue to arrive tomorrow for a three day visit. I was wondering if you would be willing to share with us what might be on the agenda and what you hope to achieve in this visit, given the many points of friction in bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Well, I have already announced the visit of Foreign Minister His Excellency Mr. Wang Yi in my last week’s briefing. Yes, he is arriving tomorrow and will be here for three days. He will be in Delhi during which he will meet the External Affairs Minister and he may also call on some other dignitaries and he will also be going to Goa, which is the site of the BRICS Summit.

The discussions, which I had announced in my last week’s briefing, will cover all important issues of bilateral, regional and multilateral interest.

Question:Sir, teen din pehle Pakistan ke Prime Minister ne, UN Secretary General Baan Ki Moon ko ek sidhi chitthi likhi hai Kashmir issue ko uthate hue, intervene karte hue aur ant mei Bharat par excessive force ka istemal karne ka aarop lagate hue. Prime Minister ne jo chitthi likhi hai, us par aapka reaction?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Pakistan has no locus standi in addressing any aspect of the situation in Jammu & Kashmir, which is an internal matter of India except to put an end to all cross-border terrorism, infiltration and support & instigation to terrorism and violence against India. We are in touch with important interlocutors bilaterally as well as multilaterally to put across the correct picture. Let me also say that it does not matter how many letters are written, it will still not whitewash cross-border terrorism.

Question:The first batch of Indian workers is returning from Saudi Arabia today. Can you please give us any details of any plans of settling them back?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Yes, I would like to update you regarding the issue of the retrenched workers of Saudi Oger Company in Saudi Arabia. As you know, our Minister of State, Gen V K Singh visited Saudi Arabia last week. He had very productive meetings with the Saudi Labour Minister and other senior dignitaries. As a result of these meetings, the process of lodging claims and making arrangements for those Indian workers wishing to come back to India as well as those wishing to relocate to other companies has already started.

Let me also state that we appreciate the magnanimous view taken by the Saudi Arabian government of granting exit visas expeditiously and agreeing to bear the expenses for the travel of the workers who wish to return to India.

Swift action to tackle a localized problem specific to only a few companies of Saudi Arabia signifies the deep and abiding relationship that our two countries share.

The first batch of 26 Indian workers who have received their passports and exit visas is reaching New Delhi by a Saudi Arabian flight from Jeddah at 6:10 pm today. Once they arrive, the respective state governments will be making arrangements for their onward travel to their respective home towns.

Question:India Today highlighted the story of Faujia Ansari and Nehal Ansari yesterday, who are meeting the EAM, but despite the prisoner’s agreement, the judicial commissions, why is it that the consular access, do you think, is still not provided? Even a visa to the parents to meet their son, if he indeed is their son?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Well, this is a question you should ideally put to the Pakistani authorities. As far as we are concerned, on the 5^th of August, we have once again very strongly taken up the matter of security of Hamid Ansari while he is in the custody of Pakistani authorities.

This was done specifically in the light of reports that he was attacked yet again in the prison in which he is lodged. We have reminded the Government of Pakistan of its responsibility to ensure his security. We have also conveyed that, according to our understanding, since his sentence of three years is already over, he should be released and repatriated to India at the earliest. The Ministry is in touch with his family. As we speak, Hon’ble External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj is meeting with his family in Parliament House.

Question:Again on Pakistan. Yesterday Tahrik-e-Taliban (Pakistan) has released a six page statement which clearly says that they will continue with the Jihad in Kashmir, but they will focus first on Pakistan. They are saying that they will target the obstacles in Pakistan and then concentrate on Kashmir. They have interestingly also issued a threat to the Wagah Border, they are saying that there are two suicide bombers that may target Wagah Border and Kasoor Border. Has there been any response from Pakistan, some intelligence sharing and how does India respond to it?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Well, the incidents like the recent attack in Quetta only demonstrate that you cannot have a selective approach towards terrorism as we have been saying time and time again, there are no good terrorists and bad terrorists. A terrorist is a terrorist, is a terrorist. And until and unless each country believes in this dictum and takes strong action to target all terrorist groups regardless of who they are targeting, whether they are targeting inside their country or outside their country, these problems are bound to remain.

As far as the threat to the Wagah Border is concerned, I am sure our security agencies are vigilant in this matter and will take all appropriate steps.

Question:Sir, in this very briefing room in the past, many times you responded to our queries and said that Foreign Secretaries and NSA’s in India and Pakistan are in constant touch.Is the situation still prevailing so or the telephone lines have fell silent?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Obviously there is a new dynamic at play. I think unless you were living under a rock you would not be oblivious to that and we have to respond to the current dynamic in India-Pakistan relations.

Question:Vikas, we have found that now that it is revealed that Lashkar and Hizbul militants were mingling with the crowd in Kashmir and they were part of the stone pelting and grenade throwing groups and also the revelation that Hafiz Saeed is more interested in spreading the Islam than actually taking care of Kashmir. Are we going to take up these issues in United Nations given the fact that this is not only Kashmir issue now, it’s getting beyond Kashmir?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: I would say that the capture of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Bahadur Ali is yet another proof of Pakistan’s continued involvement in cross-border terrorism and infiltration into India, despite several assurances that it will not allow its territory to be used for terrorism against any other country.

The interrogation of Bahadur Ali and his confession has clearly revealed the details of the kind of training that is provided to such young men, the camps in which they are kept, the weapons that they are given and most importantly the indoctrination that they undergo prior to infiltration into India. Videos of Hafiz Saeed were repeatedly shown to Bahadur Ali for his so-called shahadat.

Bahadur Ali has also revealed how his Pakistani handlers gave him instructions to mix with the local people, create disturbances and attack police and security forces in India. His confession proves yet again that Lashkar-e-Taiba is sending its cadres, in connivance with Pakistani security forces, to fuel large-scale agitation in Kashmir.

Pakistan now stands completely exposed. We have already taken up the matter bilaterally with Pakistan, including our offer to provide consular access to this Pakistani terrorist.

Question:Chinese official media has warned India not to raise issues relating to South China Sea and in the light of recent deployment of Vietnamese rocket launcher there, how do you view the evolving situation is South China Sea?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: On South China Sea, our position is very well known. It has been articulated on innumerable occasions, I don’t think I need to reiterate that. Obviously, we do not respond to Chinese media reports. Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Yi is coming here and whatever discussions are held with him, we will apprise you after the discussions.

Question:My question is regarding the Minister of State’s visit to the three West Asian countries. Is the Islamic State going to be on the agenda? Also, is this attention to the West Asian region commiserate with the India’s aspirations to gain entry into the permanent seat in UNSC? Second question is about the interlocutors that you have said that you are in touch with vis-à-vis Pakistan. Could you elaborate on it?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Which interlocutors?

Question:The interlocutors who will put across your position.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: No, the answer was in the context of Pakistan’s attempt to internationalize the Kashmir issue. My answer was in that context, that we are in touch with our interlocutors and we are trying to put across the correct picture to them. That’s what I had said, but as far as the visit of MoS Shri M J Akbar to this region is concerned, obviously I said that peace and security in that particular region is of paramount importance. I mentioned that in my opening statement as well. So when we talk of peace and security, the threats to peace and security will obviously feature in the discussions that he will have there. The number one threat to peace and security in that region is undoubtedly, the challenge posed by the Islamic State. So certainly it will feature in the discussions that he will hold there.

This is not part of any matrix in terms of our seeking support for permanent membership of the UNSC. I think our credentials in that regard are well known and as and when the UN is in a position to move forward on that particular issue, I don’t think we need to have any concerns on that front.

We look at this visit as a really important visit, to a very important part of the world, which is in turmoil at this point in time and his visit there will give us a firsthand assessment of how the situation is evolving, what are the prospects and how India can deepen its linkages with this very important region of the world.

Question:All these nations that you are mentioning about i.e. Lebanon, Syrian and Iraq, they are almost unstable states, they are not in control of whole country. So don’t you think that it will help in no way that we can get anything from these countries?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Well, stability comes from dialogue, from cooperation and from capacity building, so to say that if any state is unstable we should not have any talks with it, we should break all relations with it, is completely self-defeating.

The whole idea is that we already provide a lot of assistance to these countries. These countries look up to India for capacity building assistance, for assistance in scholarships and other training programs and the aim is to step-up on that because we have civilizational ties with this part of the world. Certainly we cannot afford to disengage from that part of the world and we have no intention of doing so.

Question:Thank you Mr. Swarup. India, I am given to understand, is hosting the BRICS Film Festival for the first time. Is it possible for you to share some details of how many films are going to be screened?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: We are hosting 101 events in the run-up to the BRICS Summit. I am afraid I do not have details of each and every segment of BRICS cooperation that we are having, but certainly I can speak to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and if you have a deep and abiding interest in the films that would be shown then certainly we will share those details with you, once I get them.

Question:Vikas, on this Bahadur Ali, have you actually submitted some details to Pakistan formally and what is their response?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Looks like you are not following my twitter feed and you are certainly not looking at our website. Foreign Secretary had called in the Pakistan High Commissioner a few days ago in which we made a very strong demarche to him on the capture of Bahadur Ali, the proof that he represents of continued infiltration and cross-border terrorism from Pakistan and also a letter that he had addressed to the Pakistan High Commissioner, asking Pakistan to provide him legal aid and also to enable him to speak to his family members. So we gave that letter to the Pakistan High Commissioner and we have reiterated our offer that we are prepared to grant consular access to Pakistan, should they wish to meet their own national.

Question:Has there been any response from Pakistan on that?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Not so far.

Question:Few days back the Turkish Counsel General in Mumbai held a briefing where he requested India to take action against three educational institutions affiliated with followers of FethullahGulen. I understand the Turkish embassy here has also formally requested India on this. What is our position on this?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Yes, they have made this request. The Turkish Ambassador has met our Joint Secretary dealing with Turkey. We have told the Turkish side that we are looking into this matter. The claims that they are making, we have to verify those, and we are looking into the matter.

Question:You know these visits, the visits made by the Minister of State Mr. Akbar to these three countries are coming after long time, i.e. a high level visit to these countries. Can you tell us when was the last high level visit by an Indian leader to each of these three countries?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: I do not have that information available straightaway, but I would also like to re-emphasize that we have embassies in all three places. The cooperation and dialogue has been continuing. In fact Mr. Walid Muallem, the Foreign Minister of Syria visited India in January this year and met the External Affairs Minister. So it’s not that we have completely neglected this region or we have not kept high-level contact. Whenever the Prime Minister of the Foreign Minister visit United Nations also, we have had meetings with important interlocutors from this region on the sidelines of the UNGA, but I can certainly look up when was the last top level visit to this region conducted.

Question:I wanted to know about the Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit to Goa. What precisely is the aim of the visit? And is it actually normal for such a visit to take place, if it is to look up the arrangements for the BRICS Summit?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Well, what I sense is that he probably wants to familiarize himself with the venue of a very important summit meeting at which his President is going to be a participant and also meet the local leadership.

Question:Is this a normal practice. For example if it was in Delhi, I doubt if….

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: We look at Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Yi as a very important Foreign Minister of a very important country. If he makes a certain request, we see nothing wrong in acceding to that request. Goa is a very good place for anyone to visit and if he wants to visit, he is welcome.

Question:Sir, about MoS Mr. M J Akbar, jo Iraq jaanewale hain toh kya jin 39 Bhartiyon ka abduction hua tha, us issue par woh baat karenge?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Bilkul, us mudde par avashya hi baatcheet hogi aur hum us ilaake ke kisi bhi leader kesaathjab bhivaartalapkartehain toh 39 Bhartiyon ke hiton ki raksha ke liye ham hamesha prashn poochhate hain. Agar unke baare mein hameinkuchaurjaankari mil saktihain, kuchaur byora mil sakta hai, woh kahan hain, sakushal hain ya nahin hain ityadi.Toh us vishay par avashya hi baat cheet hogi.

Question:Sir, is this the first direct engagement with the Assad regime in Damascus on Syrian soil ever since the conflict began. Because if I recall, PM Vajpayee had visited Syria in 2003?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: As I said when somebody else asked this question, I will have to look into it, but we have a full-fledged embassy working in Damascus, so it’s not as if our ongoing cooperation has been disrupted in any way or any manner.

Question:Is this also some sort of follow up to the PM’s visit to Iran? As you know many of these countries have got large Shia populations?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: We do not look these visits from the prism of any other country. I think our relations with Iran stand on their own logic and relations with these countries stand on their own logic. We need not conflate the two issues.

I don’t see any other questions.

Thank you all.

(Concludes)