Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: Good evening friends and welcome to the regular weekly briefing. I have just one announcement to make.
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates is visiting India as the Chief Guest for the 2017 Republic Day celebrations from the 24th to the 26th of January 2017. He will be accompanied by a high level delegation including ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.
During the visit, the visiting dignitary would call on Rashtrapati Ji Shri Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari and would hold discussions with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.
This is the second visit of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India since February 2016. Following the landmark visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to UAE in August 2015, the two countries had agreed to elevate the mutually beneficial relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
India and the UAE enjoy warm, close and multifaceted relations underpinned by cultural, religious and economic linkages. The two countries have been amongst each other's top trading partners with a well-balanced bilateral trade of about $50 billion in 2015-16. UAE is among the top investors in India in terms of foreign direct investment. It contributes significantly to India's energy security and was the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to India in 2015-16.
The 2.6 million strong and vibrant Indian community forms the largest expatriate group in UAE. Their positive and well-appreciated contribution in the development of the host country has been an important anchor of our excellent bilateral engagement.
That concludes my only announcement. Let me also tell you that we will have a separate briefing on the visit of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, most likely on Monday so if you have any questions pertaining to that please reserve them for the Monday briefing which will be exclusively on the visit of the Crown Prince. The floor is now open for questions.
Question: Sir, there are reports that the British Parliament, the House of Commons is holding a debate on Jammu and Kashmir. Now first of all Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India, it's interesting to see how the British Parliament is dealing with it. We are also hearing that some of the British legislators, they have been in touch with Pakistani officials or have constituents who are of Pakistani origin. Now this has happened before, what is the Indian government saying about this and is there any communication between India and Britain on something like this?
Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: Look, I am aware of this development, but right now I have no details. Our position on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is very clear. All issues between India and Pakistan are to be resolved bilaterally and peacefully, in accordance with the Simla agreement and the Lahore Declaration. There is no room for any third party. Having said that let us await more details about this and then if I have more details I will be able to brief you in my subsequent briefing.
Question: China recently said that India's entry into NSG cannot be a farewell gift from one country to another. How would you respond?
Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: Our views on India's membership of the NSG are clear and have been stated on many occasions. India is not seeking NSG membership as a gift. India is seeking it on its non-proliferation record. I, of course, cannot speak for other applicants.
Question: Nepal's foreign minister was here and he raised the issue of demonetization with you. Could you tell how the government is addressing their problem?
Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: I would say that the Nepal Rashtra Bank has been in touch with the RBI regarding Government of Nepal's request for facilitation in collection and deposit of Indian bank old series notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 denominations that are already in stock of the Central Banks, other banks and financial institutions and held by Nepalese citizens. As you have said, this matter also came up in the meeting between the Foreign Minister of Nepal, Dr. Mahat and Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on the 17th of January. Earlier, in this connection, a meeting was held on the 12th of January in Delhi between the officials of the Reserve Bank of India and the Nepal Rashtra Bank. The meeting was productive and the RBI will remain in touch with the Nepal Rashtra Bank in the matter.
Question: Vikas, my question is on the Amazon flip-flops. After External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's intervention they have – Amazon Canada has - withdrawn Indian flag doormats selling on the website but there are still Mahatma Gandhi flip-flops and you can see the dog tags having an Indian flag on them. So, what is the government doing about it?
Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: You would recall my earlier statement that following External Affairs Minister's tweets, our Ambassador in Washington had been instructed to convey to Amazon that while providing a platform for third party vendors they should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments. We have been in touch with Amazon, both in Washington as well as in New Delhi and we have had constructive conversations. I am happy to report that the offending item that you referred to has since been pulled by Amazon and we hope that our engagement will continue to be fruitful.
Question: President Obama spoke with Prime Minister yesterday. I know we released a brief readout as has the White House but I would be grateful if you could tell us a little more about any personal elements of the conversation because of the close personal camaraderie that the two leaders share and also if Donald Trump either directly or indirectly figured in the conversation.
Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: Look, the readouts have been put out both by the White House and by Prime Minister's Office and they are fairly clear. Basically, the two leaders have shared a very warm relationship. There has always been chemistry between them exemplified by the number of meetings that they have had bilaterally as well as on the sidelines of multilateral events and I think as President Obama prepares to demit office, the idea was to do a review, it was a ‘thank you’ call really to thank Prime Minister for the support and his leadership on various issues of interest to the United States, not least of it was climate change where India's leadership position on COP21 negotiations helped in securing the deal. So, this was really a thank you call. It was a review call to just sort of wrap up all that had happened in the India-US bilateral relationship and the engagement and we remain confident that even under the new incoming administration India-US ties, which enjoy a strong bipartisan support, will continue to mature and continue to diversify and continue to be for the benefit of not only both the countries but the wider world as well.
Question: Sir, China seems to be rattled as we can gauge from the reactions coming from Beijing by India's Agni test of 5 and 4. Global Times went on to say that we will not sit still if India goes too far. What is your response? And I have a pending question from last week, since you were not available.
Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: This is interesting. If I am not available, then there's a question bank in which questions keep going?
Question: China is setting up the world's highest telescope very near to LOC. What is your reaction to it?
Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: Look, as far as the first question is concerned, when we did the launch, I think we did put out a statement. I had myself mentioned it in my briefing that whatever we have done is for our own defensive needs and our posture as you know has always been defensive in nature which is also very clearly revealed in our nuclear doctrine as well and it is entirely in keeping with international norms and obligations of India. So, no country needs to have any concern as far as that is concerned. On the telescope issue, I am sorry I do not have any information, I will have to get more information on that.
Question: Sir, ye Kanpur derailment case main ek Nepali vyakti kaa naam aa raha hai jiske ISI link hain aur he is Dubai based. Kya humne Nepal se ya Dubai se is baare main details mange hain?
Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: Dekhiye is vishai par investigation chal rahe hain. To mere khayal se investigation ko poora hone dijiye. Security agencies humari jaanch partal kar rahi hain jaisa ki aapne khud kaha hai, kuch logon se baat cheet chal rahi hai, kuch deshon ke saath baat cheet chal rahi hai. So, jab tak poorn niskarsh is par nahi nikal jaata tab tak tippani karna uchit nahi hoga.
Question: Sir, what is the level of representation if any at President-Elect Trump's inauguration tomorrow?
Official Spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup: In keeping with the established tradition of the Presidential inauguration followed by the United States, our Ambassador to the United States will attend President-elect Trump's inaugural and related official events on the 20th of January. There is no plan for any participation of senior GOI officials.
I see no more questions. Good, thank you very much, see you all next week.