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Transcript of Weekly Media Briefing by Official Spokesperson (February 02, 2017)

February 03, 2017

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Good evening friends, welcome to the weekly media briefing. I have just one opening announcement.

The newly appointed National Security Advisor of Myanmar U Thaung Tun is currently on an official visit to India. U Thaung Tun is a career diplomat who has held diverse posts in the course of his long career in the Myanmar Foreign Office. In his present capacity he is expected to advise the Myanmar Government on internal and external threats by assessing situations from a strategic point of view.

We welcome him to India and are privileged that he has chosen India as his first port of call following his appointment. During his stay in India he will be interacting at length with our own National Security Advisor, with Minister of State for External Affairs, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and others. We look forward to a productive association with U Thaung Tun and with the Office of the NSA in the time to come.

That concludes my only announcement. The floor is now open for questions.

Question: Days after putting house arrest Mr. Hafiz Saeed, one of the senior ministers of Pakistan said that India needs to provide more concrete evidence about his involvement in the Mumbai terror attack. Do you have some comments to offer?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Look, let us be very clear. The entire conspiracy in the Mumbai Terror Attack case was hatched in Pakistan. All the terrorists came from Pakistan. All the planning was done in Pakistan. All the support was rendered from Pakistan. So all the evidence to implicate the mastermind of the Mumbai Terror Attack is already available in Pakistan. In fact, Hafiz Saeed has himself confessed to masterminding multiple terrorist attacks directed at India, so the so called "concrete evidence” that the Pakistani establishment is looking for is already available in Pakistan. All they need to find is the requisite political will.

Question: Do Kashimiri atheletes ko US ne visa dene se manaa kar diyaa hai. Kyaa maanaa jaaye ki Trump ke nishaane par ab Indians bhi aane waale hain?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Dekhiye, jin do Kashmiriyon ki aapne baat ki hai unke baare mein jo reports hain woh hamane bhi dekhi hain. Un reports ko dhyaan mein rakhate hue hamane US Embassy ke saath pooch-taachh bhi ki. US Embassy ne saaf spasht kiyaa hai ki in do Kashmiriyon ko visa naa dene ka Rashtrapati Trump ke Executive Order ke saath koi sambandh nahi hai. Unhone bataayaa ki unki terminology mein "It was standard adjudication based on the merits of the case.” Chunki unkie spokesman ne aadhikaarik taur par hamse yah kahaa hai toh mujhe lagataa hai ki usi basis pe humein ise accept karanaa chaahiye.

Question: Since India has participated in SAARC Officials Meeting in Kathmandu, can we conclude that India has given go-ahead for Summit level interactions of the SAARC countries?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: How can you make that particular jump? Our position is very clear. We remain committed to the ideals and objectives of SAARC. Our objection was to the holding of the SAARC Summit in Islamabad at a time when one particular country is opposed to regional connectivity initiatives, is promoting cross-border terrorism, is interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries. Not only India, all other member countries also joined in saying that this time was not conducive to hold the SAARC Summit in Islamabad. That remains our position.

Question: Sir regarding the two Kashmiri athletes, they’re athletes after all. Is there any special suggestion or request that will be made by the MEA to the American Embassy about getting them visas? Because clearly, if you are satisfied with why they are going, surely maybe there would be some effort by the Indian government as well.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: First of all those athletes have not approached the Government of India for any assistance. My understanding is that the Mayor of the concerned city, where this competition is taking place, himself is taking up their matter with the concerned authorities. But at the end of the day, the issue of visa is the sovereign jurisdiction and right of every country and it is their decision.

Question: Sir, a lot of concerns about President Donald Trump’s visa policies and especially the H1B Visa issue, especially the Indian professionals and Indian companies are worried. What concrete steps the Government of India is envisaging to assuage their concerns?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Look, first of all let us be very clear, no executive order has been signed so far. All that has happened is three private bills have been introduced in the US House of Representatives. Such bills have been introduced in the past also and such bills have to go through the full Congressional process. So let us not pre-judge the outcome because we have seen what has happened to similar bills in the past. If and when an Executive Order is passed, we will certainly give our reaction.

Question: No executive order has been signed yet but President Trump when he was candidate Trump, he referred to this issue repeatedly and has made, at that time, his intentions and his position clear. It is not a position in which he has backed off since coming to power. There have also been leaked copy of the draft executive order on this issue. I understand, as you mentioned a few days back that India has expressed and articulated its concerns and position on this. Have we in our interactions with the Trump team who are doing the transition or post taking over, received any commitment or assurance from them on our concerns?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: We remain in dialogue with the Trump Administration as well as with the U.S. Congress at senior levels. They are fully aware of our position on this particular matter and I think our position is fairly clear, that Indian software exports and Indian software technical personnel add to the competitiveness of the US industry.

Question: Yesterday EAM tweeted that five Indian nationals have been released from the jail in Togo. Can you please give us the details of the case and the nature of the charges against them?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Basically EAM had tweeted, as you have said, regarding the release of the five Indian nationals belonging to the state of Kerala from custody in Togo. These persons, their names are Mr. Anthony Godwin, Mr. Naveen Niravath Gopi, Mr. Tharun Babu, Mr. Nithin Babu and Mr. Saji Abdulla Kutty. They had been in prison in Togo since 2013. They were released by Presidential Pardon on account of the persistent efforts of MEA and our High Commission in Accra. EAM had also raised this issue with the Togolese leadership.

Our High Commissioner has spoken to the Indian nationals after their release. They are in good health and are looking forward to reunite with their families in India. All of the Indian nationals are thankful to the Government of India for persistent efforts to secure their release. Their travel arrangements are being made to facilitate their return to India and air tickets are being organized from the Indian Community Welfare Fund. Our Honorary Consul General in Lome is making stay arrangements till the necessary formalities for their departure to India are completed. They had been arrested on so-called piracy charges.

Question: There are reports that Chandu Babulal Chavan was tortured in Pak, up to some extent that he has lost his mental balance. Is there any report on this with you and are you going to take this issue with Pakistan?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: We have not seen those reports. As you know, he was handed over at the Wagah-Attari Border to the personnel from the MoD side and I think the right quarters to direct your query would be the Ministry of Defence.

Question: The Pakistan Army had recently commented that the detention of Hafiz Saeed is in line with their national interest. How much of credence to you give this and what do you make of this remark? And also the release of Chawan, does it indicate, according to you a softening of position of Pakistan which could lead the way for talks eventually?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Look, we welcome the steps taken by Pakistan on humanitarian matters. You have already seen our response on the house arrest of Hafiz Saeed. We have consistently maintained that a bilateral dialogue with Pakistan is only possible in an atmosphere free of terror and violence. Any credible steps by Pakistan in that direction will certainly be welcomed by India. As far as the matter that you mentioned, of Hafiz Saeed and his arrest et cetera, we will not go by their claims or their statements. We will go by what we see on the ground. At the end of the day that is what matters to us.

Question: Sir regarding the Togo issue, when we can expect five Indians to be home?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: As soon as we are aware of their flight details, we will let you know.

Question: Has there been any discussion on Pakistan or Pakistan originated terrorism with the Trump administration so far?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Look, we have had very wide-ranging consultations with the Trump Administration at the highest possible levels. Prime Minister and President Trump have spoken. Foreign Secretary has been there, National Security Advisor has been there. So obviously we have discussed the entire gamut of issues in the India-US bilateral relationship as well as regional issues.

This was also alluded to in the White House readout that was put out after the telephone call between President Trump and Prime Minister. So I’m pretty sure that the White House is very well aware of our position on cross-border terrorism and what Pakistan needs to do.

Question: We see there is a report from BBC News that there is a PLA soldiers crossed the border in 1963 and the Chinese Embassy say that they are keeping in touch with him and try to assist him and now they are waiting for a response from the Indian government. Do you have any information to share with us?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Yes, we are aware of this matter, especially now that the BBC documentary has brought it into a much wider public domain. We are in touch with the Ministry of Home Affairs to ascertain the details and to see how best we can handle this matter.

Question: The Palestinian President visited Dhaka and Islamabad but did not visit Delhi. Why has it happened, he was supposed to pay a reciprocatory visit after President Mukherjee’s visit to Palestine?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Look, first of all I think it is ridiculous to suggest that every visitor who comes to our neighboring countries needs to come to India. Just as every world leader who comes to India does not necessarily go to our neighboring countries. In so far as our relationship with Palestine is concerned, it is very robust and wide-ranging. Our commitment to the Palestinian cause is well known.

You are also aware of the bilateral assistance that we have provided to Palestine and the various visits that have happened. Rashtrapati Ji visited Palestine for the first time in October 2015 and stayed in Ramallah. The first ever historic Joint Commission meeting between India and Palestine was held on November 7-8, 2016, for diversification of cooperation to several areas including IT, Health, Education, Capacity Building, Security Cooperation etc.

We are setting up a $ 12 million Techno-Park to connect Palestinian youth with the Indian IT sector and are also setting up an Institute of Diplomacy in Palestine for training of Palestinian Diplomats through GOI assistance of $ 4.5 million. We have also doubled the number of scholarships for Palestinians to take higher studies in India. We have increased the number of ITEC slots from 80 to 150 and ICCR scholarships from 25 to 50.

In so far as the issue of President Abbas’ visit to India is concerned, let me also confirm to you that he has accepted the invitation to visit India. We expect his visit to take place sometime this year.

Thank you all.

(Concludes)
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