Media Center

Transcript of Weekly Media Briefing by Official Spokesperson (December 08, 2017)

December 09, 2017

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:Namashkar, Good Afternoon and thank you for joining in today for the press briefing. I have one announcement to make and that is regarding the Wassenaar Arrangement and India’s membership.

The plenary meeting of the Wassenaar Arrangement held on 06 – 07 December 2017 in Vienna, Austria has decided to admit India which will become the Arrangement’s 42nd participating state. The necessary procedural arrangement for India’s admission will be completed shortly. This is the only announcement I had to make, now I will take questions from the floor.

Question:We heard from the External Affairs Minister that KulbhushanJadhav’s wife and mother, both will be allowed by the Pakistani Government. I believe a diplomat will also be allowed to accompany them but has India got a sovereign guarantee from the Pakistani side about their safety, security?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:Earlier today we received the response from the Pakistani Government to the request which we had made on 13th November 2017 to allow both mother and wife to meet Mr. Jadhav. We are happy to note that Pakistan has also agreed to our request for mother to meet Mr. Jadhavthat has been pending since April 2017.

Pakistan Government has also assured that it would ensure safety, security and well-being of the wife and the mother during their stay in Pakistan. They have also agreed that an Indian Diplomat will be allowed to accompany the mother and the wife. As you might have seen, just a while ago, EAM has spoken to the mother, she has tweeted about it. The next steps will be that in consultations with the mother and the wife of Mr. Jadhav we will work out the further modalities of the meeting.

Question:Could you brief us a little about this British National Jagtar Singh Johal who has been arrested recently for his radical activities online and is India in touch with UK and has UK sought his deportation, by any chance?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:You might have seen the report of the rest of Mr. Johal by the Punjab Police. I can share with you that the individual is being investigated for some very serious crime including plans for targeted killing of certain individuals in India. All due processes of the land are being followed. Since he is a British National the British High Commission has been given Consular Access. We do expect the law of the land to take its own course.

Question:It’s not just Jagtar Singh there are several others, there is a gentleman called Mr. Pamma in Britain, of Indian Origin. There is someone else called BhushanRanvir Singh who is the mastermind in the killing of Six Hindu and One Christian leaders, there are others like Jimmy who are in Indian custody in Punjab, now all of them are British citizens. Jimmy is already hear as a British citizen and the others too. What we are hearing is that the British Government has not been cooperating for instance when the Passport was sought of Jagtar, the family gave it to the British High Commission and the British High Commission has told the Indian Government that we can’t do anything, just apply under MLAT. Now do you see such problems because this is what we are hearing from the Indian Government in Delhi as well?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:I think you are right, you have mentioned some of the names, you see in any case where a Foreign National is involved there are certain processes which we have to follow. We also do take up such matters with the concerned governments. You have mentioned Britain, there are number of other individuals staying in other countries as well, in all such cases the matter is taken up by our Embassy and High Commission which is based there. We do take up the matter with the concerned Ambassador and High Commissioner in Delhi as well.

Question:On Monday i.e. 11th of this month we are having between China, Russia and India. Are we going to have a bilateral with the Chinese Foreign Minister and how important do you think is this meeting because it will probably be the first high level engagement after Doklam?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:We had put out a press release on RIC, I think all of you must have seen it and let me also take this opportunity to take you through the program as it had been drawn up for the RIC.

Both the Foreign Ministers of China and Russia have confirmed their participation at the RIC meeting, it’s a trilateral. In the morning the two Foreign Ministers which is the Foreign Minister of Russia and China, they will call on the President, they will also have separate bilateral with our External Affairs Minister and then we move on to the trilateral. After the trilateral meeting there will be a joint press statement where all of you will be invited.

In the evening the Russian Foreign Minister will be speaking, he will deliver a lecture at Vivekanand International Foundation on the subject "Global Affairs and New Vistas for Russia-India Cooperation.” For the Chinese Foreign Minister there is an India-China cultural meeting which is being organized at the PravasiBharatiya Kendra and also the invitation cards are available here. Those of you who are interested in attending may pick them up on your back.

Coming to your question about the discussion part, the agenda for the RIC and the bilateral, there could be some areas of convergence. The RIC will discuss the global regional issues. The Trilateral, the issues which we have been discussing in the previous RIC meetings, that could also come up for discussion.

With China it is not the first engagement, you are all aware that Prime Minister had a meeting with President Xi in Xiamen on the sidelines of summit and since then there has been some engagement. Yes, it is true that it is the first visit of the Foreign Minister of China in the last few months. We expect to discuss all bilateral issues, we also expect that regional and certain global issues will also come up for discussion. There will be a press statement and I think that will throw further light on what discussions took place during the meeting.

Question:After Trump’s announcement of Jerusalem being recognized by the Americans how much can you tell us about whether of not there’ll be some sort of review on the Indian position and how we view Israel, Palestine and their capitals?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:We have already announced, we have made this announcement yesterday morning on this topic. I don’t think there is anything further that I have to add, it has been carried out by all the newspapers today morning.

Question:There are some reports that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister has written a letter to External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj to reduce the ceasefire violations. So what is the details in this?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:I have not seen any letter, I am not aware of any letter which has been sent by the Pakistani Foreign Minister to our EAM, so I’ll not be able to comment on that.

Question:There are reports that the Siang River which flows through Arunachal Pradesh and which originates in Tibet and there are reports that this river has turned turbid and there are concerns that this is owing to some construction activity being carried out there by China. So has India taken up this matter with China?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:Let us not jump to conclusions. Let us first ascertain the details and the facts in the matter which we are doing. You are also aware that we have existing mechanism between the two countries. There is a mechanism on exchange of hydrological data on cross-border Rivers which is an important part of functional cooperation which we have with China. There are also other institutionalized mechanisms to exchange views on issues of common concerns. Once we get facts about the case as to why it is happening then we move to the other stage whether we should take it up with concerned government or not.

Question:There are reports of Chinese Liberation Army consolidating its position in North Doklam. Any reaction on that? Also there are reports of an Indian drone going to the Chinese side and China lodging protest. Can you just react on that also?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:The drone is very simple to answer, you must have also seen the statement which was put out by the Ministry of Defence and if you want I can reiterate. Basically it says that the Indian UAV was on a regular training mission inside the Indian Territory. It lost touch with the ground control due to some technical problem and crossed over the LAC in the Sikkim sector. There are standard protocols through which such issues are discussed between the two sides. I think MoD has come up with a detailed statement on this and you can refer to that.

On the other issue about the build up of troops, which sector is this?

Question Contd.:North Doklam.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:Again I will refer to the same statement which I have been repeating in almost every alternate briefing that we have not noticed any new development at the face of site and its vicinity since the August 28 disengagement. The status quo prevails in the area. We have repeatedly highlighted that the maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas is an important prerequisite for the smooth development of bilateral relationship.

Question:I have a question and a small clarification also. The question is related to Mr. Jadhav. Can you tell us how you are interpreting the Pakistani response? Do you see it as a purely a humanitarian gesture or could it lead to also eventually some sort of grant of consular access, could you tell us what this means for this case? That is one and secondly on your opening statement, just a small clarification, could you give us some details on the benefits accruing to India as a result of being part of the Wassenaar Arrangement?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:I would leave the interpretation to you, I have given you the news, it is a good news as far as we are concerned. We have been seeking access for both the mother and the wife for a long time and we are happy that this has been considered and access is being granted to the mother and the wife. As far as Interpretation is considered I think it is a positive development as far as access part is concerned as it has been a long pending demand from our side.

On the Wassenaar Arrangement, I have something which I can read out. Basically we expect that our membership at the Arrangement will facilitate high technology tie-ups with the Indian industry and ease access to high-tech items for a defence and space programs. While membership of the arrangement would not automatically entail any preferential treatment from other Wassenaar Arrangement members. It would create the grounds for realignment of India in the export control policy framework of other Wassenaar Arrangement members including eligibility for certain licensing exceptions.

Our entry into the Arrangement would be mutually beneficial and further contribute to National Security and Non-proliferation objectives. If you want more details I think they are all available on the website www.wassenaar.org I think they have the details of how it would benefit.

Question:Follow up question about Wassenaar Arrangement membership, do you think it will brighten our chances of getting into NSG, that is one and the second question is, will a diplomat be actually present during the Jadhav’s meeting with his mother?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:The two are unrelated but when you join one it does confirm your credentials which we have proved time and again. Last year we have joined MTCR, this year we have joined Wassenaar Arrangement but the two are of course unrelated. We worked hard for this and we continue to work hard for the other one as well.

Question:A small clarification, in the Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson’s statement regarding KulbhushanJadhav they have mentioned that the visit should take place on 25th of December. Have we worked out the date or is it still work in progress?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:If I remember correctly I think in the letter they have mentioned 25th December. They have said "may” which means that this is the date which they have offered. As I mentioned we are in touch with the wife and the mother to see if the date is convenient to us and we are working on the modalities.

Question:At the recent Chabahar inauguration Pakistan had sent its Maritime Affairs Minister. Does India look it as a goodwill gesture? Official Spokesperson, ShriRaveesh Kumar:You are talking about the visit of Pakistani Transport Minister at the inauguration. Goodwill gesture for whom?

Question Contd. :That is the thing, they have called it a goodwill gesture. Does India consider it a goodwill gesture?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:We have issued two press releases on the visit of our Minister of State for Transport for the inauguration. The Inauguration itself was done by the President of Iran and he had invited relevant ministers from the region. I understand that apart from the Transport Minister of Pakistan several other ministers also attended.

We do have a trilateral arrangement between India-Iran and Afghanistan for the further development of Chabahar port. That meeting also took place on the sidelines to work out further modalities for the development of Chabahar port, how do we go from there. That meeting also took place but as far as we are concerned our minister attended the event. Regarding whether it was a goodwill gesture on the part of the Pakistan to attend that you will have to ask either of the two, not me.

Question:Yesterday the Palestinian Envoy said in a program in the RajyaSabha TV that Prime Minister will pay visit. Do you confirm this?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:No, I can’t confirm, I can only say that and all of you are familiar with how we go about announcing high level visits. There is a proper mechanism through which we make announcements. We normally do not announce a visit several months in advance. We do make an announcement at an appropriate time through a well-established mechanism which we have in place.

Question:23 men from Vellur, Tamil Nadu were left to starve in Senegal, West Africa and as far we have received confirmation from Indian Embassy in Africa, six members from that team have returned to India and remaining 17 are still stuck in West Africa. Do you have any confirmation on this?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:I have just got this input from our Embassy in Dakar. There are two Indian companies Promac and Wassabi Power, they had taken all these Indians to Senegal to work for them. We got in touch with them, they have agreed to pay the salaries to all the 23 Indian workers.

Through our intervention and facilitation they have also agreed that will sent all the Indian workers back. 8 of them have already come back. We are in touch with companies, we are also in touch with the workers to ensure that they get their salaries and they all get back to India. It is all just a matter of logistics now, in principle this agreement has been facilitated and it is just a matter of logistics when they will come.

Question:I’ll come back to the NSG issue, despite our entry in to the Wassenaar and MTCR we are unable to cross China Wall and very recently, yesterday, China reiterated its position that we are sticking to our position in NSG despite Russians talking to them. Since all three would be there on 11th of December, would this issue be taken up?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:Our efforts in this regard will continue. I know what you are referring to but this is a continuous process. You don’t give up because it has not happened once. Frankly at this stage I can’t tell you exactly what issues will come for discussion at the RIC Trilateral meeting. If it does then it will be mentioned I hope during the press statement which the three foreign ministers will make.

Question:Vijay Mallya, he is saying very good business talk in UK. The UK legal process will take how much time?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:Thank you very much for your question. As you are all aware and it has been widely reported hearing in the extradition case against Mr. Vijay Mallya began on 4th December at the Westminster Magistrate Court and as in any court proceedings there will be submissions both from the defence and the prosecution. Since the matter is subjudice it would be difficult for me to further comment on this matter. I can only tell you that the Government of India would take all necessary and possible steps to ensure that we do not lag behind in our efforts towards extradition of Mr. Vijay Mallya to India.

Question:I also have a question about the UAV. I noticed that India yesterday said that the UAV lost due to the technical problem and crossed over the LAC in Sikkim sector but China side says Border in Sikkim sector has been delineated, that is a different statement. So I want to know your comments about this.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:I think it is not a different statement. What I said was that there was a malfunctioning and once the malfunctioning happen then it would not recognize whether the border is delineated or not, it was not in the control of the person or the individual or the plane itself. I can again repeat, "it lost touch with the ground control due to some technical problem and crossed over the LAC.”

Question:Since an Indian Diplomat will be accompanying Mr. Jadhav’s mother when she will be meeting him, are you considering it Pakistan granting it consular access? Official Spokesperson, ShriRaveesh Kumar:No, I think we have sought consular access and I can only share that Pakistan has, in the reply, they have given permission for the spouse and the mother to go and meet Mr. Jadhav. An Indian Diplomat will be accompanying them and will be there during this. Then we will see how it goes on from there, I think it is too early to predict the nature of the meeting, the nature of access which is being facilitated by the Pakistani Government.

Question:You have quoted India’s position with Palestine is independent and consistent and shaped by our views and interests and not determined by any third country. Would it be correct to assume that India’s view towards Israel and Palestine, is status quo, nothing has changed, would it be correct to assume that?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar: I will again repeat what I have to say and I can repeat the same statement to you and there is nothing further which I can add to the statement. I think people have reports done on the statement and I think it is very clear what we intend to say.

Question:Just clarification from an earlier point raised, as far as these murders in Punjab are concerned it appears that, at least from your reports within the government, internal reports, that this is an effort by the ISI to ensure there are riots between Sikhs and Hindus in the state. Now assuming that this is the case, this is what the government is saying internally, what kind of action can the government of India take vis-à-vis Pakistan?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:I don’t know what the government is saying internally. I represent the Ministry of External Affairs and I report on matters which pertains to Ministry of External Affairs. This is something which has not come to my notice. I think there may be other appropriate ministries who may be best placed answer this query of yours.

Question:Hafiz Saeed ki nazar bandi hatne ke baad Bharat ne jo naraazagi dikhaai aur uske baad America ne kaha giraftaar kariye lekin in sab cheezon ko ansunaa kiyaa gaya. Ab stithi ye hai ki Pervez Musharraf jaise log uske saath jud kar ke kahin na kahin use legitimacy dene ki koshish kar rahe hain aur wo Bharat virodhi bayaan deta ja raha hai. Kya Bharat in sab ki kewal satarkta se note le raha hai ya kootneetik star par koi karyawaahi karne ke liye bhi taiyaar hai?

(After the removal of house arrest of Hafiz Saeed India openly voiced its vexation and after that America also asked to arrest him but all these things went unheeded. Now the status is such that people like Pervez Musharraf are joining him and giving him legitimacy and he is continuously making anti-India statements. Is India just carefully noting all this or is it going to make any strategic move in this regard?)

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:Hafiz Saeed par mera bayaan har baar hota hai. Bahut baar maine kaha hua hai ye ki Hafiz Saeed ek internationally proscribed terrorist hai, wo mastermind hai Mumbai terror attack ka, wo prime mover they Mumbai terror attack ke. Kaafi cheezein chal rahi hain wahaan, kabhi wo bolte hain ki ek political party launch karenge, kabhi bolte hain ki hum UN mein delisting keliye apply karenge, thodi baukhalahat hai aur mujhe lagata hai ki jo vishwa hai un sab hi ko unka asli chehra pata hai aur isliye hamein baar-baar unse yahi kahna padta hai ki wo listed terrorist hain aur UN laws ke andar jo steps uthane chahiye Pakistan unhein uthaye and ye hum Pakistan se baar-baar kah rahe hain.

(Every time I make a statement on Hafiz Saeed. I have said it many a times that Hafiz Saeed is an internationally proscribed terrorist. He is the mastermind and the prime mover of the Mumbai Terror attack. Many a things are going on there, sometime they say that they will be launching a political party, sometimes they say that they will appeal to UN for delisting. I think the whole world knows his real face and hence we have to tell them again and again that he is listed terrorist and Pakistan should take necessary steps under International law in such cases and we have been saying this to Pakistan time and again.)

Pakistan is under obligation to take steps under international law against Hafiz Saeed. If the listing happens by UN then there are certain requirements which a country has to fulfil. Hamarasirfwahi demand haikiaapsirf international rule follow karoauruskekhilaaf action lo.

(Our only demand is that Pakistan should follow international rule and take appropriate action against Hafiz Saeed.)

Question:Kindly agar aap Jerusalem wala statement repeat kar dein konki wo written statement hai.

(It would be great if you can repeat your statement on Jerusalem.)

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:As I have already stated, India’s position on Palestine is independent and consistent. It is shaped by our views and interests and not determined by any third country. Thank you very much. Have a good day.

(Concludes)

Write a Comment Write a Comment
Comments

Post A Comment

  • Name *
    E-mail *
  • Write Your Comment *
  • Verification Code * Verification Code