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Transcript of Weekly Media Briefing by the Official Spokesperson (February 02, 2023)

February 02, 2023

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: A very good afternoon to all of you. Thank you for joining us for this weekly media briefing. Before we begin, I have a small announcement and then we'll move on to a few questions.

At the invitation of the Government of Sri Lanka, Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri V. Muraleedharan will visit Sri Lanka from 3rd-4th February to participate in the 75th Independence Day celebrations of Sri Lanka, that is on 4th February 2023. During the visit, the Honourable Minister of State will also have separate bilateral interactions with the President and Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka. He will also have an interactive session with prominent members of the Indian diaspora. We will share with you more details later.

That was a brief announcement that I had. Happy to take a few questions.

Abhishek Jha: Sir this is Abhishek Jha from CNN News 18. My question is regarding this media report that is coming from USA, where it has been reported that Prime Minister Modi may be having a meeting with President Biden and USA side is very keen to have him somewhere around May, June. So if you could just say whether the possibility of Prime Minister's visit is being explored…

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: What is your question? Possibility of visit…

Abhishek Jha: is being explored by the MEA?

Sidhant: Hi, sir I’m Sidhant from WION. My question is, we have seen the Khalistani violence in Australia. Has the government raised the matter with the government in Australia and also we have seen similar incidents in Canada as well. With the Canadian government as well, we have raised the matter?

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Look, could you be a little more specific? What violence are you referring to in Australia and what are you talking about?

Sidhant: In Australia we saw the violence over the weekend by the Khalistani extremists.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: And the Canada one which one do you had...

Sidhant: In Brampton, there was the attack on the temple where we saw vandalisation.

Kadambini Sharma: Kadambini sharma from NDTV India, almost same question, jo wahan par Australia mein hamare jo High Commissioner hain unhonne mulakat ki Premier se Victoria mein aur mandir bhi gaye, lekin kya Australia ki taraf se kisi sakht karwai ka ashwashan mila hai, is sadak par hui jhadap mein, jismein do log ghayal bhi hue hain? (Questioned in Hindi; Approximate Translation) Kadambini Sharma from NDTV India, almost the same question, our High Commissioner in Australia met the Premier in Victoria and also went to the temple, but has there been an assurance of any strict action from Australian side, in this matter, there was also a clash on the road in which two people have been injured also?

Manash: Manash from PTI. There has been report in Bangladeshi media that Bangladesh government has sought a revision of the power purchase agreement it has signed with Adani Power for procurement of power from its Jharkhand plant. So, do you have anything to say on this report?

Suhasini Haidar: Suhasini Haidar from the Hindu. It's been about a week since the government issued notice to Pakistan calling for amendments to the Indus Water Treaty. I wanted to know two questions. One, whether Pakistan has responded in any way, shape or form and whether the World Bank has said anything? And the second being that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague has begun to hear the Indus Water Treaty case on Kishanganga and Ratle. India is not a present over there, India has boycotted the proceedings. Does this mean that whatever the outcome of this-will not be accepted by India?

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Let me take this round and I'll come back to a few questions.

Abhishek your question was regarding some media report, right. Look, I'm not going to get into commenting on such media reports, as you're very well aware, and I love saying this multiple times, I don't have a crystal gazing ball. We will announce high level visits at the appropriate time. At this point, I'm not aware of any specific date or visit however, as you know, there are visits going on there so let me not prejudge anything. I saw some report but I, best avoided commenting on such reports.

Sidhant your question was regarding Australia and Canada, and there was some attack that happened I think was on January 30th. Let me first of all say we strongly condemn such attack by extremist elements and we urge local authorities to investigate and punish the perpetrators. We have been repeatedly taking up with the Australian authorities our concerns about actions by such elements, including those that are proscribed, proscribed terrorist organizations in fact. We have also conveyed our firm rejection of the so called Khalistan referendum and the politically motivated exercises by extremist elements. You had a specific query about if we've been taken up with Australian authorities. As I mentioned, we have been taking up, we have requested Australia to ensure the safety and security of members of the Indian community and their properties, and to not allow the use of Australian territory for activities that would be detrimental to territorial integrity, security and national interest of India. We have in this regard noted the comments by some Australian leaders condemning the violence in Melbourne. And we will continue to take up this issue with Australian authorities. In Canada, you had mentioned about a Canada incident. In that context, you would have seen the comments I think, by the Canadian Foreign Minister denouncing the vandalism. We reaffirm this position strongly. And we, of course condemn such acts of vandalisation. So that's broadly what I wanted to say.

Aapne puchha hindi mein, dekhiye jo australia mein abhi jo incident ke baare mein jikr kar rahe the, aise extremist elements dwara aise hamlon ko hum strongly condemn karte hai aur Australian jo authorities hai, aparadhiyon ki janch karne ke liye, unke uper karvai karne ke liye hum aagrah karte rehte hain, kiya bhi hai jaise aise pratibandhit atankwadi sangathan sahit aise tattv dwara ki jaane vaali karvai ke baare mein apni chintaon ko hamne baar-baar Australian authorities ya adhikariyon ke samne uthaya hai. Ye tatha kathit khalistani referendum ka jo jikra kiya tha or extremist elements dwara rajnitik roop mein aise jo exercise ya action lete hain ispar hamari dridh asvikriti ko bhi hamane avgat karaya hai, australia ke authorities ko. Hamne unko kaha hai ki bharatiya samuday ke sadasy aur unaki sampatti ki suraksha sunishchit karane ke lie aur bharat ke kshetriy akhandata, suraksha aur rashtriya hit ke liye, hanikarak gatividhiyon ke liye australia kshetra ke upayog ka anumati nahi dene ka anurodh bhi kiya hai. Ye jo incident hua Melbourne mein, hamne incident ki ninda karne vale Australian netaon ke tippani par bhi hamne gaur kiya hai, hamne dekha hai ki kuchh logo ne, kuchh leaders ne aisi tippani ki hai ki unhonne iska khandan kiya hai, aise acts ko. Canada ka bhi ek prashn tha ki hamne, us baare mein Canada ke videsh mantri ne ek tweet mein apne comments diye hai jisamen unhonne ninda ki hai, aise jo statements hai unka jo paksh hai is sthiti ki pushti karte hain aur aise vandalisation ya attacks ke baare mein hum kadi ninda karte hain.

Kadimbini I think that aapka jo prashn tha uska answer isi mein hai, main ye kehna chahta tha ki haan hamare jo uchchayukt hai vahan vo mile the vahan ke Premier se, jo Australia ke Province ke premier hain aur ye baat uthai gai, unhonne apna tweet bhi kiya hai is meeting ke baare mein. jismen unhonne ninda ki kade shabdon mein iss incident ki or generally jo kuchh extremists hain aur jo so called khalistani referendum ke baare mein action le rahe hain uske against mein action lene ke liye hamane request kiya hai or maine jaise kaha hamne dekha hai ki kuchh Australian leaders ne isaka condemnation bhi kiya hai aur ninda bhi ki hai (Answered in Hindi; Approximate Translation)

Kadambini I think that the answer to your question is in this, I wanted to say that yes, our High Commissioner met the Premier of the Province in Australia and this matter was raised. He has also tweeted about this meeting in which he condemned this incident in strong words. We have requested to take action against generally those who are extremists and who are undertaking activities of so-called Khalistani referendum and as I have said, some Australian leaders have also condemned it.

Manash, I don't have anything on that. As you clearly said, I understand you're referring to a deal between the sovereign government and an Indian company. I am not aware of the deal; I don't even think we are involved in this.

Suhasini, let me clarify on your question. This was regarding the Indus Water Treaty. Well, last week, as I said, we have issued or rather India’s Commissioner for Indus Waters issued a notice on 25th of January for the modification of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, to his Pakistani counterpart. This notice was issued with the intent to provide Pakistan an opportunity to enter into Government to Government negotiations to rectify ongoing material breach of the Treaty. We have called upon Pakistan to notify a suitable date for the commencement of interstate bilateral negotiations under Article XII(3) of the Treaty within 90 days. I'm not aware of a response from Pakistan as yet. I'm also not aware of any response or comment by the World Bank. But in any case our notification by the Indus Commissioner was to his Pakistani counterpart, not to the World Bank. You had asked me on Court of Arbitration, that's a legal process, I would not speculate as to our position or the exact modality or approach. You are right, we are not involved or participating in that process. But further steps, I would not like to prejudge at this stage.

Achchha hindi mein, dekhiye 25 janvari ko hamare jo bharat ke Commissioner for Indus Waters kahlate hai unhone apne pakistani counterpart ko jo sindhu jal sandhi ke modification ke lie unhonne notice jari ki hai jo 1960 ki jo ye sandhi hai. is notice ko Pakistan ko issue isilie kiya gaya ki ye jo material breach hai, ongoing material breach hai us sandhi mein usko sudharne ke liye ek mauka diya jaye ki government to government negotiations chalu karen, shuru kare aur isko avasar pradan karane ke lie hi hamne ye notice issue kiya hai. Hamne Pakistan ko kaha hai ki 90 din ke andar is treaty ke tahat jo bilateral negotiation unke Article XII(3) ke tahat jo allowed hai usko shuru karne ke liye apna koi date wo batayen aur usko adhisuchit kare taki hum isko aage le ja saken. abhi tak mujhe aisa koi khabar nahi hai ki Pakistan ne koi jawab diya hai. Suhasini ne poochha tha ki World Bank ne ismen koi jawab diya hai, hamne world bank ko likha to nahi tha aur na hi mujhe malum hai aisa koi response aaya hai world bank ki taraf se.

If I could have a next round of questions. One by one. Yeshi.

Yeshi: This is Yeshi Seli from The New Indian Express. India has sent an invite to Pakistan for attending the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meet. Any response from them? And what's the update on the eight naval officers, it's been six months, six bail pleas have been rejected?

Shailesh: Shailesh from National Defence. Sir, can you please tell us something about our NSA, Ajit Doval Sir’s visit to US and we hear in media reports that perhaps US is ready to give away the technology of G414 or rather to produce the engine or something like that in India. Besides that, there was a delegation also that have prominent members, industrial delegation also. Can you also tell us about that?

Rishikesh: Sir, Rishikesh from PTI. Has any foreign country approached India to inquire about the status of Adani, which erupted after the recent controversy?

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Please frame your question correctly, I am not still understanding this. Any foreign government approached us to….

Rishikesh: To inquire about the status of Adani Group because Adani Group is engaged in lots of infra project in other countries….

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I'm not sure this is a foreign policy related question. Anyway, since you asked, I'll try to give you the response.

Manish Kumar Jha: This is Manish Kumar Jha from Financial Express. The similar question regarding the National Security Adviser’s visit to United States. Again, there were rumours about some particular specific military deals was being discussed, of course, it was reported in media. But I would like a clarification from your side as it is one broad…

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson:
Clarification on what? I didn’t get you. Specific military deals…

Manish Kumar Jha: Was it broad based on critical technology or was it based on some specific military…

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: About his visit, you want to know?

Manish Kumar Jha: Yeah, because there were reports about some specific military deals which are going to take place and so I want a clarification on that. And if we talk about some emerging critical technology, could you talk about some of them which he is discussing with his counterpart or senior leadership in the United States? Thank you.

Kallol: Kallol from the Hindu. Sir, of course, this is the year for G20 and India was expected to highlight its economic and all over achievement in the financial field for the world to see. Do you think the Adani issue as it has erupted and also especially its original ramifications in the field of, you know, with the dealings that he's had with our neighbours especially with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, other countries, do you think this is going to cast a shadow on our image as far as G20 is concerned, especially in the coming months in the Summit?

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Interesting question. Okay, let me try this round of questions. Yeshi your question was about the SCO. Look, let me just clarify, this has been going on a bit. And as you said, we are, as you know, we hold the current Presidency of the SCO. And as is customary, as the president, India has been extending invitations to all SCO members, including Pakistan, for various events under our presidency, that we have hosted and will continue to host as president. So that's broadly what I wanted to say, I don't know what you mean by has someone, I'm not going to be able to get into specific invitations for specific events, as the events happen, or well before that we extend invitations to all the participating countries or member countries, and we expect them to attend our events in person, unless it's a virtual event. I think Pakistani officials might have attended some of these ones. I'll have to check. I think they have. So I'm not sure what exactly you meant. On specific meetings I don't have confirmation of who all confirmed, who have not confirmed. So you want the foreign ministers. Look, I don't know exactly how many have confirmed, who all have confirmed, I don't have the details. The Foreign Ministers’ meeting is not for some time now. We'll let you know, closer to the date as we get to that.

You also asked about the eight naval officers. Look, let me reiterate largely what we have been saying on this, that we attach a lot of priority to this case, I would say. And that we are following up the visits and the communication with the families is going on quite regularly, I would say. And our Mission there is pursuing it. And all possible efforts are being made for their release and repatriation at an early date. But, as I said, family visits and access for the moment are being granted. I don't have any particular update this week. If there is, we will certainly share that with you.

Shailesh you asked about the NSA’s visit and some G414 you mentioned and Manish I think you have had similar sort of question. Look, let me just mention because of the time difference, perhaps you're missing out. We have issued a detailed press release, quite a detailed press release about the NSA’s visit, I think it was yesterday morning, we issued it. I have that actually here with me. I would also draw your attention to a very detailed fact sheet that the United States government has issued on that. One of the key elements of NSA’s visit and in fact if I could just mention this, about that you would recall that in May 2022, Prime Minister Modi and President Biden who were then meeting on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo, announced the India-US Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies. And that is, I think it’s been called ICET. ICET is led by the National Security Council Secretariat of India and the US National Security Council under their White House. In fact, during NSA’s visit this week, which is ongoing visit, the first meeting or the inaugural meeting of this ICET took place. And both countries, I would say, took concrete steps to give shape to the vision of the two leaders by announcing specific projects and proposals for building technology value chains, as you would have noticed, some areas quantum technology, semiconductors, space, telecom, and also defence or enabling defence co-production. We believe that through ICET, India and the US have added a new dimension of strategic technology collaborations to our robust bilateral agenda. And as trusted partners, both countries will engage more closely in these emerging technology domains. One unique and key aspect of ICET is participation of multiple stakeholders, including industry, research and innovation ecosystem to bring sort of a whole of government approach to realizing these collaborations. If you want more details, I would urge you to look at the press release that we have issued as well as the fact sheet that the American side has issued. In so far as specific defence deals are concerned. Look, I would be hesitant to comment on it. The visit is still ongoing. But I noticed that under the Defence Innovation and Technology Cooperation factsheet issued by the US side, it says that we have received an application from General Electric to jointly produce jet engines that could power jet aircraft operated and produced indigenously by India. The United States commits to an expeditious review of this application. I don't think we should go beyond that what has been said, that should answer your question also.

Rishikesh, you had mentioned about whether foreign governments have approached India about status of Adani Group. Look, I don't know if they will approach MEA, I'm not aware of any such outreach at all. I don't think it is a foreign policy issue. If there is any query that they might have vis-a-vis a private organization, maybe they'll route it through other concerned departments, but I'm not sure. I'm certainly not aware of it. I don't think we have been approached by any government.

Kallol your question also was, I think, an extension of that, do you think this will cast a shadow? Look, I don't want to get into stuff that is beyond our domain. I'm not sure what will cast a shadow exactly. Frankly, my understanding is that a company has lost share value, and they have withdrawn an FPO, I'm not sure whether that'll, I think that'll be extrapolating a bit much to say to cast a shadow on India's G20. I think India will showcase various elements, and we have highlighted this including tech and Fintech including our economic success, etc. So my answer would probably be a No, but again, I don't think frankly, it's a foreign policy related element.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Some more questions I will have.

Madhurendra: Sir Madhurendra News Nation se, mera sawal hai ki shaligram ka jo patthar hai darasal wo Nepal se Bharat laya gaya hai aur ayodhya pahunch chuka hai, is patthar se bhagwan ram ki pratima banegi ram mandir mein, iss ghatna se aapko lagta hai ki Bharat aur Nepal ke sambandho ko aur majbooti milegi, khastaur se people to people relations. aur background mein jana chahunga ki kya isko lekar bharat aur nepal ke beech mein kis tarah ki batchit hui darasal jiske baad shaligram ke is patthar ko Nepal se bharat laane me jo hai. (Questioned in Hindi; Approximate translation)

Sir Madhurendra from News Nation, my question is that the stone of Shaligram has actually been brought from Nepal to India and has reached Ayodhya. From this stone, the statue of Lord Ram will be built in the Ram temple. Do you think this will further strengthen the relations between India and Nepal, especially people to people relations. And in the background, I would like to know what kind of talks took place between India and Nepal, after which Shaligram stone was brought from Nepal to India?

Shashank: Shashank Mattoo from The Mint. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland is in town, she met with the External Affairs Minister and the Foreign Secretary. Was the question of the continuing delay in appointing the US Ambassador to India brought up? Did the American make any assurances in terms of speeding up that process?

Suhasini: Two very quick follow ups, one on the Indus Water Treaty. The fact is that the Arbitration Court going ahead is an indication that the World Bank has actually not accepted India's view that there should be a graded mechanism, that it should be a step by step process. Have you protested in any way with what seems to be the World Bank taking Pakistan side on the issue of which mechanism should go forward now for dispute resolution? Is this an issue between India and the World Bank? The second follow up is to Manash’s question on Bangladesh and the Adani group. The project to buy electricity for Bangladesh from the Godda Power Plant in Jharkhand is very much something that is part of foreign policy when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visits India, it is something that is discussed in the MEA as well, as a symbol of India-Bangladesh friendship and cooperation. So when it emerges that Bangladesh has asked the Adani group to revise its coal prices or it will not be buying this, it puts the entire project in jeopardy. So we would be grateful for a comment particularly as the Bangladesh Minister, according to this report, the Bangladesh Minister came to India and discuss this as well.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Dekhiye, main aapka jo sawal tha madhurendra ji, mujhe maalum nahi kaise uttar dena chahiye kyonki mujhe nahi malum ki donon sarkaaron ke beech mein ispe baat hui thi ya nahi, mujhe aisa koi information nahi hai. hamare beech mein sambandh jaise jante hai donon desho mein, donon ke civilizational jo sambandh hai, religious jo sambandh hai centuries old, usmen woh hai aur rahenge aur ismen sarkaron ka kya role hai mujhe nahi malum islie ismen main kuchh kah nahi paaunga. (Answered in Hindi; Approximate Translation) See, I do not know how to answer your question Madhurendra ji, because I do not know whether or not talks were held between the two governments on this, I have no such information. As you know there are civilisational relations between the two countries, centuries old religious relations, and will remain as such. and I do not know what is the role of governments in this, so I will not be able to say anything more.

Shashank you asked about Under Secretary Victoria Nuland’s visit. Look, we had issued, as I said, a press release on that. I think she has since left. I could mistaken, I thought she had left Delhi certainly and then one yesterday. But as regards the issue of appointing a US Ambassador, no, I don't know why we should take it up at all. I don't think it was taken up by our side. And obviously issue of the assurance, it does not come up. I think we've made our position quite clear on this. We would welcome US Ambassador here, but that's their choice.

Suhasini your two follow up questions. Look, you prefaced it with something that at the outset, let me clarify, I'm not able to characterize that as my comments at all. So those are your comments. I'm not saying that. Whether the World Bank has accepted it or not, is your interpretation. This is a pretty complicated legal issue. And I would not be the right person to comment on it or prejudge it at this stage. You asked whether we have protested. Look, the World Bank itself five years, six years ago, more, at the time acknowledged the problem of having two parallel processes. Our interpretation and assessment is that this is not in consonance with the provisions of the Treaty. And hence, we have been talking about a graded approach, as you correctly mentioned. I don't think that our position has changed at all on this. I don't know whether the World Bank has changed its position, you are making an assumption based on their action here, that they have. This is open to interpretation.

Suhasini: They have announced.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I saw that. You've been saying that. That was a statement made in October when they were going ahead. They made a comment I think earlier in the year last year, when they said look, both sides have asked for this so we are going ahead. I don't think they are in a position to interpret the Treaty for us. I think it's a treaty between our two countries. And our assessment of that, interpretation of the Treaty, is that there is a graded approach. So I would leave it at that. And we have a legal process or let's say a treaty process now with Pakistan on notice of modification. And on the COA, I've already conveyed our views.

Regarding the other issue, which you're talking about, which was a follow up to Manash’s question. Look, let me make a larger point here, perhaps you're missing individual cases with policy. We do think that greater economic integration, connectivity with our neighbours assists our process of development. We have been talking about our neighbours benefiting from the economic growth of India, we have tried to make it easier for connectivity, be it physical, or energy, or power transmission or any of those or even waterways. This is a part of our larger strategy of Neighbourhood First. And under that, we, of course, would like to see greater economic, you know, interconnection, integration of projects, investments. But if a certain project is not working for financial or economic reasons, I don't think that's a reflection on the relationship. And we will continue with our efforts to see how we can bring our two countries closer together through greater economic investment and trade linkages.

Okay, thank you very much for joining us today. See you next week.

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