Multilateral Economic Relations
Agendas of the multilateral fora, during the period, were generally under the shadow of international financial turmoil, high food prices and volatile energy prices. India continued its active engagement with ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting), BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China-May 2008), G-8-05, G-20, IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa), IOR-ARC (Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation), ACD (Asia Cooperation Dialogue) etc, where it presented its perspective on financial crisis and other critical issues such as food, security, energy security, climate changes and sustainable development. The first IOR-ARC Film Festival was held in New Delhi in February-March 2008 as part of Indian initiatives announced at the 7th IORARC Council of Ministers (COM) meeting held in Tehran in March 2007.Secretary (ER) led the Indian delegation to the preparatory meeting of BRIC Deputy Foreign Ministers meeting in Russia in May 2008.
India hosted the 2nd BIMSTEC (13/11/2008), and the 3rd IBSA Summit in New Delhi during the period. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh led the Indian delegations to the ASEM Summit in Beijing, the G-20 Summit in Washington (15/11/2008) and informal interaction of Heads of State/Govt. of BRIC countries. Conclusion of the negotiations on the agreement on "trade in Goods" under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and ASEAN was considered yet another milestone in India's "Look East" policy.
Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme & Development Partnership (DP)
The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme is the flagship programme of India's technical and economic cooperation efforts. In keeping with India's growing economic strength and international role, efforts were made to enhance and expand India's technical cooperation and development assistance to partner countries with emphasis on capacity building, transfer of technology and sharing of experiences. This involved 158 developing countries including 139 countries under ITEC in Asia, Africa, Central Asia, East Europe, Latin America and 19 countries under SCAAP (Special Commonwealth African Assistance Programme) in Africa. Around 5000 professionals, in Government and other sectors from 158 developing countries attended more than 200 courses conducted by institutions in India, both Government and in the private sector, under the civilian and defence training programmes. Special courses were organized for Africa, IOR-ARC, CIS, Afghanistan, Lao PDR, Yemen in various fields like management, WTO issues, labour, audit etc. Indian experts were deputed to advise and assist in diverse areas such as information technology, auditing, legal expertise, pharmacology, statistics and demography, public administration, textile and agriculture. Many projects were undertaken during the year in the field of information technology, small and medium enterprises, civil construction and vocational training in different parts of the world. Humanitarian assistance was also extended to countries affected by earthquake, cyclones, floods, etc.Investment and Technology Promotion (ITP)
Economic Diplomacy continued to occupy an important place in India's foreign policy, acquiring a sharper focus in an increasingly interdependent and interconnected world. The Ministry, through the ITP Division, was actively engaged in the promotion and facilitation of foreign investment and trade. It participated in policy meetings of Foreign Investment Promotion Board and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, as well as other policy meetings concerning reforms and liberalization of the economy and simplification of investment procedures. ITP Division supplemented the overall efforts of the Government to boost FDI inflow into India, by reaching out to the investor community and organizing and funding promotional events in partnership with the private sector, apex business chambers and our Missions abroad.Development aid, including grants and Lines of Credit (LOC), to developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia formed an important component of our Economic Diplomacy. While helping Indian companies get project contracts and orders for supply of goods in these developing countries, the LOCs have helped in infrastructure development in these regions thereby creating considerable goodwill for the country. During 2008-09. 17 LOCs worth US$ 744 million to 16 developing countries were approved.
Given the importance of energy security for India's development, a separate Energy Security Division has been established in March 2009 to coordinate with Energy Ministries and Indian Missions abroad. The Division worked closely with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in organizing the India-CIS Roundtable on Hydrocarbons in November 2008 and Petrotech 2009, hosted/co-hosted seminars on India's energy options, commissioned studies on energy surplus countries and regions, was actively involved in energy security related seminars/conferences organised by other Ministries and Chamber of Commerce and Industry and extended assistance to Indian companies dealing with overseas energy collaborations and opportunities. It also took the initiative to set up a Working Group on energy with senior representatives of oil infrastructure PSUs.
Policy Planning and Research
The PP&R Division maintained close interaction with institutions and individuals specializing in policy research and analysis and extended financial assistance to various academic institutions/think-tanks located in different parts of the country for holding conferences. seminars, preparation of research papers, exchange of scholars on issues related to India's external relations and security with a view to derive invaluable inputs for the planning, formulation and implementation of our foreign policy.Policy Planning and Research Division continued issuing Monthly Summary for the Cabinet. The Division also continued to edit and publish the Annual Report of the Ministry. The Report serves as a compendium of India's interaction with the rest of the world in the political, economic, and cultural fields, including the views of the Government on various facets of international relations.
Consular, Passport and Visa Services
During the year 3 new Passport Offices were opened at Amritsar, Dehradun and Coimbatore. All 37 Passport Offices have been computerized and issue machine printed and machine readable passports.A total of 53.15 lakh passports were issued in 2008-09, an increase of approximately 6.5% % over the corresponding figure in 2007-08. The total revenue generated from all Passport Offices also increased to Rs.606 crore, an increase of approximately 5.5% over 2007-08.
The Ministry has been taking a number of measures to make the processing and issue of passports simpler and quicker for the comfort and convenience of the public. District Passport Cells (DPCs) have been opened at the district level to increase the efficiency of the receiving and verification process. Online submission of passport applications has been introduced in all Passport Offices. Also facilitation Counters and Help Desks have also been set up to assist applicants and also to attend to grievances/complaints expeditiously.
The Passport Seva Project launched by the Government of India is expected to result in the issue of new passports within three days after police verification and of all other passport services in one day. The Pilot Project is expected to begin at Chandigarh and Bengaluru by July-August 2009. It will be implemented fully to cover the entire country in 2010.
The Ministry has successfully implemented the project for centralized printing of Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) at CPV Division, New Delhi in respect of 140 Indian Missions/Posts abroad.
All diplomatic and official passports are now being issued as e-passports as part of the pilot project. Based on the experience gained from the pilot project, it is proposed to start issuance of e-passports in the ordinary, category by end 2009. During 2008, visa-waiver agreements were signed with Egypt, EI Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, South Africa and Turkey.
Extradition treaties were signed with Brazil, Australia, Iran and Egypt. The apostille attestation on documents was also started at branch secretariat offices of the Ministry at Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati with effect from 15 June 2008. During the year, 1,70,000 personal and educational documents and 1,71,000 commercial documents were attested by the Ministry. In addition to this, 80,000 documents were apostilled for use abroad in the member countries.
Administration
There are currently 171 resident Indian Missions and Posts abroad. During the year, a resident Indian Mission was opened in Iceland, while three new Missions are to be opened in the near future in Niger, Mali, and Guatemala. In order to address the Ministry's acute constraints of personnel in the face of India's growing diplomatic responsibilities, a 10-year plan has been developed to induct 514 additional positions in the Ministry in a phased manner.Implementation of Official Language Policy and Propagation of Hindi Abroad
World Hindi Day was celebrated on 10 January 2008. Hindi Essay Competition was organized for foreign students studying Hindi at Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University.External Publicity
The main activities of the Division were focused on dissemination of information on India's relations with its immediate neighbours as also with major countries of the world. The Division launched the first phase of the Media Monitoring Project for all users at Headquarters. This is aimed at streamlining the monitoring of media sources for the Ministry. The Project monitors Print, Web and Internet based media in a systematic manner and provides 5 daily products to users on a real time basis.The Division used the opportunities provided by visits of the President of Iran, Mr. Ahamadnejad; President of Syria, Dr. Bashar Al-Assad; President of Egypt, Mr. Hosny Mubarak; Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr. Pushpa Karnal Dahal "Prachanda"; Prime Minister of Bhutan, Mr. Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley and the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Anatoly Medvedev to articulate India's position on important bilateral, regional and international issues. The Division also arranged joint press interaction with the visiting dignitaries during these visits. Special briefings by the official spokesperson and other senior officials of the Ministry were also held regularly on important international issues of concern to India.
Media delegations on President's visit to Brazil, Medico, Chile, Vietnam and Indonesia; Prime Minister's visits to Bhutan, Japan (G-8 summit), Sri Lanka (15th SAARC summit), USA and France (UNGA and Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement), China, Oman and Qatar (bilateral); Vice President's visits to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan; and the External Affairs, Minister's visits to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Russia, Australia, Egypt and USA were facilitated by XP Division.
Public Diplomacy
PD Division, in order to fulfill its mandate of outreach activities inside and outside India, and audio-visual and print publicity to effectively project India's Foreign Policy to the wider public, works in collaboration with researchers, think tanks, civil society, media and industry, within India and abroad.Last year, the Division organized a number of seminars and conferences to effectively project India's foreign policy, and to support Track Two interaction with other countries. A large number of Indian and foreign academics, researchers, senior officials, representatives of industry and the media were involved in the events organized by the Division. Among the major activities of the Division were conferences on our relations with Nepal. Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Ethiopia. The Division also organized conferences on varied themes such as the fallout of the cold war, development of North-East, terrorism and climate change. With a view to familiarize policy and opinion makers from other countries with modern India and our concerns and interests, the Division hosted visits of delegations from the UK, Mauritius, South Africa. Tajikistan and Taiwan, as well as a delegation of PIO journalists from 16 countries.
The Division commissioned documentaries projecting our interests as also Indian culture and heritage. Some of the documentaries commissioned by the Division were screened at international festivals and awarded special prizes/special mention. The Division's flagship magazine 'India Perspectives' covering a variety of subjects completed twenty years; an anniversary issue and two Special Issues on Indian Publishing and Indian Cinema were brought out.
Foreign Service Institute
The Government of India established the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) in 1986, primarily to cater to the professional training needs of the Indian Foreign Service of the Ministry of External Affairs. The new building of the Foreign Service Institute was formally inaugurated on 14 November 2007 by Hon'ble Minister of External Affairs, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.FSI has diversified its activities to include courses of interest to staff and officers at all levels of the Ministry of External Affairs, other Civil Services and Foreign Diplomats and Correspondents. FSI organizes and conducts training programmes for MEA Staff, IFS Probationers, Directors and for Joint Secretaries (since 2009), as well as courses for other Civil Services, Foreign Diplomats and Diplomatic Correspondents, The first Mandatory mid-career training programme for Joint Secretary-level IFS officers of the 1979-80 Batches was organised by FSI from 13 April to 1 May, 2009 in collaboration with the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
The Training Programmes for the IFS probationers of 2007 and 2008 batches was conducted by FSI between 22007-2009, which included an attachment with IIM, Bangaluru, district training and other field visits. On successful completion of their Training Programme, the Bimal Sanyal Award Ceremony was organized for the probationers of the 2007 batch. IFS probationers of the 2008 batch completed their Mission Orientation Programme in 2009, with 10 probationers visiting Sri Lanka, led by Dean (FSI), and 10 IFS probationers visiting Bhutan.
The Professional Course for Foreign Diplomats (PCFD), which is FSI's main programme for foreign diplomats, was launched in 1992. Around three PCFDs are conducted every year (duration - 4 - 6 weeks). The 47th PCFD was held in February-March 2009 and more than 1500 foreign diplomats from over 100 countries have been trained at FSI. An MoU providing institutional framework of cooperation between FSI and its counterpart institute in Ukraine was signed. Delegations from Bangladesh, Romania and China visited FSI. The Second Meeting of Deans of Diplomatic Institutes of IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) countries was held at FSI in September, 2008. A Seminar on the subject of "India-Brazil-South Africa Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities" was also held on this occasion.
In response to specific requests from friendly countries, the FSI has also conducted special courses for diplomats from Afghanistan , Canada, Iraq, Laos, Maldives (a Special Course for Diplomats, from Maldives commenced on 14th July, 2009 and will conclude on 12th August, 2009), Norway, Palestine, Sudan and Vietnam. Training programmes for the ASEAN countries have become an annual feature since 2006. In addition to active contacts with specialized institutions and academic bodies in India, FSI has established institutional linkages with 34 counterpart institutions in other countries. Over the last year FSI organized several special lectures by eminent Indian and foreign experts and dignitaries. The Foreign Defence officers attending the 48th Course at National Defence College visited FSI and a lecture was arranged for them.
The Abid Hussain Committee, composed of distinguished diplomats and chaired by Shri Abid Hussain, finalized a report in 2009 making useful recommendations on the further upgradation of the Foreign Service Institute.
The Foreign Service Institute has career foreign service officers at its core, headed by the Dean, who is of the rank of Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. FSI has an extensive guest faculty drawn from specialists in the academic and research community, think tanks, other ministries-departments of the Government of India, the media, public life, industry and trade, and retired civil servants.
Indian Council of Cultural Relations
The primary objective of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations [ICCR] is to establish, revive and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries. The Council's flagship project, the Rabindranath Tagore Centre (RTC) was inaugurated on 1 June 2008 by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, former Minister for External Affairs.The Council organized large-scale cultural events with foreign and Indian troupes, on the sidelines of major Summits, such as the India-Africa Summit, IBSA Summit. Arab League Meeting etc. It also coordinated the South Asia Cultural Festival and held cultural programmes for VVIP visitors. A number of festivals were held, such as Sufi Music Festival in Srinagar, Malhaar Festival and Festival of Indian Classical Dance by foreign artists residing in India. An important highlight of 2008 was the "Year of Russia in India" which included a series of high-profile cultural performances. In addition, 50 cultural troupes from different countries were hosted by the Council, with performances held in Delhi and other cities. The Council also provided financial support to NGOs and cultural institutions to jointly organize cultural activities. The Council hosted 19 eminent visitors from different countries under the Distinguished Visitors Programme.
The twenty-one Indian Cultural Centres abroad continued to vigorously promote India's 'Soft Power'. The expanded Cultural Wing of the Indian Embassy in Beijing became functional in the year and preparations were made to open new Cultural Centres in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Dhaka.
The Council organized a series of cultural festivals abroad in Syria, Egypt, Netherlands, Argentina and Hungary, which included diverse and varied cultural programmes. The 'Year of India in Russia' was inaugurated by President, ICCR on 31 March 2009 in Moscow. The Council sponsored 93 cultural delegations which visited 73 countries and also sponsored a number of outstanding artistes abroad and provided travel grants. The Council continued to manage 21 long-term and 12 short term Chairs in Indian Studies in various foreign Universities.
An important focus area of ICCR has been facilitating admission of foreign students in Indian Universities. In 2008-09, ICCR administered scholarships for approximately, 3200 foreign students under various schemes. This included 1778 new scholarships, including 500 scholarships for Afghan students.
The Council opened two new Regional Offices at Cuttack and Shillong during the year to enhance its reach to North-east and eastern India. The Council also organized major exhibitions showcasing Indian and foreign art and sculpture; disseminated 6 journals in 5 different languages and also assisted various organizations/institutes in organizing 24 International Conferences in India.
President of India presented the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for 1995 to President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Mr. Mohamed Hosny Mubarak on 18th November 2008. The Maulana Abul Kalam Memorial Lecture 2009 was delivered by Mr. Martin Luther King III on the subject "A New Nonviolent Revolution".
No comments:
Post a Comment