#ICYMI
: My story with some exclusive inputs on how India crafted
#G20
joint document.
Main points:
- 🇧🇷, 🇮🇩 & 🇿🇦 helped “liaison” to get other countries on board
- France finds text “satisfactory”
- Work on text began 6 months ago
@ThePrintIndia
Cult of EAM Jaishankar: Scores of young students await his arrival, even to click a selfie. A young female student gushes over him signing her copy of his new book.
Earlier, Jaishankar had said 90 million young Indians will be voting for the 1st time in the upcoming election.
IMPORTANT: Without mentioning China, official sources say Indian govt restricted imports of laptops due to “national security” reasons.
“There was genuine apprehension of future security risk…hardwares could be compromised”.
PS: Bulk of laptop imports into 🇮🇳 come from 🇨🇳.
EAM Jaishankar greets 3 Foreign Ministers who will play a critical role in the
#G20FMM
— Antony Blinken (🇺🇲), Sergei Lavrov (🇷🇺) & Qin Gang (🇨🇳).
@ThePrintIndia
#G20India
– at Rashtrapati Bhawan
As a journalist, you often see self-proclaimed "activists" weaponise a cause to get ahead in life.
In 2021, I wrote on why Samant's resignation as president of Oxford's Student Union had little to do with her
#Hindu
identity:
What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!
At 22 years of age, as the first Indian Female President of the Oxford University Students Union, my historic election victory rapidly transformed into a distressing nightmare of bullying, harassment, & threats. It was declared that
THREAD: Something fishy is going on with Ola Cabs. Here's a story that seems like they have a clever way of making drivers pay for their app's mistake.
📢ThePrint's three-part series on Indian engagement with Latin America is out! A distant region, yes, but one where our strategic & trade interests have grown (see: oil, critical minerals, multilateral coop.).
⏰PART 2 & 3 will be out on 28 & 29 Nov.
Following up on our series about India’s inroads in
#LatinAmerica
, I sat down with Mexico Amb
@fsalasl
to discuss this further.
#Mexico
is 🇮🇳’s largest trading partner in the region & was the first LatAm country to establish ties with independent India.
Interview out soon…
📢ThePrint's three-part series on Indian engagement with Latin America is out! A distant region, yes, but one where our strategic & trade interests have grown (see: oil, critical minerals, multilateral coop.).
⏰PART 2 & 3 will be out on 28 & 29 Nov.
#TurkeyEarthquake
: An Indian restaurateur opened the doors of his restaurant, 'Namaste India', & two hotels in Cappadocia, Turkey to 30+ stranded locals.
Full report:
Special Frontier Force (
#SFF
), a secret Indian unit comprising of Tibetans formed after the 1962 India-China war, is 60 years old today.
Resharing my 2020 story on where ex-SFF servicemen are today. Many run shops & eateries in Delhi's Majnu Ka Tilla.
Foreign ministers from across the 🌍 have flown in for the
#G20
Foreign Ministers Meeting. Discussions to commence soon.
#ICYMI
: A quick analysis on what to expect:
"How can you run a foreign policy with 1,000 diplomats?" asks ex-foreign secy Shyam Saran while criticising lack of resources for Indian foreign policy.
Reminds of when Budget allocation to
#MEA
fell short of expectations last month:
(Video: PAFI India)
JUST IN: No joint communiqué from
#G20
Foreign Ministers' Meeting but rather a "chair summary".
"If we had had a perfect meeting...then it would have been a collective statement but there were issues concerning the Ukraine conflict," says EAM Jaishankar.
@ThePrintIndia
📢ThePrint's four-part series on the growing importance of transport corridors will be released next week.
We’ll be looking 3 projects India’s involved in:
#IMEC
, International North-South Corridor (
#INSTC
) & India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway.
⏰PART 1 out on 1 April.
US beats China as India's top
#trading
partner in 2021-22. Commerce ministry data (below) shows US-India trade at $119.42 bn vs. US-China trade at $115.41 bn.
US & China were also neck and neck in 2020-21 when trade with India stood at $80.51 bn and $86.4 bn respectively
JUST IN: "You are referring to a deal between a sovereign govt & an Indian company. I am not aware of this:"
@MEAIndia
spox on
#Bangladesh
Power Development Board seeking revision of its agreement with
#Adani
.
@ThePrintIndia
Spotted: An 1856 map of British India hanging in my grandfather's house (drawn by American cartographer J H Colton).
Box in the lower right corner shows British claims in Burma & South East Asia.
#SCO2023
| Reporting from Benaulim, Goa. FMs from Pakistan (a first since 2011), China & Russia are here.
Check out
@ThePrintIndia
's coverage so far (+ some fun facts) ⬇️
"This is a matter for US institutions to address," says
@MEAIndia
on
#Trump
indictment.
He adds: "We see comments from time to time by foreign govts on developments in India. Germany is a recent example... India is not waiting for their views nor validation."
@ThePrintIndia
#Exclusive
| Top Iranian diplomat Seyed Rasoul Mousavi talks to me about
#ChabaharPort
, North South Transport Corridor (involving 🇮🇳, 🇮🇷, 🇷🇺 et al) & China's growing influence in the Middle East.
Full interview:
@ThePrintIndia
Missing home a little extra today. It was my grandmother's death anniversary during which the family holds an 'agathuvechukodducal' ceremony. In Kerala culture, it's when we put everything the person used to love eating/drinking on a banana leaf... (1/3)
FLASH: Asked about
#Khalistan
protests in Canada glorifying
#IndiraGandhi
's assassination, EAM Dr S Jaishankar said: "There's a larger underlying issue about space given to separatists, extremists... It's not good for the [bilateral relationship] and it's not good for Canada."
"This is nothing new... Kamala and Biden knew they had won yesterday itself," said G. Balachandran, uncle of America's first woman vice president. Read my report:
#Exclusive
: After over 2 years, India's only school for
#Afghan
refugees (based in Delhi's Bhogal area) finally resumes in-person classes with a brand new building space.
My report:
@ThePrintIndia
With all eyes on Modi's US tour, an Egyptian delegation's visit to Delhi went under the radar.
Head of
#SuezCanal
Economic Zone told me IND may get an area of land in this zone in 2 yrs. (China already has 134 firms there; 🇮🇳 has 3.)
Imp as Modi will be in
#Egypt
on 24-25 June.
#BangladeshCrisis
| Video statement now out.
“This is the last speech of leader Sheikh Hasina who recently left Bangladesh. She wanted to record it before but there was paucity of time…Later she sent it in written form”.
(Green text: ‘My last speech for youth of Bangladesh’)
WATCH: Sneak-peak of the
#G20
Summit Meeting Room at the newly-inaugurated convention centre in Delhi. (160 seating-capacity in just this room)
Approx cost of convention centre: Rs 2,700 crore
Total seating: 7000+
Stay tuned to
@ThePrintIndia
.
This
#Afghan
refugee school in Delhi has been struggling with a shortage of funds for a while.
But after forfeiting the original building space in Oct, school admin now operate out of a small flat-turned-office in Jangpura.
My report:
@ThePrintIndia
So
@Olacabs
, a few questions:
1. Why deliberately pit the customer and driver against one another?
2. All that needed to be solved was a glitch on your app. If you don't have a system to remove glitches from your end, then you need to invest in better tech.
“The consumption of tequila in India has doubled in the last year, so keep drinking!” says
#Mexico
Ambassador to India Federico Salas Lotfe.
@EmbaMexInd
#OperationGanga
may be over, but the body of Indian student
#Naveen
is still stuck in Ukraine.
The family tells me the body was shifted from Kharkiv to Vinnitysia & now awaits approvals from the Polish consulate for repatriation.
@ThePrintIndia
OUT NOW: My ground report from📍Honolulu, Hawaii on how the US views India’s role in the
#IndoPacific
& challenges ahead.
Spoke to key officers from US Navy Pacific Fleet & US Army Pacific and some maritime security experts —
"If Russia, China & India were on the same page,
#Taliban
would face a lot of regional pressure," said Afghan Ambassador
@FMamundzay
.
Interview out on
@ThePrintIndia
soon.
NOW: At a breakfast presser, EAM Dr S Jaishankar gives an update on how India is responding to border security challenges along
#LAC
.
He says 16 passes critical to the Ladakh & Kashmir border areas are “much more operational” than before &
@BROindia
is taking on 70 new roads.
The death of an Indian boy in
#Kharkiv
has rattled other students hiding out in bomb shelters in the city.
A teacher of the victim tells me: 'Naveen was a very good person, very studious...He wanted to return to India to be a surgeon'.
@ThePrintIndia
LONG-READ: Foreign journos in India cite rising visa pressures, lack of access to areas like J&K and Northeast & other challenges in last 3-4 yrs. But the Indian govt says everyone must adhere to the law of the land.
#VanessaDougnac
#AvaniDias
My report:
I spoke to 3 local
#UN
staff members in
#Afghanistan
on how they're dodging Taliban's door-to-door searches, while their international colleagues have been safely evacuated.
The message is loud and clear: we need immediate action.
Always nice to find your people at a conference. Met some talented Dhaka journalists from BTV, Ekhon & other channels.
#ICYMI
: My exclusive interaction with a top Egyptian official on sidelines of
@indfoundation
's 6th Indian Ocean Conference:
BIG: This is now the third foreign correspondent (in recent times) who has left India citing visa issues.
#ICYMI
, read my earlier report on how foreign journos are increasingly facing challenges:
After 13 years working as a correspondent in India, the authorities have denied me a permit to work as a journalist. I have thus been forced to leave the country.
Here is my statement.
From dancing with earthen flames on their heads to performing on stilts, tribal dancers from India & 7 foreign countries took part in a massive dance festival in Raipur
My ground report:
Nothing like heading home on a Friday night after a long week. Waving bye to colleagues at the panwadi, walking down Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg until I see the purple glow of the metro station. Small pleasures in life.
At the site of a tunnel dug by Hamas 800m into Israeli territory. It was destroyed by Israeli forces in 2016.
Lt Col Jonathan Conricus
@jconricus
, ex-spox of Israel Defence Forces, explains the difference between terror tunnels & smuggling tunnels used by Hamas.
A 3rd-century limestone sculpture smuggled from Tamil Nadu and an ancient Hanuman idol that landed up in Australia are some of the many artefacts that
@IndiaPrideProj
has helped bring home.
Here's how they did it:
@ThePrintIndia
Honored to call on External Affairs Minister
@DrSJaishankar
today. We exchanged views on China-India relations and other issues of common interest. Thanks for his best wishes. Look forward to working with the Indian side to push forward the development of China-India relations
Engaging discussion with the one & only Ayesha Siddiqa
@iamthedrifter
on Imran Khan's popularity, India-Pakistan relations & more.
Interview out soon on
@ThePrintIndia
Conclusion:
@Olacabs
made a driver pay for their app's mistake. My hunch is they chose to penalise a driver from two days back because they probably thought he wouldn't have saved my number.
(Surender had called me before arriving on 16 June so he had my number).
Amid the US-China
#spyballoon
controversy, Blinken rings Wang Yi to tell him he's cancelling a much-anticipated trip to China (initially slated for Feb 5-6).
Transcripts of the calls from both sides indicate that it was a heated discussion:
FLASH: India’s relationship with
#Russia
should not be viewed as “handicap”. The relationship “saved us many times”, says External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.
#GlobalTechSummit
@ThePrintIndia
#InternationalDayforWomeninDiplomacy
| This month, I wrote two stories on this topic— (1) a marginal increase in
#women
recruits in the IFS (2) the growing no. of women ambassadors posted to Delhi from other countries.
⬇️
(1)
(2)
With more women joining
@indiandiplomats
, Indian Missions abroad are increasingly women-led. A privilege to work with a group of strong and experienced women diplomats from India at
@IndiaUNNewYork
. Best wishes to everyone on International Day of Women in Diplomacy!
@PatelYojna
#BRICS
issued what was probably the harshest statement on Israel yet (para 34).
Phrases like “Occupied Palestinian Territory” & “Israel’s blatant disregard for international law” were used — and India signed off on this!
Full report below:
Secy (ER) Dammu Ravi led 🇮🇳 delegation at BRICS Dialogue with Developing Countries at Foreign Ministers’ level in Nizhny Novgorod.
He called for reform of global decision making including UNSC, sought close cooperation in fight against terrorism, and stressed on climate
The global success of
#SquidGame
, next to K-Pop, K-Dramas & K-Beauty, invites a question that's probably on all our minds: What does this mean for South Korea's soft power?
I discuss this & more in
#World360
. Check it out:
@ThePrintIndia
She served as the 1st Indian woman diplomat in Islamabad from 1997-2000.
A few key events she witnessed— India & Pak nuclear tests, Kargil war, Vajpayee’s landmark visit to Lahore, hijacking of flight IC 814, Musharraf coup.
This book is a must read!
“In the neighbourhood we live in, India can let its guard down only at its peril.” —
@RuchiGhanashyam
writes in her fantastic new memoir.
Interview out soon. Stay tuned.
@NayanimaBasu
continues to inspire me & other young female journalists, especially with this latest piece on how she escaped
#Afghanistan
.
More power to women like Hasiba Atakpal and Beheshta Arghand too, who continue to report under the Taliban regime.
Putin has kicked up a storm by officially recognising two breakaway territories in Ukraine.
Check out last week's episode of
#W360
which explains why
#Donetsk
and
#Luhansk
are at the heart of the issue.
@ThePrintIndia
PSA: Stay away from
@cromaretail
in Saket, Delhi. There’s a staffer there called Aman — major creep who kept asking me where I live. Another staffer was lazy with a bad attitude. Was busy scrolling through FB. Raised the issue with the manager but even he seemed unbothered.
🇩🇪🇮🇳 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit India from 25-26 Feb.
#ICYMI
: He tipped his hat to EAM Jaishankar at the Munich Security Conference recently, saying he had a point about "Europe's mindset".
BREAKING:
@MEAIndia
says Indian workers sent to
#Israel
as part of “govt to govt” agreement signed b/w 🇮🇳 & 🇮🇱 that “predates the conflict” in
#Gaza
.
FYI 64 workers flew to Israel this week:
A new film on human origins East Asia will be released next year.
Director Jacques Malaterre & producer
@VictorRobert
tell me about challenges they faced while shooting in China.
Full report:
#Pakistan
FM Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, a "spokesperson of a terror industry", and his country was "called out" at the SCO Meet: EAM Dr S Jaishankar.
"Victims of terrorism don't sit with perpetrators of terrorism to talk about terrorism," he added.
#SCO2023
@ThePrintIndia
Good morning from Jerusalem, Israel, where Benjamin Netanyahu — a 'great friend' of PM Modi — has returned to power but rushes to form a coalition govt.
Watch this space...
Women are at the helm in 13 out of 45 countries in Europe (either heads of state/govt).
Experts attribute this high tally to generational factors, EU's role but in some cases, like Hungary, strategic factors could be at play.
My report:
@ThePrintIndia
SCOOP:
#Afghan
embassy in Delhi has allegedly written to MEA to close down the mission by 30 September. This comes months after power tussle emerged between previous democratic govt-appointed diplomats & Taliban regime.
Full report:
In case you missed it, my exclusive story on abrupt layoffs at the
#Afghan
embassy.
Those watching know this comes amid
#Taliban
’s attempts to station their representative in Delhi.
Keep an eye on this one; it’s sure to develop:
NOW: Arguably the most important
#G20
ministerial ahead of the Leaders’ Summit is taking place in Rajasthan right now.
After all, the G20 is an economic grouping so here’s why this meeting could be very consequential:
—Reporting from
#Jaipur
IMPORTANT: India releases Delhi Declaration at
#G20Summit
. G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant says “100% unanimity” achieved on ALL 83 paras. No footnotes.
Situation in Ukraine referred to as “war” 3 times in this document.
@ThePrintIndia
🚨 UK officials will discuss the "evolution of Sikh extremism" with experts in Delhi this week.
Interesting, as India asked the
#UK
to crack down on pro-
#Khalistan
extremists in a bilateral dialogue today.
Analysis below 👇
🚨 Who is
#Nepal
's new Prez. Ram Chandra Poudel:
- A Nepali Congress member, beat CPN-UML's candidate
- An award-winning author
- Served as Deputy PM, Home Minister & other key positions
- His win seals PM Prachanda's alliance with Nepali Congress
@NcPaudel
@DrShankarSharma
"Jaishankar's visit to
#Maldives
is a positive step but the Muizzu govt is unpredictable," warns MDP chief & ex-minister Fayyaz Isamil
@faya_i
.
FULL INTERVIEW:
IN NON-BANGLADESH NEWS, India’s foreign minister will make a key visit to a troubled neighbour:
#Maldives
.
Stay tuned for a special interview with ex-minister
@faya_i
on the strategic importance of this visit. 🇲🇻🇮🇳
Lots happening in the neighbourhood!
Bangladeshis will head to polls Sunday in an election expected to solidify Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s fifth term in office. What does it mean for India
Pia Krishnankutty
@pia_kutts
reports
#ThePrintForeignAffairs
JUST IN:
#Nepal
& India sign 7 agreements covering petroleum pipeline extension, hydroelectric projects, digital payment systems etc.
"Agreement on long-term power trade completed...India will import 10,000 MW from Nepal in the next 10 years," says Nepal PM.
@ThePrintIndia
JUST IN: Top Ukrainian minister
@EmineDzheppar
notes NSA Ajit Doval's visits to Moscow with "concern". Invites him to visit Ukraine & intensify engagement with India.
She also said parts of China's 12-point peace plan are "not perfect".
@ThePrintIndia
#Ukraine
BIG: Japan initiates sanctions against
#Israel
by freezing assets of 4 Israeli settlers in West Bank. Names below.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi has referred to them as "extremists" who "kill/injure Palestinians or force them to leave their homes".
JUST IN: Charles Michel, President of the European Council, says “consensus” reached in G20 today on accepting African Union as a member.
Adds: “Difficult to predict if there will be agreement on a declaration”.
#EU
#G20India2023