India and Spain meet

India and Spain has signed the following agreements during the meet in India:

a) Memorandum of Understanding Road Transport Sector 

This was signed by the Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Minister of Railways, Dr. C.P.Joshi and visiting Spain Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ms. Ana Pastor Julián.

India-Japan 2+2 Dialogue

India and Japan decided to enhance cooperation key bilateral areas, including maritime, cyber, outer space security and also deliberated on regional and international security situation.
It was second India-Japan 2+2 Dialogue held in Tokyo which involved discussions on foreign policy issues and security. Both the nations reviewed bilateral security and defence cooperation and discussed ways to expand these ties further.

India and Switzerland Discuss Bilateral Cooperation in Transport Sector

The visiting Head of the Department (Federal Councillor) for Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Ms. Doris Leuthard of Switzerland (Swiss Confederation) called on the Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Railways, Government of India, Dr. C. P. Joshi, here today. The two sides were accompanied by their respective delegations. Welcoming the Swiss Federal Councillor and her delegation, Dr. C.P.Joshi said that given the prevailing tough global economic environment, it’s heartening that the economic and commercial relations between the two nations have acquired momentum. Our bilateral trade has been heading upwards for the last five years and stands at over US $ 4.5 billion. Still, there are potentials and effort should be made to optimise them, he added.

Joint Press Statement -- Home Secretary Level talks between India and Bangladesh

The 13th meeting of the Home Secretaries of India and Bangladesh was held on 16-17 October 2012 at Dhaka. The Indian delegation was led by Mr. R.K. Singh, Union Home Secretary, Government of India. The Bangladesh delegation was led by Mr. C. Q. K. Mustaq Ahmed, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Bangladesh.

First India-New Zealand Education Council meeting held-Six MoUS Signed

Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource Development and Hon. Steven Joyce, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, New Zealand co-chaired the first meeting of the India-New Zealand Education Council held today. The Council has been constituted to draw up a framework and devise mechanisms of co-operation and set the agenda for improving educational relations between the two countries.This first meeting of the Council was attended by senior academicians, industry leaders and government officials from both sides. Both the Ministers expressed satisfaction at the vibrant engagement between the two sides in the field of education and hoped that the Council, being a novel joint mechanism, will further strengthen the collaborative efforts.

India and New Zealand Sign “Arrangement for Cooperation on Civil Aviation”

India and New Zealand today signed the “Arrangement for Cooperation on Civil Aviation”. The document was signed in the presence of Union Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ajit Singh and Minister of Economic Development and Tertiary Education Mr. Steven Joyce of New Zealand by Secretary Civil Aviation Shri K.N, Shrivastava and High Commissioner of New Zealand to India Ms. Jan Henderson.
 

India Germany Discuss Cooperation in Shipping Sector

Mr. Olaf Scholz, First Mayor (Chief Minister) of Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany called on the Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K.Vasan  in New Delhi.

India and Indonesia Agree to Significantly Step Up Defence Cooperation

India and Indonesia today decided to significantly enhance their defence cooperation with the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony declaring his meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Mr Purnomo Yusgiantoro as a ‘turning point’ and an ‘excellent beginning’.

OECD in advanced talks with government to open India office

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is engaged in advanced talks with the Ministry of External Affairs to open an India office. The possibility of India joining it is also on the cards, though that could be the long-term outcome of an ongoing dialogue.

India and Bulgaria to Explore Cooperation in Tourism Sector

India and Bulgaria will explore the possibilities of cooperation in Tourism Sector. This was decided at a meeting held between Tourism Minister of Bulgaria Mr. Delian Dobrev and Union Tourism Minister Shri Subodh Kant Sahai here today.

South Asian Free Trade Area

The South Asian Free Trade Area or SAFTA is an agreement reached on 6 January 2004 at the 12th SAARC summit in Islamabad, Pakistan. It created a free trade area of 1.6 billion people in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (as of 2011, the combined population is 1.8 billion people). The seven foreign ministers of the region signed a framework agreement on SAFTA to reduce customs duties of all traded goods to zero by the year 2016.

INDIA-US BILATERAL RELATIONS

Introduction

India and the United States are widely recognised as the world’s largest and the most powerful democracies respectively. The relationship between these two countries is thus one of the most fascinating interactions witnessed in the relations among nations. The added significant features are marked by the fact that India is one of the oldest civilisations in the world, whereas the United States is relatively a younger civilisation. However, in terms of statehood experience, it is the US, which is considerably older than India. When India took birth as a newly independent country in 1947, the US was already more than a century and a half old. And by the time of Indian independence, it had emerged as a global superpower. Factors related to civilisation, statehood and governance thus made the relations between India and the US as one of the most complex bilateral relations in world history. Soon after independence, India chose not to join any of the two power blocs, and adopted the policy of non-alignment.