Month: August 2014

Hanoi, Aug 25 (IANS) Vietnam Monday made a strong pitch for greater Indian involvement in maintaining maritime safety and security and settlement of territorial disputes in the disputed South and East China Seas even as India is preparing to expand its oil and gas exploration in the seas claimed by China. Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, addressing the Third Round Table on ASEAN-India Network of Thinktanks, said the cooperation between India and ASEAN “needs to be more effective and efficient as the security and development landscape is experiencing swift and complex conversions”. He noted that India-ASEAN’s “future development and integration lie in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean” and that both sides should focus “more on maintaining maritime safety and security, freedom of navigation and settling territorial disputes through peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982”.

New Delhi, Aug.25 (ANI): Visiting United Kingdom Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Monday promised to facilitate “Ache Din” or “Good Days” for the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government from London while addressing Indian and British business leaders in the national capital. “Narendra Modi and BJP’s campaign slogan was ‘Ache din aanne wale hai’ – Good times are coming. My message today is that Britain is ready and able to help India build that brighter future,” said Clegg. Clegg met Prime Minister Modi earlier during the day and both discussed ways to increase trade, generate more employment and also dwelled on easing the administrative burden and removing bottlenecks to streamline business between India and United Kingdom “We want to build on our countries’ powerful links to generate more jobs and growth together.

New Delhi, Aug.25 (ANI): Asserting that his party is party is not demoralized by the results of by-polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said winning and losing are two sides of the same coin. “There are many more state assembly polls to come. What is important is how much we learn from these results and put our best foot forward for the upcoming elections,” Naqvi told Asian News International (ANI) when asked to comment on the verdict of the by-polls. The BJP leader further said every election teaches something new and carries a message.

The old General National Congress (GNC), where Islamists had a strong voice, has refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of its successor assembly, the House of Representatives, which is dominated by liberals and federalists. A parliamentary spokesman said the GNC, which met in the capital Tripoli, elected Omar al-Hasi as its new leader. The House of Representatives meets in the eastern town of Tobruk, far from the continuing clashes in Tripoli and Benghazi. The GNC reconvened after armed factions from the western city of Misrata forced a rival faction from Zintan out of Tripoli’s main airport on Saturday after a month of fighting.

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 25 (IANS) Hindraf, a coalition of 30 Hindu non-governmental organisations in Malaysia, has asked the Indian government to include human rights issues affecting the Indian diaspora in the agenda of next year’s annual diaspora conclave, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, media reported Monday. In a letter to India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy said it was imperative to hear out the human right issues of overseas Indians, Free Malaysia Today online reported. He said that India’s previous Congress government ignored Hindraf’s numerous pleas for protection and care for overseas Indians.