Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good evening friends. Welcome to this press engagement. We will open the floor straight away…so we go into questions. One reminder, please do keep your phones on silent or in a manner that it doesn't disturb others in this gathering. Thank you.
Yeshi Seli: This is Yeshi Seli from the New Indian Express. The first batch of civilians from India have gone to Maldives to replace the military personnel. How many have gone? And the helicopter that was presented in Maldives is to be replaced? Can you just give details of that and when is the next, the third core level meeting between India and Maldives?
Aayushi Agarwal: Sir, this is Aayushi Agarwal from ANI. My question is related to the Russia-Ukraine war. The conflict has entered its third year. How does India see the overall situation? Also, there were some reports that there are negotiations going on in Berlin regarding supply of weapons to Ukraine from India. If you can confirm or deny those reports?
Siddhant: Hi Sir, I am Siddhant from WION. Sir what is your official position on the Nitasha Kaul case, if you can talk about that?
Kadambini Sharma: Kadambini Sharma from NDTV. Sir, your statement about the Indians who had gone to Russia and stuck there fighting on the Russia-Ukraine war front, you had said that several have been discharged. So do you have a number of how many Indians are stuck there and how many have been discharged and any help them coming back?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Let's go, let's take more questions in the next round. So first is about Kadambini, your question regarding people stuck in Russia. We have an understanding something like 20 odd people are stuck. We are trying our level best for their early discharge. We have issued two statements which you saw. We have also told people not to venture in the war zone or get caught into situations which are difficult. So that is where it is. We are trying our best and we are in touch, regular touch with Russian authorities both here in New Delhi and also in Moscow and we are trying to do our best. We are deeply committed for the welfare of all our Indians.
Siddhant, regarding your question on Nitasha Kaul, this particular UK national came to India on 22nd February. As you know, entry of foreign nationals into our country is a sovereign decision. I will leave it at that.
Aayushi, regarding your question about Russia-Ukraine conflict, our position is very well known. We have said this at various levels, at the highest levels that India desires that there be discussion, there be diplomacy, there be constant engagement…so that both sides can come together and find a solution for peace. So our position is maintained. That is our position. We have articulated it at the highest levels.
Yeshi, regarding Maldives, you would have seen some reports. We have had the first batch of technical personnel reaching Maldives, Male to replace the existing personnel. That is where it is. As far as the core group meeting is concerned, we will come to know as and when we conduct those meetings next.
Avinash: Sir, Avinash from The Asahi Shimbun. Sir, the Foreign Minister is visiting Japan and to Korea next week. So Sir, if you could tell us something about the significance of his visit to Japan.
Madhurendra: Sir main Madhurendra News Nation se. Sir UN Manavadhikar parishad ke manch par Pakistan ne ek baar phir se Kashmir ka raag alapa, aur is baar bhi Bharat ki nasihat ke theek viprit Turkey ne uska saath diya, Turkey ne bhi is masle ko uthaya. Jis tarah se ye Pakistan aur Turkey ke beech ka ye cocktail dikhai de raha hain, relation dikhai de raha hain Kashmir ke mudde par, kai manchon par dekha gaya hain, uspar aapka reaction kya hain?
[Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, I'm Madhurendra from News Nation. Sir, once again Pakistan has raised the issue of Kashmir on the platform of the UN Human Rights Council, and this time too, Turkey has supported it in direct contradiction to India's advice. Turkey has also raised this issue. What is your reaction to this apparent relation and alignment between Pakistan and Turkey on the Kashmir issue, which has been observed on several platforms?
Rishabh: Sir, I have two questions. Rishabh from Times Now. Sir one in continuation to what someone asked. There was a peace talk in Albania last week. Was India part to it or was India invited for that talk? A. And B, the new government has taken oath in Pakistan today. Has there been any communication from Islamabad or from Delhi to Islamabad?
Ashish: My name is Ashish from Kyodo News. The question is regarding Dr. Jaishankar's visit to Tokyo. Could you share what would be the main topics of meeting between Dr. Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart? And Raisina roundtable will be held in Tokyo for the first time. Could you also share the reason behind holding it in Japan?
Pia: Hi, Pia with the Print. Sir, two questions. One, is there any update on the 8th naval veteran who remains in Qatar? Some sections of the media are saying that there are still charges against him. There is an ongoing case against him. Could you please clarify on that? And secondly, I just wanted to reiterate a question I had asked after the budget on an expenditure amount totalling Rs 9,000 crores for miscellaneous expenditure. Could you clarify what the government spent that on, whether it was G20 or any other event? Thank you.
Huma Siddiqui: Sir, the EAM is also going to South Korea. So if you can just specify what would be the focus of discussions and also there have been several cases of racism in South Korea against the Indian students and people staying there. If that will be on the agenda?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: So, Huma, your question first. External Affairs Minister is to visit Japan and South Korea from 5th to 8th of March. We have issued a press release in that regard. In South Korea he will be attending the 10th Joint Commission meeting where of course we have a very expansive, broad-based, multifaceted relationship with South Korea. All aspects of the relationship would be discussed as to how we can further progress them.
Pia, regarding your question about the Indian national in Qatar…as you know, all eight Indian nationals who were involved in the Al Dahra Global Case, they have been released. Seven of them have returned to India. The eighth Indian national has certain requirements to fulfil. He will return as and when those are completed. So that is where we are on the eighth national.
Your question which you had asked some time ago. See, there is a provision in the budget of 9,000 crores. This was for a particular purpose. You know that MEA has a large development partnership portfolio with countries abroad. As part of this engagement, lines of credit are offered to countries. The provisioning of this miscellaneous general services is to support smooth implementation of the LOCs. The allocation is meant for funds to be provided to Exim Bank to meet regulatory requirements of RBI. So that is what it is. This particular provisioning does not in any way reduce the liability of the borrowing countries. So it is specifically targeted at meeting the requirements of RBI. RBI has set in place certain norms for Exim Banks when we offer lines of credit to countries abroad.
Pia: This is a new allocation, previously we have not seen such huge allocation.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: This particular requirement was not there earlier. So this requirement is to facilitate smooth implementation of the lines of credit that we offer to countries abroad.
Ashish regarding your question…again I would refer you to the press release that we issued. External Affairs Minister would be visiting Japan. Japan as you know…we have very strong ties with Japan. The Foreign Minister level strategic dialogue will be conducted during the visit. We have some details in the visit. If you were to follow, you will be following the visit. You will get to see more details as to what else would form part of the program. But the press release that we had issued itself has a lot of details in it. So I would refer you to that.
Rishabh, your question regarding Pakistan. On this, I don't have an update for you. But hopefully I will be able to provide something more later. On Albania as well, I don't have an update. We will check and get back to you on that particular issue as well.
Madhurendra aapka sawal jo Pakistan ko leke raha, United Nations Human Rights Council mei usmai aapne dekha hoga ki hum logon ne ek apna statement jari kiya hai us mudde ko le, toh usmai hum logon se saaf saaf kaha hain ki har baar ki tarah is baar bhi bewajah is mudde ko la ke council ka samay jaya kiya ja raha hain.
[Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Madhurendra, your question about Pakistan, regarding the United Nations Human Rights Council, you may have observed that we have issued our statement on that issue. In our statement, we have clearly stated that like every time, this time also this issue is being unnecessarily raised at the Council, thus wasting its time.
Again, your question regarding Japan. I would again refer you to the detailed press release that we had issued. Please follow the visit. We will give you a readout of what's happening. When it comes to Japan, a very special country, a very special partner for India…we have a broad-based and expansive relationship that goes into several domains. Each of those aspects will be discussed when Foreign Minister, External Affairs Minister, when he's visiting Japan. From 5th to 8th, first he'll be going to South Korea, and thereafter he'll be going to Japan.
Kallol Bhattacherjee: This is Kallol Bhattacherjee from the Hindu. My question is regarding the situation in Gaza. There are reports of large-scale starvation and other humanitarian problems that are existing there. But India was supposed to have sent some food assistance to Gaza. So, did that food assistance reach the citizens in Gaza? Number one. And also, on the other hand, did India export military drones to Israel at the same time?
Ileana: Ileana from TASS News Agency. President of France, Macron, recently announced that they discussed the possibility of sending some Western troops to Ukraine. So, any comment on that? How does it sound for India?
Ashish: Ashish from Kyodo News. Sir, you didn't share about the Raisina Roundtable. Why India chose Japan?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: The question of Raisina Roundtable is also…because you know, Raisina has become today an important global platform. We just had the Raisina Dialogue, where people from all over the world, leaders, political leaders, think-tank, strategic thinkers, they all came to Delhi. We had the Greek Prime Minister who was the chief guest. So, there is global resonance of this platform today. You would have seen that Raisina dialogue at various levels is also being held or various components of it is being held in other parts of the world. Japan, of course, is a very important partner for us and this particular engagement will help our conversation, will help our engagement with Japan as much.
Ileana, regarding your question, that you asked regarding President Macron, I don't have any comments to offer on that. This is something which belongs to…which he has made and it is entirely up to France to decide what they want to do. We have no comments to offer in this regard.
Kallol, regarding humanitarian assistance, this is an important part of our engagement with the Palestinian people. Over the years, we have provided humanitarian assistance through UNRWA and also bilaterally. So, that is where it is. We will continue to provide assistance. We have done this recently as well, where exactly on your specific question, whether it has reached X or Y place, I don't have an answer. I will seek an update and get back to you, if that is okay.
The other question…I don't have an answer regarding the other question that you asked, I will seek more details on that.
Milan: Sir this is Milan from India Today. Bill Gates is in India currently and he has hailed PM's G-20 leadership also, are there any engagements planned via the Ministry of External Affairs, if you could give us some details? Thank you.
Sidhant: Hello, Sir. I am Siddhant from CNN News 18. So, a few days back, there was a statement, some of the reports quoting the Defense Ministry of Maldives confirmed that there is one team, civilian team, that was the word used in the report, has gone from India to take over the charge from the existing teams, those who were there in Maldives. So, could you please give some more details about this team and how many members are going to be the part of the team and can you confirm this, first of all? Thank you.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Milan, to your question, the Ministry of External Affairs is not involved in the visit of Bill Gates. So, I don't have any details for you. Obviously, whenever he comes, he has a very strong engagement in this country, spanning several areas. So, he has a broad program, we have a very intensive program to follow, but we are not involved in that. So, I can't give you an update on that.
Siddhant, regarding your question about Maldives. See, what I said earlier also to responding to Yeshi is that, the first team of technical personnel to operate the advanced light helicopter at Gan has reached Maldives. It will replace the existing personnel that were until now operating this platform. So, that is where we are.
Siddhant: Sir, how many members in the team have reached?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: As I told you, the first team has reached and we will have more details for you later. As of now, the first team has reached there.
Kallol Bhattacherjee: Well, the DSP of Ambala has said that he has recommended or perhaps has started the process of cancelling the passports of the farmer protesters. So, the question is, are there such laws that basically mandate you to cancel passports if people protest on the streets?
Siddhant: Sir, mine is a follow-up question, Sir. So, basically, Sir, when the core group met, there was a statement which came from the Maldivian side saying that the 10th March is the first deadline, then the 10th May is the second deadline. So, is this development is regarding the compliance of that particular statement of the commitment that took place between the two sides during the core group meeting?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Okay. So, Siddhant, your question first. This team has reached there. Obviously, these issues are decided in mutual consultation and that is where I will leave your question.
Kallol, regarding the Ambala incident, you see all passport or visa matters are governed by certain rules, laws and guidelines that we have and if there is any issue which arises on account of that, will be considered as per those laws, rules and regulations. That is where it is.
So, if we don't have any more questions, then we will close this session.
Speaker: What is the total number of Indians who went to Russia to work? There are figures which say there were 100. You said 20 are trying to come back. Is that what you said?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: What I told you was that 20, it is our understanding that there are 20 odd people there about who have gone there to work as support staff or as helpers with the Russian army. These are the people who have contacted us and that is our understanding that this is the number that we have there.
Huma Siddiqui: Sir, I just wanted to understand, so the people who are going to Israel, I mean, they are also going in a war zone which is in Gaza. What if they are also pushed into fighting or getting involved?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: But Huma, nobody has gone to Israel as of now. There are people who may have gone on their own accord. You know, even when we had the evacuation from Israel, 18,000 plus of our caregivers who are there, they stayed back. They are still there. There are a lot of people who go for business, people who go for other activities, they go on their own accord. But, in this particular case, these are 20 odd people who have contacted the embassy and we are trying our best to get them out. We are trying to get them discharged and support them, help them.
Huma Siddiqui: Are they all in Moscow?
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: They are at various places but the Embassy is in touch with Russian authorities to get them out. Thank you very much.