Jaishankar met United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Gujarat on Wednesday and exchanged views on pressing global concerns and challenges in multilateralism…reports Asian Lite News
Talking about the uniqueness of the meeting, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “This was the first meeting for any foreign minister with EAM in Ektanagar, Kevadia.”
EAM Jaishankar also took to Twitter to write about his meeting with his Botswana counterpart.
He wrote, “First occasion to host a Foreign Minister in Ekta Nagar,Kevadia. A warm meeting with FM Lemogang Kwape of Botswana. Particularly apt to meet in Gujarat, since diamonds and pharma are so salient in our ties.”
He added, “Discussed expanding our development cooperation. Appreciated the insights on regional developments.”
During the meeting, both ministers reviewed the current state of bilateral relations between the two countries. They explored means to further strengthen these relations in areas such as health, trade and investment, defense, economic cooperation, training and capacity building among others, the MEA said.
Regional and international issues of mutual concern including cooperation in multilateral fora such as the UN were also discussed
It was also decided to reinvigorate the existing institutional mechanisms and conduct these meetings at the earliest mutually convenient dates, including the meeting of the ministerial Joint Commission, the MEA added.
According to the MEA, relations between India and Botswana are friendly and backed by strong people-to-people connections. It also mentioned that there are thought to be around 6000 Indians living in Botswana and that the two countries trade with each other for roughly USD 806 million.
Jaishankar meets UN chief
Jaishankar met United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Gujarat on Wednesday and exchanged views on pressing global concerns and challenges in multilateralism.
“Glad to welcome UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres in Ekta Nagar, Kevadia. Exchanged views on pressing global concerns and challenges in multilateralism,” Jaishankar tweeted.
Visiting UN chief is on a three-day trip to India, his first visit since he commenced his second term in office in January this year.
Guterres today paid tributes to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai and addressed students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.
Terming India a partner of choice of the UN, he said New Delhi has increased its impact on the international stage due to the donation of medicines, equipment, and vaccines at height of Covid-19 to neighbouring countries.
“From your donations of medicines, equipment and vaccines at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, to your humanitarian assistance and development finance to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, you’re increasing impact on the international stage. India is today a partner of choice of the UN,” Guterres said at IIT Bombay.
The UN chief said India’s digital platform Cowin is the largest vaccination program for Covid-19, delivering more than 2 billion doses.
He further said that India was the first country to launch a single-country south-south cooperation support framework via the India-UN development framework partnership.
On India’s contribution to UN Peacekeeping, Guterres said, “India is also the biggest provider of military and police personnel to UN missions, including the first all-women UN police contingent to a peacekeeping mission. Over 200,000 Indian men and women have served in 49 peacekeeping missions since 1948, a remarkable contribution to peace in the world. “
“As a member of UNSC for two years, India’s contributed significantly to promoting multilateral solutions and addressing crises,” he added. (India News Network/ANI)
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