PM Modi to begin Central Asia tour today, meeting with Nawaz Sharif on cards in Russia

July 6, 2015

New Delhi, Jul 6: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for an eight-day official visit to five Central Asian countries and Russia, starting from Uzbekistan on Monday.

PM Modi The tour will further take PM Modi to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and to Ufa in Russia where he will attend the BRICS and SCO back-to-back summits.

Furthermore, according to news channels, on the sidelines of SCO summit in Russia this week, PM Modi will meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is soon expected to make an official announcement about the same. This would be the first formal meeting between the leaders of both the South-Asian countries after May, 2014, when PM Modi had invited leaders of all SAARC nations to attend his swearing-in ceremony.

Last week, Pakistan had also indicated about a possible meeting between PM Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the annual SCO summit in Russia, saying such meetings in a multilateral setting are a "normal feature".

The development comes days after PM Modi had called Sharif at the start of the holy month of Ramzan, saying that he wanted good relations with Pakistan.

In November 2014, PM Modi and Nawaz Sharif last met at the SAARC summit in Kathmandu, though they did not hold any formal talks.

Meanwhile, with focus on enhancing strategic, economic and energy ties, on July 7 and 8, PM Modi will be in Kazakhstan, India`s largest trading partner in Central Asia. He will meet President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Miniter Karim Massimov.

Notably, Narendra Modi will he the first Indian Prime Minister in recent times to visit all five Central Asian countries at one go.

India will seek to boost energy cooperation and trade with the five nations, which were part of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

In Ufa, the summit of the five BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- comes as the board of governors of the BRICS bank, called the New Development Bank, holds its first meet in on Tuesday. The bank`s president is India`s MV Kamath.

Writing about the visit on his Facebook page, PM Modi said his first stop will be Uzbekistan, where he will hold talks with President Islam Karimov and both sides would ink key agreements to strengthen cooperation.

PM further said he would be interacting with Indologists, students learning Hindi and members of the Indian community.

"It was in Tashkent that we lost one of our most popular and respected leaders, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri ji, who ignited our nation with the clarion call of `Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan`. I will be paying my tributes to this proud son of India during the visit," Modi said.

In Kazakhstan, Modi said he will hold talks with President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Prime Minister Karim Massimov.

"There will be delegation level talks with President Nazarbayev followed by the signing of documents and a joint press statement," he said.

PM Modi said he looks forward to interacting with the youth of Kazakhstan at the Nazarbayev University.

He will also inaugurate the India-Kazakhstan Centre for Excellence in Information and Communication Technology at the LN Gumilev Eurasian National University and also join a wreath-laying ceremony and planting of sapling at the Monument of Defenders of Motherland.

PM Narendra Modi will then visit Ufa for the 7th BRICS Summit and SCO Summit.

PM Modi added that he will be meeting the leaders - Brazil`s President Dilma Rousseff, China`s Xi Jinping, Russia`s Vladimir Putin and South Africa`s Jacob Zuma - individually too at the Ufa and also meet business leaders.

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, India is an observer but is hoping to be included as a permanent member.

He flies to Turkmenistan on July 11 -- in the first visit by an Indian prime minister after PV Narasimha Rao in 1995.

Modi also said he will hold talks with President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, which would be followed by signing of agreements and a meeting with the press.

He will also inaugurate a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and a Traditional Medicine and Yoga Centre and also lay wreath at the mausoleum of the first president.

His next visit on July 12 would be to Kyrgyzstan, in the first prime ministerial visit in the last 20 years.

PM Modi would also hold talks with President Almazbek Atambaye and meet Prime Minister Semir Tariyev and Speaker of the Parliament Asylbek Jeenbekov.

India is gifting medical equipment to Kyrgyz Field Hospital.

Modi will also inaugurate tele-medicine links, which shall promote medical tourism from Kyrgyzstan to India. A statue of Mahatma Gandhi will also be unveiled.

On Tajikistan, his last stop, Modi said the last prime ministerial visit from India was by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in November 2003.

He said India and Tajikistan have a strategic partnership and very strong defence cooperation, but economic cooperation has been limited and the scope of growth was immense. Bilateral trade has huge potential.

A statue of Rabindranath Tagore will also be unveiled in Dushanbe.

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Leaders are feeling suffocated in Cong: Amit Shah asks party to self-introspect

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June 25,2020

New Delhi, Jun 25: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday hit out at Congress for "unceremoniously sacking" its spokesperson and said that leaders in the opposition party are "feeling suffocated".

To substantiate his point, Shah referred to the recent Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet in which senior members and younger members raised a few issues, however, they were "shut down".

Taking to Twitter, Shah posted two English dailies' articles titled -- "Not scared of PM Modi, but many in the party dodge him: Rahul at Congress Working Committee meet" and "Congress removes Sanjay Jha as party spokesperson after critical article".

Last week, Jha was dropped as AICC spokesperson and Abhishek Dutt and Sadhna Bharti appointed as National Media Panelist of Congress party.

"During the recent CWC meet, senior members and younger members raised a few issues. But, they were shouted down. A party spokesperson was unceremoniously sacked. The sad truth is - leaders are feeling suffocated in Congress," the Union Minister tweeted.

Meanwhile, Shah also targetted Congress on the completion of 45 years of emergency, which was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975 and asked the party to self introspect.

"As one of India's opposition parties, Congress needs to ask itself: Why does the Emergency mindset remain? Why are leaders who do not belong to 1 dynasty unable to speak up? Why are leaders getting frustrated in Congress? Else, their disconnect with people will keep widening," he wrote.

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Jha the spokesperson, tried to be under the payroll of BJP, so disciplinary action was imminent.

Discipline has no compromise.

If i am not wrong you have already purchased suffocated leaders from congress.

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India fared better than other countries in fight against COVID-19: PM Modi

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June 27,2020

New Delhi, Jun 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that India fared much better compared to some other countries in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The PM made this observation while delivering the inaugural address to mark the 90th birth anniversary celebrations of Reverend Dr Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan.

"Earlier this year, some people had predicted that the impact of the virus in India would be very severe. Due to lockdown, many initiatives have been taken by the Government and in this people-driven fight, India is much better placed than many other nations. India's recovery rate is rising," Modi said in his virtual address.

He further warned that the time was not apt to "let our guard down".

The prime minister greeted the Mar Thoma Metropolitan and wished him a "long life and best health."

"Dr Joseph Mar Thoma has devoted his life for the betterment of our society and nation. He has been particularly passionate about the removal of poverty and women empowerment," the prime minister said.

Praising the Mar Thoma Church for its contributions to the country the Prime Minister added that it has worked to bring a positive difference in the lives of people in the country in areas of healthcare and education.

"The Mar Thoma Church is closely linked with the noble ideals of Saint Thomas, the Apostle of Lord Christ. India has always been open to spiritual influences from many sources. It is with this spirit of humility that the Mar Thoma Church has worked to bring a positive difference in the lives of our fellow Indians," Modi said.

Followers of the Mar Thoma Church from India and abroad participated in the programme through video conference.

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Coronavirus pandemic to leave behind a global recession: Anand Mahindra

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March 20,2020

New Delhi, Mar 20: The coronavirus pandemic will leave behind a global recession with small businesses, self-employed and daily wagers taking the worst hit, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said on thursday.

"The virus will eventually be conquered, but it will have left behind a global recession. The costs of that are incalculably high at this time. The most fearsome toll will be on small businesses, the self-employed & those whose lives depend on meagre daily wages," Mahindra said in a tweet.

Apart from the toll on lives, the legacy of Covid-19 may well be deaths due to stress, loss of livelihoods, a rise in homelessness and in extreme situations, civil unrest, he added.

"The only global experience that has lessons for us in the current situation is the last world war. In the aftermath of WW2, the US came up with the Marshall plan to revive Europe, effectively a giant fiscal pump-priming," Mahindra said.

In the US, the government dramatically dismantled regulations and opened up the economy to trade and these actions led to a boom-cycle that stretched to 1975, he added.

"This time, there will be no victors, only the vanquished. So every country will have to create its own post virus war marshall plan & take care of those in society who are hit the hardest. Perhaps we too can build the foundations of a sustained global growth cycle," Mahindra said.

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