Comprehension for CSAT

Comprehension is the classic entry in CSAT syllabus as it is not to test your language skill, but to test your moral and ethical aptitude, understanding of government programmes and policies, social problems, ability to comprehend boring reports etc. However, language will play a bigger role in deciphering the hidden message of the text. Language is a very complex blend of nature and nurture, as psychologists would have it. We have been brought up with a language usually our mother tongue and then we come across other languages, dialects and versions of language as we grow in age, stature and maturity. A word can have innumerable connotations with respect to tone, context and reference, which impinge on comprehension and understanding infinitely.

Comprehension is an element of your exposure to different types of usage the kind of books you read or whether reading even features in your scheme of things on a regular day. As an IAS aspirant you are expected to read, assimilate reason, draw inferences and apply your learning to different situations. As administrator you will have to read reports, infer, strategies and plan. As the time you spend on these documents impacts the efficiency and productivity of your division, you must find a way to work speedily and clear the tasks as per requirements and not be the bottleneck where work comes to a standstill.

You wonder how you can enhance your competence and reduce time spent, whether on deciphering reports, documents etc. the way to improve your reading comprehension is evidently making a habit of reading at least a few pages if editorials a day, in daily newspapers such as the Hindu, the Economist or any other daily. Sift through them every day and watch your efficiency with paperwork improve exponentially.

TOURISM IN INDIA

India is often described as a tourist paradise. From the mighty snow-capped Himalayas of Kashmir in the north to the shimmering seas of Kanyakumari in the south, the verdant deltas of Sunderbans in the east, the world's largest protected eco-and-game reserve to the historic forts and shrines of Rajasthan to the west . India has everything that the footloose traveller would like to sample.

Inbound tourism is booming and the country is going all out to lure more travellers from around the world.

Contrary to perceptions across the world that tourism in India is still confined to traditions . the country is opening up with trendy tour packages and affordable air travel deals to woo inbound visitors from every segment.

The Pacific-Asia Travel Association says international arrivals to destinations in Asia-Pacific grew by 2.6 per cent in 2008 despite the economic downturn. And it is still showing a healthy growth.

According to projections, inbound arrival figure is expected to jump the four million mark this year.

India, says the Asian travel trade fraternity, figures on the top of the most favoured destinations, primarily because of five reasons - affordability, cultural and entertainment diversity, heritage, the country's rich socio-cultural mosaic and the robust economy which has been able to withstand the recession. The country has adapted to change, fusing modernity with traditions.

According to World Travel & Tourism Council, the travel and tourism economy in India generates employment for 17.7 million people, some 5.6% of total employment in the year 2000. WTTC forecasts that, by the year 2010, global Travel & Tourism will generate 24.8 million jobs, accounting for 6.5% of total employment world-wide. If, by the year 2010, Indian Travel & Tourism were to generate the same level of employment as the world average, then a further 25 million jobs would be created in India over the next decade. Given Indias outstanding wealth of natural reserves and rich cultural heritage, its thriving business community and high levels of entrepreneurship, India can seize this opportunity.

In India, inbound tourist expenditure is the third highest in the world. The tourist influx to India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.65 per cent between 2007 and 2011.

Consequently, the country offers a eclectic mix of tourism from upend spa, golf, wine, skiing and shopping holidays, river safaris, health tourism to the traditional camel rides in Rajasthan, rural tourism in the hinterlands of Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.

The traditional history and religious trails touch states like Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the temple towns of Southern India.

This year, the government is providing incentives for repeat visitors. It includes special packages for those visiting India for the second time.

The most popular tourist circuits in the country are the northern Indian heritage packages that include Delhi-Agra and Rajasthan.

Delhi, the Indian capital, is like an archive- home to the modern and the old. It was the seat of the Mughal rulers, the British Raj and also the Indraprastha mentioned in the epic Mahabharata.

Every crumbling wall in Delhi has a story to tell. Every yesterday is replete with history. Rulers have come and gone. The city has lived through wars, resurrection, repeatedly rising from the ashes. It has cradled civilisations since times immemorial. Delhi goes back hundreds of thousands of years back into time.

Agra, which lies adjacent to New Delhi at a distance of 300 km, is one of the most important destinations on the world map with three heritage monuments- the Taj Mahal, Red Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.

A pleasant town with a comparatively slow pace, Agra is known for its superb inlay work on marble and soapstone by craftsmen, descendants of the Muslim artisans of the 15-16th century. The city is famous for its carpets, gold thread embroidery and leather shoes.

Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, is an abode of extensive boulevards and beautiful gardens. Founded by Sawai Jaisingh II in 1727 AD, the pink city still preserves its glory of rich history, pink sandstone architecture and culture.

The past comes alive in its impressive forts, majestic palaces and in its royal buildings, which for centuries were the abode of royal families. Rajasthani jewelry, art and fabrics from the city are in great demand in the international market. It is the gateway to the desert state of Rajasthan.

Mumbai formerly known as Bombay, is the capital city of Maharashtra state, and is the financial capital of the country. Situated on Salsette Island, Mumbai is made from a cluster of Seven Islands and derived its name from Mumbadevi, the goddess of the Koli fisher folk.

It has a deep natural harbour, which handles more than half of India's passenger traffic and a large amount of cargo. The city which never sleeps, is also home to the country's million-dollar movie industry. Mumbai and the beach resort of Goa- a 12-hour drive from the city, draws thousands of tourists every year.

Located on the slopes of the Himalayas, Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh. It still retains the glory of colonial times, with its race tracks, lush golf ccourses and colonial British cuisine.

Hyderabad in the South Indian state of Karnataka, in contrast, is steeped in its Muslim heritage while Bangalore in the state of Karnataka is a free individual traveller (FIT)'s delight. It is the Silicon Valley of India, the face of contemporary India.

Atithi Devo Bhavah (Guest is like God)

'Atithi Devo Bhavah' is a social awareness campaign aimed at providing the inbound tourist a sense of being welcomed to the country. The campaign targets the general public as a whole, while focusing mainly on the stakeholders of the tourism industry. The main components of the campaign are training and orientation to taxi drivers, guides, immigration officers, tourist police and other personnel directly interacting with the tourists, while simultaneously creating a brand equity for the trained persons.



Historical Tourism
Each and every stone in India has a story to tell about its past. Indian historical tourism sites are a timeless sojourn back in the by lanes of time to unravel untold mysteries of the past and explore the rare jewels of the glorious past of India. Historical tourism will help you get to know about India from the very beginning, and the splendor that this country once enjoyed. India has been ruled by many indigenous dynasties that have contributed a lot in growth of its rich culture and heritage. Due to its strategic positioning, various topographic features, fertile alluvial plains, long flowing rivers and six different seasons, India has been a source of constant attraction for foreigners who have sometimes conquered it and at others made it their permanent abode.

On its historical tourism, study the long and eventful history of the country that is as vast and as rich the country itself. Explore forts, palaces, temples, mosques, churches, schools, tombs, cemeteries, victory pillars and places built by various builders at various points of time during their rules. These monuments of the past have stood the vagaries of time to tell the story of their inception, beauty, grace, love, passion, art and architecture. Most of the famous Indian cities have a rich history worth knowing, and important sites worth visiting.

Agra
The city of Agra is known to be in existence since the period of Mahabharata when it was known as Agravan and believed to be the part of the Brij-Bhoomi. Made the capital by Raja Badal Singh, Sikander Lodi and Babur, the city rise to fame only after the Mughal Emperor Akbar ruled from here. Visit the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah, Akbar's Tomb, Fatehpur Sikri and other smaller monuments.


Aurangabad
Aurangabad enjoys a strategic location in central India from where the north can have control over the Deccan. It's important positioning was first realized by Mohammed-bin-Tughlaq who established his capital at Deogir, and re-named it as Daulatabad. But the city has got its name from the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, who made this city as his seat of power to control his vast empire. Visit the Ajanta Caves, Ellora Caves, Aurangabad Caves, Bibi ka Maqbara, Daulatabad Fort, Pithalkhora Caves, Paithan and other places.


Bodhgaya
Bodhgaya is the place where Prince Siddhartha attained enlightenment under the pipal tree and became 'The Buddha' or 'The Enlightened One'. 13 km from Gaya in Bihar, Bodhgaya is the place where the birth of Buddhism took place. Visit the Mahabodhi Temple, Mahabodhi Tree, Vajrasana, Ancient Railing, Lotus Tank, Chankaramana, Animeshlochana and Ratnagar.




Chittorgarh
The legendary city of romance and chivalry, Chittorgarh was brought in dowry by the last Solanki princess when she married Bappa Rawal, the legendary founder of the Sisodia dynasty in the middle of the 8th century AD. Spread over a 7-mile long hill, the city was sacked three times in history due to its strategic location. Visit the Chittorgarh Fort, Vijay Stambha, Kirti Stambha, Rana Kumbha's Palace, Rani Padmini's Palace, Kumbha Shyam Temple and other places.


Delhi
Delhi has traveled a long way since it became the capital of the Pandavas becoming the capital of India eight times. If you pass through the city, you will come across various monuments big and small, some in good condition, others dilapidated, that will remind you about the glory that this city has seen. The modern structures are a reminder of the British rule and contemporary structures are there to indicate the progress that the city has made over the centuries. There are several places to visit in Delhi.


Hyderabad
Hyderabad was established in 1591-92 AD by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah on the banks of river Musi five miles from Golconda. Since then, the city has grown tremendously in size, economy and fame. Visit Charminar, Golconda Fort, Mecca Masjid, Qutub Shahi Tombs, Falaknuma Palace, Salrajung Museum and other places.


Jaipur
Jaipur is the brainchild of the Kachhwaha King, Sawai Jai Singh, who came up with the idea to build the first planned city of India in 1713 AD. His ideas were effectively complimented by a very talented Bengali architect, Vidhyadhar Bhattacharya, who planned the city on the basis of the principles laid down in ancient Indian treatises on architecture, Shilpa Shastra and ancient Indian science of architecture, Vastu Shastra. The foundation was laid in 1727 AD, and the work was accomplished in 1731 AD. Visit the City Palace and Museum, Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar, Amber Fort, Nahargarh Fort and several other monuments.


Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer was established by Bhati Rajput Rao Jaisal in the year 1156 AD. The city was named after him. Visit the Jaiselmer Fort, Patwaon-Ki-Haveli, Nathamlji-Ki-Haveli, Salim Singh-Ki-Haveli, Gadsisar Lake and several other monuments.




Jodhpur
Jodhpur was the capital of the Kingdom of Marwar. The foundation of the modern state of Jodhpur was laid down by Sir Pratap Singh and followed by Maharaja Umaid Singh. Visit the Mehrangarh Fort, Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jaswant Thada and several other monuments.



Khajuraho
Khajuraho is a small village in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. The village is celebrated the world over for beautiful stone temples that mark the culmination of temple architecture in India. Hidden deep in the forts, the temples were first discovered by T.B. Burt, a British engineer in 1838 AD. The temples were patronized by the Chandela kings between 950 AD and 1050 AD. The temples are significant for their perfect craftsmanship and refined sculpting. Out of the 85 temples, only 22 are left today. Visit the Western, Eastern and Southern Group of Temples.


Konark
Konark was the part of the Kalinga Empire and a busy harbour during ancient times. 65 km from Bhubaneshwar, Konark is better known for the Sun Temple. Some traditions believe that King Narshimadeva I of the Ganga Dynasty built the famous temple dedicated to Sun God. Local traditions say that Samba, the son of Lord Krishna, constructed the temple in honor of Sun God who had cured him of leprosy that occurred due to his father's curse after he underwent severe penance for 12 years.


Madurai
Madurai is one of the oldest cities in India, as it history dates back to the Sangam Period. It is believed that Madurai derives its name from 'Madhuram' or 'Nectar' that fell from the locks of Lord Shiva when he came to bless the people of the city for construction of a Shiva temple. It was a glorious and prosperous city during the Sangam Age, as well as under the dominance of the Vijaynagar Empire. Visit the Meenakshi Temple, Thirumalai Nayak Mahal, Gandhi Museum, Vaniyur Mariamman Teppakulam and other smaller monuments.


Mahabalipuram
Mahabalipuram was founded by the King Narsimhavarman I, son of King Mahendravarman. The city was named as Mahamallapuram meaning 'City of the Warriors' after his title 'Mahamalla'. Visit the Shore Temple, Arjuna's Penance, Ganesh Ratha, Trimurti Cave Temple, Five Rathas and other smaller monuments.


Mumbai
Better known as the Commercial Capital of India, Mumbai comprises of 7 islands, namely, Colaba, Mazagaon, Old Woman's Island, Wadala, Mahim, Parel and Matunga-Sion on the central-western coast along the Arabian Sea. Visit the Gateway of India, Elephanta Caves, Sir Pherozshah Mehta Gardens or the Hanging Gardens, Flora Fountain, Chowpatty Beach, Prince of Wales Museum of Western India or Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, and several other places.




Mysore
Situated 140 km from Bangalore on the southern part of the Deccan Plateau, Mysore was the capital of the Wodeyar Dynasty. Also known as the 'City of Palaces', Mysore is lined with splendid palaces, well laid gardens, magnificent temples and striking buildings. Visit the Mysore Palace, Chamundi Hills, Brindavan Gardens, St. Philomena's Church, Mysore Zoo, The Art Gallery and other smaller monuments.


Udaipur
Udaipur was the capital of the Mewar Kingdom and established in 1567 AD. Mewar is the oldest surviving dynasty in the world. Visit the City Palace, Sajjan Garh or the Monsoon Palace, Sahelion ki Bari, Fateh Sagar Lake and several other monuments.


Varanasi
Varanasi is supposedly the oldest city in the world with a mention in the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Located on the semi-circular left bank of River Ganga, Varanasi derives its name from the two rivers that flow across the city, namely, Varuna and Asi. Visit the Kashi Vishwanatha Temple, Bharat Mata Temple, Durga Temple, Tulsi Manas Temple, Alamgir Mosque, Banaras Hindu University, Archaeological Museum, the Ghats and several other monuments.


Cultural and heritage tourism

From time immemorial, India has been considered to be a land with a rich cultural heritage. Centuries after centuries, this country has seen rulers like the Rajputs, Mughals, English and Portuguese. Besides, various religions also flourished at different times like Buddhism, Jainism etc. All these factors have played their role in making an impact on the culture of this country. One can find the traces of different cultures in music, dance, architecture, festivities, languages spoken, traditional beliefs and customs, food and many more like these. It is the development in these aspects of life that makes the heritage of India one of the most vibrant and exhaustive.

We believe in the continuity and dynamism of Indian cultural heritage and it is our endeavour to help people from the world over get acquainted with it. And there can not be a better way to understand this than to experience it. Travel to India with our cultural tour packages and understand why this heritage has withstood thousands of years and is still going strong.


Railway Tourism

India has the largest network of railways in the world. It is one of the most convenient and popular modes of transport for travelling in India. The Indian railways offer you a hoat of options when you choose to explore India by train. There is the most exclusive 'Palace on Wheels', which takes you into the world of royal life. Then there are fast and comfortable Rajdhanis and Shatabdis. Besides, there are hundreds of trains available which cover almost whole of India. We, therefore, offer you an exclusive opportunity to see and explore India with Indian Railways, which is the most enduring symbol of the British Raj.


Yoga and meditation

Modern life has also brought complexities and mental pressure. What we immediately do not realize is the impact of such a lifestyle on our health. For those who do care about their lives and want to live it the healthy way, what could be a better way to de-stress than to relax in the soothing and therapeutic balm Yogic and Meditational practices. India is internationally renowned for its ancient healing practices and alternative therapies. For thousands of years now, we have followed our own indigenous healing systems and medicinal practices such as Ayurveda, Naturopathy, and Pranic Healing to name just a few. It is no wonder then that people from all over the world are turning to the Indian sub continent for a more spiritually satisfying way of life.

Yoga and meditation are just such indigenous twin techniques of self-realization and purification. One incomplete without the other, they help an individual to develop a sense of physical, mental, emotional as well as spiritual well being. Yoga in all its forms tries to create harmony of the body with the mind and soul. It is a very general term that encompasses many different disciplines ranging from the purely physical to the purely spiritual, and is a truly original Indian concept.

Many people believe that yoga and meditation are mystic arts that demand complete devotion to the exclusion of everything else. However, the truth is that Yoga and Meditation are not the hard taskmasters they are often made out to be. Yoga and Meditation can easily be incorporated into our daily lives, requiring no more than a few minutes, everyday. Their benefits on the other hand are wide-ranging and restorative. For instance, meditation has proven to be highly effective in treating psychological conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and anxiety, and Yoga is known to increase levels of self-confidence and memory.

We have designed special Yoga and Meditation tour packages that will allow you to combine your holiday and travel to India with a truly uplifting and revitalizing experience. What could be better way to spend a vacation than to go on an inspiring health holiday that will leave you physically, mentally and spiritually refreshed.


Ayurveda

Ayurveda is the 'Knowledge or Science of Life'. According to Charaka, the ancient physician-sage, life is a unified state of the physical body, the cognitive organs, the mind and the soul, thus signifying a living being.

Inspired by the zeal, vision and human compassion of its great founder, Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala carried on with its noble mission. It sailed smoothly through two World Wars, the Great Depression of the thirties and several natural calamities and political upheavals. Today, it has grown into a mighty organisation unparalleled in South India.

The services of The Arya Vaidya Sala reach its patients through a nation-wide network of 14 branches and more than 1000 retail distributors that market its 500-odd formulations.

Thousands of patients visit Kottakkal every year, seeking succour at the healing hands of Arya Vaidya Sala. Ailing people from West European, Arabian, American and Far East countries also approach the institution. For thousands of years the wise men of India have applied natural medicine. Massage, herbs and oils are applied to the body aiming to restore the natural balance of the three doshas Vata, Pitta and Kapha. The diagnosis is based on the combination of Vata, Pitta, Kapha, which describes the constitution of each individual.

IT and Technology in India

In today's knowledge-driven global economy, one industry in which India is among global leaders and has a firm footprint is the fast-growing information technology and business process outsourcing industry, which includes software development and back-office operations. This industry has not only emerged among the fastest growing contributors to the country's national income, but also the biggest employment generator.

Some Indian companies in the business like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Wipro and Hindustan Computers have earned global repute for the quality of service and reach, while several large overseas players like Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, Google, Dell, Intel have set up shop in India, registering phenomenal growth.

Leading researcher and technology consultancy Gartner says India remains the undisputed global leader in offshore services. The country, according to it, has distinct advantages such as language, policy support, focused education system, talented labour pool, rich intellectual capital, cost advantage and good infrastructure backbone to support the information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

According to National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the apex body for software and relates services in India, the country's technology and business services industry has had a phenomenal run over the last 10 years. The industry has grown from $4 billion in revenues in 1998 to a $59-billion giant today employing over two million people. Of this, exports accounted for $47 billion.

Thus, the industry's contribution to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has also quadrupled from 1 percent to 4 percent in the last decade. Including the hardware segment of this industry, the total revenues stood at an impressive $71.7 billion in 2008-09, registering a growth of 12 percent despite the current global downturn and a recession in most of top markets for the industry. Nasscom says there are other interesting facts and trends as well:

-Exports remained the mainstay of the Indian IT-BPO growth story. Software and services exports, accounted for over 99 percent of the total exports and reached $47 billion and directly employed over 1.7 million professionals in 2008-09.

-Direct employment in the Indian IT-BPO industry crossed 2.2 million people - an increase of about 226,000 professionals over 2007-08. This apart, indirect job creation is estimated at about eight million.

-As a proportion of the national GDP, the sector’s revenues have grown from 1.2 percent in 1997-98 to an estimated 5.8 percent in 2008-09. Net value-added by this sector to the economy, is estimated at 3.5-4.1 percent for 2008-09.

-Banking, financial services, insurance and telecom continued to account for more than 60 percent of the market. Healthcare industry is likely to witness increased IT investments due to increased focus on public health, making healthcare and insurance affordable to all. Other industries that will see growth include telecom, retail and utilities.

The IT-BPO industry has also set a precedent for talent practices in the country by creating career opportunities for the youth, providing global exposure and offering extensive training and development. It has also pioneered the concept of employee ownership and has been a frontrunner in diversity at the workplace. Employee stock option schemes handed out by companies like Infosys and Wipro have turned several of their employees into dollar millionaires.

India is also the largest developer location for global giants such as Sun Microsystems, which has recently been acquired by Oracle, as well as mobile handset and technology provider Nokia. Sun Microsystems has 760,000 developers in India, which is the largest for it among any country in the world. And Nokia works with more than 140,000 independent developers in India, which is again the largest for the Finnish company.

Indian IT companies have also been executing some mega deals in the global space, says the commerce and industry ministry-sponsored India Brand Equity Foundation that seeks to push brand India overseas. The biggest among them included Citi's sale of its captive BPO unit to Tata Consultancy Services for over $500 million in October 2008 and HCL Technologies buying out of British consulting firm Axon for $658 million. This apart, Wipro acquired Citi's technology services unit for $127 million and 3i Infotech bought Regulus Group of the US for $80 million.

According to consultancy Grant Thornton, cross-border mergers and acquisitions involving IT-BPO companies from India, increased nearly 12 percent last year to top $3.22 billion, spread over 98 deals. This rose from $2.88 billion the year before spread over 159 deals. The average deal size also increased in 2008 to $32.86 million, against $18.15 million in the year before.

Going forward a joint study by Nasscom and another global consultancy McKinsey India's technology and services industry can earn $225 billion in revenues by 2020 despite the current global economic crisis. Of this, $175 billion is expected from exports and the remaining from domestic sources. The study also says that if India and its technology industry focused on transforming its business environment, innovativeness and talent development, the revenues would be as high as $375 billion by 2020.

On the technology front, convergence of information and communication technologies (ICT), reduction in bandwidth cost and availability of human capital have created an eco-system to enable India emerge as the global hotspot for IT services and products much as China became a factory of the world for manufacturing goods.

Though inadequate physical infrastructure, rising capital cost and delays in clearances remain a cause for concern, growing competition and demanding customers are forcing the industry players to move up the value chain to offer enhanced services and products that are innovative, productive and cost-efficient.

With pervasive technology becoming imperative to sustain growth, enhance performance of goods and services and compete globally, knowledge firms are entering high-value verticals such as engineering, aerospace, defence, healthcare, retail, logistics and e-governance.

Having gone through a cycle of downturn when the dot.com bubble burst early this decade, the Indian IT industry has come of age to withstand the current global recession and tech meltdown to bounce back into high growth with lean, mean and fighting fit operational models.

Increasing investment in technology and capacity expansion to reach out new geographies within the country and abroad are making enterprises across verticals to outsource their entire IT operations to the Indian vendors and remain focused on their core competency.

The advent of web-based services using Internet as the virtual platform has made even brick and mortar firms to engage software and hardware vendors to maintain or run their IT operations either onsite or remotely, providing end-to-end services and solutions.

As the world’s second fastest growing economy, with increasing technology absorption and huge investments in ICT by enterprises across verticals, global players are setting up operations in the Indian sub-continent to cash in on the business opportunities and leverage the abundant human capital at much lower cost than any where world over.

Consistent high growth rate, increasing disposable incomes and heightened aspirations of the Gen-next have expanded the Indian market for technology-driven products and services across verticals.

The phenomenal growth of mobile telephony, direct-to-home (DTH) services, voice over internet protocol and increasing appetite for content in voice, data and video formats from enterprises and individuals have created opportunities for multiple vendors to capitalise.

East Asia Summit

Background

1. The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad. After considerable internal discussions, the 10th ASEAN Summit held in Vientiane on November 29, 2004 agreed to hold the first East Asia Summit (EAS) in Malaysia in 2005. The Summit also tasked the ASEAN Foreign Ministers to work out the details regarding modalities and participation. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed that the first EAS would involve ASEAN, + 3 countries (China, Japan and ROK) as well as countries that fulfill the following criteria: Substantive relations with ASEAN, Full Dialogue Partner status and Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC)

2. The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) held in Vientiane on July 26, 2005 welcomed the participation of ASEAN, Japan, ROK, Australia, India and New Zealand in the first EAS.

3. Four East Asia Summits have been held so far; the first East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on 14 December, 2005; the second East Asia Summit was held in Cebu (Philippines) on 15 January, 2007, the third was held in Singapore on 21 November, 2007 and the fourth in Chaam Hua Hin, Thailand on 25 October, 2009.

4. The First Summit adopted a Declaration that outlines the objectives and modalities of the EAS. This, inter alia, states that the efforts of the East Asia Summit to promote community building will form an integral part of the regional architecture. The statement refers to the EAS focusing on economic interaction and trade & investment expansion and liberalization.

5. Energy was the main focus of the second East Asia Summit. Leaders signed the Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security. Leaders also decided to initiate concrete projects in five priority EAS cooperation areas before 3rd EAS. They are Energy, Finance, Education, Avian Influenza and Disaster Mitigation. The Summit welcomed, among others, initiatives such as the revival of the Nalanda University in India to improve regional understanding and the appreciation of one another's heritage and history. The Leaders agreed to launch a Track Two study on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA) among EAS participants and welcomed Japan’s proposal for an Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). They also agreed to forge closer coordination among the national emergency response and management mechanisms for natural disaster mitigation.

6. The Third East Asia Summit focused on the issues of Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The centerpiece of the EAS Meeting was adoption of the “Singapore Declaration on Climate Change, Energy and Environment”. The Declaration calls for mobilizing financial support, capacity building, development of clean technologies, exchange of scientific and technical expertise, joint studies, promotion of public awareness and development of policy measures.

7. The Fourth East Asia Summit deliberated on the Global Economic and Financial Crisis, Education and Disaster Management, among other issues. The 4th EAS agreed to take a calibrated step-by-step approach on the issue of rolling back the Stimulus-packages by Asian nations. It adopted Chaam Hua Hin Statement on Disaster Management. A Joint Press Statement on the Revival of Nalanda University to express political support to India’s effort to revive the Nalanda University located in the State of Bihar was also issued. Expansion of EAS - Admission of US & Russia

8. The 43rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in July, 2010 recommended entry of US and Russia to the EAS for consideration at the 5th EAS scheduled to be held in October, 2010. India welcomed the proposed entry of both the countries. Accordingly, the Secretary of State of U.S and the Foreign Minister of Russia have been invited to attend the 5th EAS in Hanoi, Vietnam as ‘Guest of the host’ with formal entry scheduled for 2011.

India’s Approach to the EAS 9.Prime Minister, in his remarks, at the first EAS Summit said that the long-term goal of the EAS should be the creation of a harmonious and prosperous community of nations that would pool its common resources to tackle common challenges. He also pointed out that a virtual Asian Economic Community was emerging with the wide-ranging FTAs that linked the countries of the region. He said that, rather than a set of sub-optimal arrangements, there was need for a wider perspective so that ongoing processes could become building blocks for a larger vision. In this context, he suggested that a Pan-Asian FTA could be the starting block for a community. Prime Minister also said that the EAS needed to go for deeper economic integration where markets became common and there was free flow of goods, services, investment, ideas, technology and people between the countries. At the 1st EAS emphasis was on economic cooperation.

Initiatives under EAS – Nalanda University

10. The proposal to revive the Nalanda University as an international University was proposed under the aegis of the East Asia Summit (EAS). At the 4th EAS Summit held in Thailand in October 2009, the EAS member countries issued a Joint Press Statement on the Revival of Nalanda University. They supported the establishment of the Nalanda University as a non-state, non-profit, secular and self governing international institution with a continental focus that will bring together the brightest and the most dedicated students from all countries of Asia – irrespective of gender, caste, creed, disability, ethnicity or social-economic background – to enable them to acquire liberal and human education and to give them the means needed for pursuit of intellectual, philosophical, historical and spiritual studies and thus achieve qualities of tolerance and accommodation.

11. The Nalanda Mentor Group (NMG) was constituted under the Chairmanship of Prof. Amartya Sen for the establishment of the Nalanda University. The Nalanda Mentor Group, consisting of eminent personalities and academics was mandated to examine all aspects, including the academic and administrative structure, that would facilitate the revival of Nalanda as a centre of excellence in Asia. The NMG held six meetings: Singapore (July 2007); Tokyo (December 2007); New York (May 2008); New Delhi (August 2008); an on-site meeting in Nalanda/Gaya in February 2009 and New Delhi (August 2010).

12. Incorporating the suggestions and recommendations of the NMG, the Government of India drafted the Nalanda University Bill 2010 to establish the University in the Indian State of Bihar. The Bill was unanimously passed in the Parliament and is now the Nalanda University Act.

13. As envisaged in the Act, the Nalanda Mentor Group (NMG) shall exercise powers as the Interim Governing Board for a period of one year or till such time that the members of the Governing Board have been nominated, whichever is earlier. 14. A Vice Chancellor designate has been appointed and is entrusted with the task of operationalizing the project offices in Delhi and Bihar and initiate further steps towards the establishment of the University. The State Government of Bihar has already acquired and transferred 446 acres of land in Rajgir (in the vicinity of the original Nalanda University site) and is planning to pursue upgradation of infrastructure around the proposed site.

15. At the EAS Mnisterial Meeting in July 2010, India apprised the members of the progress of the Nalanda University project and conveyed that India was looking forward to specific commitments and support from the member-countries for the project. It is envisaged that the Governing Board of the proposed university shall have five members amongst the member-States.

5th East Asia Summit

16. The 5th East Asia Summit would deliberate on the global and regional issues of importance including the fragile global economic recovery and review on going cooperation in areas such as Energy, Environment, climate change and sustainable development, Financial Cooperation, Natural Disaster Mitigation, Education and Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA). The Prime Minister would take this opportunity to brief the Summit on our thinking on these issues and on the developments in the Nalanda University Project. The leaders would also exchange views on regional and international issues and on the future cooperation in EAS. The Summit would adopt the ‘Hanoi Declaration on the Commemoration of the Fifth Anniversary of the East Asia Summit’.

INDIA-EU RELATIONS

India-EU relations go back to the early 1960s. India was among the first countries to
establish diplomatic relations with the (then) European Economic Community (EEC).
The 1994 cooperation agreement signed between EU and India took bilateral relations
well beyond trade and economic cooperation. The 5th India-EU Summit at The Hague in
2004 endorsed the EU’s proposal to upgrade its relationship with India to a ‘Strategic
Partnership’. The two sides also adopted a Joint Action Plan in 2005 which provides for
Strengthening Dialogue and Consultation mechanisms; Deepening political dialogue and
cooperation; Bringing together People and Cultures; Enhancing Economic Policy
Dialogue and Cooperation; and Developing Trade and Investment.
VISIT OF THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA
Rashtrapatiji visited Strasbourg from 25-26 April 2007 at the invitation of the President
of the European Parliament (EP). During the visit, he addressed the Parliament and met
with the President of the European Parliament. Members of the India Delegation of the
EP, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner of enterprise and
Industry called on him. It was the first ever visit by a President of India to the EP.
POLITICAL DIALOGUE
India and the EU have held ten annual Summits to date. The 10th India-EU Summit was
held in New Delhi on 6 November 2009. India was represented by Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh and the EU was represented by Mr. Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister
of Sweden and European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso. The
Summit reviewed India-EU Relations and exchanged views on developments in India and
EU; recognized the need to pursue the reform of the principal UN bodies with a view to
enhancing the representativeness, transparency and effectiveness of the system; resolved
to jointly fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestation; took note of the signing of the
India-EU Agreement in the field of nuclear fusion energy research underlining the
importance of energy security and clean energy; agreed to work towards early conclusion
of the Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement and the Maritime Agreement. The
leaders also identified trade and investment, energy, counter-terrorism, science and
technology, climate change, and movement of peoples and as priority areas of
cooperation.
India and the EU also interact regularly at the Foreign Ministers level. The 21st India-EU
Ministerial Meeting took place in New Delhi on 22 June 2010. External Affairs Minister
Shri S.M. Krishna led the Indian delegation. The EU side was led EU High
Representative Ms. Catherine Ashton. India-EU Relations, regional issues both around
Europe and India and global issues including climate change, terrorism, global financial
crisis and energy security were discussed at the Ministerial Meeting.
There is a regular mechanism of Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) between India and the
EU. Eighteen SOMs have been held till date.
PARLIAMENTARY INTERACTION
The European Parliament (EP) has established a India Delegation in the European
Parliament which has 20 members and 20 substitute in the delegation. Mr. Graham
Watson, British MEP is the current Chairperson and an EP India Delegation led by him
visited India at the end of April, 2010.
INDIA-EU BUSINESS LINKS
The EU, as a bloc of 27 countries, is India’s largest trading partner while India was EU’s
9th largest trading partner in 2009. EU-India trade has been growing steadily reaching €
52.9 billion in 2009 (2.3% of EU’s total trade). In 2009, India was the 10th largest
exporter to the EU and had a share of 2.1% in the total EU imports. On the other hand,
India was the 8th largest importer of EU’s products and had a share of 2.5 % in the EU’s
global exports. In 2009, total Indian exports to the EU in the different services sector was
7.5 billion euros whereas total Indian imports from the EU was worth 8.8 billion euros
The EU is one of the largest sources of FDI for India. However, the FDI inflows from the
EU to India declined from Euro 4.019 billion in 2007 to Euro 3.27 billion in 2008. India
has also emerged as a major investor in the EU countries with total investment from India
increasing from Euro 1.003 billion in the year 2007 to Euro 3.69 billion in 2008.
INSTITUTIONAL INTERACTIONS
India and the EU have held nine rounds of negotiations for a bilateral Broad-based Trade
and Investment Agreement. Negotiations commenced in 2007 and cover Trade in goods,
Sanitary & Phyto-sanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade in services,
Investment, Intellectual Property Rights and Geographical Indications, Competition
Policy, Customs and Trade Facilitation, Trade Defence , Dispute Settlement). The India-
EU Joint Commission with its three sub-commission on trade, economic cooperation and
development cooperation meets annually. India and EU have Joint Working Groups on
Counter Terrorism, Consular Issues, Agriculture and Marine Products, Energy,
Environment, Technical Barriers to Trade and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Issues,
Textiles, Steel, Information Technology & Communications, Pharmaceuticals &
Biotechnology, Food Processing Industries and Customs Cooperation. Both sides also
have regular dialogues on Security, Human Rights, Macroeconomy and Science and
Technology.
BILATERAL AGREEMENTS
India and the EU have signed bilateral agreements which includes cooperation in the field
of Science & Technology in 2001 which was renewed in 2007; Joint Vision Statement
for promoting cooperation in the field of information and communications technology in
2001; customs cooperation agreement in 2004; Memorandum of Understanding on
Cooperation on Employment and Social Affairs in November 2006; Horizontal Civil
Aviation Agreement in 2008; Joint Declaration in field of Education in 2008; Joint
Declaration on Multilingualism in March 2009 and Agreement in the field of nuclear
fusion energy research in November 2009.

India’s relation with African Union

Background: The African Union is an international organisation
consisting of 53 African member states ( excluding Morocco but including
Saharwi ADR). It was founded in Durban on July 10, 2002, replacing the
Organization of African Unity( OAU).
In 1999, the Heads of State / Government of the OAU issued the Sirte
Declaration calling for establishing an African Union to accelerate the process
of integration in the African Continent. The Lome Summit of 2000 adopted the
Constitutive Act and the Lusaka Summit of 2001 drew the roadmap for
implementation of the African Union. Its headquarters is located in Addis
Ababa. The birth of the AU is a legacy of the Pan-African movement towards
creating institutions to achieve the objectives of peace, political stability,
democracy, economic integration and good governance. The Regional
Economic Communities like Economic Community of Central African States
(ECCAS), Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community
(EAC), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU/UMA), The Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), Intergovernmental Authority on Development
(IGAD) and Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) are contributing
to the progress of integration.
Summits:
Since the inception of the African Union, India has been regularly
participating in its various Summits. India participated in the AU Summit in
Durban in July 2002 and in Maputo (Mozambique) in July 2003. At the Durban
and Maputo Summits, Shri Shashank, Secretary (EAA) carried a message
from Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, which was circulated to all the African
Heads of State/Government as a document. The Indian delegation to the 3rd
AU Summit in Addis Ababa in July 2004 was led by Sh. Rajiv Sikri, Special
Secretary (ER), and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent a message of
warm felicitations for the Summit. At the Sirte Summit (Libya) in 2005, the
Indian delegation was led by Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State for
External Affairs. The Indian delegation for the Khartoum AU Summit in
January 2006 was a small one, and the Indian delegation for the Summit held
in June-July 2006 in Banjul (Gambia) was a composite one led by Secretary
(West). For the AU Summit in January 2007 in Addis Ababa, the Indian
delegation from the MEA was led by Sh. Nalin Surie, Secretary (West) and
included JS (WA). 9th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly (AU
Summit) was held in Accra from 1 - 3 July 2007. The Indian delegation from
the MEA was led by Shri. K.C. Singh, AS (IO) and included JS (WA).
The 10th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union took
place in Addis Ababa Jan 31-Feb 02, 2008 whose theme was “Industrial
Development of Africa”. The Indian Delegation was led by Shri Anand
Sharma, MoS for External Affairs. In his Address to the Executive Council on
January 29, 2008 he announced the India Africa Forum Summit to be held at
New Delhi from April 4-9, 2008. He also met the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, a
number of HOS /HOG/EAMs and the Chairperson of African Union and
personally handed over the invitation of IAFS 2008 to them. MoS (AS) again
led the Indian Delegation to the 11th Ordinary Session of the Assembly at
Sharma-el Sheik, Egypt from June 26-29,2008 whose theme was “Meeting
the Millennium Development Goals on Water and Sanitation”. The 12th and
13th Ordinary Summits of AU were held at Addis Ababa in February 2009 and
at Sirte, Libya in July, 2009 respectively and were attended by Indian
Permanent representatives to AU.
Dr. Shashi Tharoor, MoS for External Affairs, participated in the 14th
Ordinary Summit of The African Union from 25th January to 2nd February,
2010, whose theme was “Information and Communication Technologies in
Africa: Prospects and Challenges for Development”. He attended the opening
ceremony of the Executive Council, called on the Ethiopian Prime Minister,
Foreign Ministers of a number of African states and Mr. Jean Ping,
Chairperson of AUC and discussed a number of matters of mutual interest.
During the visit, he also inaugurated the Tele-medicine facility at the African
Union Clinic which received wide publicity.
Extraordinary Summits:
India sent its Special Envoy, Shri Salman Kurshid for the Extraordinary
Summit held in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in September 2004. Mrs.
Shashi Tripathi, Secretary (West) led the Indian delegation for the AU
Extraordinary Summit held in Addis Ababa in August 2005, and also for the
Extraordinary Summit held in October 2005 in Addis Ababa. These were on
UN reforms.
India-Africa Forum Summit
The first ever India-Africa Forum Summit, attended by the countries
representing AU and the Regional Economic Communities of Africa, was held
in New Delhi on 8-9 April, 2008. Leaders of 14 African counties and the
African Union Commission participated. It represented a turning point in the
India- AU relations.
The Summit adopted the Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India
Framework for Cooperation, which constitute the blueprint for cooperation
between India and Africa in the 21st century. Under this new framework,
relationships will be further developed in the areas of trade, economy,
agriculture, education, science, technology, water management and human
resource development. Constructive discussions were also held on the issues of food and energy security, UN reforms and climate change. It was also
agreed that the next IAFS would be held in Africa in 2011.
India announced unilateral duty free and preferential market access for
exports from all Least Developed Countries, 34 of which are in Africa. The
scheme will cover 94% of India’s total tariff lines. Specifically, it will provide
preferential market access on tariff lines that comprise 92.55 of global exports
of all Least Developed Countries. Products of immediate interest to Africa
include cotton, cocoa, aluminium ores, copper ores, cashew nuts, cane sugar,
ready-made garments, fish fillets and non-industrial diamonds. India would
double its quantum of credit to USD 5.4 billion from the present USD 2.15
billion over next five years.
In order to enhance opportunities for African Students to pursue higher
studies in India, the Government of India has doubled long-term scholarships
for undergraduates, postgraduates and higher courses and increased the
number of training slots under our technical assistance programmes from
1100 to 1600 every year. The Prime Minster of India proposed that India and
Africa work towards the establishment of an India-Africa Volunteer Corps
which would be devoted to development work. The Volunteer Corps can, on a
pilot basis, identify projects in the areas of public health, informal education
and women’s empowerment and as we gather more experience, the scope of
activities can be progressively widened. Prime Minister also proposed to
enhance Indian aid to Africa by expanded concessional lines of credit and
undertaking projects against grants in excess of USD 500 million over the
next five to six years, focusing on human resource development and capacity
building. India will strengthen local capabilities by creating regional and pan –
African institutions of higher education, especially in pure sciences,
information technology and vocational education. India will also make
investments in research and development in renewable forms of energy and
agricultural development, through these institutions.
Several outreach events took place before or concurrent with the
Summit. These were(i) the first ever India-Africa Editors Conference;(ii) joint
performances by Indian and African cultural troupes; (iii) a seminar of
intellectuals from Africa and India on India-Africa Partnership on the 21st
century(vi) a programme for youth and women from Africa; and (v) a business
conclave.
Follow-up of India-Africa Forum Summit: Following visit of a high
level delegation from AUC to New Delhi, the Joint Action Plan, with a view to
implementing the decisions of the IAFS 2008, has been finalized & launched
on 10th March 2010 between the Government of India and the African Union.
The decision as to the location of the four Institutions viz, the India-Africa
Institute of Foreign Trade, India-Africa Institute of Information Technology,
India Africa Institute of Education Planning and Administration and India Africa
Diamond Institute besides 10 India-Africa vocational Training Centres and
construction of 5 prototype low cost houses is presenting being finalized by
the AUC. Responses have already started coming from the African Union in this regard. The award of first 75 of the total 300 PhD and maters
scholarships in the field of Agriculture is already underway and the scholars
selected from various African countries have already started reaching India to
pursue Ph.D and M.Sc courses. Under CV Raman International Fellowship
for African Researchers, applications have been invited from African
researchers. These will be short-term, fully-funded scholarships. FICCI has
been designated as the coordinating partner for this fellowship programme.
Pan-African e-Network Project:
The proposal for establishing the Pan-African e-Network Project was
made by the then President of India at the Pan-African Parliament in 2004
and is being implemented in conjunction with the African Union. The offer was
examined by the African Union in 2005 and the Advisory Committee to the
Chairperson concluded that the project would suit the requirements of Africa
in fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals.
The Project was inaugurated by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the then
Minister of External Affairs on February 26, 2009 from the TCIL Centre in New
Delhi. The process to implement the project was undertaken by establishing
a Steering Committee, which is co-chaired by the Commissioner for
Infrastructure and the India’s Permanent Representative to the African Union
(the Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia). An agreement between GOI and the
African Union was signed in New Delhi in October 2005 and seven meetings
of the Steering Committee have so far been held. The meetings are cochaired
by the Ambassador of India, who is also the Permanent
Representative of India to AU, with the Commissioner for Infrastructure
Development of AU. JS (WA) and representatives from IGNOU, TCIL, Amity
University also participate in the deliberations.
The project would use Indian expertise in information technology to
bring benefits of healthcare and higher education in Africa, including in remote
areas. The network will be connected by a satellite/fibre optical network for
tele-medicine, tele-education and VVIP connectivity. The current project cost
is about USD 116 million, which will be given as a grant by the Government of
India. It consists of 5 regional universities, 5 regional super specialty
hospitals, 53 learning centres, 53 remote hospitals and 53 VVIP nodes in all
countries of Africa. These will be linked to 7 universities and 12 super
specialty hospitals in India. Each country is required to sign an agreement
with the Indian implementing agency, Telecommunication Consultants India
Limited (TCIL).
On Indian side 5 Universities and all 12 Super Speciality Hospitals are
integrated with the project. On African side, 47 countries have singed
agreements with TCIL. So far 3 out of 5 regional universities have been
integrated with the e-Network which are Kwame/Nkrumah University of S&T
and University of Ghana, Mekerere University of Uganda and Younde University of Cameroon. The Ibadan Hospital of Nigeria has so far integrated
with the project.
Ethiopia was the first beneficiary of the project under a pilot project,
which was completed in 2007 at a cost of US$2.13 million. India has also
committed to provide tele-medicine, tele-education and VIP connectivity
facility at AU Commission in Addis Ababa. A tele-medicine Centre was
inaugurated by the then MOS (ST), Dr Shashi Tharoor on February 28, 2010
during his visit to Addis Ababa in connection with the 14th Summit of AU.
Pan-African E-network project was inaugurated in February 2009 by
the then External Affairs Minister of India. Another inauguration took place on
August 16, 2010 when Shri S.M. Krishna, External Affairs Minister of India
interacted live with 12 Ministers of African countries. 23 countries have been
covered by this network where the project has been fully implemented.
India is a member of the newly established AU Partners Group
(AUPG), which meets periodically in Addis Ababa.
Visit of Chairperson of AU Commission:
H.E. Dr. Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson of AU Commission paid an
official visit to India from 19-21 December 2006. He called on the President,
had meetings with the EAM, MOS (AS), and delivered a lecture at the Indian
Council of World Affairs (ICWA). He also visited TCIL and IGNOU and
observed the working of the Pan African tele-education project. On return, he
wrote to HOS/HOGs of all Member states on the importance of the project.
ITEC:
India has allocated 10 slots in the year 2008-2009 under the Indian
Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme to the AU
Commission personnel and all the slots have been fully utilized for the year
2007-09 and 2009-10.
Defence:
Among the various aspects of engagement with the African Union
Commission, their requirement for training and capacity building of their
nascent standby brigade, which were to be the building blocks of their
peacekeeping activities, are being discussed.
At the request of the AU commission, initial discussions on their
structures to be developed and capabilities to be enhanced were undertaken
between an Indian military delegation and the peace and security division of
the AU Commission in August 2006. The aim was to see how the Indian
experience can be shared with the AU’s efforts to enhance its own capacities
for peacekeeping operations in Africa.

Commemoration of 1st International Day of Non-Violence:

A joint commemoration of the 1st International Day of Non-Violence was held
on 2nd October 2007 at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa which
comprised of screening of a short film on Mahatma Gandhi and Millennium
Lecture on Mahatma Gandhi by His Holiness Abune Paulos, Patriarch of
Ethiopia, Archbishop of Axum and President of World Council of Churches.
The then Deputy Chairperson of African Union H.E. Mr. Patrick Mazimhaka
also addressed the gathering. The Ambassador also presented a photograph
of the bust of Mahatma Gandhi to be installed at the African Union
commission at that occasion.
Commissioner level visits:
Commissioner for Political Affairs and Commissioner for Infrastructure &
Energy participated in the Federalism Conference and India- Africa
Hydrocarbon Conference respectively in Nov. 2007. Commissioner for Rural
Economy & Agriculture participated in Avian Influenza Conference in Dec.
2007. Commissioner for Economic Affairs of AU participated in the
Partnership Summit 2008 in March 2008 and spoke on “ Ensuring Growth,
Making it Inclusive: The West Asian and African Views.” Deputy
Chairperson of AUC, Commissioner for Trade and Industry and
Commissioner for Infrastructure & Energy participated in the India Africa
Forum Summit in April 2008. Commissioner for Infrastructure attended Exim
Bank Conclave in Delhi in March, 2009.
Following the terrorist attack on Mumbai on 26th November, 2008 , the
Chairperson of the African Union Commission and S&T Commissioner sent
letters expressing their heartfelt condolences on the loss of life and property
and expressed their hope that given the resilience of the country, the scourge
of violence will be defeated with grit and determination. Deputy Chairperson of
AUC also expressed his condolences in person.

India and the Commonwealth

The London Declaration of 1949 established the modern Commonwealth. In 1965,
the Commonwealth Secretariat was established in London, which became the
association's independent civil service, headed by a Secretary-General.
2. India is the largest member state of the Commonwealth, with nearly 60% of the total
population of the association. It is the fifth largest contributor to the Commonwealth budget
and programmes. It provides the largest number of technical experts engaged by the
Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation extending assistance to developing
Commonwealth countries after the UK. India is a member of key Commonwealth bodies,
including the Steering Committee on Commonwealth Action Programme for the Digital
Divide (now renamed Commonwealth Connects), the Standing Committee on Terrorism,
Commonwealth Advisory Board on Sports as well as the Executive, Accreditation and
Grant Committees of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Board of Governors.
3. India hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 1983 in
New Delhi. India hosted the annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference
in 1957, 1975, 1991 and September 2007. India successfully hosted the Commonwealth
Youth Games in Pune in October 2008, Conference of Commonwealth Speakers and
Presiding Officers in January, 2010 and will host the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New
Delhi.
4. The present Commonwealth Secretary General, Shri Kamalesh Sharma assumed
office on April 1, 2008. He is the first Indian to be selected as the Secretary General of the
Commonwealth.
5. India’s contribution to the Commonwealth
a) India has contributed an amount of Euro 1 million to the Commonwealth Connects
Programme over the period 2006-09, as announced by Hon'ble PM at Malta
CHOGM in 2005.
b) India has increased its contribution to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical
Cooperation (CFTC) to £ 1 million in 2009-10.
c) In keeping with its commitment to the mandate, approved by the Commonwealth
Youth Ministers in the Bahamas in May 2006, Government of India has proposed to
undertake the responsibility for upgrading the physical infrastructure of the
Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre in Chandigarh and the Rajiv Gandhi
National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperambadur, which is estimated to cost
approximately £ 1 million.
d) India has decided to increase its contribution to the Commonwealth Joint office for
Small States Permanent Missions in New York to US$ 100,000 p.a. from 2007-08
and also initiated annual contributions for a new Small States Joint Office in Geneva
in 2010.
e) India supported and ensured approval of US $ 260,000 by the UN Democracy Fund
through its Advisory Board to the Commonwealth Local Government Forum for its
project on Councillor training for local democracy and good governance in South
Asia.
f) In the 60th Anniversary Year of the Modern Commonwealth in 2009, India
commemorated the event by release of a commemorative Stamps/First day covers
and commemorative coins which was distributed among the Commonwealth
leaders during the last CHOGM in Port of Spain in November 2009.
g) In 2010-11, India will be providing 250 slots under International Technical and
Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme specifically for Commonwealth
countries.
h) India has contributed US$ 120,000 to the Commonwealth Media Development Fund
for the period 2009-11.
Commonwealth’s Significance to India:
6. India has a natural partnership with the Commonwealth. It is a community of English
speaking countries. It has a preponderance of developing countries who want to promote
South-South cooperation. It is an association which puts a premium on democracy and
good governance, where India has so much to share with others. It provides a platform to
interact and build consensus with a very diverse group of countries, including G-8
countries like the UK and Canada, developing countries as well as Small Sates.
7. The Commonwealth is a unique international grouping with bulk of its membership
coming from 32 Small States/Island States. There is a great degree of genuine
appreciation among these States for India as the largest and a vibrant democracy and for
the high-technology advancement and economic progress India has achieved in the past
two decades.
8. A large number of Commonwealth countries also have a sizeable Indian population.
The promotion, maintenance and strengthening of healthy democratic institutions and rule
of law in these countries is relevant to India.
9. Though the UN remains the principal forum for multilateral action, the Commonwealth
is eminently placed in addressing many issues through its unique style of functioning which
is consensus-building, informality and goodwill. The informal ways in which dialogue is
conducted and decisions arrived at in the Commonwealth bodies provide a very good
basis for addressing common concerns on relevant international issues.

India- ASEAN Relations

India’s focus on a strengthened and multi-faceted relationship with ASEAN is an outcome of the significant changes in the world’s political and economic scenario since the early 1990s and India’s own march towards economic liberalisation. India’s search for economic space has resulted in our ‘Look East’ policy. ASEAN’s economic, political and strategic importance in the larger Asia-Pacific Region and its potential to become a major partner of India in trade and investment is a significant factor in our policy paradigms. ASEAN’s steady expansion westward to include Myanmar has also brought it to our land boundaries. It now provides a land bridge for India to connect with the ASEAN countries. ASEAN, on its part, seeks access to India’s professional and technical strengths. Our traditional friendship with the CLMV countries also makes India a valuable ally for promoting the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI).

2. India and ASEAN have convergence in their security perspectives. India have vital stakes in peace and stability in the region, including the security of the sea-lanes of the Indian Ocean for smooth flow of raw materials, merchandise and energy supplies. Since 1996, India has been an active participant in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

There has been steady progress in the India-ASEAN relationship since the policy was initiated in 1991. India became sectoral dialogue partners of ASEAN in 1992. In 1996, this was upgraded to full dialogue partnership. Since 2002, we have annual Summits with ASEAN – along with China, Japan and Republic of Korea. These political level interactions are further strengthened through the Senior Officials’ Meetings, as also specialised working groups in the various functional areas.

ASEAN now has a charter which came into force on 15th December, 2008. With the adoption of this charter, is functioning as an organization within and its relationship with the outside world has acquired a new institutional form. In terms of this charter, Sh. Biren Nanda, India’s Ambassador to Indonesia has been appointed as India’s Ambassador/PR to ASEAN in succession to Shri N. Ravi.

Trade and Investment

5. India ASEAN trade statistics (in US$ billion)

6. India-ASEAN trade amounted to US $ 43.90 billion in 2009-10 which saw a slight decline on account of global recession. The value of our exports was US $ 18.11 billion and that of our imports was US $ 25.79 billion. In keeping with the trend for the past few years, at the 7th Summit in Thailand, we have agreed to work for a target of US $ 70 billion by 2012.

7. The Framework Agreement for Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, signed in 2005, is at the heart of our economic engagement with ASEAN. The key elements of Framework Agreement on CECA cover FTA in Goods, Services and Investment as well as Economic Cooperation in identified areas. The major component of FTA viz. the Trade-in-Goods (TiG) agreement was signed at the ASEAN-India Economic Ministerial Meeting held on the sidelines of the 41st AEM in Bangkok on August 13, 2009 after six years of intensive negotiations. The TiG agreement has come into force with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei. For other ASEAN countries it would come into force when ratified by them. The next step in the Framework agreement is for conclusion of negotiations on Trade-in-Services and Investment Agreement for which a target date of March, 2011 has been agreed.

Ongoing Co-operation

8. ASEAN-India cooperation covers a wide field, including trade & investment, science & technology, (including IT, biotechnology, advanced materials, space sciences and their applications, etc), tourism, human resource development, transport & infrastructure, and health and pharmaceuticals. Some of the highlights of our cooperation are : -

(i) ASEAN and India have signed a Joint Declaration on Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism in October 2003 in Bali, and in the same year, India acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. The main forum for ASEAN security dialogue is the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). India has been attending annual meetings of this forum since 1996 and has actively participated in its various activities.

(ii) In the field of Pharmaceuticals and Health, during the official level India-ASEAN Working Group (AIWG) Meeting in October, 2008, a concept paper for cooperation in health and pharmaceutical sector was given to the ASEAN side. Similarly, an MOU submitted by Deptt. of AYUSH of India in the field of traditional medicine is also under consideration.

(iii) In the area of Human Resource Development Entrepreneurship Development Centres in Cambodia, LAO PDR, Vietnam and Myanmar have been established. Centres for English Language Training (CELT) have been set-up in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam while one in Indonesia is under process. India has also offered a number of ITEC/ICCR fellowships and training in various sectors.

(iv) Prime Minister has emphasized promotion of Tourism between India and ASEAN countries for realizing greater people to people contact. The Tourism Ministers of ASEAN and India held their second meeting on 25th January, 2010 and agreed to develop an India-ASEAN Tourism Agreement, Promotional chapter for tourism (APCT) and a familiarization trip from India to ASEAN. The MOU on Cooperation in Tourism Sector is under finalization.

(v) In the area of Information and Communication Technology, several activities have been completed in the past few years. TCIL is conducting a feasibility study on introduction of tele-education and tele-medicine in ASEAN countries.

(vi) With regard to People-to-people contacts, media, entertainment and sports, the media exchange programme entitled “ASEAN India Media Exchange Programme” was initiated to facilitate greater interaction and cooperation between ASEAN and India particularly in the area of media and information. Special Course for Diplomats from ASEAN Countries are conducted regularly at the Foreign Service Institute. The last one on 18 August-16 September 2010 where 31 diplomats from ASEAN countries participated in the course.

(vii) Under the agreed programme of Visit of 100 Students to India first batch of 50 student visited India on 10 days familiarization visit from 17-27 November 2008. The second batch of 50 ASEAN students visited India from 22 March to 2nd April 09. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has proposed the date of January, 2011 for the next batch of ASEAN Youth.

(viii) ASEAN Connectivity Initiative: An ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on ASEAN connectivity was issued on 24th October, 2009 at the 15th ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand to improve intra-ASEAN connectivity as well as connectivity with its dialogue partners. It called for developing an ASEAN Master Plan on regional connectivity through formation of a High level task force . It also called for completing an ASEAN ICT Master Plan in 2010 to improve connectivity.

We have achieved progress in the key area of connectivity. Today, there are over 215 direct and indirect flights every week between India and Singapore, 115 flights with Thailand and 50 with Malaysia. The work on the Trilateral Highway Project between India, Myanmar and Thailand is also progressing. ASEAN and India have also proposed to build a new highway India-Myanmar-Laos-Cambodia-Vietnam at the India-ASEAN Ministerial meeting held in July, 2010. Under Mekong-Ganga Cooperation programme an agreement has been reached to build Delhi-Hanoi rail link. Under ICT connectivity Optical Fibres have been laid upto Mandalay in Myanmar.

(ix) Open Skies Agreement: In pursuance of PM’s announcement at the 6th ASEAN Summit at Singapore on 21st November 07 on open skies agreement ASEAN proposed ASEAN-India Aviation Cooperation Framework that would lead to an eventual Open Skies Agreement (OSA) between ASEAN and India. A draft Air Services Agreement (ASA) based upon the framework has been considered at these meetings. It has been agreed to continue the negotiations through the Joint Working Group which wis expected to meet early next year.

India-ASEAN Economic Cooperation

9. Some of the ongoing/completed activites are : a. ASEAN-India Cooperation fund: Projects are undertaken through this fund, which is managed by the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. An amount of US $ 11,410,540 has been contributed by India, so far, under this fund. There are more than 40 projects under various stages of execution, some of which are as under: Collaborative R&D & Workshop on Thermally Sprayed Ceramic-based Coatings. Establishment of a Digital S&T Library in ASEAN countries. Human Resource Development in Free and Open Source Software. Establishing VSAT based Tele-Education and Tele-medicine network in CLMV countries Training of ASEAN Diplomats in India Establishment of Centres of English Language Training (CELT) and Enterpreneurship Development Centres (EDC) in CLMV countries. Space cooperation

b. ASEAN Development Fund: An amount of US $1 million was contributed by India to ASEAN Development Fund over a span of three years from 2005-07 to support the Vientianne Action Programme of the ASEAN countries.

c. ASEAN-India S&T fund: A fund with a US$ 1 million contribution from India has been established in India to promote joint collaborative R&D research projects in Science & Technology sectors. The first meeting of the General Council of the Fund was held on June 1, 2010 and approved four proposals for funding from S&T fund.

d. India-ASEAN Green Fund: An India-ASEAN Green Fund is proposed to be established with a corpus of US $ 5 million to promote adaptation and mitigation technologies in the area of Climate change in ASEAN countries. The rules of management of the Fund have been adopted at the 12th JCC Meeting held at Jakarta in May, 2010. The allocation of funds is being processed by the Ministry of Environment.

A deepening relationship

10. The India-ASEAN relationship has acquired maturity. The interest of the ASEAN in India has remained unabated since the former’s welcome of our ‘Look East Policy’. There is mutual recognition that strengthened India-ASEAN relations, which are rooted in deep historical and cultural ties, serve the interests of both India and ASEAN. The mutual desire to move ahead rapidly is also clear. The annual Summits are an unqualified success in building strong ties grounded in an impressive architecture of regional cooperation, for India’s benefit. An India-ASEAN Trade Fair and Business Summit in March, 2011 will be held at New Delhi. The annual dialogue with ASEAN viz. Delhi-dialogue-III would also be conducted at the same time. The ASEAN-India Economic Ministers have already announced the target date of March, 2011 for completion of our negotiations on the Trade in Services and Investment Agreement.

11. The 8th India-ASEAN Summit is scheduled to take place in Hanoi, Vietnam on 30th October, 2010. This would also be the first Summit after coming into force of India-ASEAN Trade-in-Goods Agreement on 1st January, 2010. The leaders will also share their thoughts on a series of events that have been planned in the next year leading to the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit in 2012. The India-ASEAN Vision 2020 document, taking into account the shift in global economy towards Asia, would also be unveiled at the Commemorative Summit. The discussions while taking stock of the relations would also cover new inititatives and see an exchange of ideas on global and regional issues.

General Overview of India - U.S. Relations

India-US relations have seen a remarkable transformation over the last decade. The recent bilateral visit of Prime Minister to Washington from November 22-26, 2009 as the first State Guest of President Barack Obama has reaffirmed the global strategic partnership between India and the United States. The two leaders have reaffirmed that the common ideals and complementary strengths of India and the United States provide a foundation for addressing the global challenges of the 21st century and resolved to build on these to expand the U.S.-India global partnership for mutual benefit, peace, stability and prosperity in Asia.

There is a broad political consensus across the spectrum in both the countries to strengthen the India-US relations as is evident from the fact that the transformation of our bilateral relationship which began with President Bill Clinton’s visit to India in March 2000 continued through President Bush’s tenure with the summit meetings in July 2005 in Washington D.C. and in March 2006 in New Delhi. The signing of Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy by both countries on October 10, 2008 reflects culmination of the transformation process. India-US relationship is based on both principle and pragmatism which points to a much more durable and multi-faceted relationship for the future.

The historic inauguration of President Barack Obama as first African American President of the United States of America on January 20, 2009 was warmly welcomed and celebrated in India. President Obama, in his greetings on India’s 60th Republic Day, underlined the shared belief in democracy, liberty, pluralism, and religious tolerance of the two countries and to work together to advance peace, prosperity, and stability around the globe.

In recent years, there have been close and frequent contacts at political and official levels. There is now a wide-ranging dialogue on global, regional and bilateral issues of mutual interest between the two countries.

Prime Minister’s visit to USA in November 2009

Prime Minister visited Washington from November 22-26, 2009 at the invitation of President Obama as his first State Guest. The visit focused on the common interests and shared values in a strategic partnership of global relevance and reflects the vision and resolve of the two leaders to embark upon a new phase in their bilateral partnership. The visit marked the first bilateral Summit between India and the United States after the elections in America last November and our Parliamentary elections this year. In their meeting on November 24, which was also attended by Minister for External Affairs Shri S.M.Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Prime Minister and the US President reviewed all aspects of the India-US bilateral relationship including the progress of the Strategic Dialogue that was announced during the visit of Mrs.Clinton to India on July 20, 2009. Prime Minister conveyed to the President that the rapid socio-economic transformation underway in India holds several opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries and that India is in a position to contribute to global economic recovery, combat poverty and underdevelopment, and provide stability to a region plagued by terrorism and violent extremism. Eight MOU/MOIs were signed between the two sides during the visit.

President Obama and Mrs.Obama hosted the state dinner in honour of Prime Minister and wife and the Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State Clinton jointly hosted a well-attended lunch in honour of PM and his delegation. Apart from the US Secretary of State Mrs.Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Energy Secretary Dr.Steven Chu, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also called on Prime Minister. Prime Minister invited President Obama to visit India in 2010, which the US President has accepted.

Prime Minister had met President Obama for the first time in London in April 2009 on the sidelines of G-20 Summit. He met the President again in L’Aquila in Italy and also during the G-20 Summit in Pittsburg, USA in September 2009. Earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited India in July 2009 and had launched a new Strategic Dialogue with EAM.

Major Areas of Cooperation

Recognizing the new heights achieved in the India-US relationship over the last two Indian and US Administrations, India and the United States are committed to pursue a new phase of the relationship that will enhance global prosperity and stability. A Joint Statement titled “India and the United States : Partnership for a Better World” was issued by Prime Minister and President Obama on November 24th 2009, which highlights the main areas of cooperation. Both the leaders recognized that the India-US partnership is indispensable for global peace and security and acknowledged the common threat that international terrorism poses to regional and global security. The Statement also focused on trade and investment, clean and efficient energy, science and technology, space, high technology, education, health, agriculture and counter-terrorism. The two sides launched a Knowledge Initiative with a total funding of USD 10 million that will be allocated to increasing university linkages and junior faculty development exchanges between U.S. and Indian universities and they also agreed to launch the US-India Financial and Economic Partnership to strengthen engagement on economic, financial and investment related issues.

Both the leaders reaffirmed their intention to move ahead and operationalize the provisions of the Civil Nuclear Agreement at the earliest and also agreed to consult regularly and seek the early start of negotiations on a multilateral, non-discriminatory and internationally verifiable Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty at the Conference on Disarmament. They further committed themselves to strengthen and reform the global economic and financial architecture in the G-20, World Bank and the IMF, and to achieving genuine reform of the United Nations including in its Security Council in a manner that reflects the contemporary realities of the 21st century.

Cooperation in the field of education, space, and science & technology was further enhanced with the concluding of a Science and Technology Endowment Agreement and also signing of the space related Technology Safeguards Agreement. Greater cooperation is also envisaged on energy security and climate change, focusing on increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy and also to work together with other countries for positive results in the UNFCCC Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December 2009. An MOU to “Enhance Cooperation on Energy Security, Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy and Climate Change” was signed between the two sides on November 24, 2009.

Secretary Clinton and External Affairs Minister established a "Strategic Dialogue" during the former’s visit to India in July 2009, to be pursued by bilateral working groups of five principal fields viz; Strategic Cooperation on nonproliferation, counter-terrorism and military; Energy and Climate Change; Education and Development on education and women’s empowerment; Economics, Trade and Agriculture on business, trade and food security; and Science and Technology, Health and Innovation on major technologies and global health challenges which will lead to more focus on areas of common interest. The two sides signed a Technology Safeguards Agreement that will allow India to launch satellites containing US parts on its satellite launch vehicles for non-commercial purposes. They also established a $30 million Science and Technology Endowment for various related projects. Agreement was also reached on End-Use Monitoring Language to be used in letters of offer and acceptance for defence procurements. It is expected that this will facilitate greater defence cooperation.

Both the countries are striving to increase and diversify bilateral economic relations and expand trade and investment flows and as members of G-20, are working together with other major economies to foster a sustainable recovery from the global economic crisis.

Other recent high level visits

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited India from 17-21 July, 2009. This was the first high-level political contact between India and the US since the formation of the new Government in Delhi. Earlier, in her speech at the 34th anniversary of the USIBC on 17th June in New York, Secretary Clinton spelt out her vision for the next phase of the India-US relations. She mentioned that the US saw “India as one of the few key partners worldwide who will help us shape the 21st century.” She has termed the next phase as being the “third era of the US-India relations” which would have four platforms of cooperation –global security, human development, economic activity and science and technology.”

Minister of Home Affairs, Shri P.Chidambaram, visited New York and Washington from September 8-11, 2009. During his visit he met various dignitaries, including Secretary of State , Treasury Secretary, Secretary, Dept.of Homeland, Attorney General, FBI Director , National Security Advisor and some Senior Senators.

External Affairs Minister met US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton on September 25, 2009 on the sidelines of the UNGA. They reviewed the progress in bilateral relations since the visit of Ms.Clinton to India in July this year and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest

There were other high level visits during this year, including NSA, Commerce & Industry Minister, Human Resource Development Minister, Minister for Environment and Forests, Minister for Non-Conventional & Renewable Energy, FS and SEPM. From the US side, apart from Secretary Clinton, NSA General James Jones, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Deputy Secretary of Defence William Lynn have visited India.

India-US Economic Relations

The growing economic partnership between the US and India has been one of the pillars of the transformed bilateral relationship. In the Joint Statement issued on November 24, 2009, during Prime Minister’s state visit to Washington, Prime Minister and President Obama agreed to launch the India–US Financial and Economic Partnership to strengthen bilateral engagement on macro-economic, financial, and investment-related issues.

India has emerged as a thriving market for US exports, which nearly tripled in value between 2004 and 2007. The upward trend has continued in 2008, though at a slower rate and declined in 2009 due to the global economic downturn. The total trade during 2008 was US$43.4 billion (India’s exports to US –25.7 and US exports to India-17.7) as compared to US$21.6 billion (15.5 + 6.1) in the year 2004. The total trade during January – August 2009 was US$24.4 billion (13.6bn + 10.8bn). Major US exports to India include aircraft and aviation-related products, fertilizers, other machinery, precious stones and metals, organic chemicals, optical and medical instruments. Major components of India’s export to the US include gems and jewelry, textiles, pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals, engineering goods and, since last year, iron & steel products.

The US is the third largest source of foreign direct investments in India. Cumulative FDI inflows from USA till July 2009 were $ 9.71 billion. The FDI inflows from USA to India increased from US $502 million in 2004-05 to US $1.80 billion in 2008-09. The sectors attracting FDI from USA are Fuels (Power and Oil Refinery), Telecommunications, Electrical equipments (including computer software and electronics), Food Processing Industries and service sector. According to the India Brand Equity Foundation, investments from India to US in 2006 were estimated at around US$ 2 billion and rose sharply in 2007 to touch US$ 13 billion. In 2007-08 alone, an estimated US$ 10.25 billion was invested by Indian companies in the US. Consequently, by industry estimates, an additional 65,000 jobs were created in the US in diverse sectors (steel, chemicals, hotels, beverages, automobile). According to a report by FICCI, the number of disclosed deals involving acquisitions by Indian companies in USA during 2007-08 and 2008-09 were 55 and 24 respectively and the values were $4.432 billion and $960 million respectively. The most active sectors were IT and IT enabled services, followed by manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Anand Sharma visited Washington (16-18 June 2009) and participated in the 34th Anniversary Summit of the US-India Business Council (USIBC). He visited again during 13-15 October, 2009 to attend the Global Services Summit. Minister for Textiles Shri Dayanidhi Maran visited Las Vegas during August 29-31, 2009 to inaugurate the India Pavillion at the MAGIC Apparel Fair. The US Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk, visited New Delhi for an informal WTO Ministerial in September 2009 and again in October 2009 for the India-US Trade Policy Forum meeting. Minister for Road Transport & Highways Shri.Kamal Nath visited the US from 11-12 September, 2009. Minister of State(I/C) for Environment & Forests, Shri Jairam Ramesh,visited Washington from September 30 to October 02, 2009. Dr.Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New & Renewable Energy attended the India-US Energy Partnership Summit in Washington in September 2009. Dr.Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, visited Washington on different occasions during the year to participate in World Bank meetings and G-20 Sherpa meetings. Numerous other visits from both sides took place during the year 2009, including several official level delegations and trade missions.

India – US Defence Cooperation

During PM’s visit, both Governments agreed to continue pursuing mutually beneficial defence cooperation through the existing security dialogue, service-level exchanges, defence exercises and trade and technology transfer and collaboration.

The ‘New Framework for India-US Defence Relationship’ signed between the two sides on June 28, 2005 and the India-US ‘Framework for Maritime Security Cooperation’ signed in March 2006 have added a new dynamism to the Indo-US defence ties. Under the Framework for Defence Cooperation, six Joint Working Groups are functioning.
Joint Exercises between the three Services of both countries have improved in scale and frequency since the signing of the New Framework. From the US, India has presently contracted for defence equipments such as radars, maritime patrol aircraft, transport aircraft, anti ship missiles etc.

The present Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited India from February 26-27, 2008 and our Raksha Mantri Shri A.K.Antony visited Washington from September 7-10, 2008. Admiral Timothy Keating, Commander, US Pacific Command visited India during 13-15 May 2009. The new PACOM Commander Admiral Willard visited India in early December 2009. CoAS visited Washington in July 2009.

During the recent visit of Secretary of State Clinton to India from 17-21 July, 2009 the End use monitoring arrangements for high-end defence procurements from USA was agreed to, which would further take the bilateral defence relationship forward.

India - US Space Cooperation

The U.S. – India Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation is the forum for discussions on joint activities in space. India signed a landmark agreement with NASA at their Ames Research Centre on 28th July 2008 to carry out lunar exploration. India's first unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-I was successfully launched from Shriharikota on 22nd October, 2008 and carried two NASA payloads - a Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar to map ice deposits in the moon's surface and a Moon Mineralogy Maper to assess mineral resources of the Moon. A Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) signed with the US on July 20, 2009 in New Delhi during the visit of US Secretary of State, will open up fresh opportunities for India in the field of space launches and will facilitate the launch of non-commercial US satellites and satellites with US components on Indian launch vehicles. US has subsequently approved launch of ALSAT-2A and 2B satellites by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

A Letter of Intent was signed between ISRO and NASA on November 18, 2009, on Oceansat-2 collaboration, on the sidelines of the 6th Plenary session of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in Washington. The Oceansat-2 was successfully launched by ISRO from Sriharikota on September 23, 2009 using PSLV. This would enable the US agencies to receive Oceansat-2 data for research, education etc.

Dr. G Madhavan Nair, Chairman ISRO met NASA Administrator Charles F Bolden on 17th Sept 09 and discussed about future cooperation between the two organizations The M3 instrument from NASA on Chandrayaan-1 has identified water molecules on Lunar surface.

India-US Cooperation in Education sector

India-US Education Dialogue was announced by India and US Governments on July 20, 2009 during the visit of US Secretary of State to India. Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD), Shri Kapil Sibal, led a delegation to New York and Washington during 25-31, October 2009 with a view to explore partnerships with top US Universities for establishing fourteen new Innovation Universities in India.

‘Amartya Sen Fellowship Fund’ was instituted in December, 2008 at Harvard University for fellowships for deserving students from India. Indian study centers have been established at University of Pennsylvania, South Asian Initiative in Harvard, India Initiative in Yale. Government of India has taken many initiatives such as “Promotion of Indian Higher Education Abroad (PIHEAD)” program and awarding fellowships, including through the corporate sector; teaching of Ayurveda in US medical schools; and Indo-US Cooperation on E-Learning. In academic year 2008-09, there were 103,260 students from India studying in the United States, constituting 15.4 % of total foreign students in the USA.

During the visit of Prime Minister to Washington, both Governments launched the “Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative” with funding from both sides to increase university linkages and junior faculty development exchanges between US and Indian universities. On July 4, 2008, India and the US signed a new bilateral Fulbright Agreement, that supersedes the Fulbright Agreement operating since 1950 with U.S. funding. Under the Agreement, the Government of India and the United States will implement the scholarship programme as full partners with scholarship amount of US$5 million awarded annually. For 2009-10, there were total of 89 American Fulbright-Nehru students and scholars who went to India to teach or pursue research. A total of 72 Indian Fulbright-Nehru students and scholars came to the US to teach or pursue research.

Indo-US Cooperation in Science & Technology

India and the US signed a Science & Technology Agreement on October 17, 2005 that deals with IPR issues and provides for joint research and training, and the establishment of public-private partnerships. A $30 million Science & Technology Endowment for various related projects was established during the visit of Secretary of State to India on 20 July 2009. The 11th annual governing body meeting of the India-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), was held at National Institute of Health, Bethesda, USA during 7-8 December, 2009. An MoU for “Earth Observations and Earth Sciences” has been signed between Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in April, 2008 and the first Joint Executive Meeting (JEM) was held during 6-7 October 2009 in New Delhi. The 6th Steering Committee Meeting of Methane to Markets (M2M) partnership was held at Washington DC during 10-11 September 2009 and was represented by India. A delegation from India attended the XXXII Antartica Treaty Consultative Meeting and XII Committee for Environmental Protection meetings held in Baltimore, USA, from 16-17 April, 2009.
Indo-US Cooperation in the Health Sector

During the visit of Secretary of State Clinton to India during July 2009, a “Health Dialogue” was established between the two countries, which forms part of the “Indo-US Strategic Dialogue.” US National Institute of Health (NIH) has eight collaborative programmes with DBT, DST & Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR); NIH awarded over 100 research projects to India in 2008; Indo-US Centre for Research on Indian System of Medicine (CRISM) established at University of Mississippi, USA in April 2009; Teaching of basic courses on Ayurveda in different U.S Medical Schools as Continued Medical Education (CME) course by experts nominated by the Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The Dept.of Biotechnology in collaboration with Indo-US S&T Forum and Stanford University has formulated Stanford-India Bio-design program for development of implants and medical devices. US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) opened two offices in New Delhi and Mumbai in January 2009.

During the recent visit of PM, an “Agreement for access to Traditional Knowledge Digital Library” was signed between CSIR, India and US Patent & Trademark office on November 23, 2009, to prevent misappropriation of traditional knowledge belonging to India, at international patent offices. A Memorandum of Intent between US Dept. of Health and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GOI, was signed on November 24, 2009. This envisages to set up a Global Disease Detection Centre in Delhi.

The US Health & Human Services Secretary, Michael O.Leavitt visited India during 7-12 January 2008.

Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism

Duri ng the visit of PM in November 2009, the India-US Counter-terrorism Cooperation Initiative was initialed between the two countries, which would expand collaboration on counter-terrorism, information sharing and capacity building. Prime Minister and President Obama expressed their grave concern about the threat posed by terrorism and violent extremists emanating from India’s neighborhood, and agreed that resolute and credible steps must be taken to eliminate safe havens and sanctuaries that provide shelter to terrorists and their activities. JWG on Counter Terrorism was established in January 2000 and in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008, both sides have reiterated their commitment to combating terrorism. The 11th meeting of the JWG was held in Washington on 17 June 2009.

Cultural ties.

Indian music, dance, art and literature are widely appreciated in the United States. Kennedy Centre in collaboration with Indian Council for Cultural Relations [ICCR] is organizing the “Festival of India’” in March 2011 focusing on established as well as emerging artists and art forms including all of the performing arts. Apart from live shows, exhibitions and lecture-cum-demonstrations, the Kennedy Center will also showcase the Festival of India through educational programmes that reaches into schools through satellite and internet. As in the past, the Embassy organized events marking major Indian festivals, which were well attended, including by American nationals.

Indian Press

The major agencies PTI and IANS have their representatives in Washington DC; several leading dailies also have correspondents based here [Times of India, Telegraph, Economic Times]; others have stringers [Pioneer, Indian Express and New Indian Express and major magazines like Outlook and The Week]. The TV channels represented in Washington are Times Now, CNBC TV-18 and ZEE TV [through a tie-up with VOA]. NDTV has their full-time correspondent based in New York.

People-to-people Ties
The 2.7 million strong Indian American community in the United States has been growing in affluence and political strength and has developed into a force for closer and stronger ties between their adopted country and their nation of origin. The community has played a significant role in the successful passage of the Henry J. Hyde Act by the U.S. Congress and eventually signing of the Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. A number of Indian Americans are occupying high level posts of Governor, Senators/Representatives of State Legislatures and in the Federal Administration. Their active cooperation and interaction at different levels with the Government of India as well as with the U.S. Administration provides a bridge between the two countries