MoS Defence represents India at 80th Victory Day celebrations in Moscow
India on Saturday (May 10, 2025) thanked the government and people of Russia for their support in India's fight against the 'menace of state-sponsored cross-border terrorism.' This was conveyed by Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth to Russian Deputy Defence Minister Colonel General Alexander Fomin in Moscow.
Mr. Seth represented India at the Victory Day (May 8) celebrations to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory (against Nazi Germany and its allies) of the Soviet Union in the Second World War. He also called on Russian President Vladimir Putin and extended congratulations for the 80th Victory Day, a Defence Ministry statement said.
The statement added: 'The two Ministers also discussed multifaceted military and military-technical cooperation and agreed to further deepen ties within the framework of existent institutional mechanisms. The two sides will continue to hold regular consultations and enhance cooperation in the evolving situation.'
Mr. Seth also interacted with prominent members of the Indian diaspora at the Indian Embassy in Moscow.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
41 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Increase in anti-dumping duty by U.S. on Indian shrimp a cause for concern
Andhra Pradesh has requested the Government of India (GoI) to solve the problem caused by an increase in anti-dumping duty imposed by the U.S. on Indian shrimps from 1.35% to 3.96% with retrospective effect from 2023-24, which entails a burden of ₹600 crore on seafood exporters from the State. Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, AP Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker and State Aquaculture Advisory Committee (SAAC) member K. Raghu Ramakrishna Raju and AP State Aquaculture Development Authority (APSADA) Co-Vice-Chairman Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu requested the Union Ministers of Finance, and Industry & Commerce to resolve the issues faced by seafood exporters in India by diplomatically engaging with the shrimp importing countries, particularly the U.S. He insisted on inclusion of harmonised system codes of Indian shrimp under the exemption list in order to protect the livelihood of lakhs of farmers and workers, and prevent the collapse of the sector that significantly contributed to the Gross State Domestic Product. SAAC recommendations They said the SAAC studied the issues that cropped up after the U.S. imposed the reciprocal tariffs on seafood exports from India, and came up with short, medium and long-term strategies for sustainability of the sector. The short-term measures included a reduction in the input costs such as lowering the power tariffs, waiver of import duties on brood-stock and feed to ease production pressure, waiver of 5% GST on packaged shrimp to unlock local consumption, stabilising farm gate prices, securing access to the European Union (EU) and small markets, enhancing export compliance by ensuring strict implementation of traceability for the sake of reducing export rejections, and leveraging re-export potential by activating fish re-export hubs and streamlining the port clearances. Mr. Ramakrishna Raju said the medium-term strategies recommended were to enforce 100% registration of farms, tackle trade barriers, promote cluster farm management, and expand product lines by incentivising ready-to-eat / cook shrimp for premium global markets. The long-term strategies included achieving brood-stock sufficiency, species and market diversification, and strengthening bio-security institutional reforms quality compliance. Mr. Venkata Ramana Reddy said the department had completed geo-tagging of all the existing 2.07 lakh aquaculture ponds and 3,800 aquaculture business units in the State and assigned 11-digit unique codes. A traceability app intended to create a digital platform with a central dashboard, real-time monitoring and analytics was in the process of development. APIIC Chairman M. Rama Raju was among others present.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Indian govt report in 2022 foresaw China rare earth export crisis
As Indian manufacturers are scrambling to deal with supply-chain disruptions caused by China's restrictive policies on the export of rare earth metals, in many of which it has a near monopoly, experts are pointing to an early warning of this — in a 2012 strategy paper prepared by a steering committee headed by the then mines secretary Vishwapati Trivedi after a similar crisis caused after Beijing restricted supplies of the critical materials that are needed in the auto, space and clean energy industries. Also Read: 'China deal done': US to lower tariffs to 55%, allow Chinese students for higher ed Back then, they added, India felt the heat of Chinese squeeze and on August 9, 2011, the government set up an 11-member steering committee to develop a strategy paper on status and availability of rare earth elements (REE) and energy critical elements (ECE). The committee was chaired by the mines secretary and co-chaired by chairman of the Centre for Study of Science Technology (C-STEP). Members included senior officials and experts from the Department of Science & Technology (DST), the Geological Survey of India, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the Department of Atomic Energy, the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) and the chairman of India Rare Earth Ltd. Also Read: China can't afford double standards in fight against terror: S Jaishankar The forward of the committee's report titled ''Rare Earths and Energy Critical Elements: a Roadmap and Strategy for India', published in July 2012, said: 'In view of the increased demand of REE and near monopoly of supply from China, there is a need to develop national policies and implementation strategies for ensuring indigenous supply of REE… A Steering Committee was constituted by the ministry of mines with the ultimate intention of preparing a strategy paper for the government, providing short, medium and long term options along with proposals for specific policy & legislative interventions.' Also Read: 'Gratitude to Indian Navy': China on rescue of crew aboard cargo ship which caught fire off Kerala coast The report was blunt about Beijing's approach. 'China has been the major supplier of rare earths all over the world. Even though it has only 37% of global RE resources, it has captured the worldwide market to the extent of 97%. The low cost and efficient production process enabled China to monopolize the rare-earth market, forcing rare earth operations around the world to close down. Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL), which was once a leader in export of rare earth compounds had to shut down its operation in 2008,' the report added. 'Over the last couple of years China has imposed restrictions and curtailed its export by over 30% citing domestic demands as the reason. This unexpected decline has restarted rare earth operations once again throughout the world,' the report said. The same thing is happening again. Indian industries are suffering due to shortage of the critical minerals. According to a Reuters report published in Hindustan Times on Wednesday, automobile majors such as Maruti Suzuki have cut near-term production targets because of rare earth shortages. 'Government departments, particularly the ministry of commerce and industry, are holding hectic meetings with industry and other stakeholders to resolve the supply crisis. Government is using diplomatic channels asking Beijing to relax supply curbs for the Indian industries,' one of the people mentioned in the first instance said. The ministries of mines, commerce and external affairs did not respond to an email query on this matter. China's curbs on exports of rare earth materials have been officially raised through diplomatic channels by India, especially in view of the impact on manufacturers of electric vehicles, people familiar with the matter said. The issue reportedly figured in a meeting between Indian ambassador Pradeep Rawat and China's vice foreign minister Sun Weidong in Beijing on June 5. 'China's move was primarily aimed at the US and the impact on India was collateral damage. We are hopeful that the matter will be resolved soon,' one of the people said. It is not clear how China's deal with the US —the two countries reached a framework agreement that will now have to be approved by their respective Presidents —will affect this. The matter is expected to figure in discussions during a visit to India by Sun Weidong, a former Chinese ambassador to New Delhi, beginning on Thursday, the people said. Sun is visiting India to continue discussions with foreign secretary Vikram Misri aimed at normalising bilateral ties following the end of the military face-off in the Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) last October. Auto manufacturers affected by the curbs on rare earth exports too have sought to reach out to Chinese authorities but without much success so far, the people said. Two days after India and China reached an understanding on withdrawing forces from the two remaining 'friction points' on the LAC last October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met in the Russian city of Kazan and agreed to revive several mechanisms to restore normalcy in ties and to address the long-standing border dispute.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
SC junks Pakistani Christian's plea for citizenship ignoring CAA cut-off
Supreme Court NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain the plea of a Goa-born Pakistani Catholic man, who sought a direction to the Centre to allow him citizenship under Citizenship Amendment Act , 2019 citing religious persecution in Pakistan even though he arrived in India six years after the Jan 2014 cutoff date. Jude Mendes, who was born in Goa to a Pakistani national in 1987 but completed his studies at Karachi in Pakistan, arrived in India in 2016 on a long-term visa which has been extended till June this year and even got his Aadhaar card made in 2020. He married an Indian woman in February this year. Three days after the Pahalgam terror attack on tourists by Pak-backed terrorists, India on April 25 cancelled all kinds of visas given to Pakistani nationals. However, long term visas, which Mendes has, have not been revoked. Mendes' visa expires on June 20. Advocate Raghav Awasthi told a partial working day bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan that "the Petitioner is born in India and is a Roman Catholic which being a minority community is heavily persecuted in Pakistan. He cannot travel to Pakistan to renew his passport which is expiring on 20.06.2025 due to the threat to his life and that therefore, he ought to be granted extension of his long-term visa. " The petitioner said in the event of his deportation to Pakistan, the petitioner who was born in India and now lawfully married to an Indian citizen, would face imminent threat to his life because of extreme religious persecution in Pakistan. At present he works as a chef in Goa. But the bench said that he would have to move the Bombay HC for the relief he is seeking. The petitioner's lawyer withdrew the plea to move the HC. Under CAA, India had resolved to grant citizenship to those individuals from minority communities who have been persecuted in neighbouring countries on the ground of religion. However, the law stipulated that they should have entered India prior to Jan 1, 2014.
