Sushma Swaraj arrives in Hanoi, starts four-day visit to Vietnam, Cambodia

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Hanoi on Sunday night as part of her four-day visit to Vietnam and Cambodia, which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with the two key nations in the ASEAN region.

India's ties are on an upswing with the two major countries in the powerful ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) grouping.

India has been particularly scaling up its cooperation with Vietnam in areas of maritime security and energy.

"Hon'ble External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj arrives in Hanoi on a three day visit to Vietnam (26-28 August 2018)," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Ravish Kumar tweeted.

In Vietnam, Swaraj will co-chair the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission, along with the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Doklam row resolved through diplomatic maturity without losing ground: Govt

The India-China face-off over Doklam was resolved through "diplomatic maturity without losing any ground" and status quo has been maintained, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday.

Swaraj told the Lok Sabha that the main objective of the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan was to ensure mutual comfort, mutual understanding and mutual trust between the two leaders and all the three objectives have been achieved.

"We have resolved the Doklam issue with diplomatic maturity without losing any ground. There is no change in the status quo (on the ground). There is not an iota of change. The face-off at sight has been resolved on August 28, 2017," she said during Question Hour.

Sikh woman on Pak pilgrimage converts to Islam, marries Lahore man: Reports

A Sikh woman pilgrim from Punjab's Hoshiarpur district has reportedly converted to Islam and married a Lahore-based Pakistan national, reports reaching her family in Punjab have indicated.

Kiran Bala, daughter of Manohar Lal, wrote to the Pakistan Foreign Office that her visa should be extended as she married one Mohammad Azam, a resident of Lahore, during a ceremony held at Jamia Naeemia seminary in Lahore on April 16, The Express Tribune reported.

She went to Pakistan on her Indian passport with Pakistan visa valid till April 21.

Her old father-in-law, Tarsem Singh, alleged on Thursday that his daughter-in-law could have fallen into the hands of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and may have been forced to convert and remarry there.

39 Indians killed in Iraq's Mosul; govt didn't listen to survivor in 2015

All the 39 Indians who were abducted by ISIS in Iraq nearly three years ago were killed, and their bodies had been recovered, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday. Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh will be flying to Iraq to bring back their mortal remains to India on a special flight.

As many as 40 Indians were originally abducted by the terrorist organisation ISIS in June 2014 from Mosul in Iraq but one of them escaped by posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh, Swaraj said in a suo motu statement in the Rajya Sabha. The remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badoosh and killed.

Search operations led to a mound in Badoosh where locals said some bodies were buried by the ISIS. Deep penetration radars were used to establish that the mound indeed was a mass grave, Swaraj said, adding that the Indian authorities requested their Iraqi counterparts to exhume the bodies.

From 'Shalom Bollywood' to seeing the Taj: Netanyahu to land in India today

Six months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic visit to Israel, first ever by any Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation, his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu is arriving in India today for a six-day state visit.

The Israeli Prime Minister, who is the second Prime Minister from his country after Ariel Sharon to visit India in the last 25 years of a diplomatic relationship, will be accompanied by a 130-member delegation from various sectors including cyber, agriculture and defence.

Later in the day, he will call on External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj.

The visiting dignitary, on Monday, will be given a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan which will be followed by the wreath laying at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi.

Netanyahu will also meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and hold delegation level talks.

The two sides will sign agreements and also issue a joint press statement. The Israeli Prime Minister will call on President Ram Nath Kovind later in the day.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife Sara, will leave for Agra to see Taj Mahal. On the same day, he will visit Delhi and participate in the Raisina Dialogue, where he is scheduled to deliver an inaugural speech.
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Hyderabad woman seeks MEA help to bring daughter back from Saudi Arabia

A Hyderabadi woman on Monday appealed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to bring her daughter stranded in Saudi Arabia's Dammam back to India.

Rayeesa said her daughter Safora Begum used to work as a lab technician here when a visa agent lured them of a better job opportunity in Dammam.

"The visa agent said that they will make the passport for free and offered a good job in Hospital in Saudi. Their names were Sammi and Musa. They send my daughter to Dammam but did not provide any job. She was instead forced to work in a house as a maid," Rayeesa told ANI.

Narrating her ordeal, Rayeesa said they made several appeals to the visa agents to bring her back but they refused.

Rayeesa claimed that her daughter was being tortured and harassed in Dammam.

"They shifted my daughter to two to three places. One day, she surreptitiously ran away from the house and approached the Indian embassy for help. Later, the owner reached there and promised that they will send her back, but they did not do anything," she added.

The disappointed mother has now urged Swaraj to help in bringing her daughter back
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Sushma seeks probe into dead Indian American child's adoption process

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday sought a thorough probe into adoption process of the three-year-old Indian American girl Sherin Mathews who has died in Texas,

Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she has requested Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi "for a thorough investigation into the adoption process of Baby Saraswati SherinMathews who has been killed by her foster father Wesley Mathews in the US".

She also said that she has asked Anupam Roy, Consul General of India in Houston, to ensure that the murder of Sherin was taken to a logical conclusion.

Police in Texas charged Wesley Mathews after he admitted that the child choked while he was making her drink milk and died in their home in Texas, according to court documents.

He had earlier told police that Sherin disappeared when he made her stand in a lane behind their house in Richardson city at 3 a.m. on October 7 as punishment for not drinking milk.

After nearly two weeks of searching by police using drones, her body was found on Sunday in a ditch near their house in the city near Dallas. While the search was going on, Mathews stuck to the story about Sherin's punishment and mysterious disappearance.
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Top developments: Swiss couple attacked in Fatehpur Sikri; 5 held

One of the two Swiss tourists attacked and badly injured near Agra five days ago was discharged from Delhi's Apollo Hospital on Thursday even as five people, including three minors, were taken into custody for the crime. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who visited Agra, promised better security for tourists.

Sushma seeks report

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said while Marie Droz had been discharged from the hospital, her male friend Quentin Jeremy Clerc's condition was improving. The Swiss embassy in New Delhi confirmed the October 22 attack and said it was providing them consular services.

The ugly attack took place when the young couple was walking alongside a train track in Fatehpur Sikri near Agra. Clerc was left with a fractured skull and several bruises.

Senior Superintendent of Police Agra, Amit Pathak, said late on Thursday evening that five persons, including three minors, have been taken into custody for the crime.

Sushma Swaraj sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh government on the assault. Minister of State for Tourism KJ Alphons expressed deep concern.

"You would kindly appreciate that such incidents negatively impact our image and are detrimental to our efforts in promoting India as a tourism destination," Alphons told the Chief Minister in a letter.
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39 Indians abducted by ISIS in 2014 still alive: Govt

India is in touch with all the countries which can help in locating 39 Indians, believed to have been abducted by terrorist outfit ISIS in Iraq in 2014, the government said today.

Responding to a question on the issue, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said Sushma Swaraj had met representatives and families of these 39 Indians early this month.

"We are in touch with all nations who are helping us or who can help us. All possible steps are being taken. As of now we have the information that the people are alive. We have no such information to suggest that they are not alive," Baglay said.

The families said they had last heard from the men on June 14, 2014, when they all called home to say they were being taken away by ISIS fighters.
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Amazon withdraws flip-flops bearing Mahatma Gandhi's picture

Latest News - After Amazon withdrew a Tri-coloured doormat offensive to Indian sensitivities from its Canadian platform in the face of warnings by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the e-commerce major has now also pulled out flip-flops bearing the picture of Mahatma Gandhi, a senior official said on Thursday.

"We have been in touch with Amazon both in Washington as well as in Delhi and we have had constructive conversations," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in his media briefing here.

"I am happy to report that the offending item has since been pulled by Amazon and we hope that our engagement will continue to be fruitful," he added.

Earlier this month, Amazon Canada kicked off a row by putting up (Read More)