Parliament Question: Diplomatic response to Geopolitical Tension

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 2131 ANSWERED ON-01/08/2025 DIPLOMATIC RESPONSE TO GEOPOLITICAL TENSION 2131. ADV. GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has reviewed India's diplomatic response to recent geopolitical tensions in neighbouring regions, including the evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific, if so, the details thereof; (b) the steps taken to safeguard India's strategic interests and the security of Indian citizens abroad; (c) whether there have been any recent high-level engagements or bilateral meetings with major global powers to address these challenges, if so, the details thereof; (d) the measures taken to strengthen position of India in multilateral forums like the United Nations, G20 and BRICS; 1(e) the steps being taken to ensure the welfare and safety of Indian students and diaspora in conflict-affected or politically unstable countries; and (f) whether the Government proposes any new initiatives to boost India's global image and expand its diplomatic outreach in the coming year, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI PABITRA MARGHERITA) (a) The Government calibrates its diplomatic approach with the evolving regional and geopolitical developments, to safeguard and promote India’s national interests, by deepening defence & security cooperation, furthering economic & commerce ties, developmental assistance and productive collaboration with various countries. India’s “Neighbourhood First Policy”, and the broader MAHASAGAR vision serve as the guiding principles in the neighborhood. India envisages a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region built on a rules-based world order, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, freedom of 2navigation and over-flight, unimpeded lawful commerce, peaceful resolution of disputes, as well as equality of all nations. (b) and (e) To safeguard its strategic interests, India has entered into multifaceted partnerships with the several countries with the broad objective of enhancing political ties, furthering diplomatic interests, strengthening national security, greater economic and investments growth, securing energy resources, SDGs, deepening people-to-people ties, expanding cooperation in technology & innovation, infrastructure development and increased global influence. The Government accords utmost priority to the welfare and safety of Indian nationals including Indian students, particularly in conflict-affected or politically unstable countries. As such, we have established mechanisms like walk-ins, emails, multilingual 24x7 emergency numbers, grievance redressal portals like MADAD, CPGRAMS, eMigrate and social media etc to address the concerns. Further, there are bilateral agreements in place with the Gulf countries to address some specific issues of labour and manpower, and also to promote welfare and protection of Indian workers. The Government actively monitors developments and issues advisories. During emergency or crisis 3situations, our Missions/Posts abroad proactively help distressed/stranded Indian nationals by providing consular assistance, food, shelter, medicine and return passage to India. The Government is always prepared to take additional steps, including arranging flights for rescue operations. Some of the recent evacuation missions are Vande Bharat Mission, Operation Devi Shakti, Operation Ganga, Operation Kaveri, Operation Ajay, Operation Indravati etc. (c) The details of high-level visits in last four months are at Annexure. High level visits are established means to foster closer relations with foreign countries and promote India’s engagements at bilateral, regional and global level. Through such visits, India serves its national interests, safeguards its strategic interests, implements foreign policy objectives as well as strives for promoting safety, security and welfare of Indian citizens abroad. (d) India is committed to multilateralism and strategically utilizes various multilateral forums to secure its national interest. At the UN, India furthers its areas of interest in a proactive manner, including through its leadership role in realizing several landmark initiatives. These efforts have resulted in greater collaboration and closer engagement with partner countries. India’s G20 Presidency from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 42023 provided an opportunity for highlighting its development initiatives and to focus on the developmental priorities and concerns of the Global South at G20. The G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration reflected ambitious and action-oriented outcomes, including accelerating progress on SDGs, green development and Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) initiative, promoting accelerated and inclusive growth, reforming multilateral institutions, technological transformation through deployment of digital public infrastructure and women-led development. India’s participation at BRICS, provides it with the advantage of furthering India’s strategic goals and initiatives including reform of global governance and strengthening of multilateralism. In the recently concluded 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, BRICS countries have called for reform of the Bretton Woods institutions including IMF and WTO and comprehensive reform of the UN including its Security Council with a view to making it more democratic, representative, effective and efficient. (f) India will continue enhancing its global standing through diplomatic outreach in key areas including a human-centric approach to development, reform of global governance structures, climate and environmental action etc. in line with its vision of “One Earth, One Family, One Future”. 5Annexure Visits by foreign dignitaries to India during the last four months Sl. No. Country Period of Visit 1 H.E. Brigadier (ret’s) Mark Philips, 04th to 07th March Prime Minister of Cooperative Republic 2025 of Guyana 2 H.E Christopher Luxon 16th to 20th March Prime Minister of New Zealand 2025 3 H.E. Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime 17th to 19th March Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs 2025 and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg 4 H.E. Mihai Popsoi, Deputy Prime 17th to 19th March Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs 2025 of the Republic of Moldova 5 H.E. Dr. Eduardo Martinez Diaz, Deputy 17th to 19th March Prime Minister of Cuba 2025 6 H.E Gabriel Boric Font 01st to 05th April President of the Republic of Chile 2025 67 H.E Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin 08th to 09th April Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of 2025 Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, UAE 8 H.E. Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime 11th to 12th April Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs 2025 and International Cooperation of Italy 9 H.E. James David Vance 21st to 24th April Vice President of the United States of 2025 America 10 H.E. Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco 02nd to 04th May President of the Republic of Angola 2025 11 H.E. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime 29th to 30th May Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs 2025 of New Zealand 12 H.E. Santiago Peña 02nd to 04th June President of the Republic of Paraguay 2025 713 H.E. Murat Nurtleu, Deputy Prime 05th to 06th June Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs 2025 of Kazakhstan Details of visits undertaken by the Prime Minister during the last 4 Months Sl. No. Country Period of Visit 1 Mauritius 11th to 12th March 2025 2 Thailand and Sri Lanka 03rd to 06th April 2025 3 Saudi Arabia 22nd April 2025 4 Cyprus, Canada and Croatia 15th to 18th June 2025 5 Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, 02nd to 09th July 2025 Argentina, Brazil and Namibia 6 United Kingdom and Maldives 23rd to 26th July 2025 8Details of visits undertaken by the External Affairs Minister during the last 4 Months Sl. No. Country Period of Visit 1 United Kingdom and Ireland 04th to 09th March 2025 2 Netherlands, Denmark, 19th to 24th May 2025 Germany 3 France, European Union and 08th to 14th June 2025 Belgium 4 USA 30th June to 02nd July 2025 5 Singapore and China 13th to 15th July 2025 ***** 9