Executive Summary:
The Indian government has been actively strengthening diplomatic ties with neighboring countries and strategic partners. This involves high-level visits, bilateral agreements, and strategic dialogues. Indian missions abroad are taking measures to safeguard the rights and welfare of Indian citizens, including migrant workers. The government is responsive to complaints and grievances from Indians abroad.
Key Points / Main Content:
Diplomatic Ties & Foreign Policy:
* India is enhancing political ties, diplomatic interests, national security, economic links, investments, energy security, SDGs, people-to-people connections, technology innovation, and infrastructure development.
* India aims to advance the interests of the Global South and deepen defense and maritime security cooperation through economic and developmental assistance.
* India is committed to regional well-being and progress as a first responder and net security provider, guided by the Neighbourhood First Policy, MAHASAGAR outlook, and extended neighborhood approach.
High-Level Visits:
* High-level visits foster closer relations, promote India’s engagements, serve national interests, and implement foreign policy objectives.
* These visits enhance understanding of India’s perspectives and strengthen relations with partner countries.
* India promotes its viewpoint on global issues such as multilateralism, peace, security, transnational crime, terrorism, and cybersecurity.
* Details of visits by foreign dignitaries, the Prime Minister, and the External Affairs Minister since August 2023 are listed in Annexures I, II, and III, respectively.
Citizen Welfare & Grievance Redressal:
* The government prioritizes the welfare and safety of Indian nationals abroad, including students, especially in conflict-affected or politically unstable countries.
* Mechanisms include walk-ins, emails, multilingual 24/7 emergency numbers, and grievance redressal portals like MADAD, CPGRAMS, eMigrate, and social media.
* Bilateral agreements with Gulf countries address issues related to labor, manpower, welfare, and protection of Indian workers.
* Missions/Posts abroad provide consular assistance, food, shelter, medicine, and return passage during emergencies, including rescue operations like Vande Bharat Mission, Operation Devi Shakti, Operation Ganga, Operation Kaveri, Operation Ajay, Operation Indravati etc.
Impact Analysis:
Indian Citizens Abroad:
* Impact: Ensured safety, welfare, and grievance redressal through various mechanisms.
* Action Required: Utilize available resources (helplines, portals) to report grievances and seek assistance.
Indian Missions Abroad:
* Impact: Mandate to safeguard the rights and welfare of Indian citizens, especially migrant workers.
* Action Required: Proactively assist distressed/stranded nationals with consular support, resources, and repatriation efforts.
Neighboring and Strategic Partner Countries:
* Impact: Enhanced diplomatic relations and opportunities for collaboration across sectors like political ties, economic growth, security, and technology.
* Action Required: Engage in dialogues and collaborations to strengthen relationships and address global issues.
Government of India (Ministry of External Affairs):
* Impact: Responsible for implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of diplomatic initiatives and citizen welfare programs.
* Action Required: Continue prioritizing diplomatic engagements, providing support to Indian missions, and ensuring timely responses to citizens' grievances.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of External Affairs: The Indian government ministry responsible for the country's foreign relations.
Neighbourhood First Policy: India's diplomatic initiative to prioritise relations with its immediate neighbours.
MAHASAGAR: India's vision for the Indian Ocean region, emphasizing cooperation and collective responsibility for maritime security.
Global South: Refers to countries typically characterized as developing or less developed, often in the Southern Hemisphere.
Vande Bharat Mission: A large-scale evacuation operation undertaken by the Indian government to repatriate Indian citizens stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Operation Ganga: An evacuation operation by the Indian government to bring back Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
United States of America: A major strategic partner country of India
European Union: Important trading partner of India
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 3406
ANSWERED ON - 08/08/2025
DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES
3406. SHRI AASHTIKAR PATIL NAGESH BAPURAO
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has taken recent initiatives to strengthen
diplomatic ties with neighbouring and strategic partner countries;
(b) if so, the details of high-level visits, bilateral agreements, or strategic
dialogues held during the last two years;
(c) the measures being taken by Indian missions abroad to safeguard the
rights and welfare of Indian citizens, especially migrant workers; and
(d) whether any complaints or grievances from Indians abroad have
increased in recent years, if so, the steps taken to address them
effectively?
1ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI PABITRA MARGHERITA)
(a) India has entered into multifaceted partnerships with the many
countries with the broad objective of enhancing political ties, furthering
diplomatic interests, strengthening national security, greater economic
links and investments growth, securing energy resources, promoting
SDGs, deepening people-to-people ties, expanding cooperation in
technology & innovation, infrastructure development and advancing the
interests of the Global South.
India continues to make efforts to deepen defence and maritime
security cooperation, catalyzed by economic and developmental
assistance, to safeguard its interests and look forward to productive
collaboration with other countries in the region and beyond. India also
upholds its commitment to the well-being and progress of nations in the
region as first responder and a net security provider, based on our
“Neighbourhood First Policy”, MAHASAGAR outlook, and on our approach
to the extended neighborhood.
2(b) 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
interest and implements foreign policy objectives. These visits have
enhanced understanding of India’s perspectives on regional and global
issues among foreign partners at the highest level. Understandings
reached during these visits have enabled India to strengthen relations
with partner countries and put forward India’s viewpoint and shape the
agenda on global issues such as reformed multilateralism, peace and
security, transnational crime, terrorism, cyber-security etc. while also
offering the world India’s own unique solutions to partners for addressing
global issues. These visits and the understandings/agreements reached
therein enable India to strengthen relations with partner countries across
a wide range of sectors. The details of visits undertaken by the foreign
dignitaries, Prime Minister as well as External Affairs Minister during the
last four months are at Annexure-I, Annexure-II & Annexure-III.
(c) & (d) 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
3emergency 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 situations, 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.
4Annexure-I
Visits by foreign dignitaries to India since August 2023
Sl. No. Country Period of Visit
1 H.E. Murat Nurtleu, Deputy Prime Minister 05th to 06th June 2025
& Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Kazakhstan
2 H.E. Santiago Peña 02nd to 04th June
President of the Republic of Paraguay 2025
3 H.E. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime 29th to 30th May 2025
Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs of
New Zealand
4 H.E. Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco 02nd to 04th May 2025
President of the Republic of Angola
5 H.E. James David Vance 21st to 24th April 2025
Vice President of the United States of
America
6 H.E. Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister 11th to 12th April 2025
& Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation of Italy
7 H.E. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin 08th to 09th April 2025
5Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of
Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
of Defence, UAE
8 H.E. Gabriel Boric Font 01st to 05th April 2025
President of the Republic of Chile
9 H.E. Dr. Eduardo Martinez Diaz, Deputy 17th to 19th March
Prime Minister of Cuba 2025
10 H.E. Mihai Popsoi, Deputy Prime Minister 17th to 19th March
& Minister of Foreign Affairs of the 2025
Republic of Moldova
11 H.E. Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime Minister, 17th to 19th March
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign 2025
Trade of Luxembourg
12 H.E. Christopher Luxon 16th to 20th March
Prime Minister of New Zealand 2025
13 H.E. Brigadier (ret’s) Mark Philips, Prime 04th to 07th March
Minister of Cooperative Republic of 2025
Guyana
14 H.E. Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of 27th to 28th February
the European Commission 2025
615 H.E. Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Prime 20th to 21st February
Minister of Bhutan 2025
16 H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad AL Thani, 17th to 18th February
Amir of the State of Qatar 2025
17 H.E. Prabowo Subianto, President of The 23rd to 26th January
Republic of Indonesia 2025
18 H.E. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President 14th to 18th January
of The Republic of Singapore 2025
19 H.E. Anura Kumara Disanayaka, President 15th to 17th December
of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri 2024
Lanka
20 His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel 05th to 06th December
Wangchuck, King of Bhutan 2024
21 H.E Pedro Sanchez, President of the 27th to 29th October
Government of Spain 2024
22 H.E. Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federal 24th to 26th October
Republic of Germany 2024
23 H. E. Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, President of 06th to 10th October
the Republic of Maldives 2024
24 H.E. Dr. Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of 30th September to
7Jamaica 03rd October 2024
25 H.H. Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin 08th to 10th
Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu September 2024
Dhabi
26 H.E Dato’Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime 19th to 21st August
Minister of Malaysia 2024
27 H.E. Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of 30th July to 01st
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam August 2024
28 H.E. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the 21st to 22nd June 2024
People’s Republic of Bangladesh
29 H.E. Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Prime 14th to 18th March
Minister of Bhutan 2024
30 H.E. Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis 21st to 22nd February
2024
31 H.E. Emmanuel Macron, President of the 25th to 26th January
French Republic 2024
32 H.E Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik, the Sultan 15th to 17th December
of Oman 2023
33 H.E. Dr. William Samoei Ruto President of 04th to 06th December
the Republic of Kenya 2023
834 H.E Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of 08th to 10th October
the United Republic of Tanzania 2023
35 H.E. Ms. Raquel Pena, Vice President of 03rd to 05th October
the Dominican Republic 2023
36 H.E. Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin 09th to 11th
Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince & Prime September 2023
Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
9Annexure-II
Details of visits undertaken by the Prime Minister since August 2023
Sl. No. Country Period of Visit
1 United Kingdom and Maldives 23rd to 26th July 2025
2 Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, 02nd to 09th July 2025
Argentina, Brazil and Namibia
3 Cyprus, Canada and Croatia 15th to 18th June 2025
4 Saudi Arabia 22nd April 2025
5 Thailand and Sri Lanka 03rd to 06th April 2025
6 Mauritius 11th to 12th March 2025
7 France and United States of 10th to 13th February 2025
America
8 Kuwait 21st to 22nd December 2024
9 Nigeria, Brazil and Guyana 16th to 21st November 2024
10 Russia 22nd to 23rd October 2024
11 Lao PDR 10th to 11th October 2024
12 United States of America 21st to 23rd September 2024
13 Brunei Darussalam and 03rd to 05th September 2024
Singapore
1014 Poland and Ukraine 21st to 23rd August 2024
15 Russia and Austria 08th to 10th July 2024
16 Italy 13th to 14th June 2024
17 Bhutan 22nd to 23rd March 2024
18 UAE and Qatar 13th to 15th February 2024
19 United Arab Emirates 30th November to 01st
December 2023
20 Indonesia 06th to 07th September 2023
21 South Africa and Greece 22nd to 25th August 2023
11Annexure-III
Details of visits undertaken by the External Affairs Minister since August
2023
Sl. No. Country Period of Visit
1 Singapore and China 13th to 15th July 2025
2 USA 30th June to 02nd July 2025
3 France, European Union and 08th to 14th June 2025
Belgium
4 Netherlands, Denmark, 19th to 24th May 2025
Germany
5 United Kingdom and Ireland 04th to 09th March 2025
6 South Africa 20th to 21st February 2025
7 United Arab Emirates 27th to 29th January 2025
8 Spain 13th to 14th January 2025
9 United States of America 24th to 29th December 2024
10 Qatar and Bahrain 06th to 09th December 2024
11 Italy 24th to 26th November 2024
12 United Arab Emirates 14th November 2024
13 Australia and Singapore 03rd to 08th November 2024
14 Pakistan 15th to 16th October 2024
1215 Sri Lanka 04th October 2024
16 Saudi Arabia, Germany and 08th to 13th September 2024
Switzerland
17 Kuwait 18th August 2024
18 Maldives 09th to 11th August 2024
19 Lao PDR and Japan 25th to 30th July 2024
20 Mauritius 16th to 17th July 2024
21 Kazakhstan 04th July 2024
22 Qatar 30th June 2024
23 United Arab Emirates 23rd June 2024
24 Sri Lanka 20th June 2024
25 Singapore, Philippines and 23rd to 27th March 2024
Malaysia
26 Republic of Korea and Japan 05th to 08th March 2024
27 Australia 09th to 10th February 2024
28 Uganda and Nigeria 19th to 23th January 2024
29 Iran 14th to 15th January 2024
30 Nepal 04th to 05th January 2024
31 Russia 25th to 29th December 2023
1332 United Kingdom 11th to 15th November 2023
33 Portugal and Italy 31st October to 03rd November
2023
34 Kyrgyz Republic 25th to 26th October 2023
35 Vietnam and Singapore 15th to 20th October 2023
36 Sri Lanka 10th to 12th October 2023
37 United States of America 22nd to 30th September 2023
*****
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