Gandhinagar, Jan 10 (IANS) Ahead of the three-day Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi here Saturday held bilateral meetings with numerous visiting dignitaries, including Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Polish Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechociski.
Trade and economic ties and terror and security concerns were the major strands in Modi's meetings on the margins of the summit that kicks off Sunday, said sources.
Modi also held talks with Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb and with New South Wales Premier Mike Baird. Among the others he met were British Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Ian Livingston, Singapore Trade and Industry Minister S. Iswaran and a Japanese delegation.
During the talks with Tobgay, both sides reviewed their close contacts and the high level visits of last year. Modi had made Bhutan the first stop of his bilateral visits abroad.
Both sides also discussed the digital initiatives like an e-library and reviewed the hydropower projects and other development partnerships.
They discussed the "excellent security cooperation" including in recent times, following the recent violent events in Assam. Both sides agreed that cooperation and coordinating efforts is the best way to proceed, the sources added.
With Poland the major issues discussed were the possibilities for defence cooperation through the Make in India Initiative of the government as also the possibilities of cooperation in the mining sector.
With Livingston, the issue of the India-EU free trade agreement, known as Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), came up for discussion.
Despite several rounds of negotiations that began in 2007, the proposed India-EU BTIA, covering trade in merchandise, services, and investment, has not yet been concluded.
The other issues discussed were terrorism threats to open societies following the terror incidents in Sydney and the Charlie Hebdo incident in Paris.
With the Australian team, the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) came up for talks. Both sides have so far held the sixth round of talks on the CECA, negotiations for which were launched in May 2011.
They also discussed the Make in India Initiative Road Show being planned in Australia.
The recent terror incident in Sydney where a lone gunman held many people hostage in a cafe in December, that ended with three people, including two hostages, killed also was discussed.
With Singapore Minister Iswaran, the topic of smart city initiatives came up for discussion, while with the Japanese delegation both sides felt the need to move quickly on doubling investment.
The Vibrant Gujarat Summit, a flagship programme of the Gujarat government, kicks off Sunday. It will see the participation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Over 50 CEOs of top Indian as well as international companies are to participate in the summit while eight countries, including the US, Canada and Japan have for the first time become partner nations for the summit.
The summit, to be held at Mahatma Mandir, will host seminars and facilitate business to business meetings with the investors.
The biennial event was launched by Modi in 2003 while he was Gujarat chief minister to attract investment into the state.
Strict decisions in Haryana: bus fare increases, corona cess on liquor, market fees on vegetables, petrol and diesel expensive
Chandigarh, The Haryana government has taken several very tough decisions to improve the economic condition of Corona. In the state cabinet meeting, decisions were taken which would put many economic
"Positive Cases Working In Buildings": Amazon Fires Employee After Protests Over Virus Fears In US
न्यूयॉर्क: अमेज़ॅन के गोदाम कर्मचारी और इंस्टाकार्ट डिलीवरी कर्मचारी
Ukraine Helicopter Crash: Major helicopter accident in Ukraine, 16 people including Home Minister died
A major helicopter crash has taken place in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The helicopter crashed on Wednesday in Brovary Town outside Ukraine's capital Kyiv. 16 people including Ukraine's Interior
Diwali Bonus: Government's gift to central employees, Finance Ministry announces to give Adhoc bonus on Diwali
The Finance Ministry has announced Non-Productivity Linked Bonus (Adhoc Bonus) to Central Government employees on the occasion of Diwali. Under this, all eligible employees will get 30 days salary.
Delhi government presents Rs 69,000 crore 'patriotic budget' for FY 2021-22
Delhi Budget 2021-22: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Delhi on Tuesday presented a proposed budget of Rs 69,000 crore based on 'patriotism' for the financial year 2021-22. Presenting the
Pushkar Singh Dhami Oath Ceremony: Pushkar Singh Dhami will take oath as CM today at 2.30 pm, PM Modi will also be present
Pushkar Singh Dhami will take oath as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand for the second consecutive time on Wednesday. Dhami will be the 12th Chief Minister of the state. This program is being
Gunfight erupts in Kashmir
Srinagar, Feb 27 (IANS) A fierce gunfight began Friday evening between two militants, holed-up in a house, and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said.A joint team of
Moto G 5G: India's cheapest 5G smartphone launch, will compete with this mobile
Motorola has launched the lowest priced 5G smartphone in the Indian market. The company has priced it's 5G smartphone Moto G 5G at Rs 20,999. Only one variant of this has been introduced. However, 5G
CSK vs PBKS Predicted Playing XI: Chennai and Punjab will have a great match, see 'Kings' playing XI
CSK vs PBKS Predicted Playing XI: The 38th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will be played between Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings on 25 April today. The match between the two teams
Chemical attack on girl students in Iran: Hundreds were poisoned to prevent them from studying, mothers protested, pulled them by hair, arrested
Some videos of Iran are going viral on social media. In these, police are seen arresting women by pulling their hair. It is being told that these are the mothers of the girls who are currently