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.
West Bengal Panchayat Results 2023: Mamta's big victory, but who will get an edge in 2024?
The ruling Trinamool Congress has won a major victory in the West Bengal Panchayat Election Results in West Bengal. The party is moving ahead with a victory of more than 12518 seats. This election
Joint Statement of India and Egypt; The world should stop giving shelter to terrorism, another Muslim country's indirect warning to Pakistan
India and Egypt have appealed to all the countries of the world not only to stop giving shelter to any kind of terrorist organizations and terrorists but also to take steps to eliminate them from
IOC, BPCL, HPCL lost 19,000 crores due to non-raising fuel prices for 5 months, Moody's released report
Petroleum Companies: Petroleum companies have not increased the prices of fuel for 5 consecutive months, due to which the oil companies have suffered heavy losses. The country's top-3 petroleum
Bigg Boss 18: Rajat Dalal and Shehzada Dhami had a huge fight, Shehzada said- 'Will you say sorry'
This time in 'Bigg Boss-18', fitness influencer Rajat Dalal, who has become famous for his fights and controversies on social media, has entered. The audience was expecting from the beginning that
Hardik's message for the next World Cup: Forget defeat, correct mistakes... youth have a chance, to prove themselves
India captain Hardik Pandya has given a message to the team in the T20 series on the New Zealand tour. He said on Wednesday – We should forget the defeat and move forward and rectify the
'God saved me' When Trump remembered the attack at the Republican Party's convention, he said- If I had not moved my head...
Donald Trump's attack Politics is at its peak in the wake of the presidential election in America. Biden and his administration have been on the back foot since Republican presidential candidate
India no longer a reluctant engager: Deputy NSA
New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) “India is not a reluctant engager any more” and is engaging more proactively across the geopolitical spectrum, Deputy National Security Advisorr Arvind Gupta
Fear over Corona in Delhi, CM Arvind Kejriwal calls emergency meeting
Because of the fast-growing cases of Corona in the capital Delhi, CM Arvind Kejriwal has called an emergency meeting on Corona today. In this meeting, the Chief Minister will review the Health
Diesel Export Tax Hike: Center hikes windfall tax on export of diesel, cuts tax on domestic crude
The central government has increased the windfall profit tax on diesel. At the same time, aircraft fuel has again been brought under its purview. According to the notification issued by the Finance
Vodafone Idea Gives Relief To These Prepaid Users, Will Be Able To Recharge Through SMS And Missed Call
New Delhi, Tech Desk. Telecom operator Vodafone Idea has introduced a new service for its 2G feature phone users. Under this, feature phone users will be able to recharge their number through SMS and
