India and Mauritius

India and Mauritius on 12 April 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in New Delhi on cooperation in the field of Election Management and Administration. The MoU was signed by Chief Election Commissioner of India, V.S. Sampath and the Electoral Commissioner of Mauritius, Mohammad Irfan Abdool Rahman.

Aims of MoU Signed

• Promotion of exchanges of knowledge and experience in electoral processes

• Exchange of information, materials, expertise and training of personnel

• Production and distribution of materials pertaining to electoral systems, voting technology, voters’ education as well as awareness and participation of women and minorities in electoral process

The MoU is a great landmark that will help in strengthening and deepening of the mutual collaboration between the Election Commission of India and Electoral Commissioner’s Office of Mauritius. Electoral Commissioner of Mauritius appreciated Indian Model Code of Conduct by Election Commission of India and acknowledged that Model Electoral Code of Mauritius drew inspirations with it. So far, Election Commission of India has successfully signed seventeen MoUs with Election Monitoring bodies of different nations across the world. Latest MoUs signed by ECI are with UNDP, Venezuela, Republic of Korea and Egypt.

India and Finland

A fourteen member Delegation from Finland led by Marja Rislakki, State Secretary Ministry of Employment & Economy of Finland met with an Indian delegation led by Lakshmi Panabaka, Minister of State, MoPNG Government of India on 15 April 2013. The delegation from both countries during their meet identified several ideas of collaboration in sustainable development between the two countries for mutual benefits in the Oil and Gas Sector.

Some of the basic Areas identified include

• Projects on Solar Energy applications for Oil & Gas Projects

• Projects on Solar Energy applications for Biofuels & Algae based biofuels research and water and waste water management

• Carbon capture & reformation

• Finland‘s Green Growth & Groove programme for suitable application to Indian Scenario and Academic Institutions/Universities for collaborative R&D projects in areas of low carbon growth technologies and sustainable development.

Following the conclusions reached after the meet of the delegations it’s likely that a Memorandum of Understanding can be taken up between the Governments of the two countries in the near future. The collaboration between the two MoPNG and Finland Government can be in the areas of sustainable development for mutual benefits in accordance to the agreement, respective laws and regulation of the two nations.

India and Mongolia

The 4th Meeting of the India-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation was held in New Delhi on 21 March 2013. It was jointly chaired by E. Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs of India, and Luvsannyam Gantumur, Minister for Education and Science of Mongolia.

The Joint Committee reviewed the entire range of issues in India-Mongolia relations. The Indian side conveyed that Indian companies were interested in playing a larger role in the Mongolian mineral processing and mining industry, and expressed the hope that a favourable environment for their operations could be created. The Indian side reiterated its support for Mongolia’s development processes and reaffirmed that it is modernizing the Rajiv Gandhi Polytechnic College of Production and Art in Ulaanbaatar. The Indian side is also considering setting up a milk processing plant in Mongolia. Implementation of the Line of Credit of US $20 million extended by India to Mongolia for setting up an India-Mongolia Joint Information Technology Education and Outsourcing Center in Ulaanbaatar was discussed. Discussions during the Joint Committee Meeting also focused on continuation of joint military exercises, the proposed visit of an Indian business delegation to Mongolia this summer, the possibility of launching air services between India and Mongolia and the establishment of an India-Mongolia Joint School. The 5th Meeting of the Joint Committee on Cooperation will be held in Mongolia in 2014.

India and Tajikistan

The Vice-President of India, Hamid Ansari was on an official visit to Tajikistan from 14 April to 18 April 2013 and was accompanied by a high-level delegation that included Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries and four Members of Parliament. During this visit of the Vice-President, the two nations discussed on several issues and agreed on working together towards strengthening the ties between the two countries, like, human resource development, academic exchange and promote joint research and project work between both the Tajik Technical University and IIT, Delhi and more.

Some of the important issues on which discussions were made and agreed upon

• Regional Security Issues: Exchange of views on maintenance of regional peace and security by strengthening cooperation with each other. Discussions on strengthening Afghanistan’s capacity towards maintenance of peace and prosperity were also made. As well as cooperation on security issues as well as in countering cross-border terrorism were also discussed.

• Strengthen the Strategic Partnership: Leaders of both the nations agreed to focus on the welfare of the people of both the nations, with a common approach.

• Strategic Partnership in strengthening the relations in energy sector, health, IT, education as well as establishing the small and micro industries in the country
  Agreements Reached

• Increasing Trade: The leaders of both the nation identified the areas, in which trade can be further extended. They also identified the issue of fine-tuned connectivity between the two countries as the barrier.

• Trans-Afghan Corridor: Leader’s of both the countries agreed on opening the trans-Afghan corridor for to facilitate easy access of trade to and from the land-locked country. This proposed route will come via Afghanistan and Pakistan

• Agreement was also reached over strengthening relations in mining, information technology enabled services and medical sectors.

Hamid Ansari, is the first Vice-President of Indian Union to visit Tajikistan. Before this visit of Hamid Ansari to Tajikistan, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon visited India in 2012 and during the same visit the bilateral relationship between the two countries was elevated to the strategic partnership level.

India and Malta

On 8 April 2013, India and Malta signed the new DTAA (The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement) at Valetta, Malta during the visit of Preneet Kaur, Minister of State for External Affairs of India. Once the DTAA enters into force, it will stimulate the flow of capital, technology and personnel between both the countries and will further strengthen the economic relationship. It also provides tax stability and reduces any obstacles in providing mutual cooperation between India and Malta.
DTAA and the Protocol between the Republic of India and Malta for the avoidance of double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income is in force since 8th February, 1995. Both India and Malta have renegotiated the Agreement to bring in line with international standards, change in domestic laws and changed economic scenario.