14 AUGUST 2015

Ø  Despite facing unexpected opposition from the U.S. to its bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, India plans to make a go of it. The U.S. and these other countries cannot veto U.N. reform, which will be decided by the General Assembly, where each country has one equal vote,” an official source told The Hindu. “We are confident that if India’s candidature is presented there, we would win the seat easily.

Ø  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s itinerary for his trip to the UAE will include a visit to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Modi will visit the largest mosque in the UAE on August 17, the second and final day of his visit, an External Affai Rs. Ministry spokesman said. During the trip, the Prime Minister will spend considerable time interacting with the Indian community and visit the International City Abu Dhabi, a massive labour camp that houses 26,000 workers, most of whom employees of hotels or industrial companies. A large portion of the 2.6 million Indians in the UAE are from Bihar and many are Muslims. Mr. Modi is visiting the UAE on the invitation of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Noting that it was the first visit of a Prime Minister to the UAE in 34 years, Mr. Modi said he was certain that it would boost people-to-people ties.

Ø  Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz will visit India for talks with his counterpart, Ajit Doval, on August 23, he confirmed at a press conference in Islamabad.

Ø  Investment in infrastructure, oil imports and ironing out troubles over the planned Chabahar port development project are on the agenda as Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif meets the government in Delhi. Mr. Zarif, who successfully negotiated the nuclear deal with the P-5 and EU countries, is in India as part of a “briefing tour” to speak about the deal. He will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Mr. Zarif will also call on Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who had served as Ambassador to Iran from 1990-1992. Officials said Mr. Zarif’s visit would serve as a “follow-up” to the meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the Ufa SCO summit. Iran is keen on Indian expertise and investment in rebuilding railways, as part of a total of $8 billion in infrastructure projects. “Iran is ready to welcome Indians, even without a bidding process,” Iran’s Ambassador to India Gholamreza Ansari had told The Hindu in an interview last month. Meanwhile, officials said Mr. Modi had told President Rouhani that India was keen for Iran to also invest in India’s proposed $1 trillion infrastructure development.