4 SEPTEMBER 2016

Ø  Navy frigate INS Trikand, which docked at a Madagascar port as part of a goodwill visit to East Africa and Southern Indian Ocean, has handed over relief material for those affected by the recent bush fires in that country.

Ø  India on Saturday extended a $500-million line of credit to Vietnam to deepen their defence cooperation and signed 12 agreements including a deal to construct offshore patrol boats, amid China’s muscle flexing in the disputed South China Sea and “emerging regional challenges”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who held wide-ranging talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc here, said the two countries have decided to elevate their strategic ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to provide it a new momentum. Vietnam earlier had Comprehensive Strategic Partnership only with Russia and China. “I am also happy to announce a new Defence Line of Credit for Vietnam of $ 500 million for facilitating deeper defence cooperation,” Mr. Modi said after the signing of the agreements. The agreements were signed in a wide range of areas covering defence, IT, space, cyber security and sharing white shipping information. Later in a joint statement, both India and Vietnam also called for “peaceful” resolution of the South China Sea issue and “exercise self-restraint.” They also urged all parties to show “utmost respect” for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Ø  The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday provisionally attached assets worth Rs. 6,630 crore in connection with a fresh case of alleged bank fraud registered by the CBI against Vijay Mallya and his two companies.