S Jaishankar

♦ External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the 8th India Ideas Conclave 2024 in Bengaluru on 23 November 2024.

♦ The event was organised by the India Foundation with the theme ‘building Brand Bharat'.

♦ Jaishankar said this last decade has seen a big shift and India is perceived as much easier to do business with now. 

♦ He added that Make In India has moved from being an aspiration to an assertion.

♦ He highlighted that the world truly stands up and takes notice when India talks about the magnitude of its socio economic schemes, or the volumes of digital transactions.

22nd meeting of the India-Russia

♦ The 22nd meeting of the India-Russia Working Group on Military technical cooperation and defence industry was held in New Delhi on 22 November 2024.

♦ The meeting was co-chaired by Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production, Ministry of Defence and A Boytsov, First Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation of Russia.

♦ Defence cooperation has been a cornerstone of the India-Russia strategic partnership, guided by the Agreement on the Programme for Military-Technical Cooperation.

♦ The Agreement for the period 2021-2031 was signed during the inaugural meeting of the India-Russia 2+2 Dialogue in Delhi on December 6, 2021. 

♦ The two sides also have periodic exchanges of armed forces personnel and military exercises.

♦ The India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC), set up in 2000, is at the apex of this structure. 

Rajnath Singh

♦ Defence Minister Rajnath Singh participated in the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) forum at Vientiane, Lao PDR on 21 November 2024.

♦ He said, India stands for freedom of navigation & overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce and adherence to international law for peace & prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

♦ India has always advocated and practised dialogue for resolving complex international issues, said Rajnath Singh. 

♦ The 11th ADMM-Plus forum consisted of 10 ASEAN countries, eight Plus countries, and Timor Leste. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Laos General Chansamone Chanyalath.

Anil Chauhan

♦ Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Anil Chauhan chaired the 35th Triservices Commanders’ Conference (TSTCC) at Southern Naval Command, Kochi on 13 November 2024.

♦ TSTCC is conducted annually by the Training Commands of all the three Services in rotation with the aim of enhancing collaboration and training effectiveness while exchanging best practices in training.

♦ The conference also provides a forum to bring together Staff Officers of the Training Commands of the Services on a common platform based on jointmanship and cohesion while forging collaborative training efforts and strategies to achieve combat effectiveness and enhanced operational capabilities.

COP29

♦ The annual U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP29) kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan on 11 November 2024.

♦ The annual summit, which is held in a different location every year, brings together world leaders and thousands of other representatives of nations that are party to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

♦ COP29 will be held until 22 November.

♦ The United States joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international treaty, in 1992 and has attended its conferences known as COP, for "Conference of Parties".

♦ The COP28 was held in Dubai in 2023.