🔆UAE envoy on Modi visit for temple opening

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🔆A privileged strategic partnership, without a gulf

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming official visit to the UAE signifies the deepening strategic partnership between India and the UAE, emphasizing economic, defense, and cultural ties.

The inauguration of a Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi by Modi, showcases the cultural collaboration and mutual respect within this partnership.

The visit aligns with India's broader engagement in the Gulf region, marking it a critical element of New Delhi's foreign policy strategy.

Economic ties are robust, with the UAE being India's third-largest trading partner and a significant investor. The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement aims to amplify trade and services to $115 billion in five years.

The I2U2 and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor illustrate the strategic and economic collaborations aimed at enhancing connectivity and countering initiatives like China's Belt and Road Initiative.

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🔆Qatar Frees eight former Indian Navy Man

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The Democratic-led U.S. Senate passed a $95 billion bill containing aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Tuesday and sent the measure on to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives

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🔆NATO Funding, and Article 5

✅Former U.S. President Donald Trump raised a storm of criticism from the White House and top Western officials for suggesting he would not defend NATO allies who failed to spend enough on defence and would even encourage Russia to attack them.

📍How is NATO funded

✅It has some common funds, to which all members contribute. But the vast bulk of its strength comes from members' own national defence spending - to maintain forces and buy arms that can also be used by NATO.

✅However, NATO members have committed to spending at least 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year on defence - and most of them did not meet that goal last year..

✅In Article 5 of the founding treaty, NATO members declared that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America "shall be considered an attack against them all".

🔆Indo-Dutch Collaboration for Energy Transition

✅Recently, NITI Aayog and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands released a report titled ‘LNG as a Transportation Fuel in Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle’ during India Energy Week.

📍Schengen area

✅The zone is known after Schengen, the tiny Luxembourg village bordering France and Germany, where the agreement was signed in 1985 among five of the six EU founding members except Italy.

✅Currently, it is an area encompassing 27 European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their mutual borders.

✅It mostly functions as a single jurisdiction under a common visa policy for international travel purposes.

✅Croatia, a EU member since 2013, joined Schengen in 2023, while Romania and Bulgaria, EU members since 2007, will gain partial Schengen entry from 31 March 2024.

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Kosovo became the last Western Balkan non-EU country to gain visa-free access to the Schengen zone, highlighting its significance in the realm of international diplomacy and European integration.

The European Commission approved Kosovo's preparedness in 2018, but its Schengen visa waiver faced resistance from EU members not recognizing its 2008 independence declaration from Serbia

The Schengen zone, embodying free movement within Europe, is composed of 27 countries, including both EU and non-EU members, showcasing the complex dynamics of European unity and integration.

Kosovo's Schengen approval underlines broader themes of national sovereignty, international recognition, and the intricacies of European political and diplomatic landscapes.

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🔆India has steadfastly rejected the demand for 'data exclusivity' in ongoing free trade agreement discussions with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), highlighting its commitment to protecting the generic drug industry.

✅Data exclusivity would require manufacturers wishing to create generic versions of a drug to either wait for six years or undertake their own expensive clinical trials, potentially hampering the affordability and accessibility of essential medications in India and globally

✅This stance aligns with India's long-standing position since 2008 against such demands from the European Union and EFTA countries (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein) to safeguard its role as a major global supplier of affordable drugs.

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