Lalit Modi visa row: Govt, BJP chorus in Sushma Swaraj’s defence

Amid a raging controversy over India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s decision to help former IPL impresario Lalit Modi procure British travel documents on “humanitarian grounds”, the government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly rallied to her defence, asserting that she did nothing wrong.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has firmly stood by Mrs Swaraj, who has been facing a blistering campaign by the Congress party asking for her resignation. In a robust assertion of solidarity, senior Cabinet ministers have spoken in support of the low-key foreign minister, who is widely recognised as one of the most effective ministers in the Modi cabinet.

Two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh defended Swaraj’s action, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has now rallied to her support, saying she acted “bona fide” and with “good intentions” and the entire government and party were one on the issue.

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From Dar to Delhi: Tanzania President in India, focus on business

With months to go before the third India-Africa Forum Summit, New Delhi is putting its Africa diplomacy into high gear as it rolls out the red carpet for Tanzania’s President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.

The Tanzanian leader, accompanied by a high-level delegation, including ministers and senior officials, will be in India on a five-day visit starting June 17.

Bolstering infrastructure through soft loans has been the overriding focus of India’s diplomatic outreach to the East African nation. The Indian government extended a Line of Credit (LOC) of US$ 40 million for supply of tractors and agricultural equipment in June 2009 and another LOC of US$ 36.56 million for supply of Ashok Leyland trucks to Tanzania. During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tanzania in 2011, India unveiled another LOC of US$ 178.125 million for the development of water supply projects.

The 50,000-strong Indian community forms an enduring bridge between the two countries.

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