'China Doesn't Oppose India's Nuke Club Entry, Talks Of Procedure': Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addressed media on completion of two years of NDA Government.

Here are the highlights:

• On 26th May we finished two years of our tenure.
• Foreign ministry has done a lot past these two years, will give all details.
• This is the first time that 54 countries we invited and we are happy that all of them accepted our invitation.
• There was a huge contact with the African countries and our ties became strong.
• Another big connection we made was with the Asian countries.
• Till last time we could not meet all the SAARC countries, this year we did the same and covered all the countries.
• Around 65 countries are there where no one has gone on a ministerial level, we are trying to connect to those countries as well.
• PM Narendra Modi in matter of 10 months covered UAE, Saudi Arab, Iran and Qatar successful for better economic ties.
• We have decided to reach out to almost all countries in the world with help of state governments and Cabinet Ministers.
• For the first time there was ministerial-level meeting in Bahrain.
• And another achievement was the Hindi summit in Bhopal, there was record participation in that.
• By end of 2016, there is a goal that there should not be any country that we don't have relations with.
• The first big goal of these missions is to increase FDI.
• In the last two years there has been $55 billion in FDI, an increase of 43% from UPA terms.
• The second is to seek the participation of other countries in our flagship programmes like Smart Cities.
• Countries like US and France have partnered us to build smart cities. Skill India - has seen great participation by Australia.
• Third big achievement is that we are shaping the global agenda, we are playing a big role in it.
• For example at COP21, we presented the agenda of 'Climate Justice', established the Solar Alliance which even has a secretariat in India.
• Moves against terrorism, Sustainable Development Goals, Intentional Yoga Day - all these are proofs of India's clout in the global stage.
• Fourth is our diaspora, we have made it a point to engage with the Indian diaspora.
• You have seen the scale of PM Modi's engagement events, this has increased their confidence a lot.
• They know that if we get into trouble, our government will help us, there have been several successful evacuations and rescues.
• Yes, maybe I cannot help someone with their refrigerator but I always try to help those who need it the most.
• There was a time when decisions could not be taken so quickly but that is changing.
• We want to celebrate Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas in other countries too.
• We have streamlined the process of getting passports. Since police verification takes a long time, we revised our rules to make it simpler.
• We hope to become member of NSG by end of the year. China doesn't oppose India's membership, China is speaking about procedure.
• On Pakistan, we wouldn’t like to oppose anyone’s entry to the nuke club. But we would like every country’s application to be considered on merit.
• We have made efforts to have warm relations with Pakistan, but that does not mean there will be a drop in our guard.
• When it comes to our relations with Pakistan, we have three principles:
  1. We are ready to solve all disputes through dialogue.
  2. There should be only two stakeholders to this dialogue.
  3. Terrorism and dialogue cannot go hand-in-hand.
• Bangladesh government is sparing no effort to stop the attacks, 3,000 people have been arrested.
• Sheikh Hasina has taken strong steps, and 1 lakh Islamic leaders have condemned the killings. It shows the mentality of the country's people.
• Our refugee policy favours all persecuted minorities - in response to question if India only accepts Hindu refugees.