Mumbai:
The union cabinet has approved an India-Brazil-South Africa
(IBSA) trilateral agreement on merchant shipping and other
maritime related matters. The cabinet nod comes ahead
of the India-Brazil-South Africa summit at the Brazilian
capital Brasilia beginning September 10.
Leaders
of the three countries will sign the agreement during
the first IBSA summit on September 13. Prime minister
Manmohan Singh will attend the summit at the Brazilian
capital Brasilia.
"Promoting
direct links between the three countries is important
from India''s point of view. The proposed agreement is
an important component of this," government spokesperson
said after a cabinet meeting presided over by the prime
minister. "It will further strengthen the relations
and cooperation between the three countries," she
added.
The
agreement is expected to be a positive step in improving
the shipping links and would further strengthen the relations
and cooperation among the three countries.
Manmohan
is expected to land in Brasilia on Monday after an overnight
halt at Frankfurt. He will be heading a high-level delegation
that will include commerce and industry minister Kamal
Nath, minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma,
foreign secretary-designate Shiv Shankar Menon, national
security adviser M.K. Narayanan and other officials.
The
prime minister''s two-day visit will be split into two
- a purely bilateral one on the first day, during which
at least six official agreements and an equal number of
commercial deals would be signed.
The
second day would see the first summit of IBSA - the India-Brazil-South
Africa initiative that was launched three years ago as
a forum for South-South cooperation. The initiative aims
at promoting multilateral ties in the political, economic
and cultural spheres.
A
large business delegation comprising top company honchos
from three major chambers - CII, FICCI and Assocham -
would also be going to Brazil and would have separate
meetings on the
sidelines.
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