8-May-2018: Pacific Islands Forum Granted Permanent Observer Status to United Nations in Geneva
The Pacific Islands Forum has been granted approval to establish a Permanent Observer Office at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).
Mere Falemaka, the Permanent Representative in the Permanent Delegation of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) presented her letter of appointment as Observer to the UNOG in Geneva to the UNOG Director General Michael Moller.
The regional representative’s office will now be known as the Permanent Delegation of the Pacific Islands Forum to the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and other international organizations in Geneva.
This accreditation will not change the current trade mandate of the Forum Geneva Office; any expansion beyond this mandate remains a matter for Forum Leaders to decide.
The Permanent Observer status would entrench the presence of the Blue Pacific region in, and strengthen its links to the United Nations organisations, including its specialised agencies, programmes, fund initiatives and joint programmes.
The current mandate of the Pacific Islands Forum’s presence in Geneva means that we will initially prioritise intensified cooperation with the United Nations Organisations who are active in the area of trade development; areas of cooperation may expand in the future based on the determination of our political leadership.
As a permanent observer we look forward to enhanced visibility of Pacific trade-related needs, more direct access to senior offices within the trade-related organisations, and improved information from trade-related organisations.
Dame Meg encouraged Forum Members to take advantage of the services of the Permanent Delegation of the Pacific Islands Forum to the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and other international organizations in Geneva.
The accreditation to the UNOG strengthens the Pacific’s regional representation in Geneva and provides a foundation for partnership and collaboration between the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the trade-related international agencies based there.
At their 1999 meeting, Pacific Islands Forum Leaders the establishment of a regional representative office in Geneva, to defend their trade interests and to participate in the negotiation of global trading rules. The decision was in recognition of the significant impact that the WTO rules would have on the economies of the Forum Members.
13-Apr-2018: India hosted the 16th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi.
The Government of India hosted the 16th biennial International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting (IEF16) in New Delhi on 10-12 April 2018 with the support of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea as co-hosts. The meeting was held under the theme: "The Future of Global Energy Security - Transition, Technology, Trade and Investment". Providing the opportunity for attendees to discuss relevant issues that currently affect global energy markets, the IEF Ministerial is the largest gathering of energy ministers in the world.
Meeting on the neutral global platform that the IEF provides to strengthen international cooperation on energy through dialogue, the IEF16 focused on how global shifts, transition policies and new technologies influence market stability and future investment and trade patterns in the energy sector. Dialogue among Ministers and industry leaders on how global shifts, new policies and technologies change investment and trade patterns and influence energy market security, facilitate orderly transitions, and accelerate the achievement of shared goals.
On behalf of the IEF16 host country, Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India inaugurated the IEF16 Ministerial Meeting. Prime Minister Modi shared his energy vision as comprising four pillars – energy access, energy efficiency, energy sustainability and energy security. He called for a mutually supportive relationship between producers and consumers. He also called for optimal use of the neutral platform of the IEF to build a global consensus on ‘responsible pricing’, that serves the mutual interests of both producers and consumers.
19-Jan-2018: India joins Australia Group export control regime.
After gaining entry into two export control regimes - MTCR and Wassenaar, India joined the Australia Group (AG), which seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.
On 19 January 2018 India formally became the 43rd member of the Australia Group (AG), the cooperative and voluntary group of countries working to counter the spread of materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to the development or acquisition of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) by states or terrorist groups.
India is now a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Wassenaar Arrangement and now the Australia Group, three of four non-proliferation regimes. The only one remaining is the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which is stonewalled due China's objections.
AG membership will help in establishing India's credentials further. Australian Group is a cooperative and voluntary group of countries working to counter the spread of materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to the development or acquisition of chemical and biological weapons by states or terrorist groups.
India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016 and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) last year in December.
The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies is a multilateral export control regime.