MEA issues clarification.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not scheduled to meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi during the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos.
Addressing a press conference here, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (economic relations) Vijay Gokhale said, "No meeting has been planned between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Pakistan in Davos". He added: "The Prime Minister's upcoming visit to Davos is very short. It will be only for 24 hours and will be very focused. This is a sign that we engage with the globe".
During the visit, the Prime Minister will deliver the keynote speech at the plenary session of the WEF in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland on January 23, 2018. He will also have a bilateral meeting with Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Confederation on January 22.
The theme for this year's WEF is "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World". The plenary session will be moderated by Prof. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, WEF. This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the WEF since the earlier one by Deve Gowda in 1997. The WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation and was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation, hosts its annual meeting in Davos every year in January.
Presidents of 60 countries and over 350 international leaders will participate in the forum. The registered participants from India include Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region of India Jitendra Singh.
Negotiations on a bilateral investment protection pact will figure prominently during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Switzerland's President Alain Berset in Davos next week, the Swiss government has said. The two leaders will also discuss, among other trade and business matter, the envisaged free trade agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), of which Switzerland is a member.
The Swiss government statement on topics for the meeting of the two leaders did not mention black money, an issue which has been central to most of the high-level deliberations between the two countries. India has framed a model Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) and is now negotiating it with several countries. Besides, the talks have been going on for a long time for a free trade agreement between India and the four- member EFTA ((Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).
The trade pact talks had started in October 2008 and several rounds of negotiations have taken place since then. The proposed agreement covers trade in goods and services, investments, trade facilitation, customs cooperation, protection of intellectual property and public procurement.
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