World news: Indian ships sail to Britain

[Trojan]

Indian ships sail to Britain

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, JULY 02, 2005 01:44:38 AM ]
Surf 'N' Earn -Sign innow
NEW DELHI: INS Mumbai, one of three most powerful warships built by India, and sail training ship Tarangini represented the country at Britain's International Fleet Review organised to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

The two ships also joined the International Festival of the Sea held being held at Portsmouth. The festival s being held from June 27 to July 4. The navies of some 35 countries are participating in the event.

Admiral Lord Nelson, considered Britain's greatest naval hero, died during the Battle of Trafalgar.

INS Tarangini is a three-mast barque sail ship and forms part of the Indian Navy's first training squadron based at Kochi.

It was the first Indian Navy vessel to undertake a circumnavigation of the globe between Jan 23, 2003 and April 25, 2005.

INS Mumbai is the third of the Delhi-class of guided missile destroyers and derives its name from the nine previous warships christened "Bombay".

During the current deployment, Tarangini will participate in tall ship events in Europe, including races organised by Sail Training International UK, International Windjammer Festival at Bremerhaven, Sail Amsterdam and Mediterraneo e Velieri at Cagliari.

"As was done during the circumnavigation, Tarangini will take on board foreign cadets and officers from about 15 countries during her passage, thereby building new bridges of friendship and spreading goodwill," said a navy spokesman.

Britain's fleet review was the first organised by Britain since 1977 while the festival of the sea has been billed "Europe's largest maritime extravaganza".

The festival comprises displays on land and sea, musical programmes, stage shows and street scenes depicting life during Admiral Nelson's time.

INS Mumbai is also scheduled to visit Egypt, France and Italy during her passage. The ship is likely to exercise with various navies in the region.
-------------------------------------------
Do you think Pakistan has helped enough with our efforts against Terrorism?



Pakistan against UNSC expansion

Musharraf briefs Schroeder on ties with India; PM, German chancellor discuss terrorism, economic relations

ISLAMABAD: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Sunday said Pakistan has a principled stand on the expansion of UN Security Council and does not contribute to the idea of increase in its permanent members as it is against democratic basis of sovereign equality of nations.

"We feel that increasing the number of permanent members of the UN Security Council is against the democratic considerations of the sovereign equality of nations," he told newsmen after holding talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

He said the government and the people of Pakistan hold Germany and Chancellor Schroeder in highest esteem and stated that the chancellor understands that Pakistan has a principled position on the issue of enlargement of UN Security Council.

The two leaders met exclusively for half an hour, earlier, agreeing to enhance bilateral political and economic relationship. They also exchanged views on a wide range of regional and international issues, including peace with India and the situation in Afghanistan.

Later, the Pakistani and German leaders were joined by their aides in discussing ways and means to further deepen the bilateral ties. Schroeder described the talks as excellent, lauding Pakistan’s efforts in the international fight against terror and favoured President Musharraf’s strategy of addressing the causes of conflict through dialogue.

Musharraf said there was "total harmony and understanding of each others’ standpoints. "We did utilise the opportunity to hold discussions on enhancing economic and trade relations".

During the talks, Musharraf briefed the chancellor on Pakistan’s relations with India in the context of following the path of confidence building measures and the composite dialogue process for the resolution of all outstanding disputes, including Jammu and Kashmir.

The president spoke of Pakistan’s optimistic feeling and its sincerity to pursue peace through resolution of all issues. Musharraf informed the visiting German leader that Pakistan is committed to address the menace of terrorism in both its immediate and strategic long-term perspectives.

Pakistan, he said, is for addressing the core disputes, which lead to terrorism in addition to taking actions against terrorists. In response to a question, the president said al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is alive and hiding somewhere. However, he added nothing could be said in certain terms about his exact location. He said Osama is on the move so nobody can lay exact timeframe for tracking him down.

Chancellor Schroeder told newsmen that during the talks they also assessed the situation in Afghanistan with reference to presidential elections there. He expressed satisfaction that Pakistan has a clear stand against nuclear non-proliferation. "I am very satisfied with President Musharraf’s clear stand". Schroeder also lauded Pakistan’s efforts against nuclear proliferation.

"I am very satisfied that President Musharraf has absolutely clear and unequivocal stand against nuclear proliferation". Replying to a question, the German leader said the world should reject the theory of clash of civilisations and strive for addressing the disputes through dialogue. "We are for promoting tolerance and dialogue — we should not allow an iron curtain to descend between Islam and the West," he said.

Schroeder stated that Islam as a religion should not be targeted. In this context, he said, not only the European Union but also the entire international community should come forward and work for peace and harmony in the world. He appreciated Pakistan’s role in the fight against terror in view of difficulties involved and welcomed the stand of the Pakistani nation against the menace.

President Musharraf also hosted a dinner in honour of the visiting German Chancellor. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz attended the dinner. Earlier, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder held wide-ranging talks on bilateral, regional and international issues with particular focus on enhancing economic ties and cooperation on terrorism.

They also witnessed signing of a financial cooperation agreement for Ä22.23 million for development of a medium-sized hydropower project. The two leaders also discussed Pakistan-India relations, situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East, counter-terrorism measures, nuclear non-proliferation and Pakistan’s relations with the European Union.

Talking to newsmen after the signing ceremony at the PM House, Chancellor Schroeder said Germany was taking keen interest in Pakistan and will hold further talks to seek ways and means to bolster economic cooperation between the two countries.

He said Germany would also look into ways to help Pakistan in its cooperation with the European Union to achieve a level playing field. He said the talks covered some of the aspects, while the rest would be discussed later.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to a question about the elections in Afghanistan said, "I hope it will augur well for Afghanistan." He expressed confidence that it will be the beginning of a better era for Afghanistan. Pakistan, he said, fully supports the electoral process in Afghanistan and believes that a strong stable Afghanistan is good for its people and also for Pakistan and for peace.

About the global issue of terrorism and whether it was gaining or declining, Schroeder said, "I don’t think that the terrorists are winning." He said every effort should be made to track and arrest those responsible for acts of terror. He said there was a need to have enhanced cooperation with the world community and to strike at the ideological and material bases where terrorism fosters.

He said terrorism has to be fought not only through law enforcing agencies, police or military but also a strategy for cooperation has to be evolved to tackle the issue. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz echoed the remarks by Chancellor Schroeder and said the two countries discussed the issue, which confronts the entire world.

He said: "We needed to cooperate with each other and bring stability and peace in the world." He, however, added, "We need to look at the underlying causes leading to terrorism." He said he held good discussion with the German Chancellor on the issue adding the world has to fight it together.

Under the financial agreement, Germany will provide a soft loan of Ä22.23 million. It carries an interest rate of 0.75 per cent with repayment period of 40 years, including a ten years grace period. The agreement was signed by Secretary Economic Affairs Dr Waqar Masood and German Ambassador to Pakistan Christopher Brummer.

Schroeder was accorded a warm welcome when he arrived at the Prime Minister House. Earlier, he was received at the Islamabad International Airport by Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri.

Chancellor Schroeder is accompanied by Dr Ditmark Stafflet, Deputy Minister for Economy, parliamentarians, the foreign secretary and advisors to the chancellor on economic and security affairs. A business delegation is also accompanying the German leader.

The German chancellor and Prime Minister Aziz also addressed Pak-German Trade and Investment Forum. Schroeder praised Pakistan’s contribution in the fight against terrorism and said the country’s prudent economic policies would help remove misperceptions about its economic potential and stability.

The chancellor said after the September 11 attacks, Pakistan has made a crucial contribution to the war against terrorism. He said the international terrorism has offended all civilisations and stressed that any sustainable efforts against the menace require addressing the root causes, which he described as poverty, deprivation, marginalisation and under-development.

Chancellor Schroeder also lauded President General Pervez Musharraf’s policy of Enlightened Moderation in bridging the gap between the West and Islam. Schroeder appreciated the ongoing Pak-India dialogue and said it would help resolve all the complex issues between the two countries, including Kashmir.

He said negotiations would bring in peace, stability and progress in the entire South Asia. The German leader recalled the strong ties between Germany and Pakistan in political, economic and cultural fields and expressed firm intentions to further promote them. He said, "Let us work together to shape a truly global economy to enhance mutual understanding that will be cause of peace and stability in the world."

He hoped his visit would help increase further cooperation between the two countries in various fields. The German leader said the issues like situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan-India relations and international terrorism was important for them and for the European Union as a whole and, therefore, it was important to address these issues.

The Chancellor observed that resolutions of these issues were also important for the economic development of the region. On Afghanistan, he said, peace and stability in that country was not only important for Pakistan and other neighbours but also for the entire world.

Referring to the Saturday’s presidential vote in Afghanistan, the chancellor hoped it would help bring an end to the decades of strife there. On the charges of irregularities in the elections, he said the monitors and the international community would be able to clarify things. He said establishment of strong democracy was the essence and asked all to make efforts in this regard.

A group of German parliamentarians separately called on their Pakistani counterparts at the Parliament House. The Pakistani parliamentarians were led by Senator Mushahid Hussain, while the Germans were led by Markus Loning.

Talking to the delegation, Senator Mushahid Hussain said that Pak-German relations have been rooted in deep cultural and intellectual understanding.

He said the world recognised the role of Pakistan in war against terrorism, but nobody knew the price Pakistan was paying as a country, although, he remarked, the issue of terrorism was West’s own creation.

The other members pointed out the areas of co-operation between the two countries, like education, health and environment. They said that serious Indo-Pak dialogue was the need of the hour.

The German parliamentarians said that the exchange of parliamentary delegations provided opportunities for mutual exchange and that there should be more visits of this kind. They said Germany wanted Indo-Pak dialogue to succeed.

The German delegation consisted of MPs Bornd Schmidbauere, Markus Loning and Seoastian Edathy while Senators Mushahid Hussain and Rozina Alam Khan and MNAs Fauzia Wahab and Syed Nayyer Bukhari represented Pakistani Parliament.

[BADDOG]

Ah Trafalgar Day sadly weather wise it was a bit of a wash out because guess what? It rained arghhh lol!!!!

Wonderful to see those all those ships together especially the tall ships....truly magnificent!!!!

Regards

[Lakie]

Believe it or not, im actually related to Nelson himself in a rather direct way (as in it isnt something like "3rd Cousin 2ce emoved - great grandfathers - 3rd Uncle - 2nd cousins great grandmothers was a distant relative)

[BADDOG]

Originally posted by BB/Mike*MFA*
Believe it or not, im actually related to Nelson himself in a rather direct way (as in it isnt something like "3rd Cousin 2ce emoved - great grandfathers - 3rd Uncle - 2nd cousins great grandmothers was a distant relative)

Congratulations Mike, that's quite a family connection you have there!!!!

Is sailing in your blood by any chance?

Warm Regards

[Trojan]

That's cool Mike. I'm distantly related to Daniel Boone from my Dads mothers side of the family. Ever heard of him? lol.

[atholon]

That's cool