India to sign two pacts with Belarus during Krishna’s visit

September 30th, 2009 Russia, Belarus hold joint military exercisesMINSK, Belarus — Russia and Belarus on Tuesday completed two days of massive joint military exercises on bases that are close to borders with NATO members. Officials said about 12,500 servicemen took part in the West-2009 exercises, roughly half from each country, in Russia's westernmost Kaliningrad region, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania, and in southern Belarus about 75 miles (125 kilometers) from the Polish border.

September 26th, 2009 PITTSBURGH - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made it clear that neither will India sign pacts like the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nor does the new UN Security Council resolution make such a demand. "We have been assured that this not a resolution directed at India and the US commitment to carry out its obligations under the civilian nuclear deal that we have signed remains undiluted," the prime minister said here Friday night.

September 17th, 2009 MINSK - Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has arrived here to foster bilateral ties between the two countries. Krishna is the first Indian External Minister to visit this country.

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Bangladesh Thursday decided to step up trade and connectivity and to conclude three pacts on combating terror. The agreements are expected to be signed when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visits New Delhi this year.

August 20th, 2009 President says Belarus ready to work with WestMINSK, Belarus — Belarus' authoritarian president said Thursday he was willing to work with the European Union and the United States, but warned they should not expect him to leave office or to abandon ties with Moscow. The comments by President Alexander Lukashenko struck notes of both cooperation and defiance.

August 17th, 2009 KATHMANDU - The Unified CPN (Maoist) has told Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal not to sign any agreements including the Pancheshwar multi-purpose hydro-electric project during his visit to India from August 18. During an all-party meeting called by Madhav Kumar Nepal in Singhadurbar on Sunday, Maoist leaders told Nepal not to sign any agreements with India without the consensus of the parties and asked him to focus on bilateral cooperation.

August 14th, 2009 KATMANDU - Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Friday hinted that Nepal and India may reach an agreement on starting some new projects during his visit to India. Saying that his visit is aimed at strengthening mutual understanding and bilateral ties, he urged everyone not to view his visit with suspicion.

August 13th, 2009 LONDON - Nepal's former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has left for Belarus after telling supporters in London his Maoist party in Nepal is certain to usher in "world revolution". "The twenty-first century will be the century of world revolution," Prachanda told a large gathering of supporters at a meeting in south-east London.

August 10th, 2009 Lenin statue collapses, kills man in BelarusMINSK, Belarus —A massive statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin collapsed on a man who was hanging from it Monday, killing him on the spot, authorities said. The 21-year-old man was drunk when he climbed onto the five-meter (16-foot)-high plaster monument and hung from its arm, the Emergency Situations ministry said.

August 8th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has assured Parliament that his government will not sign any agreement with India without taking them into confidence. Madhav Kumar is visiting India for a five days goodwill visit starting from August 18, which will be his first official visit after assuming the office of the Prime Minister.

July 22nd, 2009 PHUKET - Ahead of Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna's visit to Australia Aug 5, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith Wednesday assured him that his government was doing everything possible to ensure the safety of nearly 100,000 Indian students in that country.

July 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An agreement on end-use monitoring of sensitive US technology and equipment and another offering two nuclear sites to the US are expected to be the highlights of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's five-day visit to India starting Friday. "We hope to be able to sign an end-use monitoring agreement," Assistant Secretary for South Central Asian Affairs Robert O.

July 3rd, 2009 MOSCOW - Moscow and Washington will sign deals expanding bilateral military ties and on transit of military supplies via Russia to the American troops in Afghanistan during President Barack Obama's visit to the Russian capital, an official said Friday. The signing of the pacts will reflect "the political decision on the resumption of full-scale military contacts between Russia and the United States", which were frozen after the war between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia last year, Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko has said.

June 26th, 2009 Belarusian rider Stagurskaya dies in road accidentMINSK, Belarus — Former road race world champion Zinaida Stagurskaya has been killed after being hit by a car while training in her native Belarus. Police say the 38-year-old cyclist was killed when an oncoming car crossed the center line on the Vitebsk-Gomel highway in eastern Belarus on Thursday.

June 5th, 2009 Lukashenko accuses Russia of blackmailMINSK, Belarus — Belarus' leader has accused Russia of trying to blackmail Belarus into recognizing the independence of Georgia's separatist provinces. Alexander Lukashenko says Moscow has made recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia a condition for Belarus to receive the last $500 million of a $2 billion loan.