The Beast, FCC Newsletter, September 2023 The Governing Committee of FCC South Asia for 2023-25 is looking forward to meet and greet you, and also implement wonderful plans to make the Club a vibrant and happening place. We are now again organising events at the FCC's well-equipped auditorium and the lawns. September 2023 issue of our newsletter The Beast with a story on the interaction with Russian and Cuban Ambassadors and two exciting book discussions. You may kindly share interesting stories/experiences during your reporting assignments, and news about journalists who arrive in India or depart after completing their assignment, with The Beast's Editor Simran Sodhi. Contact her at simraj68@yahoo.com

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS   JOURNALIST ASSOCIATES Apurva Hosur Vishwanath The Indian Express Sheetal Kharka FREELANCE   GENERAL ASSOCIATES Pinky Pradhan UNFPA Rajiv Nayan Manohar Parrikar institute for defence studies and analyses Nirmal Kumar Ambastha Supreme Court of India     ABOUT FCC SOUTH ASIA   The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia is a group of more than 700 journalists and photographers covering India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Afghanistan and Tibet. New members are always welcome: The club was started by “Foreign” correspondents, or those who work for news outlets outside of the region. However, we welcome journalists from Indian newspapers, magazines, television channels and news portals. In addition to journalists, we also admit diplomats, lawyers, and people dealing with the media from non-governmental organizations and companies as Associate Members. As India’s economy has boomed in recent years, and conflict continued to grip Afghanistan and other neighboring areas, the FCC has become an important meeting point for far-flung travelling journalists to reconnect and recharge. The club has also substantially expanded what it offers to members, to include more press conferences, sports match screenings, book launches and other cultural events.   SEPTEMBER 2023 EVENTS   RUSSIA-INDIA RELATIONS TODAY 6:30pm, September 1, 2023 A Special Talk by DENIS ALIPOV, Russian Ambassador to India AUGUST 2023 EVENTS TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE & ART OF VIJAYANAGARA LEPAKSHI 4:30pm, August 31, 2023 A Special Talk by SRI MYNAA SWAMY, HISTORIAN & LEPAKSHI AUTHOR HOW PRIME MINISTERS DECIDE 6:30pm, August 24, 2023 A Special Talk by NEERJA CHOWDHURY CUBA-INDIA RELATIONS TODAY 6.30pm, August 22, 2023 A Special Talk by Alejandro Simancas Marin, Cuban Ambassador to India

FCC hosts Russian and Cuban Ambassadors and two exciting book discussions On Aug 22, the FCC hosted the Cuban ambassador to India, Alejandro Simancas Marin, where he spoke on a variety of issues and also on the India-Cuba relationship. The envoy said that India and Cuba should aim for better economic relations and pointed out that Cuba was trying to attract more tourists from India. He listed nickel, sugarcane and tourism as areas where the two countries can focus to further boost economic ties. He said that the economic relations between India and Cuba have "stayed a little behind" compared to the excellent bilateral and economic relations. On Aug 24, the FCC hosted author and journalist Neerja Chowdhury for a discussion on her book, ‘How Prime Ministers Decide’. The author explained in detail how she talked to various political people, senior journalists and some others on background to get an understanding of how six of India’s prime ministers came to making decisions. Chowdhury was asked about Indira Gandhi and the incident in her book about her not going to pray to Chamunda Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh and how she felt that was the reason her younger son Sanjay Gandhi was killed in a fatal air crash. She explained that Indira was very religious and also superstitious and later when she did visit the temple, she ‘wept and wept’. There were many questions on Narasimha Rao and if he should be held responsible for not preventing the demolition of the Babri Masjid which in a way changed the course of history in the country. On Sept 1, the FCC hosted the Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov to a packed house. The ambassador, speaking just a week before the G20 summit is due to take place in Delhi, answered a vast variety of questions. There were many questions on the upcoming G20 summit and the ongoing Ukraine conflict and the envoy answered them at length. “Unfortunately, Indian Presidency in G-20 has experienced very strong pressure from some countries who in Russia’s opinion hijacked the G-20’s agenda making the Ukrainian crisis as one of the top issues. G-20 should focus on economic issues and finance but since last year it was decided by some members of the group to discuss political issues within the G-20 - something that we do not accept. If there is no consensus on something then the items without consensus should be removed taking into account that political issues have never been discussed in G-20,” said Ambassador in response to questions. The ambassador expressed his support for the G-20 summit and said Russia hopes that the summit would be successful while maintaining that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not made any peace proposal for the resolution of the Ukraine war. When asked about the possibility of an India-China conflict, he said that it is a hypothetical matter, “We hope that it will never happen…Russia’s position is that our relations with India and our relations with China are very wholesome.” --Simran Sodhi Design: Anil Yadav