Lok Sabha Question No. 3997 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-10
Subject: Guidelines for Accepting Gifts
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: ARJUNLAL MEENA

† 3997.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3997 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2016

## GUIDELINES FOR ACCEPTING GIFTS

SHRI ARJUN LAL MEENA:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  certain  guidelines  have  been  prescribed  regarding accepting  gifts  from  other  countries  by  the  Very  Important Persons (VIPs);
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  gifts  accepted  by  these  VIPs  become  their personal property;
- (d)
- if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the year-wise and country-wise details of the gifts received by VIPs during the last three years?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## (SHRI M. J. AKBAR)

- (a) & (b) The  gifts  accepted  by  Very  Important  Persons  during their foreign visits are governed by Foreign Contribution (Acceptance or Retention of Gifts or Presentations) Rules, 2012 as amended from time to time.
- (c) & (d) In accordance with Rules, the gift received from foreign sources  are  deposited  in  Toshakhana  for  evaluation  by  Customs Appraiser to assess their market value. Recipient is informed about the assessed market value of the gift by Toshakhana. If the value is less than Rs.5000, the gift is offered to the recipient for retention. If the value is more than Rs.5000, the recipient is offered the option to purchase the gift on payment of the difference between the market value and Rs.5000.
- (e) The  year-wise  and  country-wise  details  of  gifts  received  by VIPs during the last three years is enclosed at Annexure.

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## ANNEXURE

## YEAR WISE AND COUNTRY WISE DETAILS OF GIFTS RECEIVED BY VIPs DURING LAST THREE YEARS

| S. No.        | NAME OF COUNTRY   |   2013 |   2014 |   2015 |
|---------------|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1             | MALAYSIA          |      3 |      1 |      4 |
| 2             | GERMANY           |      2 |      4 |      6 |
| 3             | FIJI              |      1 |      0 |      3 |
| 4             | KUWAIT            |     11 |      2 |      1 |
| 5             | SRILANKA          |      6 |      4 |     14 |
| 6             | ITALY             |      1 |      0 |      0 |
| 7             | MYANMAR           |      1 |      7 |     16 |
| 8             | AFGHANISTAN       |      6 |      6 |      5 |
| 9             | RUSSIA            |      7 |      6 |     17 |
| 10 BHUTAN     |                   |      4 |      8 |      9 |
| 11            | IRAQ              |      1 |      0 |      0 |
| 12 MALDIVES   |                   |      4 |     11 |      6 |
| 13 SINGAPORE  |                   |      2 |      4 |      9 |
| 14 BANGLADESH |                   |      4 |     20 |     31 |
| 15            | VIETNAM           |      3 |      7 |      3 |
| 16            | MEXICO            |      1 |      0 |      0 |
| 17            | INDONESIA         |      1 |      2 |      5 |
| 18            | BRUNEI            |      2 |      1 |      1 |
| 19            | CHINA             |      5 |     14 |     33 |
| 20            | HUNGARY           |      1 |      0 |      0 |
| 21            | NIUE              |      1 |      0 |      0 |
| 22            | PERU              |      2 |      0 |      0 |
| 23            | IRAN              |      2 |      1 |      6 |
| 24            | JAPAN             |      5 |      3 |      7 |
| 25            | ECUADOR           |      1 |      1 |      0 |
| 26            | PAKISTAN          |      5 |      0 |      7 |
| 27            | NEPAL             |      1 |     11 |      6 |
| 28            | LAOS              |      2 |      0 |      2 |
| 29            | ISRAEL            |      1 |      1 |      2 |
| 30            | TURKEY            |      1 |      1 |      3 |
| 31            | UNITED KINGDOM    |      1 |      6 |     10 |
| 32            | USA               |      3 |      2 |     11 |
| 33            | SOUTH AFRICA      |      1 |      1 |      2 |
| 34            | YEMEN             |      1 |      0 |      0 |
| 35            | UAE               |      1 |      2 |      3 |

|   36 | COTE -D-IVOIRE   |   1 |   0 |   1 |
|------|------------------|-----|-----|-----|
|   37 | GERMANY          |   1 |   4 |   0 |
|   38 | OMAN             |   4 |   5 |   5 |
|   39 | AZERBAIJAN       |   1 |   0 |   0 |
|   40 | FINLAND          |   1 |   0 |   0 |
|   41 | UZBEKISTAN       |   1 |   0 |   3 |
|   42 | SYRIA            |   1 |   0 |   0 |
|   43 | SPAIN            |   1 |   0 |   2 |
|   44 | THAILAND         |   2 |   1 |   9 |
|   45 | SLOVAKIA         |   1 |   0 |   0 |
|   46 | CANADA           |   0 |   2 |   4 |
|   47 | UGANDA           |   0 |   2 |   1 |
|   48 | PHILLIPINES      |   0 |   1 |   1 |
|   49 | BRAZIL           |   0 |   2 |   1 |
|   50 | TAZIKISTAN       |   0 |   3 |   3 |
|   51 | TURKMENISTAN     |   0 |   1 |   9 |
|   52 | AUSTRALIA        |   0 |   1 |   6 |
|   53 | FRANCE           |   0 |   1 |   5 |
|   54 | MAURITIUS        |   0 |   7 |   3 |
|   55 | IVORY COAST      |   0 |   1 |   0 |
|   56 | PALESTINE        |   0 |   1 |   0 |
|   57 | ZANZIBAR         |   0 |   2 |   0 |
|   58 | SAUDI ARABIA     |   0 |   6 |   2 |
|   59 | NIGERIA          |   0 |   2 |   1 |
|   60 | TANZANIA         |   0 |   1 |   3 |
|   61 | ARMENIA          |   0 |   1 |   0 |
|   62 | BAHRAIN          |   0 |   7 |   1 |
|   63 | SOUTH KOREA      |   0 |   6 |  14 |
|   64 | SAUDI ARABIA     |   0 |   6 |   2 |
|   66 | TANZANIA         |   0 |   1 |   3 |
|   67 | ARMENIA          |   0 |   1 |   0 |
|   68 | MOZAMBIQUE       |   0 |   0 |   2 |
|   69 | GUYANA           |   0 |   0 |   4 |
|   70 | UNITED NATIONS   |   0 |   0 |   3 |
|   71 | LUXEMBOURG       |   0 |   0 |   1 |
|   72 | QATAR            |   0 |   0 |   3 |
|   73 | CUBA             |   0 |   0 |   1 |
|   74 | TUNISIA          |   0 |   0 |   2 |
|   75 | NEWZEALAND       |   0 |   0 |   1 |
|   76 | JORDAN           |   0 |   0 |   1 |

| 77            | CZECH REPUBLIC   | 0   |   0 |   1 |
|---------------|------------------|-----|-----|-----|
| 78            | MONGOLIA         | 0   |   0 |   4 |
| 79            | KAZAKHSTAN       | 0   |   0 |   3 |
| 80            | MALAWI           | 0   |   0 |   2 |
| 81            | SWITZERLAND      | 0   |   0 |   2 |
| 82            | ARGENTINA        | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 83            | NETHERLAND       | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 84            | MICRONESIA       | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 85            | EYGPT            | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 86 MARSHALL   |                  | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 87 MALTA      |                  | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 88            | SEYCHELLES       | 0   |   0 |   3 |
| 89            | CAMBODIA         | 0   |   0 |   2 |
| 90 KYRGYZSTAN | 0                |     |   0 |   1 |
| 91            | VANUATU          | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 92            | MOROCCO          | 0   |   0 |   5 |
| 93            | NIGER            | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 94            | NAMIBIA          | 0   |   0 |   2 |
| 95            | MADAGASCAR       | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 96 ANGOLA     |                  | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 97            | CAPE VERDE       | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 98            | GHANA            | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 99            | BOTSWANA         | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 100           | SENEGAL          | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 101 SIERRA    | LEONE            | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 102           | ZAMBIA           | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 103           | ZIMBABWE         | 0   |   0 |   2 |
| 104           | BENIN            | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 105           | SUDAN            | 0   |   0 |   2 |
| 106           | MALI             | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 107 ALGERIA   |                  | 0   |   0 |   1 |
| 108           | CHILE            | 0   |   0 |   0 |
| 109           | KENYA            | 0   |   0 |   0 |
| 110           | SWEDEN           | 0   |   0 |   0 |
| 111           | POLAND           | 0   |   0 |   0 |
| 112           | MEXICO           | 0   |   0 |   0 |
| 113           | BELGIUM          | 0   |   0 |   0 |
| 114           | TIMOR LESTE      | 0   |   0 |   0 |

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