- India was elected for a four year term to the Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage at UNESCO, Paris on 4 June 2014, receiving the highest number of votes amongst the ten contesting Member States.
- India was elected Vice President (representing the Asia-Pacific group) in the Bureau of the Human Rights Council (HRC) for 2014.
- India was granted ‘Observer’ status in the Arctic Council during the Kiruna Ministerial Meeting held in May 2013.
- In July 2013, India joined the International Anti-corruption Academy (IACA) based in Laxenburg, Australia.
- Another significant development was India’s accession to the Madrid Protocol on trademarks.
- Narendra Modi addressed the 69th session of the UN General Assembly.
- The 18th SAARC Summit was held at Kathmandu in November 2014.
- India initiated an annual meeting with the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC), becoming the third Dialogue Partner of ASEAN to do so, after China and Japan.
- Top five states in terms of number of passport applications were Kerala, Tamil Naidu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, accounting for more than 55 percent of total applications.
- June 24, has been declared as ‘Passport Seva Divas’. The Passports Act of 1967 was enacted on this day.
- From January and June 2014, India signed Extradition Treaty with Bangladesh, Azerbaijan and Thailand.
- Financial commitments or contributions to the Nalanda University. These include: China (US$ 1 million), Thailand (US$ 100,000) and Laos (US$ 50,000).
- India has second biggest diaspora in the world next only to China. Around 25 million people spread across every major region in the world.
- 42% of Indian migrants are living in Gulf, 21% in South Asian countries and 12% in USA.
