When word got around in the ministry of external affairs that Siddhartha and Malavika were going to New York and would be with SM Krishna, protocol officers went to Delhi airport to see off the couple. Siddhartha chided them for doing so and when the officials said a government vehicle would be picking them up at John F Kennedy airport on arrival, he told them that he would take a taxi to reach the New York Palace hotel where his father-in-law was staying. K P Nayar reports.

Vijay Keshav Gokhale's tenure as foreign secretary promises to guide India's external affairs along paths never taken before, says K P Nayar.

Since the change in administration in the US, Indian leaders have publicly and privately identified with American objectives in Afghanistan.