Giving a new dynamism to bilateral ties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said India sees Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner for promoting peace, stability and economic development and that the conditions were ripe for the two countries to enter into a comprehensive energy partnership.
Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor met his Nepalese counterpart on Tuesday, as he began a crucial four-day trip, amid protests by hundreds of Maoists at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu. The police arrested over a dozen Maoist cadres who attempted to wave black flags at the Tribhuvan International Airport, said the police.
Nepal Maoist supremo Prachanda on Tuesday blamed India's 'naked interference' for the lingering political crisis in Nepal, as the former rebels served an ultimatum to the embattled government to resolve the deadlock by January 24 or face an indefinite general strike.
As the Maoists paralysed normal life in Nepal for the second day in running, the government beefed up security on Monday amid warning by a top former rebel leader that they may declare a new constitution from the streets.
Waving red flags, 5000 militant cadres forced their way into the Durbar Square city centre where their chief Prachanda declared Kathmandu valley as the Newa Autonomous State.
"It is wrong to link us with the Indian Maoist movement, he said. There is no involvement (of Nepalese Maoists) in the Indian Maoists' movement," the party's senior leader, Baburam Bhattarai, told media-persons.
India and Nepal on Friday launched their crucial two-day home secretary-level talks in Kathmandu. The two sides are expected to ink an extradition treaty and formulate a border security and management strategy. Home Secretary G K Pillai, who arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday evening, commenced the bilateral security meeting with his Nepalese counterpart Govinda Kusum and is likely to seek tough action against those carrying out anti-India activities from this country.
Bollywood star Manisha Koirala has made a high-profile visit to the memorial of her grandfather B P Koirala, the first elected Prime Minister of Nepal, fuelling speculation that the Nepali beauty was set to join politics.
A group of Maoists on Friday severely thrashed two Indian priests and tore their clothes and sacred thread at Nepal's famous Pashupatinath temple, marking a violent turn to the agitation over their recent appointment. Some 40-50 Maoists, posing as devotees, entered the fifth century Hindu shrine at around 1330 hrs and dragged out the priests -- Girish Bhatta and Raghavendra Bhatta, both aged 32,officials said.
On the eve of his maiden official visit to New Delhi, Premier Madhav Kumar Nepal affirmed on Monday that his country would not allow its soil to be used against India and sought the giant neighbour's cooperation in the fields of infrastructure development and power generation.
Maoist chief Prachanda has alleged that India and the United States had planned to launch an anti-China campaign, even a possible attack on the Communist giant, using Nepalese territory. "The US-India plan had to face challenges from our party and that triggered the conspiracy against my government," Prachanda, who quit following a rift with his coalition partners over his controversial decision to sack the army chief, said at a training programme of the Maoists in Kathmandu.
Nepal attaches 'great importance' to its relations with India which are based on mutual respect, goodwill, understanding and cooperation, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has said.
In an apparent climbdown, India today dropped its insistence on refusing to hold talks with Pakistan till those behind the Mumbai terror attacks were punished but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh clarified that the "composite dialogue" will not be resumed.
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, India on Wednesday sounded positive on continuing talks but said there were some "difficult" issues still remaining and Islamabad needed to take credible action to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice.
Addressing the plenary session, Dr Singh also warned that there could be a period of prolonged stagflation if the aftermath of the global financial crisis was not carefully managed.
Opening the two-day 15th NAM Summit of the 118 developing nations at this Egyptian Red Sea resort city, Cuban President Raul Castro said the grouping believes that all countries in the world should search for effective and justified measures to tackle the current financial crisis.
Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on Wednesday discussed a whole range of issues including the detention and release of Jamaat-ud Dawah chief Mohammed Hafeez Saeed, believed to be the mastermind of the 26/11 attacks.
Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan have met and held "good detailed discussions" on terrorism at Sharm el-Shiekh in Egypt ahead of Thursday's meeting between prime ministers of the two countries to review Islamabad's action on its commitment to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
Preparing the ground for the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt, Islamabad has handed over a fresh dossier on its probe into the Mumbai terror attacks to New Delhi which is figuring out what it amounts to.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Paris on Monday night on a visit which is expected to help India and France "build" a strategic partnership in atomic energy, defence, trade and other key areas. Singh was accorded a warm welcome on his arrival to the French capital .
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