US Vice-President J D Vance's unexpected phone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 8 has ignited speculation about a potential diplomatic overture, possibly seeking India's support amidst the escalating US-Iran conflict and a shifting global power landscape, suggests Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Vaobhav Sooryavanshi, 15, stands a chance to become India's youngest international cricketer, potentially breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record.
India would confront a more entrenched China, a less dependable United States, and a regional order increasingly shaped by great-power bargaining over which it exercises limited influence, notes Amberish K Diwanji.
If Trump wants peace with Iran, Pakistan will offer to help. If Trump seeks Pakistan's aid to spy on Iran, then too Munir will not hesitate to chip in. At the same time, the ISI will not hesitate to tip off Iran now and then, points out M R Narayan Swamy.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
Karex, the Malaysian company that makes roughly one in five of the world's condoms -- about five billion a year, supplying Durex and Trojan among others -- announced this week that it is raising prices by up to 30 percent. The reason is the Strait of Hormuz.
The clock on the ceasefire is running out. But everyone's already whispering about round two, possibly as soon as this weekend.
India and South Africa will face off in their opening Super Eight match of the T20 World Cup. The match will test India's batting line-up against South Africa's formidable bowling attack.
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
For weeks, the war skirted the edge of catastrophe without tipping over. Missiles flew, there was much destruction, commanders were assassinated, cities across the Gulf and even in Israel struggled to absorb the shock. But one line held: Energy infrastructure, the arteries of the global economy, remained largely untouched. That is no longer true. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Israel and the United States had a plan. Iran punched back. And now the Gulf is reeling, the world is beginning to feel the pain and, as on date, no one in Washington or Tel Aviv appears willing to admit that the punch has landed, notes Prem Panicker, continuing his must-read blog on the war in the Middle East.
A toe injury suffered before the fourth T20I is set to keep Gill out of the final T20I here as India would want to take a cautious route, more so when there is a ready replacement for the top order slot in Sanju Samson.
'Things may get much worse before they get better,' predicts Ajay Chhibber.
Sanctioning Russian oil would have led to a sharp surge in oil prices to above $80 per barrel levels, which would impact pump prices in the US ahead of midterm elections next year.
With his killer smile, the sex symbol image, Robert Redford would go beyond just being an actor, remembers Aseem Chhabra.
'The current strain in the relationship is serious and likely to be long lasting.' 'Even if Trump suddenly changes his attitude toward India -- which he is entirely capable of doing -- it is unlikely that New Delhi will be able to pick up the pieces and respond as if nothing has happened.'
Joe Root has reclaimed the top spot in the ICC Men's Test Batting Rankings after his stellar efforts helped England secure a 22-run victory over India at Lord's, according to the official website of the ICC.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump have vowed to move forward with plans to work together to build US-designed nuclear reactors in India. The decision was made during their meeting at the White House, where they also agreed to significantly expand energy cooperation. The move comes after India announced plans to amend its nuclear liability law and the Atomic Energy Act, which had previously been obstacles to the implementation of the US-India civil nuclear deal.
Trump's new rules for how countries should treat him have led to the current breakdown in India-US relations, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Communist China continues to aggressively expand its domain in the Indo-Pacific region.' 'It's crucial for the USA to continue its support in countering these malicious tactics.' 'India, along with other nations in the region, is not alone.'
India on Saturday announced plans to amend its nuclear liability law and set up a nuclear energy mission, a move that came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit to the United States.
In a significant move, the United States on Wednesday removed restrictions on three Indian nuclear entities, over a week after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that Washington was finalising steps to 'remove' hurdles for civil nuclear partnership between Indian and American firms.
'Fears in Washington began to intensify when it was realised that subsequent Pakistani and Indian attacks on major military facilities -- which were significant in terms of geographic scope and intensity -- could rapidly take both sides to where neither actually wanted to go.' 'The US objective was to stop the fighting as soon as possible. Everything else was secondary.'
What despots and dictators, jammers and competitors, had not managed to do in 83 years -- what the Soviet Union had failed to counter during the Cold War; what China had failed to crush during the Tiananmen Square uprising -- a US President had succeeded with his own hand, notes Krishna Prasad.
Do not underestimate the ingenuity of the Deep State in America to have its way. Keeping the guard down will be a catastrophic mistake on the part of the Delhi establishment. We could get hit when least expected. That's what happened in Bangladesh and Syria, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The real intention of the 'Tariff Man' (as Trump calls himself) may not even be to put the 'Tariff King' (as he describes India) on the mat with a knockout punch but to arm-twist the Indian leadership to agree to some multi-billion dollar mega arms deal, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Modi's intention was to create goodwill that will allow India to be seen by Trump as more than just a bad tariff problem.' 'He succeeded brilliantly on that count but none of these wins are unfortunately permanent.' 'Modi will have to do this again and again if Trump's grievances are to be durably assuaged.'
'He had to change them because he recognises that even with his popularity....could lead to a problem. So, democracy has this way of offering corrections and telling the ruling party or the prime minister that you need to take some steps to compensate for excesses'
Trump knows by now that the western narrative of Biden's war is a load of bullshit peppered with falsehoods and outright lies, and that the war erupted only out of the diabolic western plot to poke the bear, which got provoked finally and hit out, explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Hollywood brigade looked super glam on the red carpet of the 82nd Golden Globes at Beverly Hills, California.
The former president will have two funerals -- a state funeral at the National Cathedral and a local funeral at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston.
Donald Trump's exaggerated opinion of his dealmaking capacity can get him into trouble, observes R Sriram.
Many were hoping that with Vajpayee's NDA gone, there would be a return to the Congress normal. Nobody was prepared for the opposite. Sonia Gandhi was sceptical. This became the only issue over which Manmohan Singh took on his party bosses and risked his government. Politically, it was riskier than the 1991 reform, recalls Shekhar Gupta.
United States President Barack Obama has ended years of 'veto power' wielded by Pakistan in Afghanistan over India's active involvement in the country post-Taliban, a US expert on South Asia has said. Because of Pakistan's stiff resistance and opposition to involve India in any way in Afghanistan that the Bush administration was literally prevented to take any move to include New Delhi as part of its regional strategy on Afghanistan, said Deepa Ollapally.
No single individual, institution, or action is to blame for this. The BJP is responding in kind -- definitely not without checking with its government. And they wait for Mr Trump, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Floyd's death has sparked nationwide violent protests with some protesters resorting to looting and rioting across the country, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
'Trump's disregard for norms and institutions could prove very costly for America's social fabric.'
Modi was addressing the State Dinner hosted in his honour by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the North Lawn of the White House.
Carter was in politics, but not a politician, certainly not a transactional politician, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
Serena Williams appeared to suggest last month that she would end her playing career at the U.S. Ope
