'Traditionally, the US tried to tamp down tensions whenever a crisis situation arose and deputed officials from Washington to travel to Delhi to counsel restraint.' 'This time around, no US envoy flew down to Delhi -- not even when tensions spiked and a flashpoint was reached last week,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
From the English media to social networking websites, 'devastated' Kevin Pietersen found support from all quarters.
Rediff.com captures these moments and a lot more from the week gone by...
Banned for life from India's cricket establishment, a beleagured former IPL boss Lalit Modi is not ready to throw in the towel yet.
'He was the first creative person to recognise and fully realise the power of film in an era when press ads were the only competence of Indian creatives.'
Valentino Rossi rolled back the years to win his sixth premier class Australian Grand Prix on Sunday after world champion Marc Marquez's cruise to a pole-to-flag victory was ended suddenly by a crash on lap 18.
Sri Lanka were never going to chase 410, but did well enough to bat as many as 102 overs in the second innings, finishing at 299 for five before the captains mutually agreed to a draw.
Mr Swamy has written letters to the Prime Minister's Office asking for Mr Rajan's services to be terminated.
'In the Indian context it is not easy for rival parties to come together, especially pre-elections.' 'Having pulled it off, they should be taken seriously.'
'The biggest challenge and the one that needs immediate attention is massive shortcoming of jobs, leading to rampant migration from the state (almost 4 million Odias migrated!). 'This forces them to work in abysmal and inhumane working conditions.' 'Some are fortunate to come back alive, while some return in coffins.'
Pakistan's senior batsman and former captain Shoaib Malik has said maverick all-rounder Shahid Afridi is the best person to replace Misbah-ul-Haq as skipper for next year's World Cup.
Anshuman Jain became the co-head of Deutsche Bank in 2012 along with Juergen Fitschen.
With so much bad news, everybody is hunkering down in readiness for Mr Modi's next radical Big Idea, says Kanika Datta.
One of the greatest tennis players of all time and current world number two, Roger Federer has joined the UAE Royals franchise in the second season of the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) 2015 that will be held from 2nd to 20th December 2015.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
'I fulfilled the promise that I made to myself -- getting Kohli's wicket!'
'The need of the hour is to build on the positives and control the negatives,' says Colonel (Dr) Anil A Athale (retd).
Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels 'different' about captaining a new team in the Indian Premier League for the first time in eight years and says he has not moved on from his days at the now suspended Chennai Super Kings.
Palpreet Singh Brar, standing 6'9 can be an intimidating figure. But sit with him for a chat and his easy-going demeanor and straight-faced humour will have you alter any perceptions harboured of the 21-year-old.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended Mr Rajan, but it would be debated why he took so long to dub criticisms like those against the RBI governor as improper.
'Her ability and confidence to 'do her own thing,' both in her music and in her life -- and the great integrity with which she did it -- was amazing.'
In 2011, the Trinamool manifesto had said, the government would not allow SEZs in West Bengal, to protect multi-crop lands.
Any erosion in the TMC, may benefit the BJP, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.
Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic has said India can't forever sit on the laurels of greats like Leander Paes and it must have a top-10 singles player for tennis to thrive in the country.
Both stars suffer from delusions of grandeur, feels J Jagannath.
'While the meeting on December 6th was perfectly legal, was it ethical?' asks Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Cilic marches past Querrey into Queen's semis
Six weeks ago, with Newcastle United in the Premier League's relegation zone and still looking for a first win of the season, Alan Pardew seemed highly unlikely to reach his fourth anniversary as manager in December.
In the crazily complex cauldron that is India, where caste, community, class and cash are just the primary ingredients, no one has yet come up with a fool-proof method to ascertain how voters make up their minds, on which button to press, in the privacy of their 'confessional' booths, notes Krishna Prasad.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has criticised what he called FIFA's political decision not to include former team mate Luis Suarez on their shortlist for this year's Ballon d'Or award as the world's best footballer.
Ab Tak Chhappan 2 is so terribly obvious in its deviousness, there's not even a smidgen of surprise to expect, says Sukanya Verma.
Now, with an aim to make basketball the second-most followed sport in India, the NBA launched its customized NBA.com in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Justice Jagdeep Singh read out the verdict as soon as the special CBI Court began the hearing on the case on Friday.
Siddaramaiah seems overwhelmed by problems coming at him from every direction, reports Aditi Phadnis.
'2019 is just a year away and Modi can do with some peace and tranquility on the external front.' 'There are risks, of course, but isn't Modi a risk taker?' asks Ambassador B S Prakash.
'If some Europeans do not allow Muslims to assimilate into European national cultures, some Muslims also refuse to try and adopt and assimilate.'
Former AIIMS director Dr S K Kacker discusses the doctors' agitation in Maharashtra and West Bengal's crackdown on private hospitals with Veenu Sandhu.
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo trimmed the gap to championship leader Dani Pedrosa at the top of the MotoGP standings to seven points when he stormed to victory at a sweltering Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday.
'It is from her that present-day political stalwarts continue to draw lessons on testing the limits of Constitutional democracy, and whose slogans even her party's staunchest opponents imitate even after over 30 years of her death,' says Veenu Sandhu.
'India stands to gain immensely by forging a developmental partnership with China.' 'While through sustained strategic communication there is scope to steadily expand the commonality of interests between the two countries.' 'This is also a practical way to ensure that differences do not get over-magnified and become disputes,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
