At a time when China is trying to make its foray into South Asia, India should use its shared history to strengthen its ties in the region, says Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Covaxin was found to have 78 per cent efficacy against COVID-19 of any severity, 14 or more days after the second dose, and is extremely suitable for low- and middle-income countries due to easy storage requirements, said the global health body.
'Washington appears to be playing the long game, and making the argument to India that over the longer term, Russia -- sanctioned, cash-strapped, isolated by the West -- will no longer be a viable defence partner for India'
If the visit takes place, it will be the first trip by a senior Chinese leader to India after the eastern Ladakh standoff between the two countries began in May 2020.
China on Monday said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's three-day visit from Tuesday is of great importance for deepening strategic partnership amid expectations that the two sides would sign some key pacts, including one to prevent incursions along the LAC.
He also reiterated India's strong support in the fight against terrorism with Sri Lanka, which saw the country's worst terror attack on Easter Sunday.
'There are three pillars of concern: The expansion of Hindu majoritarianism, the concentration of executive power and decay of independent institutions, and curbs on free expression and dissent.'
Veteran doctor and educationist from Karnataka Belle Monappa Hegde and archaeology legend B B Lal were also given the Padma Vibhushan awards.
About 50 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Nigeria and Panama, have shown interest in having a Co-WIN like system to run their vaccination drive, a senior official said on Monday, adding India is ready to share the open source software free of cost.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his maiden trip to India next week would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues, his spokesperson said on Friday.
The elephant in the room will permeate the conversations, predicts Rup Narayan Das.
PM Modi telephoned Imran Khan to congratulate him on his party's victory in the general elections
'It would be a huge mistake to think that Gorbachev's reforms did not achieve anything.' 'We all live in the world, which is in many respects a result of Glasnost and Perestroika.'
United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron, who is on a one-day visit to India, said he was open to meeting all elected leaders including Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Speaking to IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Cameron explained why he was not meeting Modi during this visit.
'Xi is keen that the remaining three territories still outside the Chinese ambit -- Taiwan, Arunachal Pradesh, and the Senkaku Islands in the East Sea -- be absorbed by the Communist regime by the time the centenary of the revolution rolls around in 2049.'
'This reluctance to respond forcefully to Chinese PLA provocations and outright aggression has as much to do with Prime Minister Modi personally, as with the institutional mindset of the MEA or even the Indian Army.' 'They are scarred by the 1962 War and are still cowed by China.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Joe Biden at the White House on Friday in his first bilateral meeting with the US president during which the two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of priority issues, including combating Covid-19, climate change, economic cooperation as well as Afghanistan.
US Vice President Kamala Harris would host a separate meeting with the prime ministers of three Quad countries -- India, Australia and Japan -- at the White House to discuss with them the important factors for democracies to go forward, officials said.
Interestingly, in his entire remarks, Modi never once mentioned regional security, Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar points out.
'Our record and our actions and stances is fairly clear and by criticising it repeatedly, it doesn't make us less credible'
Ahead of the G-20 summit in Osaka this week, Xi has reasserted China's role as a global player, points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar left London at the end of a four-day visit to the United Kingdom on Friday with a message of convergence as the two countries agreed on an ambitious '2030 Roadmap' towards a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin will attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Delhi with an agenda to develop a plan to bring together AAPI, NGOs and the government to provide access to affordable and quality health care. Aziz Haniffa reports
'Unless India ups the ante, Beijing will continue to believe its transgressions are cost free and will feel encouraged to do more of the same.'
'Despite much hype of optimism, everyone went home empty-handed without a clear picture where they are heading in the future,' notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'The clean break between Russia and Europe that this foolish attack is creating may actually last long.' 'It will undermine Europe and benefit the US and China.'
The India-Japan 2+2 dialogue added strategic heft to the special relationship in the wake of growing Chinese assertiveness on regional affairs, points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
Wang arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening in the highest-level visit between the two countries after the ties came under severe strain following the military standoff in eastern Ladakh that began nearly two years ago.
Last month, President Trump offered to be the "mediator" between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue when he met Prime Minister Imran Khan for the first time at the White House.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday discussed issues relating to Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific during his bilateral meetings with global counterparts on the sidelines of the annual high-level UN General Assembly session.
'The sanctions are biting him.' 'He also has a chance to come out into the world and reshape his nation.'
The jury is still out on whether the Obama-Sharif summit managed to repair the trust deficit and mutual suspicions. But if pleasantries and cordiality was the measure of this summit, it receives a resounding A+ grade, says Aziz Haniffa
'The impasse on the India-China border in the Sikkim sector persists, but the Hamburg meeting between the two leaders will certainly have its salutary effects on the relationship between the two countries,' says China scholar Rup Narayan Das.
'This was Indian land the PLA advanced on and occupied.' 'The Chinese then 'negotiated' a pullback of their troops a small distance on Indian territory even as Indian jawans draw back further into India from the forward position.' 'An apparently satisfied Indian government says this is a great move for peace! How great is that for China!'
The message for 2024 is that the man on the street is not going to be euphoric if the G-20 crowns Modi as king-emperor for 2023, or if India sends its first man to space just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Even a 'temple consecration' in Ayodhya, or a Uniform Civil Code, or both of them together, may not have enough electoral purchase if fuel and commodity prices are not rolled back, and money-in-the-pocket does not fatten, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Iran issue is expected to figure prominently in the discussions at the NAM summit.
Sheela Bhatt who traveled with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the BRICS summit in Durban, reports on what transpired during Dr Singh's first meeting with China's new leader Xi Jinping.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will turn 77 on September 26, will celebrate yet another birthday mid-air, on board the Air India One, like he did in 2004.Dr Singh will celebrate his birthday in his special aircraft or at Geneva, the flight's stop- over, while on his way back from the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, United States. Once the G-20 summit gets over, Dr Singh will have a quiet family get-together on the eve of his birthday.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is still a developing entity and it is essentially due to Russian and Chinese efforts. The moot question is can India benefit by attending it?
No decision has been taken so far on whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the of Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Sri Lanka on November 15-16, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday, asserting it will be taken after considering all aspects including "national interest" and "international obligations".
