'Pakistan is uncomfortable with the Indian presence in Afghanistan. They want the Taliban to ensure that there is no Indian presence in Afghanistan.'
Pakistan has warned the international community that any military moves by India shall be 'responded to assuredly and decisively... onus of any escalatory spiral and its consequences shall squarely lie with India.' Implicit in the statement is a veiled threat that even a nuclear threshold may be reached if push comes to shove, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Engagement with neighbours is a strategic imperative, and not an option, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
'If you want to win you need to perform.' 'Governments have found a way to buck anti-incumbency, but one policy intervention will not pay in all elections.'
On June 26, for the likes of me, the music died. Any impression of potential change held forth by the outcome of the 2024 general election, was vaporised, reveals Shyam G Menon.
Guterres urged members of the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and appealed for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared.
In a damaging report ahead of the November 5 polls, a special United States counsel has said that President Joe Biden 'willfully' mishandled classified documents as a private citizen but concluded that it would be difficult to convict him as he comes across as an 'elderly man with a poor memory'.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led right-wing bloc has secured an emphatic victory in Israel's general elections by claiming 64 out of the 120 seats in parliament, bringing the country's longest-serving premier back at the helm after a brief gap and also ending prolonged political instability.
'It did not vote against America, or for Russia.' 'If we had voted for the American motion, it would have spoilt our relationship with Russia without any change in Russia's behaviour.'
'Many senior officers are unhappy with him, but many lower level officers are still supportive.' 'This is also not something that has happened for a long time. So this is certainly a milestone.'
Cut off from the world and having to contend with an orthodox and repressive Taliban government, Afghans are facing the brunt of Pakistan's decades old policy of nurturing militant groups, note Harsh V Pant and Kriti M Shah four months after the Taliban took Kabul.
Now, as before, India's vote at the UN was dictated by paramount national interests. Though the Indian vote was 'neutral', its explanation was explicit in its criticism of the Russian actions. India took back with the left hand what it had given with the right, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Pakistan must be deleted once and for all from the vocabulary of Kashmir-related negotiations with a finality that is irrevocable, asserts Vivek Gumaste.
'The Pakistani move to ban militant outfits and placate international opinion and Islamabad's openness to a UN security council resolution on Azhar -- instead of beseeching China to cast yet another veto -- enables Islamabad to occupy the high ground,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India's external affairs ministry has said that the government will appeal against the judgment of a court in Sri Lanka to sentence five Indian fishermen to death.
'The real significance of the visit lies in the extent of the receptivity in Myanmar of the account of Chinese perfidy given by India's military and civilian top brass and how they assess the danger to themselves of dancing with the dragon,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'There was the indisputable fact that Savarkar knew Godse, Apte and Karkare well, he had corresponded with them closely, and funded their extremely provocative newspaper, and they looked up to him as their icon.'
'Washington is telegraphing here is its willingness to support a low-grade, limited use of force meant to send a strong message to Pakistan.' 'Perhaps something along the lines of the surgical strikes in 2016, or perhaps something a bit more -- but not much more.'
FIFA President Sepp Blatter began his fifth term at the helm of football's governing body on Saturday facing the daunting task of restoring public faith in an organisation tainted by allegations of corruption and deeply divided over his re-election.
Indrani's words were quick, her hand gestures quicker. She kept pointing to certain paragraphs in their consent terms.
'Mamata's fascination with stars is so deep-rooted that she uses her clout as chief minister to get close to them.'
King Salman and Narendra Modi will find common ground to intensify cooperation against jihadi terrorism, says Tarun Vijay, MP.
'When the forensics have collapsed, approver is clearly proved to be a liar from the beginning to the end... Does the prosecution genuinely believe that we ought to remain in judicial custody despite showing that their own story is not being corroborated by evidence, for another 192 witnesses?'
Two years into power, there is very little to show for the Modi government by way of 'achievements' on the foreign policy front, and his China, Pakistan policies are gasping for breath, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'It is in the interest of both sides that the visit of the US President is seen as being successful. Both sides have invested considerable political capital in it. This rapid exchange of visits and the decisions taken have to be justified, beyond the symbolism, which is no doubt important in itself. This opportunity to impart a fresh momentum to ties should not be missed,' says former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.
The Mukerjeas' former driver could remember every detail of Sheena Bora's alleged murder five years ago, including on what day he took Indrani to the beauty parlour, and the brands of liquor he bought, but was unable to recall anything subsequently or more recently...