Even as efforts are underway for resolution of the row involving Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, her father on Tuesday led a protest march outside the American consulate in Mumbai, terming the United States administration's action against her as "illegal".
'Evacuating' Devyani's maid's family from India on T visas -- associated with severe sex or labour trafficking... The maximum number of persons thus evacuated by the US from foreign countries last year was from India... A thorough investigation of this is required at India's end,' says former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, 'with the US warned that such interference in India's judicial system will not be tolerated.'
India, says a senior diplomat in the Ministry of External Affairs who is a member of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's team to Washington, DC, is looking forward to the visit with anticipation.
All Russian diplomats, connected to the country's intelligence agencies, and their families have been given seven days' time to leave the country.
'The government will ensure that India's pride is not affected as far as the situation along Indo-China border is concerned'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said ties between India and Mongolia are not driven by competition against others but it is a relationship of immeasurable positive energy that comes from their spiritual links and shared ideals.
A day after whistle blower WikiLeaks made public secret American diplomatic communications, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur on Monday said it is a "very sensitive" issue and the government would like to "wait and work this out".
The appointment of veteran diplomat Peter Burleigh as charge d'affaires at the American embassy in New Delhi was a Department decision and not on the recommendation of Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, as had been rumored because of their earlier longtime working relationship, senior Administration sources have told rediff.com.
Acknowledging the strained diplomatic relations between Malaysia and India over his remarks, Mahathir said that it is necessary to speak out on the issues, even though such remarks could be disliked by some.
A consummate Russian diplomat, Vyacheslav Trubnikov is returning home this week after having served as serving as Russia's ambassador to India for nearly five years. The period has seen several highs and lows in the bilateral relationship, including the building of the first civil nuclear power plants by Russia and nagging problems over defence spares and equipment. Edited excerpts from an interview with Jyoti Malhotra
When Nirupama Rao became India's foreign secretary in August, only the second woman to get the top job, the grapevine around the Ministry of External Affairs had it that she would struggle to put her stamp on South Block, writes Jyoti Malhotra.
Tim Geithner, President Barack Obama's choice for Treasury secretary, on Thursday accused China of "manipulating" its currency and pledged "aggressive" diplomatic action to drive Beijing into action.
A confrontation with the Taliban in Kabul in this fading light of a twilight zone would have been sheer madness, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's much-anticipated state visit to the United States will be an opportunity to 'consolidate' achievements in the Indo-US partnership and setting 'new directions' in bilateral relationship, India's top diplomat in Washington has said.
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade has requested a court here to extend the deadline for charging her in a visa fraud case, saying the "pressure of the impending" deadline is interfering with the ability of the parties to have meaningful discussions on the issue.
'The first 55 years of Natwar Singh's life give a fascinating narrative of our diplomacy,' says Ambassador B S Prakash after reading One Life is Not Enough.
Playing down its unsuccessful bid to establish diplomatic ties with Bhutan, China on Monday said it is glad to see New Delhi and Thimphu develop their relations further during the just-concluded visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As far as people like Kamala Harris are concerned, it's okay to share a culture, but wrong to play domestic Indian politics during American elections,' notes Vir Sanghvi.
'Washington's silence about India's Article 370 move tells us all we need to know: It doesn't want to rock the boat of a relationship that has navigated some choppy waters but remains a highly important one.'
'The Bharat Ratna should have been given a long time ago. Not just to irk the Chinese, but to recognise His Holiness for what he is and how we have benefited immensely from his presence in India.' 'I don't think there's been a better ambassador for India's philosophical and cultural past than the Dalai Lama.'
The road ahead will be long and winding and much resistance can be expected from the high-flying 'hawks' in our skies. But that should not deter the policymakers from planning a road map with the 'big picture' in mind, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The trip was the highest level meeting with a North Korean leader since 2000 when then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met Kim Jong-il, the father of the current leader, in Pyongyang.
India would be hosting the global T20 event in October and given the tense diplomatic ties between the two neighbours, the PCB has sought assurances that the visa process of their players and support staff would be dealt with by the ICC.
'The sooner Pakistan and India face these geopolitical realities, the better it will be for their own security and prosperity,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
He said Indians will reflect on Vajpayee's many contributions that led to India's rise as a global and economic power.
In perhaps the first major conference on the United States-India strategic partnership in the aftermath of the Khobragade controversy that plunged the bilateral relationship in a downward spiral and is now in the process of being resurrected, the undeniable consensus among the panelists and participants was that much ballyhooed strategic convergence between Washington and New Delhi has dissipated.
Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani -- the two presidential candidates in Afghanistan -- are good friends of India and the country will work very closely with whoever wins the election, a top Indian diplomat said.
India must be wary of Pakistanis who are trying to enter the county for nefarious reasons, a senior United States diplomat has said, during the first ever web-chat on popular social networking site Facebook."India must be wary of those Pakistanis seeking to enter India for nefarious reasons, but the signal India sent -- openness to a better relationship with peace-loving Pakistanis -- was a powerful message," said Gregg Sullivan, director of press and public diplomacy.
Virtually supporting India's precondition for any peace talks with Pakistan, a top United States diplomat on Thursday said Islamabad needs to do more to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, which claimed over 170 lives including six Americans. Robert Blake, now tipped to become the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department, told a powerful Congressional Committee that Pakistan needs to do more on 26/11.
"We want to see it just stop. We are very much involved in that (process)," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office.
Interestingly, in his entire remarks, Modi never once mentioned regional security, Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar points out.
"Stronger economic, scientific, diplomatic, and military cooperation between the US and India is in the national interest of both countries and reflects our increasingly close relationship with this important democratic ally," Ranking member on the House of Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said.
'If push comes to shove, Pakistan does have the capability to make it difficult for the US and NATO forces to make even a withdrawal of troops out of Afghanistan in orderly fashion,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The US President is extremely interested in this, as the secretary of state is," Roemer told US lawmakers at confirmation hearing when senator Richard Lugar citing a recent World Bank report informed him that there are 828 million Indians living on less than $2 a day.
Modi's visit to dwell on water conservation, Israel's expertise in desalination may also be tapped
Robert O Blake, the new Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, making his debut before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday, said Secretary of State Hillary's Clinton's trip to India next month will be a tangible manifestation of the Obama Administration's commitment to take the Indo-US relationship to the next level.
Italian PM Paolo Gentiloni's visit is the first prime ministerial trip from Italy in more than a decade.
The US president made the remarks during his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York.
Some members of the Obama administration have worried that Pakistan's heightened anxieties about India might lead Islamabad to take reckless measures, so they have wanted New Delhi to pursue more diplomatic engagement with Islamabad.
Saudi Arabia has severed diplomatic ties with Iran following attacks on the kingdom's embassy and consulate in the Islamic Republic over the execution of a Shiite cleric.
