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Prime Minister Narendra Modi made Bhutan the destination of his first foreign visit. Now two weeks later, the foreign minister of the Himalayan kingdom, Rinzin Dorje, is in Beijing discussing the China-Bhutan border issue. The move poses a serious challenge to New Delhi because any negotiation on China-Bhutan border dispute is bound to affect India's border negotiations with China. Bhutan and China share 470 kilometres of border, which is also close to India's 'chicken's neck' -- the narrow Siliguri corridor which links the northeast.
'She's not going to keel over.' 'This is the kind of difficult situation that she thrives in.'
The United States has said it has no problem with India's engagement with Russia, but cautioned that it was not the right time to have trade deals with Moscow because of a series of international sanctions against it.
'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.'
The United States and India are now poised to take their growing relations to a "third stage", a top US diplomat has said, seeking New Delhi's cooperation in addressing global challenges and combating terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The 70-year-old real estate tycoon had last month described tensions between India and Pakistan as a "very, very hot tinderbox" and offered to be "the mediator or arbitrator" if it was necessary and if the two countries wanted him to, following which the Foreign Office had welcomed such an offer.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who expressed regret over the arrest and strip-search of Devyani Khobragade, was aware of the senior Indian diplomat's arrest.
The trust some people in India had that the Biden-Harris administration would be friendly to India has been eroded already, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The Chief of Army Staff is scheduled to hold extensive talks with the top civilian and military brass of Nepal including his counterpart General Purna Chandra Thapa on a range of key issues such as further boosting the management of the nearly 1,800 km-long border between the two countries.
Flaring of tempers comes atop much simmering trouble on clashing views; these stands might now get frozen.
'Previous governments in India had reservations about working with Israel.' 'Modi has shed this tag.' 'Disengaging itself from its traditional and ideological foreign policy approach in the Middle East shall serve India's long-term interests.' Rajaram Panda explains why the significance of Modi's visit to the Jewish nation goes beyond markers like the first-ever visit to Israel by an Indian PM and 25 years of diplomatic ties.
'Modi-Shah have understood the risks their cynical mixing of domestic political motivations with strategic national interests was soon going to become counterproductive asserts Shekhar Gupta.
