The US maintained normal diplomatic relations with the government in Taiwan until 1979, when then-President Jimmy Carter abruptly cut off formal ties with Taipei and recognised the Communist regime in Beijing.
The study estimates that 1,134,000 children lost a parent or custodial grandparent due to COVID-19. Of these, 10,42,000 children lost their mother, father or both. Most lost one, not both parents.
Once Mazar-i-Sharif falls, some isolate pockets of resistance may remain, which the Taliban would tackle through political work or coercion, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The change of vocabulary in the India-US conversation was significant and refreshing.' 'It matched the styles of Trump and Modi.' 'The differences were not papered over, but there was determination to resolve them in the days ahead,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
There is no better way to address the security threat emanating from ISIS and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan than by co-opting the Taliban, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The CWG will be important not only for Vinesh and Sakshi but also for Bajrang Punia, who has been a bit iffy about his attacking prowess
Pakistan is once again becoming a frontline State in big-power rivalry. But this time around, Pakistan stands to gain out of its geography, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Twitter can probably afford to wait it out. But would it have the moral courage to do so? asks Devangshu Datta.
A beautiful documentary from Delhi. A shocking satire that spares no one. A thriller about a serial killer in Iran. A Pakistan film about family secrets... Aseem Chhabra lists the best films he saw in Cannes.
However, the probe agencies stressed that all angles were being covered in the probe.
If the Indian son-in-law can become prime minister in another country, could the daughter-in-law have not become one here, especially considering that the Indian culture and tradition is for the bahu to live, think and act like her in-laws, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Taliban government will follow the pattern of the Iranian leadership.
World leaders said they were looking forward to working with Joe Biden, as they welcomed the 46th President of the United States with praise and took parting shots at his predecessor Donald Trump.
The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India shifted gears in rejuvenating strategic ties with its major partners like the US and Russia and focused on drumming up global support for its distinct strategy in the Indo-Pacific to check Beijing's increasing muscle-flexing in the region.
A quintessential military commander, Gen Bipin Rawat possessed an uncanny understanding of geopolitical upheavals, calibrated a tri-services military doctrine to make India face myriad security challenges, and is largely credited with bringing down militancy in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.
'Sectors related to foreign trade, exchange, import and travel are experiencing a slowdown, which is now reflecting in their talent demand too.'
China is going to be an indispensable partner in Russia's ongoing crisis with the US, while on its part, China cannot remain indifferent if Russia gets crushed by the US, lest it loses 'strategic depth', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
On February 24, when Vladimir Putin announced a military operation on Ukraine, few would have thought that Indian government-owned GAIL India would feel the impact. The tensions over gas supplies were essentially a Europe-Russia problem, related to the sanctions western economies imposed on Moscow. But the EU depends on Russian imports for 40 per cent of its gas stocks, an over-dependence that Russia has underlined with Kremlin-owned Gazprom cutting its supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20 per cent, citing maintenance issues.
Russia and China are tight-fisted and Iran is broke and none of them has the political will or capacity to bankroll the Afghan economy, which only the US can, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Trump was good for world peace. He didn't start a war anywhere, which is not something that can be said for most of his predecessors, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Declaring that they consider the avoidance of war between Nuclear-Weapon States and the reduction of strategic risks as their foremost responsibilities, the leaders of the five countries in a joint statement said, "we affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."
The Center for Preventive Action, established in 1994 by the United States council on foreign relations to prevent, defuse, or resolve deadly conflicts around the world to expand the body of knowledge on conflict prevention, has published a survey, identifying possible contingencies which have a likelihood to occur in 2013.
He stayed on in his country after the Islamic revolution in 1979, but had been working internationally for the past decade.
Both India and Pakistan have already submitted their detailed pleas and responses in the world court.
Prime Minister Modi is visiting Palestine, UAE and Oman from February 9 to February 12.
Retired senior US diplomats Teresita and Howard Schaffer believe the 'US cannot afford to continue restricting its contacts with Narendra Modi.' Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports from Washington, DC.
Rouhani's win is likely to have a huge impact on the country's relations with the West
Intensifying its efforts, the Indian Navy has deployed nine warships to bring liquid oxygen and other medical supplies from several countries in Persian Gulf and south-east Asia as hospitals across India continued to reel under acute shortage of the life-saving gas following a massive surge in COVID-19 cases.
The Taliban's rise will see an increase in infiltration on India's western border and terrorist groups in Pakistan will get funding from the Taliban, warns Brigadier Rajamani Kannan (retd).
'It will remain hostile to Indian interests owing to its close proximity to China.'
'Saudi Arabia's standing internationally and in the West is going to take a big hit even if MBS is dethroned.'
Pakistan's offer to normalise relations with India is an attempt to buy temporary peace due to its economic and politico-strategic compulsions, notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Making a statement on the situation after cases of coronavirus surfaced, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
'The Chinese are only about 160-170 km behind.' 'It will not take much time for them to bring their troops back, considering that they have better infrastructure -- and the weather is now favourable.' 'They can move in much faster as the terrain favours them.'
What does the Taliban chief's death means for various stakeholders?
"We have many relationships...they have a history. We will do what is in our national interest and part of that strategic partnership is the ability of each country to comprehend and appreciate the national interest of the other," Jaishankar said.
Rouhani said people who think Islam is a religion of "violence and terrorism" are wrong in their assessment.
The ineptness of successive American presidents, from Bush the Younger to Joe Biden the Old, combined with the cluelessness that Americans demonstrate in foreign lands, contrasts with the Chinese leadership's seemingly singular focus on the accumulation of wealth and power, asserts T N Ninan.
"A Biden administration will be mostly positive for India," said Rick Rossow from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank. "I expect most positive areas of cooperation -- notably defence -- to be maintained," he said.
