Saran, an IFS officer of the 1970 batch, will succeed Shashank, who retires on July 31.
The humiliating rebuff given to the power brokers in Delhi in Kerala's local body election carries a big message: Malayalis thoroughly disapprove of the Modi government's shenanigans to misuse central agencies to destabilise a genuinely popular state government, notes M K Bhadrakumar.
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.
"They should go wherever they want," Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar said on Thursday when asked of Prashant Kishor and Pavan Verma's repeated questions about the party's stand's on the newly enacted Citizenship Act.
The Narendra Modi government on Monday appointed Arvind Gupta, a former Indian Foreign Service officer, of the 1979 batch, as Deputy National Security Advisor. This appointment comes within days of Nehchal Sandhu quitting as deputy NSA, citing personal reasons.
US-Pakistan relations are poised to touch a qualitatively new level under the Biden administration, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
BWith a distracted president brooding in the White House, Pompeo seems to think his day has come. He seems to be pushing a personal agenda before a target audience in America, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday presenting the S K Singh Award for recognising excellence in the Indian Foreign Service, to Tanmaya Lal
This was the first meeting of the top Indian diplomat with Trump after he was sworn in as the US President on January 20.
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Chinese experts estimate that the new US administration is 'at the crossroads of how to re-manage and control' Sino-American differences and strategic divergences and Biden's bottom line is that the US would have 'extreme competition with China, but won't allow competition to develop into conflict',' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Interestingly, in his entire remarks, Modi never once mentioned regional security, Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar points out.
Vikas Swarup, whose debut novel was made into the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, has been appointed as spokesperson in the external affairs ministry.
An Indian diplomat should aspire to represent something even larger than the government, even larger than the somewhat abstract concept of the 'Indian State'. He should rejoice in representing the ethos of India and all of its grand sounding facets: Civilisation, culture, customs and cuisine, says recently retired Ambassador B S Prakash.
'India should not be taken by surprise if the Biden administration seeks China's cooperation at some point,' alerts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Senior analyst B Raman assesses Brajesh Mishra's role as India's first National Security Advisor, his part in the 1998 nuclear tests, the Kargil conflict and more.
Arun Singh, India's ambassador to US, will retire in September.
'The Indian side has realised that not talking to Pakistan has not served any useful purpose.'
What is the guarantee that another Trump will not arise and reach out to the American people directly? The fact of the matter is that Trump's support base remains the envy of any American politician, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Aditi Phadnis profiles V S Sampath, India's newly-appointed Chief Election Commissioner.
'Russia is the only country that can act as facilitator for any eventual Chinese-Indian rapprochement,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is a democratically elected leader who received a massive mandate of 71% of votes, and he owes nothing to Delhi or Washington for staging his political comeback, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The US has been, historically, a sleeping partner in India-China relations. Today, any attempt by the Modi government to make a bilateral move to improve relations with Beijing could upset Biden's apple cart, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Incumbent Ambassador to Paris Arun Singh is likely to replace Jaishankar as India's Ambassador to the United States.
'By treating Nepali politicians as shabby buffoons to be pampered one day and collared another day, India badly exposed itself.' 'A belief got entrenched in the Nepalese mind that we are a dangerous neighbour,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A diplomat-turned-politician, she took the initiative to organise a number of international seminars hosted by Indian Parliament since she took oath as the Speaker on June 3, 2009.
Both statesmen possess a cultivated pugnacious style which they keep in reserve and can at will bring into play, and despite the mutual distrust in Russian-American relations, they are proponents of detente, quintessentially, who take their mission deadly seriously, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
He will be remembered not only as a writer but as one of the great chroniclers and interrogators of the history of our times, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will present the first Shailendra Kumar Singh award, named after the late distinguished Indian Foreign Service officer, on Friday at an event organised by Manju S K Singh, his widow, and the Ministry of External Affairs, in New Delhi.
Any form of entanglement with India or the US on the strategic plane will be anathema to Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa rulers, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China is in no hurry to disengage at the border and the region and international community is moving on. The spectre of a long haul in Ladakh haunts India, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Analysts see BECA as a 'force multiplier' for India.' 'But China too is known to have such capabilities.' 'The military gap with China will continue to remain a fact of life, BECA notwithstanding,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said Indian diplomacy needed to acquire an economic perspective to its thinking and strategic approach, for furthering the country's interests in the changing global order.
It will not be to India's advantage to create misperceptions that it is bandwagoning with some Anglo-American project for regime change in Myanmar, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Shringla last served as India's envoy to the US. He will be serving a two-year term. In the course of a diplomatic career spanning 35 years, Shringla has held a variety of positions in New Delhi and abroad, and is considered an expert on India's neighbourhood.
Biden is best qualified to address the root cause of the polarisation in American politics before it turns into terminal malignancy, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'A breakthrough in eastern Ladakh leading to disengagement and creation of a buffer zone will obviate the need of military deployment through the winter months ahead,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A deft hand on India-China relations, Bambawale earlier handled the China desk at the MEA.
Modi has appointed P K Sinha, who superannuated as cabinet secretary on Friday, as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), he said.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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