On her 101st birth anniversary, November 19, four letters that reveal a different side to inarguably India's toughest prime minister.
'Taranjit has the ideal temperament to deal with the Americans who understand firmness and appreciate flexibility.' 'He can hold his ground with a cheerful face and still make it clear that India and the US are partners, rivals,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'India should be a partner, not a target'\n
\n'The US is looking upon India as a great factor of stability,' says Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.
Pakistan on Monday sided with India on the row over the treatment meted out to senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the United States and said such treatment should not be meted to any official of another country.
There are no heroes or villains in No Fathers in Kashmir, but only helpless characters, who perhaps don't have a choice other than learning to live with what they're subjected to, notes Utkarsh Mishra.
Kanwal Sibal retires on November 30 this year.
'While high-level interventions may help smoothen inter-State relationships, they cannot fundamentally change the alchemy of such relationships, which are firmly rooted in mutual benefits and mutual interests,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India will use the services of its former diplomats in its pursuit of energy security through acquisition of oil and gas properties abroad particularly in West Asia, Africa and Central Asia.
The book states that Gujral's approach of taking decisions on his own ignoring the Foreign Service had created a 'piquant and unique predicament'.
'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
During his college days, Hardeep Puri was a student leader who was active in the JP movement.
Young Indian entrepreneurs hope to share some of the limelight too at the Hyderabad event.
Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who served as press secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee during his tenure, salutes the statesman and political legend, who passed into the ages on Monday.
Make no mistake, the Bangladeshi and Afghan missions in Chanakyapuri would report verbatim to their capitals the abrasive remarks attributed to the Indian leadership, casting a slur on their countries' political culture and national honour, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
He will take over from Navtej Sarna who will become joint secretary (disarmament) in the external affairs ministry.
Central Reserve Police Force personnel posted at the entrance did not recognise the new petroleum minister.
When China protested strongly over the August decision on J&K -- not once but twice -- we ignored it. And to compound matters, we simply turned our back and walked over to the 'Quad' alliance with the US, upgrading it to ministerial level, and thereafter began following the American footfalls on Taiwan and COVID-19 to taunt and humiliate Beijing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A 1966-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Shashank succeeds Kanwal Sibal, who retired on Sunday after an 18-month stint.
Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India on Monday made it clear to the United States that it cannot be "business as usual" between the two sides till the Devyani Khobragade issue is resolved.
'It is crucial today to realise where we have reached in this 15 year-period in order to fully and properly assess the profundity of what General Rawat has said,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Almost a fortnight after former bureaucrat K P Ramaiah took voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service, he is ready to take on Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, a former Indian Foreign Service officer, in the Lok Sabha polls from the Sasaram seat in Bihar.
S Jaishankar took charge as foreign secretary, replacing Sujatha Singh, on Thursday.
The Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, went into damage-control mode on Thursday following the arrest of Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, in connection with an alleged fraudulent visa application for a domestic worker.
Sujata Singh, currently envoy to Germany, will be India's next foreign secretary following an approval of her appointment by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sending months of speculation on who will head the foreign services.
A video currently in circulation on the social media, which claims to be allegedly showing the CCTV footage of the strip search of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade after her arrest in New York, is a hoax, dangerous and provocative fabrication, the United States has said.
In a new twist, it has now emerged that senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade enjoyed full diplomatic immunity including from personal arrest and detention on December 12 when she was taken into custody by the United States authorities in a visa fraud case.
The father of the Indian woman diplomat, arrested on visa fraud charges in New York, on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and was assured of the government's support.
The United States on Tuesday virtually justified the reported strip search by New York police of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, saying "standard procedures" have been followed during her arrest.
Amid protests by civil services aspirants against the new Union Public Service Commission syllabus, the government on Monday said the issue will be resolved within a week.
Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtraparti Bhavan.
Delhi-based Jasmeet Singh Sandhu, an Indian Revenue Service officer, has secured third position in the test.
Daughter of former deputy PM late Jagjivan Ram, Kumar, 72, was also the first woman to occupy the high office of the LS speaker
Vijay Keshav Gokhale's tenure as foreign secretary promises to guide India's external affairs along paths never taken before, says K P Nayar.
'No civilised nation can thrive if it is possessed with the spirit of Hindutva.'
A 1979 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Singh said it is generally recognised that Indian diplomacy over a period of time has gained "more and more impact".
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