Apparently seeking to cool tempers over Indians being tagged in the United States, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday said the issue should be understood from the "larger perspective" that over 1.8 lakh Indians are studying there and the matter relates to "12 or 18 students".
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the wake of the controversy surrounding Minister of State Shashi Tharoor's role in the IPL's Kochi team. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi recently alleged that Tharoor had asked him not to disclose details about owners of the consortium led by Rendezvous that bought the new Kochi franchisee.Tharoor hit back at Modi by alleging that he had made attempts to pressure the winning consortium.
India and Kazakhstan will soon wrap-up inter-governmental negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation, a move that came after meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kazakh President Noorsultan Nazarbayev.
As external affairs minister S M Krishna travels to Beijing on Tuesday for talks till April 8 with his counterpart, Yang Jiechi, highly placed sources in the establishment confirmed that India and China have been in talks for some time to ban Masood Azhar of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Abdul Rehman Makki of the Jamaat-ud Dawa and Azam Cheema of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, under the UNSC resolutions.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will arrive in Beijing on Monday for "comprehensive" talks with the top Chinese leadership covering issues like issuance of stapled visas by Beijing and "illegal" construction in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
India's concerns on a host of issues, including issuance of stapled visas and "illegal" construction in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, will be taken up by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna during his meetings with Chinese leadership when he visits that country from Monday.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will undertake a three-day visit to Sri Lanka from Monday. She is expected to visit the north eastern provinces of Sri Lanka -- including Vayunia, Yazhpanam and Trincomalee -- to check the rehabilitation of the Tamil population, who were displaced by the military's offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Rao is also expected to prepare the ground work for the official visit of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to Colombo.
As India and China marked the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties, Beijing on Thursday said the two sides have put "great emphasis" on developing a comprehensive strategic partnership and hoped to cement it further during External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's visit next week.
Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday addressed senior defence commanders in New Delhi in the wake of a deteriorating security scenario in the South Asian region, especially in neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan.
India on Friday welcomed Pakistan's decision to accept its $5 million aid offer for flood relief in the country and said it was willing to provide more assistance. Pakistan's decision to accept the aid came nearly a week after the offer was made by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi last Friday. "We welcome the decision of Pakistan to accept the aid offer," external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said.
Responding to External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's invitation to visit India, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has made it clear that he would accept it if the talks are to be "result-oriented", covering all issues of importance, including Kashmir. He stressed the need for "positive and constructive approach" after his July 15 talks with Krishna ended on a bitter note, particularly on Kashmir and terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had conveyed the offer of aid to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi during a telephone conversation on Friday.
India is willing to hold a sustained dialogue with Pakistan if Islamabad gives an assurance that its soil will not be used to direct terrorist attacks and foment anti-India feelings, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Thursday.Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Krishna said there had been uninterrupted dialogue from 2004 till the Mumbai terrorist attack in November 2008.
Dismissing Pakistan's allegation that India was involved in the recent attack on the Federal Investigation Bureau building in Lahore, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Wednesday said it was "most unthinkable" and a "falsehood" that was being spread.
Newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party member Ram Jethmalani surprised the Rajya Sabha on Thursday when he praised External Affairs Minister S M Krishna for showing "dignity" in the face of critical remarks of his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi about Home Secretary G K Pillai at a joint press conference last month.
Common people in India and Pakistan will continue to strive for peace and friendship irrespective of what their political masters do. That was the mood at the India-Pakistan Peace Caravan that flagged off from Mumbai on July 28 and reach Atari border on August 14.
Myanmar's notorious dictator General Than Shwe, who is on a five-day official visit to India, met President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Friday called on External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and discussed relations between the two estranged neighbours. Bashir, who was in New Delhi for talks with his counterpart Nirupama Rao, spent approximately an hour talking to Krishna.They are understood to have taken stock of the bilateral relations and reviewed the discussions that were held between the two foreign secretaries on Thursday.
With the US having announced that it will begin pulling out its troops from Afghanistan from July 2011, India said on Thursday that "international presence" in the war-torn country was needed for a much longer time.
Noting that there are well-established conventions and practices as to how members of the diplomatic community should be treated, Krishna said such an incident has taken place for the second time in the last three months.
Pakistan on Wednesday accused India of not responding positively to its efforts to restart the dialogue process and contended that it would go the "extra mile" if New Delhi takes steps in this regard.
Talking tough, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday told Pakistan to take "seriously" the revelations made by Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley on the Mumbai attacks and not "push them under the carpet".
Noting that Pakistan had done nothing on the 26/11 case, former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra on Tuesday said the government had made a "serious mistake" by holding talks and these were "bound to fail".
Afghanistan, sitting on vast reserves of iron, copper, cobalt and gold, has invited Indian companies to tap the nearly $1 trillion worth of minerals discovered in the country as the two nations try to enhance and diversify their trade ties.
Afghanistan on Monday night assured India that it would take all possible steps to ensure the safety and security of its citizens, who are engaged in developmental work in the war-torn country.
Asserting that India will not get into a slanging match with Islamabad, the sources said that the roadmap for talks will be decided in the time to come.
'The Indian side -- S M Krishna, Nirupama Rao and Sharat Sabharwal -- was the picture of tranquillity, poise and perseverance. Krishna spoke in measured tones, but firmly and convincingly. Except for failing to defend the home secretary, Krishna's performance was faultless.'
After making carping comments on his talks with S M Krishna, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said he never stated that his Indian counterpart was on the phone with New Delhi during their parleys on Thursday.
Pakistan on Wednesday voiced concern over External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's remarks -- that next week's Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks should not be 'mistaken' for resumption of composite dialogue -- saying "the outcome of the meeting should not be prejudged nor its scope circumscribed". "We have noted with concern remarks attributed by the media to India's External Affairs Minister on the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Secretaries," Pak said.
'There are difficulties and we need to find a way to handle them,' Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, adding 'we are ready to engage, we are ready to negotiate any time, anywhere and we are not in a hurry. We will wait till they are ready.'
Pakistan's leading newspapers have lamented that the Indo-Pak foreign ministerial-level talks have produced nothing but a promise for more talks.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday regretted that Home Secretary G K Pillai was not 'defended' by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna when he was 'openly castigated' by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for his remarks that the Inter Services Intelligence had coordinated the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
India [ Images ] secured an assurance from Pakistan on Thursday that it would act on the leads given by Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley to unravel the conspiracy behind the Mumbai terror attacks even as the two countries agreed to continue their dialogue.
The major thrust of the meeting is on anti-India terrorism that continues to emanate from Pakistan.
The Cabinet Committee on Security today took stock of the situation arising out of the Pune bomb blast and is understood to have discussed issues related to the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan.
The trouble is that trying anything more than the routine CBMs to affect a paradigm change in the bilateral relationship is a bit of a catch-22 situation: without trust, bold initiatives are not possible; but how do you build trust without bold initiatives, writes Sushant Sareen.
India on Friday asked Pakistan to dismantle the terror machine operating on its soil and bring perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to speedy justice as the country marked the second anniversary of the 26/11 strikes.
When Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visits Pakistan on July 15, he would be taking the next step on the road to reducing the trust deficit between India and its terror-vexed neighbour.
While India has indicated that it may restart the foreign secretary level talks with Pakistan, Islamabad maintains that it would accept nothing short of resumption of comprehensive 'composite dialogue' with New Delhi.
All Indian nationals on board a ship taken hostage by Somali pirates are safe and negotiation for an early release of the crew is on, Foreign minister S M Krishna told Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Friday, allaying concerns about the safety of the people from the state.
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