Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday left for the UAE on a two-day visit packed with a string of engagements high on substance and symbolism, including talks with the country's leadership and an address to the Indian diaspora.
India has already shortlisted the names of two-three heads of states for extending invitation to be chief guest at the Republic Day parade.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Friday for the 2022 Winter Olympics and a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, bringing with him a deal to increase natural gas supplies to China amid rising tension with the West.
United States President Donald Trump offered a message of unity on Sunday as he called on the Arab world to confront extremism during a highly anticipated speech in the birthplace of Islam.
This is the third time that a Brazilian president was the chief guest at the Republic Day. The last time a Brazilian president was the chief guest was in 2004 when Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attended the parade.
With Donald Trump unable to make it, Modi settles for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Commentators in Canadian media highlighted that Union Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Shekhawat received Trudeau at the Delhi airport when he arrived on a seven-day India visit on Saturday evening and contrasted it against Modi himself receiving several world leaders at the airport.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met Jordan's King Abdullah II and said he had "wonderful" meeting that would further boost India-Jordan ties.
Here are highlights of the 68th Republic Day parade.
The overwhelming feeling at the end of COP 27 was that despite decades of meetings and landmark accords, like the Paris Agreement, the world was still not doing enough to slow the climate crisis, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The prime minister's visit will begin from Palestine on February 10 after transiting through Jordan, where he will meet King Abdullah II.
Under the deal, Israel would suspend its plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank.
Prime Minister Modi chatted with the workers, enquiring about the place and their welfare and jobs.
During his visit, first by an Indian prime minister in 34 years, Modi will seek to enhance cooperation in energy and trade and reach out to investors to hardsell India as an attractive business destination.
The Modi government has been put on notice.'Will it buckle under such pressure? These are times when the moral fibre of the leadership makes all the difference, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
US President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi Arabia's King Salman amid the Arab world's biggest diplomatic crisis in years over Qatar's alleged support to extremists, reports Lalit K Jha.
For many, he is the Dhirubhai Ambani of Kerala. For others, he is the most influential Indian in West Asia. M A Yusuff is back in the spotlight after the controversy surrounding the UAE's reported offer of a Rs 7 billion aid package for flood-hit Kerala.
An estimated 223 people have lost their lives since August 8 in Kerala's worst floods in decades that has caused damage worth more than Rs 20,000 crore.
Ahead of his talks with the Emirati leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the Gulf region is vital for India's economic, energy and security interests.
'The Trump administration is on the same page as India that Pakistan is not the solution, but the problem itself,' says Rajeev Sharma.
As we head into the final year of US President Barack Obama's term, here's a look back at the great images taken by the official White House photographers in 2015.
Apart from key bilateral issues, the two leaders also discussed situation in the region, particularly in wake of the increasing threat of terrorism and extremism from various sources including the Islamic State militant group.
'Did Trump hint at US military intervention in Qatar?' asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'You can see the essential contours of his new Pakistan strategy. Rather than keep engaging with or humouring them, he'd rather work on taking their four biggest supporters -- the US, China, the UAE and later Saudi Arabia -- away from them.' 'In his calculation,' says Shekhar Gupta, 'with the total support of all four of these, Pakistan will be forced to moderate its policies.'
'The surge of Saudi nationalism is the last thing Washington wants,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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