China was forthcoming and supportive of international civil nuclear energy cooperation with India as the two countries affirmed their readiness to take their strategic and cooperative partnership to a new level at the ASEAN summit in Singapore on Wednesday.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's recent meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh was 'just like a gentle breeze' which helped clear up the 'suspicion and misunderstanding' clouding bilateral ties, the state-run media in Beijing said, seeking to reach out to India after breathing fire over Arunachal Pradesh.
Days after India and China traded charges of interference in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh respectively, the leaders of the two countries will meet on the sidelines of the seventh ASEAN summit.
In the midst of a spat between India and China, an official Chinese newspaper on Friday spoke of a possible meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries next week in Thailand.
The Jaishankar-Wang talks came amid the dragging border row in eastern Ladakh that entered its fifth year in May.
The ninth round of Special Representative-level parleys would be held in New Delhi from January 17 to 18
The government on Monday said the South East Asian nations will be allowed to operate daily services to four metros and an unlimited number of flights to 18 tourist destinations in the country, but this cannot be construed as an 'open sky policy'.
After operationalising FTA in goods last year, both the sides were engaged in widening the base of the pact by including services and investments.
The Asean secretariat hopes the meet may be able to iron out existing wrinkles raised by India. Since there had been no significant progress on the matter over the past two years on most issues, New Delhi is yet to decide on the invite.
The FTA will provide Indian trade and industry with access to a large and vibrant market in a region that is increasingly prosperous. This market is bound to expand further as the Asean trading bloc is already in talks with countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand for free or preferential trade pacts.
While addressing the 14th ASEAN-India summit, the PM noted that growing radicalism and spread of extreme violence are the other security threats.
The agreement on services, if ratified by all member countries, could prove to be a game changer for Indian professionals in education, healthcare & IT.
China, the Ukraine crisis and Quad will dominate the discussions, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Biden and Xi shook hands and greeted each other with smiles, standing in front of a row of US and Chinese flags.
It was the second time in the last three days that India asserted that the relationship with China depends on the resolution of the pending issues in eastern Ladakh.
'If every consumer in India and China, totaling up to almost 3 billion, want to live like people in San Francisco, Stockholm or Singapore, can they afford to? Can nature afford it?'
On his second day of the visit, Modi visited the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, an urban locality situated at a distance of around 65 km from Manila -- the capital of the Philippines -- and then visited the Mahaveer Philippine Foundation, that provides free Indian-made prosthesis 'Jaipur Foot' to needy amputees. Here are images from Modi's second day in the Philippines.
Close on the heels of proposing an 'open sky' agreement with 10 Southeast Asian countries, the government said on Wednesday that it is working on a similar move for other countries
They are scheduled to attend the ASEAN summit in Bali, Indonesia.
Manmohan Singh faced stiff competition in Singapore. No, not at the East Asia Summit or in meetings with the Asean. But the rival attractions of two imaginative exhibitions on India's past and an exhaustive three-day conference titled "Early Indian Influences in Southeast Asia" eclipsed his presence while China's Wen Jiabao basked in media glory that reflected the reality of economic and military power.
Accompanying the Veep on his first foreign yatra after being elected to the vice presidency in August is External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who, we guess, will do the heavy lifting at the summit, while Dhankar works his well known charm on the ASEAN leadership fraternity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night left for Australia on the second leg of his three-nation tour during which he will attend the annual summit of the Group of 20 of the world's developed and emerging economies.
Countries that have signed the RCEP agreement can start negotiations with India for joining the pact once New Delhi submits a written request stating its intention for the same, according to a declaration. On November 4 last year, India walked out of mega free trade agreement RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) as negotiations failed to address New Delhi's outstanding issues and concerns. The remaining 15 member countries have signed RCEP agreement and have stated that the pact would remain open to India.
The majestic Rajpath saw a scintillating display of India's military might as the country celebrated its 69th Republic Day on Friday, with the leaders of all the 10 countries of the ASEAN attending the parade. Take a look here.
India and China on Wednesday held 'constructive' and 'forward-looking' diplomatic talks to resolve the over four-year border standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh but there was clear no indication of any breakthrough.
Lending support for India's ambitious Nalanda University project, six countries on Thursday began the process of signing inter-government agreements to pledge their commitment for this academic institution.
A picture showing Indian flag placed upside down during the meeting of two ministers went viral. The picture was released by photo agencies.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for Bali and Singapore on Thursday.
Saturday's Quad meeting in Delaware is taking place against the backdrop of China's assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, its sabre-rattling in the Taiwan Strait and increasing footprints in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
The US "Indo-Pacific Strategy" is bound to be a failed strategy, Wang said in the comments posted by the Chinese foreign ministry on its website.
US President Biden was invited to the Republic Day celebrations by Prime Minister Modi during the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Garcetti said.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is very much aligned with the foreign policy priorities of the Modi 2.0 government, says Sana Hashmi.
'Many countries believe that if they join BRICS, they will be seen as emerging countries and their stature will be enhanced.' 'G-20 still has common action plans while BRICS does not do that much.'
It will be Putin's first participation in a multilateral summit after a mercenary group launched a short-lived armed rebellion last week that rocked Moscow.
India cannot afford to adopt any coercive measures against the military even if it disapproves the military takeover, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday held their first in-person meeting in Bali, with both leaders underscoring the need to manage their differences and prevent a conflict, amid Beijing's coercive military posturing against Taiwan and in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
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