'The threat of ceding space to China in Afghanistan appears to be one factor propelling our government to get a bit more active now.'
'Clearly, the Modi government is proving to be far more willing than any previous government in Delhi to hitch India's wagons with the US' regional strategies.'
India's involvement in the port development was not strictly under the international sanctions that had been imposed on Iran.
India and five Central Asian countries on Thursday decided to establish a joint working group on Afghanistan at the senior officials' level, ministry of external affairs secretary (West) Reenat Sandhu said.
Four Indians and an American, were killed during the five-hour long siege that ended early Thursday morning.
A round-up of our favourite photographs from the week gone by.
A covert United States military operation in January targeting Al-Qaeda leaders in the Afghan-Pakistan border region accidentally killed an American and an Italian, both aid workers who were hostages of the terror group, President Barack Obama said.
The Taliban's official spokesman, Abdulqahar Balkhi, claimed responsiblity for the attack on Twitter.
'A sense of purpose is lacking in India's diplomacy.' 'This is what happens when foreign policy becomes the stuff for grandstanding before the domestic audience,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Swarup said India looks forward to the prompt and decisive action promised by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his counterpart Narendra Modi.
The American, Russian and Chinese reactions to the Uri attack indicates how tough it will be for India to 'isolate' Pakistan internationally,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Asked whether Swaraj will attend the conference, he said, "The external affairs minister will not be able to attend." Swaraj is undergoing treatment for kidney failure.
This visit has ended on a vastly different note in comparison with Modi's previous visits. Call it a rebuke, call it a censure, call it a distancing from Modi, the sharp message would have gone home, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India maintained thatthe well being and state of Jadhav's health is a "matter of great concern" to it.
Breaking the logjam in their ties, India and Pakistan on Wednesday announced that they have decided to engage in a "comprehensive" dialogue that will include peace and security and Jammu and Kashmir.
Three Indians were on Wednesday killed in a Taliban suicide attack on a NATO supply company's compound in Kabul.
The future can only get better if we continue to break silos and work as integrated teams focussed on promoting national interests, recommends Sanjeev Nayyar.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Islamabad on Tuesday on a two-day visit during which she will hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz and attend a multilateral conference on Afghanistan.
New Delhi must indicate to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that it has a long-term strategy for his country. It should point out that Pakistan's present Afgan policy will destabilise Afghanistan and help Islamic State, says Gautam Sen.
India reaffirmed its commitment to the landmark Paris climate change agreement.
Trump, addressing reporters at the UN on Wednesday, said he has had "very productive conversations" with leaders of India and Pakistan on the margins of the UN General Assembly. "With respect to Pakistan and India, we talked about Kashmir. Whatever help I can be, I said, I offered, whether it's arbitration or mediation or whatever it has to be."
"Are they ready to review their decisions? If they do, we can also review our decisions. Review will be on both sides," Qureshi said.
Aziz also attended a dinner where he exchanged pleasantries with PM Modi.
Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad launched to fight terrorism across country.
'This novel format of diplomacy -- the informal summit -- will not only facilitate bilateral communication and reduce miscalculations at the very top level of the two governments, but possibly open the space for China and India to speak in one voice on various issues of mutual concern,' note Feng Renjie and Ding Kun Lei
United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins, who was in New Delhi on Thursday said in an interaction with the press that improvement in Indo-Pak ties will automatically improve the situation in Afghanistan, even as he discussed the current state of play in US-Afghan relations and attempts to work towards reconciliation with top officials.
In the year since Modi cast the spotlight on Pakistan's human rights violations in Balochistan, India has not done much more than raise the issue at the UN a few times.
'Perhaps the biggest indication was its striking decision in November to delink LeT from its aid certification process.' 'The administration decided that the US, in order to send military aid to Pakistan, would not need to certify that Pakistan is cracking down on LeT.' 'Perhaps the administration was trying to offer a carrot -- in effect, we're backing off on LeT, but in return we expect you (Pakistan) to go after the Haqqanis.' 'Either way, the optics were dreadful for the US given that Hafiz Saeed was released from house arrest a few days after the US move.' 'The US reacted angrily, but eventually it moved on, and refocused on its core concern: The Afghan-focused terror groups.'
'If push comes to shove, Pakistan does have the capability to make it difficult for the US and NATO forces to make even a withdrawal of troops out of Afghanistan in orderly fashion,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The MEA asserted Pakistan's efforts to link peace deal with Kashmir issue have not worked.
Modi said the coming together of SAARC leaders will lead to effective outcomes and benefit citizens in the fight against coronavirus. The PM on Friday had proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.
The conference, which will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, will see participation of over 40 countries.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the government has asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been a few cases of local transmission so far and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.
'The government is going to introduce legislation that would make it easy for Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Zoroastrians, Sikhs and Jains to migrate legally to India.' 'But looking at that list, my entire well-meaning question, as may be obvious, is: What about Muslims? They seem to have been specifically left out of this formulation,' says Aakar Patel.
A right-wing group on Thursday vandalised the office of Pakistan International Airlines in New Delhi prompting Islamabad to take up the issue with the ministry of external affairs.
Modi on Saturday embarked on a five-nation visit to Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, the US and Mexico focus of which will be to enhance India's engagement in areas of trade, energy and security, besides pushing for its membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
'Here in Delhi, the Modi government is supposedly looking at 'options' to hit back at Pakistan in any whichever way it can, while in Washington, the Obama administration is looking for ways to strengthen US military cooperation with Pakistan,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Earlier, Modi met Jinping seperately and the two leaders concurred there had been a perceptible improvement in bilateral relations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries will meet in Kathmandu on Wednesday with an aim to revitalise the regional grouping and make it a major platform to fuel economic growth through liberalised trade and combat challenges of terrorism and climate change effectively.
In the World Bank's rankings on the "Ease of Doing Business" India stands at 139 out of 189 economies surveyed in 2014; its position has in fact dropped from 131 last year.
