The US has formed a panel to investigate the attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other American officials.
China may accord recognition to the new government in Kabul at an early opportunity, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
Former Indian diplomats on Monday termed the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan as a "setback" for India strategically, and asserted that the priority for New Delhi right now should be to evacuate its citizens from the war-torn nation.
An alert government in Delhi should have begun government-to-government discussions with Moscow the moment it came to know that Russians were developing a vaccine. That is to say, almost an year's time has been lost, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India's Ambassador to Washington, DC, Nirupama Rao and her team are doing everything to avoid American wrath, and the resultant legislation of sanctions, against India for not whole-heartedly joining the US-led efforts to isolate Iran. Aziz Haniffa reports
'This speech is going to be more of a punishment. I spoke too much this afternoon' A tireless Prime Minister Narendra Modi left over 700 notable luminaries in peals of laughter with his quick wit and sense of humour during a dinner and reception hosted by Indian Ambassador Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Taj-owned, The Pierre Hotel. In the presence of the who's who of desi Americans and US lawmakers, Modi once again thanked the Indian-Americans for their contributions and discussed his plans of developing India and the ties he hopes to nurture with America. Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com presents a sneak-peak into the festive, grand dinner.
The US spent $1.5 million a day since 2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. After hundreds of airstrikes failed to curtail the Taliban's $200-million-a-year opium trade, the US military quietly ended the campaign when the Trump administration officials engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban, notes Atanu Biswas.
'I know how important the India-US partnership is, as evidenced by President Obama's planned visit in January. I can assure you we will work hard to realise his vision of India and the US becoming and remaining the closest of friends and strategic partners.'
Both Indians and Americans have to consider themselves fortunate and thankful to have a diplomat of the caliber of Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao posted in Washington and driving the burgeoning United States-India strategic partnership, a senior State Department official has said.
Indian Americans are committed and they are great when it comes to medicine, engineering, business or anything else that they touch, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley told reporters in the state capital Columbia on Wednesday after a meeting with visiting Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao.
Biden and Modi committed that the US and India will work closely together to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, renew their partnership on climate change, rebuild the global economy in a way that benefits the people of both countries, and stand together against the scourge of global terrorism, the White House said in a readout of the call.
The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Verma, 46, is the first Indian-American to be the US ambassador to India and is expected to be sworn in shortly.
'The hardliners in Delhi are in for a big disappointment,' predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
On the first night of the Republican National Convention on Monday, senior party leaders during their prime-time address said that the future of America was in danger if the November 3 polls resulted in the defeat of US President Donald Trump.
Trump, 74, who faces a formidable challenge from former Democratic vice president Joe Biden, 77, is scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech from the South Lawn of the White House on August 27.
He will visit the campuses of iconic Tesla, Facebook and Google
'The sooner Pakistan and India face these geopolitical realities, the better it will be for their own security and prosperity,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
More than 50 American scholars have been waiting up to 11 months for their Indian visas.
Amir Mir reports from Islamabad that the fall from grace for Pakistan's influential ambassador to Washington Hussain Haqqani on charge of seeking the Americans' help against the mighty military establishment of his own country to ward off a possible coup, is in fact the outcome of a constant civil-military tussle which has been going on since April 2008 when a khaki-turned diplomat Maj Gen (retd) Mahmood Ahmed Durrani was replaced with Haqqani as ambassador to the US.
She will also be the first serving diplomat to be posted in Washington in more than two decades after K Shankar Bajpai.
She will also be the first serving diplomat to be posted in Washington in more than two decades after K Shankar Bajpai.
A Royal Air Force plane left Kabul airport on Saturday night and arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, including with British ambassador to Afghanistan Sir Laurie Bristow who had been assisting the evacuation process.
Indian envoy to the United States Nirupama Rao scripts history by becoming the first ambasador to address a US state legislature. The Maryland house of delegates, which she addressed on Wednesday, was the first to be set up in the US, and predates even the Capitol in Washington, DC. Aziz Haniffa reports
In her first interview to CNN-IBN's Suhasini Haider after taking over as the US Ambassador to India in April 2012, Nancy J Powell, compared India's 'lower'oil cuts unfavourably to Japan that has already received an American sanction waiver after it cut oil imports by a whopping 80 per cent in April. India has announced a 34 per cent cut so far.
Welcoming guests at the annual White House Iftaar party, US President Barack Obama said, Islam has always been part of the American family and Muslim Americans have long contributed to the strength and character of our country in all walks of life.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday laid a wreath at the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers and paid homage to Indian-American astronaut late Kalpana Chawla at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.
"The US will not be told by any country where we can put our embassy... Today, for the simple act of deciding where to put our embassy, the United States was forced to defend its sovereignty. The record will reflect that we did so proudly," said the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley.
Nearly 100 Indian-Americans are on the ballot for the midterm elections and have emerged as strong contenders.
The Taliban knows that Washington holds the key, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
During the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston in last September, Modi, who shared the dais with Trump, invited the latter and his family to visit India, saying it will give a new height to the shared dreams of the two countries.
'New Delhi and Washington are now on the same page, on dealing with growing Chinese assertiveness, across the entire Indo-Pacific region,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy, Chancellor, Central University of Jammu.
United States President Barack Obama's confidant Susan Rice, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, has joined the White House as the national security advisor.
General Soleimani headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's Quds Force and also served as Iran's pointman on Iraq.
Through the past 18-month period, peace has prevailed in the disputed border regions, which was immensely helpful in the difficult situation that the country was passing through, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"Indian-Americans are an 'organic bridge' between the world's two largest democracies," he said.
"As far as the US is concerned, we have certainly reached a level of no return. In other words, we have developed today what we call a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. "We are cooperating across the board on areas that are of mutual interest to both our countries," said Shringla.
Sheela Bhatt talks to former Indian Ambassador Naresh Chandra about the raminfications of New Delhi's decision to drop American fighter aircraft from the mother of all defence deals
He will now get a chance to take a guided tour to the iconic Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee.
The attack in Libya on September 11 this year by a heavily armed group took the US administration by surprise and claimed the lives of four Americans, including the US Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.
