However, the IDF strongly criticised the Hamas terror group for continuing to hold approximately 200 other hostages.
A day ahead of a crucial G20 meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday evening hosted a welcome dinner for the foreign ministers attending the deliberations but the reception was missed by his counterparts from the US, China, Germany and France.
'The negotiation was a result of -- based on the judgment that we weren't winning the war and therefore time was not on our side and better to make a deal sooner than later'
Blinkin said the US will engage with the Taliban not on the basis of what a Taliban-led government says, but what it does to live up to its commitments.
The war and Modi's recent visit to Ukraine is expected to figure prominently in the bilateral meeting, according to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Putin said the residents in the four annexed regions will now be Russia's "citizens forever".
"In our statement, we have said that we have told them that we want them to be cognisant of the fact that there should be no terrorism that emanates from their territory directed against us, or other countries; that we want them to be mindful of the status of women, minorities and so on so forth. And, and I think they have, also, you know, made reassuring... from their side," foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon, said to be the size of three buses, was spotted over the United States' airspace, the Pentagon has said, a development that has further strained the already tense bilateral ties as Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday abruptly postponed his key visit to Beijing.
He informed that special units of the armed forces are inside Kherson and other Ukrainian troops were also approaching the city from the outskirts.
The foreign ministers of the Quad grouping of India, the US, Australia and Japan on Friday held extensive talks in Melbourne amid escalating tension between Russia and NATO countries over Ukraine, the Afghan crisis and increasing concerns over China's "coercion" in the Indo-Pacific region.
Russian troops have targeted areas where civilians are present, including apartment buildings, schools and hospitals.
The US is not going to be able to mount a concerted 'Western strategy' against China or Russia in the present international milieu, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Biden, in his call with Netanyahu, updated him on US military support and reiterated his warning against anyone seeking to expand the conflict, according to a readout of the call.
US Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues Uzra Zeya will travel to India and Nepal this week to deepen cooperation on human rights and democratic governance goals with the two nations, the state department has announced.
In the next two weeks, the United States will detail plans to equitably distribute about 80 million (8 crore) COVID-19 vaccine doses globally without 'political requirements' of those receiving them, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
Blinken will also attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad grouping and will hold bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in Delhi.
United States President Joe Biden and his top advisors have warned Israel that it will become increasingly difficult for it to pursue its military goals in Gaza as global outcry intensifies about the scale of humanitarian suffering in the crisis-stricken region, CNN reported.
A number of world leaders shared their well wishes for former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who is in a critical condition after being shot during a campaign speech on Friday in western Japan.
United States President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday smiled and greeted each other awkwardly with a handshake outside a villa in Geneva, before heading in for a highly-anticipated summit.
Addressing the media on Friday, Trudeau also alleged that India violated the Vienna Convention as over 40 Canadian diplomats were shifted from India after New Delhi threatened to strip them of their diplomatic immunity.
The 2+2 was attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and their Indian counterparts S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh respectively.
Gen Kenneth S Wilsbach, commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, said the US side held the interaction behind closed doors with most of the air chiefs of the region.
According to the tentative plan, September 23-24 is being worked as the expected dates for Modi's US visit.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held wide ranging discussions with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran and their discussion focused on the long term framework for India's involvement with the strategically vital Chabahar port and the North-South connectivity project.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who was on a visit to the US last month, said that America's relationship with Pakistan has "not served" either of the two countries and raised questions on the Biden administration's approval of a USD 450-million sustenance package for the F-16 fleet.
Condemning the terrorists who seek to infiltrate across the Line of Control, the United States on Thursday called on all parties to reduce tensions along the LoC by returning to the 2003 ceasefire commitments.
'We know that our Indian partners are committed to that rules-based international order. There are any number of tenets in that order. One of them is that borders cannot be redrawn by force'
Biden said his administration is making sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself and respond to these attacks.
External Affairs minister S Jaishankar in New York praised the leadership skills of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while recalling the attack on the Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan near the Indian consulate and while India was coordinating evacuations from the country.
Modi, who arrived in Cairo on Saturday after concluding a high-profile state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden, was received at the airport by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
The two-day State Visit to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is also the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister since 1997.
Modi's visit to the US will commence in New York, where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the headquarters of the United Nations on June 21.
India on Thursday condemned Omar's visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
It is difficult to recall an Indian minister in modern times pushing back at the US publicly, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
New Delhi has reached out to Moscow while waiting for a new president in Washington. New Delhi knows well that in international relations, there are no permanent friends or foes, only permanent national interests, points out Dr Rup Narayan Das.
In October 2018, India had signed a US$ 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.
Verma, 54, who served as a former US ambassador to India from January 16, 2015, to January 20, 2017 is currently the chief legal officer and head of global public policy at Mastercard.
The lawmakers expressed concerns about "pre- and post-poll rigging in Pakistan's recent parliamentary elections" and urged the US Congress to "withhold recognition of a new government in Pakistan until a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation of election interference has been conducted".
US basketball player Brittney Griner teared up during her first news conference after being detained in Russia for nearly 10-months.
Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled to the United Arab Emirates before the Taliban seized power last month, on Wednesday apologised to the people for leaving the country abruptly, saying he believed it was the 'only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and her six million people'.
