India's decision to skip the meeting came after a year of bilateral discord over China's stubborn opposition to India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group and a UN ban against Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar.
Leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan have also decided not to attend the summit, which now has to be cancelled as per the SAARC charter.
The NDA government has approved additional facilities for members of minority communities living in India on long-term visa
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday held talks with her Bangladeshi counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on key bilateral issues, including Land Boundary Agreement and proposed Teesta river water sharing deal, during which the Indian side also raised the matter of illegal immigration.
The EU ambassador to India hoped the principle of equality will be upheld in the CAB. He also said that Pak must take action against terror groups.
It alleged that the decision by India to 'derail the summit' effectively 'contradicts' Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own call to fight against poverty in the region.
India displayed its military might and vibrant cultural heritage on Rajpath on Wednesday with the grandest flypast with 75 aircraft to mark the 'Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav' celebrations being the highlight of the 73rd Republic Day Parade, which was drastically scaled down in view of the Covid pandemic.
Issuing a travel advisory, the health ministry also called for passengers with travel history to China, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Japan, Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Iran, Malaysia, France, Spain and Germany to undergo self-imposed quarantine for a period of 14 days from the date of their arrival, and their employers to facilitate work-from-home for such employees during this period.
Making it easier to do business is a key element of our strategy, says Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.
First Secretary Sneha Dubey gave a blistering retort to Khan in the UN General Assembly as she delivered India's strong Right of Reply from the UNGA hall, carrying on with a tradition seen over the past few years of young Indian diplomats taking on Pakistani leaders and strongly responding to their rants over Kashmir and other internal matters of India.
The 45-year old Pakistani national identified as Fasiullah Hussaini was released from the jail on Monday and escorted by the police to Delhi for being handed over to Pakistan Rangers at the Wagah border with the help of the Border Security Force, jail authorities told PTI on Tuesday.
The union home ministry has rejected the ministry of external affairs's proposal to grant visa-on-arrival facility to Bangladeshi nationals and visa-free entry to citizens of that country under the age of 18 and over the age of 65.
Amid continued strain in ties, Pakistan on Wednesday said it does not see any prospect of having structured talks with India in the near future and made it clear that the ball is in India's court to initiate dialogue.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan advised people to refrain from non-essential travel to Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore.
The government's focus is on containing and controlling coronavirus the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday and advised Indians to stay put wherever they are and travel only under compelling reasons.
Official sources said that the federal probe agency, which is investigating the PFI under the PMLA)tka since 2018, has found that at least Rs 1.04 crore were deposited in several bank accounts linked to the organisation between December 4 last year and January 6 this year in various parts of the country.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday night hosted a dinner for visiting South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi where the guests were treated to a variety of dishes drawn from various parts of the country.
Two passenger ships with Indians and foreign nationals evacuated from conflict-hit Yemen are expected to reach the port on Saturday afternoon.
Seeking cooperation from the public to fight the pandemic, the Union health ministry officials said there was no need to panic. They also said not everyone needs to wear masks and that following social distancing is more important to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Three suicide bombers struck in Saudi Arabia on Monday, including a shocking attack at Islam's second holiest site, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, where four security guards were killed.
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There are 'no plans' for a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, external affairs ministry said on Tuesday.
The data gathered by activist Commodore (Retd) Lokesh Batra through his RTI application, show that till June 2016, Indian Air Force aircraft were used for the prime minister's visits to 11 countries -- Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Qatar, Australia, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, Fiji and Singapore.
Alert to the looming threat from the 'Omicron' variant, states began to re-tighten curbs and urgently trace people who arrived from abroad in the last one month while a demand to not allow flights from the affected countries was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
China is opposed to India's oil exploration in the South China Sea because it is a disputed area, but regards its ambitious US $46 billion (Rs 2.9 lakh crore) economic corridor through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir a "livelihood project" with issues left over from history.
Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtraparti Bhavan.
The product was banned for export earlier, but has now been moved to the restricted category, under which an exporter would have to seek a licence from the government for shipments.
Currently, India recycles around 300 of the 1,000 ships which are demolished per annum globally. However, countries like Japan, Europe and the US were not sending their ships for recycling to India in the absence of ratification of a global convention. That scenario is set to change with the Recycling of Ships Act, 2019.
Thimpu apparently didn't think it necessary to take Delhi into confidence. Bhutan is loathe to getting dragged into the geopolitical rivalry between India and China. And for Beijing, this was too good an opportunity to be missed to thumb its nose at the powers-that-be in Delhi, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'What kind of world player are you trying to be?'
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.
The US lawmakers, describing themselves as "longtime friends of India", wrote in the letter that "more than six months after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government unilaterally revoked the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, the government continues to block most internet in the region".
Speaking about the COVID-19 pandemic in Parliament on Tuesday, Oli said it has become very difficult for Nepal to contain the spread of the deadly virus due to the flow of people from outside.
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.
The event, which was slated to have been held at Rajghat to commemorate the Buddhist monk's 60th year in exile in India, was later moved to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, and will now be held at the end of the month.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Ufa on Friday after more than a year.
After a long hiatus of more than 20 months, the government had on November 26 announced the resumption of scheduled international commercial flights from December 15.
In Jaipur, the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, both second-line HIV drugs, was administered was administered on an elderly Italian couple undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at the SMS Hospital.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has approached the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in the hearing on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, saying there was a need to take into account the "international human rights law, norms and standards" in the proceedings.
The home ministry is said to be awaiting clearance from some security agencies on her plea for extension of the permit.
By revising the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement, the NDA is going for short-term gains and losing the long-term perspective, says Gautam Sen.
