Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden condemned Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory on Friday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday slammed Rahul Gandhi for his 'surrender' barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying it is not only a grave insult to the armed forces and country but also no less than treason.
'A less tense US-China relationship would make Beijing less likely to provoke India -- including on the border -- in retaliation for its close defence ties with the US.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, inviting her to visit India after her return from a nine-month stay at the International Space Station. In his letter, Modi expressed pride in Williams' achievements and said that India is looking forward to hosting "one of its most illustrious daughters." The letter was shared on X by Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh.
This includes over $15 billion of proposed investment in the infrastructure sector in the Indo-Pacific and $9 billion for shoring up American defence in the region.
United States President Joe Biden has said that the Senate's acquittal of his predecessor Donald Trump for inciting a mob to storm the Capitol on January 6 was a reminder that democracy was 'fragile' and every American had a duty to defend the truth.
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.
Ralph Laruen's brand is celebrated for its timeless elegance and embodiment of American tradition.
An electric vehicle exploded and caught fire outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, according to officials and videos on social media.
The 77-year-old former US vice president will become the 46th president of the United States, CNN reported, after a victory in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
The Blinken visit indicated that the Biden administration is still somewhat tentative about the specifics of its relations with India, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who has served multiple stints at India's embassy in Washington, DC.
In a sign of the growing political prominence of Hindus in America, the Trump and Biden campaigns are wooing this religious minority community like never before. Hinduism is the fourth largest faith in the US, representing approximately one per cent of the US population in 2016.
Both statesmen possess a cultivated pugnacious style which they keep in reserve and can at will bring into play, and despite the mutual distrust in Russian-American relations, they are proponents of detente, quintessentially, who take their mission deadly seriously, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
DOGE Leader Elon Musk said, "My guess is that a lot of that money ended up in the pockets Hamas, not actually condoms.
'Chinese experts estimate that the new US administration is 'at the crossroads of how to re-manage and control' Sino-American differences and strategic divergences and Biden's bottom line is that the US would have 'extreme competition with China, but won't allow competition to develop into conflict',' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Biden got a third Pfizer dose after booster doses were approved by federal health officials.
'Biden's promise of returning to 'normalcy' after Trump appears to mean that the same old politicians, who are responsible for the 'endless wars' in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, are being brought out of the woodwork after four years,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refused to send another generation of America's sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago," US President Joe Biden.
India and the US have finalised the terms of reference outlining the roadmap for negotiations of the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), according to a statement issued by the US. US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said that these ongoing talks will help achieve balance and reciprocity by opening new markets for American goods and addressing unfair practices that harm US workers.
"In 47 years, Joe did none of the things of which he now speaks. He will never change, just words!" Trump tweeted his first reaction to Biden's acceptance speech on Thursday.
The seven battleground states in this election cycle were Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia.
The ceremonial proceedings are set to take place at the US Capitol Rotunda, where Trump will take the oath of office on Monday, roughly two weeks after his electoral college victory was officially certified by Congress.
The Summit for Democracy seems to have done more harm than good, notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The 78-year-old veteran Democratic leader's Twitter account @PresElectBiden transformed into @POTUS after he took the oath of office at the West Front of the US Capitol as the 46th President of the United States in a historic but scaled down ceremony under the unprecedented security umbrella of thousands of security personnel.
The executive order also provides authority to impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in those areas of Ukraine.
Biden and Harris along with their families attended Mass at The Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle. They were joined by bipartisan congressional leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senator and JCCIC Chair Amy Klobuchar.
"Throughout our history we've learned this lesson -- when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And, the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising," Biden said addressing the joint session of the Congress in his first State of the Union.
Kyiv School of Economics President Tymofiy Mylovanov shared a video of Zelenskyy responding to a question from BBC News in Ukrainian. Zelenskyy stated that he is focused on Ukraine's security today and not staying in power for decades.
Biden met with Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska at a converted school that now serves as temporary housing for displaced citizens.
Biden praised India's Covid vaccination efforts.
Major American media outlets started calling Biden the winner after it became clear that he has taken a major lead against Republican incumbent Donald Trump in the battleground State of Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral college votes, making him cross the benchmark of the 270 electoral college votes.
Calling the military's seizure of power in Myanmar a 'direct assault' on its transition to democracy, United States President Joe Biden on Monday threatened to slap new sanctions on the country after the junta detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and other political leaders.
US shale oil would act as an alternative to India's heavy dependency on Russian crude, which is currently facing sanctions.
The Modi government has been put on notice.'Will it buckle under such pressure? These are times when the moral fibre of the leadership makes all the difference, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The US president-elect twisted his ankle on Saturday when he slipped while playing with Major, one of his two German shepherd.
US President Donald Trump shared a video link of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction with US-based popular podcaster and computer scientist Lex Fridman on his social media platform Truth Social. During the interaction lasting over three hours, Modi on Sunday said he and Trump connect well as both put their respective countries first and asserted that their mutual trust remained unshaken even when the Republican leader was out of office during Joe Biden's presidency. Modi recalled that during Trump's first term, he ignored security protocol and agreed to Modi's request to take a lap around the stadium hosting the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston. Modi also lauded Mahatma Gandhi's legacy and described himself as a peacemaker who has nudged both Russian and Ukrainian leaders to come to the negotiating table. In the podcast, Modi also opened up on a host of foreign affairs issues and touched on various aspects of his life journey.
Donald Trump's exaggerated opinion of his dealmaking capacity can get him into trouble, observes R Sriram.
'It will be normal, regular, everyday politics whether you like it or not.' That's what this country needs,' a New Yorker tells Payal Singh Mohanka.
The 2020 race marks Biden's third attempt at running for US president. He first tried in 1988 but dropped out after allegations of plagiarism. He ended his second attempt in 2008 after garnering less than one per cent in the crucial Iowa caucuses.
