'Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi be able to continue political engagement with Pakistan against the inevitable upsurge of negative and hostile public sentiment?'
Marking the first step in the resumption of the stalled dialogue process, home secretaries of India and Pakistan will hold talks in New Delhi on March 28 and 29 on a range of issues including terrorism and the 26/11 trial.This will be the first structured bilateral secretary-level meeting on counter-terrorism after the recent Indo-Pak decision to resume comprehensive talks.Islamabad has conveyed to New Delhi its consent to the meeting.
The external affairs minister said PM Modi had discussed with his Pakistani counterpart of re-engaging with each other."
In recent years India-Japan relations have acquired rich economic content and strategic intents. Although the bilateral trade at $18 billion between the two countries is not very impressive and leaves much to be desired, the economic engagement between the two countries is both qualitatively and quantitatively noteworthy. India-Japan defence cooperation, however, has generated a lot interest among the strategic community in the context of rise of China. There has been a lot of speculation about India-Japan strategic partnership to hedge China, says Rup Narayan Das.
'If there is a background of some kind of mutual understanding on how the dialogue process might develop in a mutually satisfactory manner...' 'If this understanding impacts positively on the ground situation...' 'As of now this is a heroic assumption. But it does not have to remain such.'
Pakistan on Wednesday said it was "encouraged" after BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's remarks regarding ties with foreign countries and asserted that it was looking forward to a stable government here to engage "quickly, comprehensively and meaningfully".
India on Friday pressed Indonesia to speedily ratification an extradition treaty, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying the two countries would frame a comprehensive action plan for mutually beneficial security cooperation.
Describing the just concluded United States visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as extraordinarily successful, the White House has said that his meeting with President Barack Obama has re-energised the strategic relationship between the two largest democracies of the world.
After a ceremonial welcome at the White House on Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold wide-ranging discussions with Bush.
EAM Sushma Swaraj said that terror and talks cannot go together.
Hard to treat ties as normal unless Pak addresses terror issue effectively: India
The Chinese side hopes that the next US administration will return to a sensible approach, resume dialogue with China, restore normalcy to the bilateral relations and restart cooperation, Wang, who is also a state councillor, told the state-run Xinhua news agency in an interview.
They also emphasised that Pakistan should play an "active role in highlighting the human rights violations" in Jammu and Kashmir at international fora.
The conference, which will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, will see participation of over 40 countries.
During the meeting on the sidelines of the 11th BRICS Summit on Wednesday, prime minister Modi said there was a "new direction and new energy" in bilateral ties after the two leaders' second informal summit in Chennai.
"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.
'India has a strong and proud tradition of strategic autonomy, and we respect that'
The agreement provides for extensive cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector including in research and development for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, they said.
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Jaishankar arrived on a day-long visit to prepare the ground for Prime Minister Modi's visit to Bangladesh later this month to participate in the celebrations of 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's Independence and 50 years of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations.
'The public has unfair expectations from Mrs Swaraj who is in Islamabad primarily for the Heart of Asia Conference. To restore India's position among stakeholders on Afghanistan is a fair one but to expect her to do more on the Indo-Pak front without requisite preparatory work is unrealistic.'
Modi will have a number of high-profile multilateral and bilateral meetings with global leaders including United States Vice President Mike Pence and Singapore premier Lee Hsein Loong.
'They also agreed that for the overall development of bilateral relations it was essential to maintain enduring peace and tranquillity in the border areas,' the MEA said in a statement.
Afghanistan said Pak was diverting attention of the international community from its 'longstanding failure' to take effective action against terrorist groups.
India and Pakistan must reform their institutions of governance to accelerate economic growth on a sustained basis for poverty reduction, lawmakers and experts from both the countries attending a meeting in Dubai said notwithstanding the chill in bilateral ties.
Doval and Salman also deliberated on a range of bilateral, regional issues including the missile and drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities last month and ways to further deepen anti-terror cooperation.
"There is no use of these stop-start talks. We know the outcome, it's futile. The people of this country have been bored with such moves by the government," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said.
The elephant in the room will permeate the conversations, predicts Rup Narayan Das.
Majority of the 15 members said there should not be any statement or outcome issued after the consultations and their will prevailed, leaving China to come out and make a statement in its national capacity followed by Pakistan.
PM Modi said that all countries should wipe out all terror havens.
Describing India as one of the most important partners of the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, the Biden Administration on Tuesday said that it welcomes India's emergence as a leading global power and its role as a net security provider in the region.
Sharif raises Kashmir issue at UNGA, renews plebiscite demand.
As India strives to make its Act East Policy a comprehensive politico-diplomatic and economic success, Brunei gains more salience, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
China is going to be an indispensable partner in Russia's ongoing crisis with the US, while on its part, China cannot remain indifferent if Russia gets crushed by the US, lest it loses 'strategic depth', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sources said Wang is primarily visiting India to hold boundary talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Friday night said he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expect sabotage by "vested interests", but stressed that talks between India and Pakistan should go on "uninterrupted".
Xi will attend the second informal meeting with Modi at Mahabalipuram near Chennai from October 11 to 12 and pay a state visit to Nepal on October 13, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Wednesday.
The external affairs ministry said the talks were 'positive'.
Swaraj also said that Pak cannot take Kashmir to the ICJ.
The agreement will allow sharing of high-end military technology, classified satellite data and critical information between the two countries.
'He knew that a regime which believes that power flows from the barrel of the gun can only be handled from a position of comprehensive strength and not from a position of vulnerability and weakness,' says Rup Narayan Das.
