Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake was asked pointedly by rediff.com to respond to a growing perception that Pakistan was hedging on punishing the terrorists behind the Mumbai terror attack and the US was backing off from applying too much pressure on Islamabad because of its strategic interests. Blake said, "First of all, let me say these are really a very complicated set of issues that are for India and Pakistan to resolve."
Tsering described the gesture as an "innocent grandfatherly affectionate demeanour" that was followed by his "jovial prank" with a tongue.
Why did the company zero in on RBL Bank to understand the business of banking? While the M&M investors heaved a sigh of relief, one gentleman must have been all smiles after this, RBL Bank MD and CEO R Subramaniakumar, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'It is not just the religious minorities who are being intimidated or targeted.' 'You see an equal intimidation or effort of intimidation towards anyone who does not agree with the Hindutva interpretation of the Hindu faith.'
After three days of intense search, debris of the missing AirAsia aircraft carrying 162 people was found on Tuesday in the Java Sea off Indonesia but only three bodies have been retrieved so far as the mystery remained over the cause of the crash.
Given the current geo-political situation in South Asia, a top Barack Obama administration official on Thursday confirmed that Pakistan will figure in talks when United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Indian leaders, during her upcoming visit to India. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake appreciated the recent meetings between the leaders of India and Pakistan and identified it as a positive development.
The Export-Import Bank of India is planning to extend loans worth $150 million to the developing countries in Africa, Asia and Europe in six months.
As North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's forces prepare their exit strategy in Afghanistan in 2014, Russia on Sunday raised concerns about a "new wave of terrorism" that could emerge in the region and affect India. Thousands of terrorists and fundamentalists could seek refuge in Afghanistan and this could change the situation drastically for countries such as Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, warned Russia.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who was speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival in Kozhikode on Friday, said while he concedes the BJP's dominance, it is also a fact that they have lost many states and them losing the central government is not impossible.
Das filed the complaint on Sunday and alleged that several people were issuing "threats, making sexually coloured remarks and defaming her" through online posts.
Dr Shreekant Sambrani pays tribute to M S Swaminathan, renowned agricultural scientist and a lifelong crusader against hunger who passed away in Chennai recently.
The pilot project for central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the retail segment went live on Thursday with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issuing Rs 1.71 crore to four participating banks based on their indents. The central bank has identified four banks for the first phase of the pilot - State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank - in four cities, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar. The highest indent was received from one private sector bank.
From the steely town of Temirtav to the cultural capital of Almaty, the Silk Route winding through Kazakhstan has a lot to offer, finds Sudha Mahalingam
'The market will focus on the fact that India does have strong earnings growth this year.'
The United States has said it supports a direct dialogue between India and Pakistan as outlined in the Shimla Agreement
'In 1984, Pyongyang just had one hotel and one could not move out without an official escort.' 'India was the only country with an embassy, apart from the socialist countries.'
The Right to Read programme hopes to cover 100,000 schools, covering 15 million students.
New Delhi will host the second tri-lateral dialogue with United States and Afghanistan next week, which among other things will focus on co-operation between the three countries post-2014 when the US forces are scheduled to hand over control for security operations to Afghan forces.
Manavi Kapur profiles Sheikh Rafik Mohammed of Calicut, who has been appointed to the top military post in the Central Asian country.
Dalhousie square has close to 55 historic landmarks.
India and Pakistan's admission to the Beijing-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation will be formalised at the grouping's summit in Kazakhstan next week, China said on Thursday.
Remittances to India are likely to drop by 23 per cent from USD 83 billion last year to USD 64 billion this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in a global recession, the World Bank has said. Globally remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 per cent this year due to the economic crisis induced by the pandemic and shutdowns, according to a World Bank report on the impact of the Covid-19 on migration and remittances released on Wednesday.
Promising to respect democracy, the new Maldives President Mohammed Waheed has told the United States that he intends to form a national unity government which would include participation of opposition parties.
'Clearly, from the Indian viewpoint, the US retrenchment from Asia cannot be happening as good news.' 'The abandonment of the US' pivot to Asia exposes the US-Indian partnership to be a mere transactional relationship,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
Ruling out the possibility of establishing a military base or having permanent boots on the ground in Maldives, a top Barack Obama administration official has said that the United States has consulted India on the Status of Forces Agreement, which it is currently negotiating with the island nation.
'A strong positive relationship with India is essential to achieving long-term US goals such as regional security and stability, reduced tensions with Pakistan, and wide-ranging cooperation to counter extremism,' Admiral Robert Willard, said in his confirmation hearing for Commander of US Pacific Command.
India and Japan have a shared interest in countervailing China's hegemonic ambitions in Asia. Although neither has an interest in forming an overt anti-China alliance, Tokyo and New Delhi feel increasingly obligated to work together to find ways to guard against a muscular Beijing's power sliding into arrogance, says Brahma Chellaney.
The China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to revive diplomatic ties should not be a matter of concern for India as the pact would provide regional stability and would be beneficial for New Delhi's interests as well, Iranian ambassador Iraj Elahi said on Friday.
Responding to the questions from Congressmen, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake said India is making progress in this regard not because of any pressure from the US, but because of "financial and commercial considerations".
India says it cannot accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Centre told the Delhi high court on Friday that American journalist Angad Singh has been blacklisted despite being an OCI cardholder for misrepresenting facts in his application for obtaining a journalistic visa and violating certain norms.
Being attended by nearly 40 countries and leading groupings like the European Union, the annual conference of the Heart of Asia -- Istanbul Process is deliberating on various challenges facing Afghanistan, including revival of a peace process in the conflict-ridden country.
The Modi government has to embrace the history of Tamil conquests in South East Asia and stop obsessing about Babar/Humayun, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
"The Asian Football Confederation expresses its disappointment and sadness at Wednesday's events in Zurich whilst opposing any delay in the FIFA Presidential elections to take place on Friday May 29 in Zurich," the AFC said in a statement posted on its website (the-afc.com) on Thursday.
'I also wish he would lead a spiritual life, confessing his past involvement in criminal activities'
Some of the weirdest, ultra-futuristic urban space ideas are being tried out in Asia for the first time.
The US is working to enhance partnerships with India's smaller cities and towns which are fast becoming the engines of the country's economic boom, a senior American official has said.
'This committee underscores the Indian State's longstanding conventional approach to leverage top-down conflict management in North East India in general and Manipur in particular.' 'Trying to 'manage' violent conflicts top-down has not worked in the past, and apparently does not seem to work this time either.'
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