'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
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.
'Historically, equities have consistently outperformed debt, gold, property, and other assets over a reasonable period.'
The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Friday hit back strongly at Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi "vehemently denying baseless allegations" of unilateral decision making levelled against its president Jay Shah.
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.
Some of the weirdest, ultra-futuristic urban space ideas are being tried out in Asia for the first time.
The sizeable Indian investment flowing into the US is supporting thousands of jobs in this country, a senior US official has said, acknowledging the contribution of Indian money in creating employment during a tough economic environment.
Amid concern over some NGOs misusing foreign aid, the United States is preparing an online searchable database containing a vetted list of transparent and accountable Indian non-government bodies so that philanthropists can safely donate funds to them.
The United States believes India has the required institutional capacity to become a global power and sees a growing strategic convergence between the two nations, a top administration official has said ahead of next week's India-US strategic dialogue.
India depends on Iran for 12 per cent of its 80 per cent of imports of crude.
In a memorable year for the equity market, Dalal Street investors added a whopping Rs 81.90 lakh crore to their wealth in 2023 as a raft of positive factors powered a stellar rally in stocks. Experts said India's strong macroeconomic fundamentals, political stability owing to the BJP's success in recent elections in three significant states, optimistic corporate earnings outlook, signals from the US Federal Reserve about three prospective rate cuts next year and heavy retail investors participation played a major role in fuelling the stock market rally in 2023. In the year 2023, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 11,399.52 points or 18.73 per cent.
The Obama Administration is encouraged by recent steps taken by the governments of India and Pakistan to initiate closer trade and commercial ties.
It's a packed 5-nation, 9-day, visit for Prime Minister Modi as he heads to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, apart from Ufa in Russia.
"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.
The situation could worsen if weather predictions of more rain in the capital and upper catchment areas come true.
The Right to Read programme hopes to cover 100,000 schools, covering 15 million students.
India says it cannot accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The unalloyed truth about the Ukraine-Russia conflict is that it is a war that Russia cannot lose and Ukraine cannot win, observes Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
A high degree of mistrust continues to strain the bilateral relationship between India and China, the Pentagon has informed the United States Congress. New Delhi remains concerned by China's close military ties with Pakistan and its growing footprint in the Indian Ocean, Central Asia and Africa, Pentagon said in its annual report.
The United States has said it supports a direct dialogue between India and Pakistan as outlined in the Shimla Agreement
United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake will travel to Maldives for a first-hand assessment of the current political crisis in the island nation. "Assistant Secretary Blake has decided that he will add a stop in Male, capital of the Maldives, to his upcoming trip to the region. He will be there on Saturday, February 11, en route also to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as planned," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.
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.
A study by an international team of researchers had warned two year ago that the South Lhonak lake in Sikkim may burst in the future and significantly impact the downstream region.
Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty faced heavy drubbing on Thursday, falling over 1 per cent each, in tandem with weak global markets following the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hike and its hawkish stance. The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 878.88 points or 1.40 per cent to settle at 61,799.03. During the day, it tumbled 962.3 points or 1.53 per cent to 61,715.61.
Demanding a free and fair election in Maldives, the country's ousted President Mohamed Nasheed has said he does not want to topple the government of the day.
United States President Barack Obama has nominated US ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert O Blake, who has also served as the Deputy Chief of US Mission in New Delhi, as the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs. If approved by the US Senate, Blake would replace Richard Boucher, who is currently Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. However, the communique did not mention Central Asia being part of Blake's portfolio.
The government has announced several incentives for exporters to explore new destinations under focus market and focus product scheme.
Despite a strategic engagement that has brought the two countries into closer convergence, the US does not always expect India to toe its line and recognises New Delhi's strategic autonomy, a top official has said.
From the Sensex pack, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, Infosys and Bharti Airtel were the major laggards.
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.
PCB supremo Zaka Ashraf in his desperate bid to do damage control after indirectly terming India "enemy nation", hailed the warm reception that was accorded to the Pakistani team.
Das filed the complaint on Sunday and alleged that several people were issuing "threats, making sexually coloured remarks and defaming her" through online posts.
Outsourcing could be one of the campaign issues.
"Opening transit trade to India would be transformative, because India is going to be such an important economic anchor for the region in the 21st century," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said.
Acknowledging that there are differences between India and the US on issues like Libya and Syria, a top Obama administration official has said the two countries need to "redouble" their efforts to work together to reduce any misunderstanding between them.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said in a statement that the US report "Avoiding water wars in South and Central Asia," released on February 22, acknowledges that dams India is building in Jammu and Kashmir "will limit supply of water to Pakistan at crucial moments."
'You will really wish oh! Had I stayed in Dharavi I would have got a nice house. I can assure you that. We will make dreams come true.'
