'Washington knows that it ultimately has to depend on the Pakistani army.'
Thirty-two young leaders from India and Pakistan who have just completed a three-week conflict resolution programme in Maine under the auspices of The Seeds of Peace programme, were felicitated at the State Department by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher, who hailed them as the leaders of tomorrow and the catalysts of peace in a region beset by conflict for far too long.
Blinken is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi late on July 27. He is scheduled to attend a full slate of engagements on July 28. During his stay in the country, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Applauding India as a "responsible steward" of atomic power, the US has said it looked forward to "trying to complete" the civilian nuclear deal this year so as to bring New Delhi to the "mainstream".
Rice's concerns were over the bills in their current form. India believed this was a case of 'moving the goal-posts.'
Describing India as a "rising world power", US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher on Friday emphasised the need to fight the global menace of terrorism "jointly".
So far in 2019, India has been one of the highest recipients of foreign flows among Asian and Emerging Market (EM) economies
In the face of the Left opposition, the Bush administration has refused to set a timeline for moving the Indo-US nuclear deal forward, saying it will start work towards operationalising the agreement when New Delhi is ready.
India on Thursday pitched for unleashing the "collective strength" of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj underlined the need for a South Asian Economic Union with greater connectivity and forward movement on pending agreements on rail and motor vehicles.
United States President Barack Obama has nominated Nisha Desai Biswal as the new assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs.
The relationship between New Delhi and Tehran has caused some concern on Capitol Hill.
Is Chandrababu Naidu being in jail an opportunity? How will the TDP capitalise on it? Or will it implode with nothing more than a sigh?
'The diplomat's arrest has led to a major diplomatic spat, the likes of which I have not seen in my nearly three decades of covering the US-India relationship, says Aziz Haniffa. 'The knee-jerk reaction by the powers-that-be in Delhi was myopic to say the least.'
India has airlifted more than 6 million COVID-19 doses to nine countries in Phase-I under its initiative termed "Vaccine Maitri".
'Thirteen years have passed since the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai. On today's anniversary, we remember the victims, including six Americans, and the resiliency of Mumbaikars. It is long overdue for the perpetrators to face justice,' Blinken said in a tweet on Friday.
India would not be seen to be anything but rude with the Pakistanis. In the big picture, who is the bigger adversary right now? Who is the bigger pain in the neck? And who is it that is keeping more than 3,000 km of our borders active, throwing our military posture and deployments into imbalance? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan reiterated his allegations of a foreign conspiracy behind his ouster and said he knew that the 'match was fixed' when a no-confidence motion was moved against him.
It is the first visit to India by a senior minister of a member nation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation after the controversial remarks triggered anguish in the Arab world.
The cable was reportedly sent on March 7, a day before the Opposition submitted the no-confidence motion and requisitioned a National Assembly session for voting on it.
In his opening remarks at the G20 Leaders' Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Modi said the 21st century is a time of giving new direction to the world.
Much to the surprise of Beijing, Nepal's Parliament on Sunday ratified the contentious US-funded $500 million Millennium Challenge Corporation compact along with an interpretive declaration a day ahead of the February 28 deadline set by Washington.
The 2+2 was attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and their Indian counterparts S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh respectively.
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.
With Shanghai Cooperation Organisation set to admit India and Pakistan amid growing rancour over their Nuclear Supplies Group membership bid, a Chinese state-run daily expressed concern on Friday that the hostility between them may have a "negative effect" on the security grouping.
'After a strategic pause though, Beijing will revive its policy of slowly creeping towards acquiring sovereignty over the South China Sea.'
Defence and strategic experts on Monday said that China's posturing in the Indian Ocean will disturb stability and peace in the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a $1 million ad-hoc grant for the operational budget for the BIMSTEC secretariat and another $3 million assistance to revive the grouping's centre for weather and climate.
The Sikh taxi driver was assaulted by an unidentified man, who knocked off his turban and also used expletives against him.
Despite the government's hectic efforts to avoid voting on the no-confidence motion against Khan, the joint Opposition succeeded in its month-long efforts to oust Khan from the prime minister's office as 174 members of the 342-member National Assembly voted against him in the wee hours of Sunday after a day of high drama.
US Senators want Obama administration to clarify what India's 12 agreements with Iran are all about.
"The deal is being implemented. We witnessed attempts on the part of the US to undermine this cooperation and make India obey the American orders to follow the American vision of how this region should be developed," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"The incident involving India's deputy consul general was outrageous, deplorable and inexcusable. Period. Full stop."
A joint statement was issued by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa after their in-person meeting in Phnom Penh on the margins of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is very much aligned with the foreign policy priorities of the Modi 2.0 government, says Sana Hashmi.
It is important the SCO focus strongly on economic development and regional integration that leads to greater benefits for the least developed regions of member-countries, writes Sana Hashmi.
The US has also urged the two South Asian neighbours to avoid further military action.
'Pleasure to meet FM Sergey Lavrov, this time in person. Excellent talks that reflect our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. Value our exchanges on the international situation,' Jaishankar tweeted after talks with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the SCO meeting.
'Part of the problem lies in the US failure to stay focused on the goal of convincing Pakistan to crack down on terrorists that attack India.'
