Indians must remember that Pakistanis hate losing to India, at war or in cricket, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Gwadar port India is hardly taking any note of developments in Balochistan. To counter and restrict China influence there, India needs to aggressively move forward on further consolidating its friendly relationship with Iran and Afghanistan, says Abhay Jere.
Official sources said the two leaders will meet for around four to six hours for the 'agendaless' talks
The onus today is on China, but it also requires a little diplomatic finesse from India, backed by a modernised armed force, argues BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in this excerpt from his new book, Himalayan Challenge: India, China And The Quest For Peace.
The Saudi and Iraq offer to replace Iranian crude supplies comes with a catch: Higher prices for the same quality of crude. The new government will face a tough decision over fuel price hike, says Aveek Sen.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday left for home after wrapping up his eight-day whirlwind tour of five Central Asian countries and Russia during which ties with these nations were strengthened and India was accepted as a full member of the SCO.
India says it cannot accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.
'China's deep involvement in the stability and economic and political success of Pakistan actually produces some elements of congruence with India's core interest in a stable and productive relationship with Pakistan.' 'It is not far-fetched for us to pursue that congruence and with ingenuity work out with China a formula that also satisfies our formal position on PoK,' argues Ambassador Kishan S Rana.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
'Even as discord over US-India trade and commerce colours diplomatic relations, defence relations between the two countries remain on a firm footing,' points out Ajai Shukla.
'If the series of instances in the recent past are taken into account -- guns falling silent on the border; vastly reduced cross-border infiltration into J&K; positive approach to meeting Indian demands on the Kartarpur Sahib pilgrimage; resumption of overflight for Indian aircraft; visible disinterest in rhetoric and so on -- Commander Jadhav may see better days in a conceivable future,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
He also said that the Obama Administration has not expressed any objection to the recent signing of a pact by India and Iran to develop the Chabahar port, despite some concerns expressed by a few Senators.
According to Pak army officials, Kulbhushan Yadav "confessed" of working for Indian intelligence agency RAW to "foment trouble" in restive province of Balochistan.
Whatever be India's course of action, it will have an impact on India-Iran ties, notes Aveek Sen.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday called on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Islamabad and discussed connectivity, terror threats to the war-torn country and the peace and reconciliation process there.
As Inter-Services Intelligence, the notorious Pakistan spy agency infamous for its clandestine support to most of the major terror attacks in India, made its maiden overt presence on Indian soil, curious citizens tried to catch a glimpse of "ISI ka Banda" (the ISI man).
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 sanctions have a singular purpose, denying the world's largest state sponsor of terrorists the capacity to do things like they did this past couple weeks, attempted assassination campaign in the heart of Europe, said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Sushma in her address at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers meeting said that terrorism is an enemy of basic human rights.
'Indian and Iranian sources both confirmed to me that India and Iran are moving ahead to implement a payment system on buying oil from Iran and hope to finalise it very soon,' says Aveek Sen.
If things work out, it will be a great leap forward in the Indian-Iranian economic ties in the new phase of Iran's reintegration with the world market following the lifting of sanctions, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In the Middle East, which is already coping with the Qatar-Saudi Arabia tensions, comes another pressure point.
India owes Iran around $8.8 billion primarily on account of crude oil imports.
'Does the country risk being enclosed in a geographical cocoon if it spurns a multi-continent project for which everyone else has signed up,' asks T N Ninan.
Beyond the barbed wire and watchtowers, though, lies a story that casts more than a little doubt on whether this dream will ever be realised. Praveen Swami reports.
With Iran reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme, India is expected to be one of the major gainers.
The country must get its act on global alliances right in order to feed its fuel-hungry economy, points out Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Swaraj expressed satisfaction over the agenda of the inaugural dialogue while giving the details of the deliberations.
Modi will hold several bilateral meetings with the leaders of the SCO member countries including China's Xi Jinping.
India looks less equal to China than 5 years ago, the strategic alliance with the US is hobbled by trade, and Pakistan is looking anything but chastened by Balakot. What has gone wrong? asks Shekhar Gupta.
New Delhi must indicate to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that it has a long-term strategy for his country. It should point out that Pakistan's present Afgan policy will destabilise Afghanistan and help Islamic State, says Gautam Sen.
Petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily would like to import 11 million tonnes of Iranian crude in this financial year.
At the summit, India signed the SCO's memorandum of obligations, kick-starting the process of its accession into the group as a full member.
Identifying terror emanating from Pakistan as the "greatest threat" to regional peace and stability, India and Afghanistan have said that setting up an effective counter-terror framework to deal with the challenge will be a major focus at the two-day Heart of Asia conference beginning Saturday.
'Notwithstanding the realisation among the Indian leadership to build up its navy for the force's expanding role, the Indian Navy was allocated only 15% of the interim defence budget presented in Parliament in February 2019.' 'The outlay for the navy's capital acquisition is not even adequate to meet its committed liabilities,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'Earlier compensation was less, but we have increased compensation four fold. As a result, farmers want to give up their land.' 'Infrastructure projects will create 50 lakh jobs. If today we are building 14 km of road per day, by next March, we hope to take it up to 30 km. My own hope is we can take it to 100 km per day.' 'The government's ambitious Sagarmala project aims to develop port infrastructure along the country's 7,500 km coastline. The project includes modernisation of our ports and islands, setting up of coastal economic zones, new major ports and fish harbours.'
Modi government expects cargo traffic at its ports to jump by two-thirds by 2021 as India ramps up exports of goods including cars and other machinery.
In the year since Modi cast the spotlight on Pakistan's human rights violations in Balochistan, India has not done much more than raise the issue at the UN a few times.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will focus on extended neighbourhood, particularly the ASEAN and Central Asian regions, says Archis Mohan
The declaration also names Pak-based terror groups like LeT and JeM.
