It is the first meeting between the two leaders after India boycotted the high-profile Belt and Road Forum.
Macron held a tete-a-tete with Modi before the delegation-level talks at the Elysee Palace - the official residence of the French president.
'By the time he came out after nearly five hours, he had a one-to-one conversation with the President, a delegation-level meeting, a reception, a dinner, a tour of the White House and a joint statement of a kind none of his predecessors ever had,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The reversal of Trump's policy with regard to Iran, like the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, may not be a matter of just turning the clock back, but one of patient negotiations, with uncertain consequences in the post-COVID-19 world, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
He warned that Pakistan-supported terrorist groups would continue to carry out attacks inside India.
If the aim is to become a player with some strategic space of its own, not just in the Indian Ocean region but also in the adjoining region, then greater interaction with China is desirable, even necessary.
'India's military posture has become significantly stronger than China's on the 3,500-kilometre Line of Actual Control.' 'This is enhancing confrontation between the two sides,' points out Ajai Shukla.
Modi's arrival has changed the optics of the visit. There is a different demonstration of the confidence level in the Indian leadership, but not much has changed beyond that, reports Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
The meeting, which lasted for nearly 50-minutes, comes in the backdrop of stiff Chinese opposition to India's entry into the NSG, which looks after critical issues relating to nuclear sector, including trade and export of nuclear technology.
Now, as before, India's vote at the UN was dictated by paramount national interests. Though the Indian vote was 'neutral', its explanation was explicit in its criticism of the Russian actions. India took back with the left hand what it had given with the right, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Modi's finest political legacy ought to be a border settlement with Beijing,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Pakistan was very mature in the way it dealt with the incident.' 'India too owned up to the accident.' 'The whole incident was resolved quite amicably.' 'Both countries should be proud of how they have handled this situation.'
The world is seeing an "explosion" in seizures of power by force and military coups are back, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told world leaders on Tuesday, lamenting that geopolitical divisions are undermining international cooperation as he called for strengthening global governance and re-igniting multilateralism.
Even as the United States snuggles closer to India with the thinly veiled objective of containing China, the Indian strategy is to avoid alienating either nation.
Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, who is accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his trips to Russia and China, notes that Moscow and New Delhi work together professionally and via a shared common approach on crucial issues.
'Whether it's investments in Kashmir, building naval facilities, or selling top-of-the-range military equipment, Pakistan could well benefit more under Xi's watch.' 'Do Chinese concerns about the 'Islamisation' of Pakistan give it pause about how quickly to move forward with security and economic projects? At the moment the indication is quite the opposite: China is doubling down on its support to Pakistan, partly because of its fears about where the country is headed.'
The beauty of the relationship between the two countries is that they agree to disagree and perhaps that is the strongest bond between the two governments and their relationships, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The Biden administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on combating dreaded terrorist groups such as the ISIS-K and Al Qaeda following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a set of leaked documents and diplomatic cables to a prominent US media outlet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit will highlight the growing collaboration between India and the US and their "shared leadership" on the world stage, the White House said on the eve of his arrival.
The sources said the military brass is considering deploying Indian Navy's MiG-29K fighter jets in a couple of air bases in the northern sector as part of efforts to bring in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges.
The dreary, cold months from December to February may prove to be the undoing of many a nation as they grapple with sky-high fuel prices - a result of the Ukraine conflict and the pandemic. Many - Europe, South Korea, Japan, and China - will still pull through on the strength of their wealth or because of strong storage infrastructure. But India will have its back to the wall. Signs of liquefied natural gas (LNG) rates hitting new records this winter are already evident.
The foreign secretary said almost all major initiatives of India in SAARC did not fructify due to hurdles posed by Islamabad.
Lack of access to the cosmonaut training programmes would also be a hindrance for ISRO's planned manned missions, explains Devangshu Datta.
Possible US envoy says India must get assurance against China.
With the situation in Ladakh tense and no resolution in sight the trigger to take the India-US relationship to a transformational one is already there, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Rajaram Panda explains why the US president needs to restrain himself and build a relationship with China to put any credible pressure on North Korea.
'If the Russian forces do capture Kyiv and set up some sort of provisional government, they might run into an insurgency, for which the geography is just right, it could prove costly for them.' 'In that event, the whole exercise could turn out to be counter-productive -- and costly in both foreign policy and domestic terms.'
In bilateral interfaces relations with China have also to be given due weight, opines Premvir Das
'The book has immense value because it reveals the inner workings of the think-tank which appears to provide facts and insights to Modi, though he himself takes the final decisions and articulates them in his characteristic rhetorical style,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The only thing that may salvage Narendra Modi's trip to the US is his meetings with CEOs, such as those of Blackstone, First Solar, Qualcomm, Adobe, and General Atomics, asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
The BRICS also called upon all nations to adopt a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism including countering radicalisation and blocking terror financing sources.
'While economic ties are making incremental progress, it is in the security and strategic domains that the India-Japan synergy is more compelling,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
'One must remember that a dragon has a forked tongue,' warns Vivek Gumaste.
The US is not going to be able to mount a concerted 'Western strategy' against China or Russia in the present international milieu, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'China might soon have to seriously consider whether it prefers an Indo-US hyphenation to a Sino-Indian one.'
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday asked Iran to build "international confidence" in its nuclear programme by fully complying with the global obligations under NPT and cooperating with IAEA, shortly after Tehran slammed the UNSC for being "unjust and completely undemocratic".
Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation gathered for their 5th summit in Shanghai
The former Chief of Army Staff said India faces the most complex threats and challenges spanning a full spectrum of possible conflict -- from nuclear to sub-conventional -- but asserted that the armed forces are ready to deal with them.
'India appears to have stood its ground on strategic autonomy by resisting US pressure on Russia, China and Iran, but succumbed to the temptation to walk into a tighter embrace in defence cooperation, a high priority of the Trump administration,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
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