'The Modi government's lurch toward America has not brought it any dividends so far. The Western world is simply not in a position to make big investments in India... India needs to take a leap of faith vis-a-vis China.'
Making it easier to do business is a key element of our strategy, says Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.
The new equation between 'Namo' and 'Barack' may well 'convert a good start into lasting progress.'
Ties with Pakistan and China which were on the centre stage of Indian diplomacy saw a "deterioration" in the year gone by, according to foreign policy experts who feel that the relationships are unlikely to see any forward movement in the new year.
'What is the ISI doing and why can't they understand for their own interest that bringing stability to the region will help all the countries become prosperous, whereas a continuation of incitement will only lead to misery for all.'
Politicians, bureaucrats hold different opinions about the delaying of the 2+2 summit.
The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from its usual policy of going along with the crowd.
'As in the Panchatantra tale of the cat and the monkeys, it is possible for the clever swing State to play off the two competing powers.'
Modi said India and Russia have been friends for a long time and thanked Putin for inviting him for the first-ever informal meeting at Sochi.
The Sheikh Hasina-Narendra Modi summit put India-Bangladesh ties on a firmer pitch. Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd) takes stock.
Modi, in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, wrote that the US and India are forging a deeper and stronger partnership that extends far beyond the Beltway and the Raisina Hill.
'Islamabad is only as big as a Delhi suburb.' 'How can a city with just two five star hotels and only one departure gate at their international airport be compared to Delhi with its sprawling airport?' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan finds the pulse of Pakistan after visiting Islamabad for the first time.
India's low passion, very cautious, relationship with Iran of the last 36 years awaits transformation, says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd). Prime Minister Modi's visit cannot be a negotiating event; it is a symbolic one to strengthen the politico-diplomatic relationship.
'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.
'The past year has yielded extraordinary results in the strategic, commercial, and people-to-people components of the India-United States partnership, US Ambassador to India Richard Rahul Verma tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
'A bit of marketing, a bit of positioning, and a lot of strategic thinking is required, and all this should be in aid of India's strategic intent: Becoming the third pole in a global G3 and aiming for Numero Uno,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'To expect that he has a magic wand to resolve all differences and announce breakthroughs in all issues during his first visit to the US is to be unrealistic,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
India is keen on the issue of equal share holding since it doesn't want a repeat of the distortions that have crept into Bretton Woods institutions like International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in which rich countries like the US and Japan have a strangle hold.
The 13-page joint statement issued after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's annual summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin shows the breadth and depth of relations between the two countries and the trust factor that has been constant element behind it.
Modi, who is undertaking his first visit to China as prime minister, will reach the ancient city of Xi'an, the home town of President Xi Jinping, for a summit meeting, an unusual departure from normal protocol and seen as a reciprocal gesture by the Chinese leader who was hosted by Modi in Ahmedabad when he visited India in September last year.
Swaraj said there is scope to do a lot more and this would be an important element of their deliberations.
'Over the last two decades, the India-French relationship has grown steadily, no major political difference having darkened the sky between Paris and Delhi,' says Claude Arpi.
'Mr Trump is too capricious to be trusted,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
India's imports from Iran rose to 250,200 barrels per day
Two years into power, there is very little to show for the Modi government by way of 'achievements' on the foreign policy front, and his China, Pakistan policies are gasping for breath, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"It would be my hope that people understand why this particular transaction is important for us," the EAM said in Washington, DC.
Blackmail on one side and bullying on the other doesn't make for a constructive partnership, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Narendra Modi's positive engagement with Barack Obama has well and truly washed away the doubts and slights of the past.
'We have never had a policy regarding Pakistani artistes working in India.' 'We welcome them with open arms and that remains the official policy of the Indian government, including the current dispensation.'
'I could see it not having any impact whatsoever,' says Stephen P Cohen on Obama's India visit.
Macron accepted the invitation and said he will visit New Delhi by the end of the year for an international summit on solar power - an area on which France plans closer cooperation with India.
The meeting between United States Ambassador to India Nancy Powell and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was a "pragmatic" and "necessary step", according to a media report, that said it seems "likely" the visa status of BJP's prime ministerial candidate "could change" if he is elected to the top post.
'Just how strong were the ties between the world's largest and oldest democracies that an incident involving a diplomat and a maid led to anger threatening the relationship itself? Or had the relationship been weakening in the past few years, masked by the empty symbolism of State dinners, asks Devesh Kapur.
'Happily,' says Ambassador B S Prakash, 'BRICS displayed new-found energy and built something real, a bank. Between needless nihilism and as yet unjustified euphoria, there are many stations for the BRICS train and we can watch its progress with renewed interest.'
'Look East' policy was first coined by the Narasimha Rao government in the 1990s and has been followed by the successive governments.
Navy chief Adm. Sunil Lanba said that by 2050, India will have 200 ships, 500 aircraft.
There's still little indication of forward movement in Indo-US defence relations.
Those who know Shiv Shankar Menon will vouch that he did lots of things, substantial in the immediate neighbourhood and widespread in South Asia, but without making things public. Twenty per cent of Menon's job was visible, while 80 per cemt of his job was not known to the public, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
It is easy to foretell that negotiating a comprehensive and final agreement on the Iran nuclear issue is by no means an easy task. It involves hard negotiations, but the hardest step has been taken, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who was among the first group of foreigners to visit the the top-secret Arak plant hidden behind barren mountains south of Tehran.
Vietnam is a key player in India's act east policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From India's perspective, a strategic partnership with Vietnam will only deepen political, economic, and security ties and be a bulwark against China, say Melissa S Hersh and Dr Ajey Lele
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