Maldives was on Wednesday suspended from the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group -- the most powerful panel of the Commonwealth body -- following the recent developments in the country including the ousting of its democratically-elected president Mohamed Nasheed.
Maldives has been suspended from the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, the most powerful panel of the Commonwealth body, following the recent political turmoil in the country that led to the ouster of its first democratically-elected president Mohamed Nasheed.
The Commonwealth on Monday gave an ultimatum to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf asking him to repeal the emergency provisions.
Pakistan's foreign office spokesman expressed disappointment at the Commonwealth's ultimatum, and said that decisions of vital importance would be taken in accordance with Pakistan's national interests, and not on the basis of artificially set external timelines.
Pakistan is all set to be readmitted to the Commonwealth this month. A crucial meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group will take place in London at its headquarters on May 12, which will formally lift Pakistan's suspension from the 53- member organisation. Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth in November 2007 after the imposition of emergency by President Pervez Musharraf.
The Commonwealth while readmitting Pakistan welcomed the country's progress on democratic reform since Musharraf's coup in 1999.
Maldives' former president Mohamed Nasheed wants a foreign body to probe the circumstances of the coup that ousted him in February and plunged the country into a political crisis. Nasheed told a news conference that his Maldivian Democratic Party is considering requesting a "foreign organisation" to look into the incidents of February 7 impartially. He did not elaborate over which foreign body his party wanted to approach.
Sartaj Aziz has blamed India for allegedly "creating hurdles" in the way of process to normalise the relations between the two countries.
'Agreements signed between the Maldives and China have seriously worried India.'
Would it serve India's interest to go to war with China over the Maldives, asks Aditi Phadnis.
India has expressed dismay at the United Nations' continued struggle to find a definition for terrorism, saying there seems to be more cooperation between terrorist groups than the countries fighting them.
Abdulla Yameen, half-brother of former autocratic ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, on Saturday clinched an unexpected victory in the presidential run-off elections by defeating former President Mohamed Nasheed, who had led in two recent aborted polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday attacked External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid for his criticism of the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, accusing him of denigrating the country's two most respected institutions on the foreign soil.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has constituted a ministerial panel, headed by Defence Minister A K Antony, to examine the findings of the Shunglu Committee that probed alleged irregularities in conduct of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi last year.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has questioned the role of the Supreme Court and the Election Commission, making mocking comments about them.
Two members of the small delegation accompanying External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the UK have tested positive for Covid-19, forcing him to rework his official schedule in London.
In his address at a ministerial meeting of the SCO in Moscow in the Russian capital, Singh also referred to the Second World War and said its memories teach the globe the 'follies of aggression' of one state upon another that brings 'destruction' to all.
She had faced criticism over the existence of UK Home Office deportation targets and her knowledge of them.
Amid indication that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unlikely to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Sri Lanka, the external affairs ministry on Saturday said no decision has been taken on the visit, which has been opposed by parties in Tamil Nadu as well as a section in Congress.
Out to prove his critics wrong, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda says it's not anti-incumbency but pro-incumbency that will work in his favour and give him a third term.
Quattrocchi lived in India for several years as the representative of an Italian firm, Snam Progetti, in the 1980s. He was close to the Gandhi family and in 1999 was named one of the accused in the case regarding the Rs 64-crore pay-off for the supply of 155 mm Howitzer guns made by Bofors, for which a controversial deal was signed in 1986 when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.
It is unlikely that Delhi's outgoing chief minister will be able to make a comeback in politics. For her, the innings is truly over, writes Pankaj Vohra.
Narendra Modi's promise to allow states a bigger say in strategising and building foreign policy is unexceptionable, says TP Sreenivasan.
