Modelled loosely around the National Highway System of the US, he in 2001 launched the Golden Quadrilateral and the North-South & East-West Corridor projects to build 4/6 lane highways between four top metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata as well as from Srinagar to Kanyakumari and Porbandar to Silchar.
Arunabha Ghosh on why India will increasingly become an energy great power, but not an energy hegemon.
'Till today, we don't know what PM Modi discussed with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, but we have been told that the relations have been reset.' 'We have no evidence from China to show that anything has changed, even though India had made several gestures in preparation for Wuhan,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
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In the global market, the US dollar rose against the basket currencies in early trade as US President Barack Obama called for diplomacy in dealing with alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria but kept open the possibility of military action against the Assad regime.
The US has been, historically, a sleeping partner in India-China relations. Today, any attempt by the Modi government to make a bilateral move to improve relations with Beijing could upset Biden's apple cart, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Indian side has realised that not talking to Pakistan has not served any useful purpose.'
Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had expressed doubts about a claim by the regime of his former boss Pervez Musharraf that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by the Pakistani Taliban, a United Nations investigator has said.
The report by the state department's independent inspector general cited "longstanding, systemic weaknesses" in how Clinton and four of her predecessors managed the security of their emails.
Workhorse 'Thunderbolt' and female dog 'Sophia' will be awarded the special medals.
'Unlike Trump, who has an isolationist approach, Bolton would like to roam around the world, trampling upon any sign of dissent,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Modi pledges Rs 800 billion in relief and development for Kashmir
Chinese mobile brands are deeply entrenched in the Indian market. A move to bar them may send a bold diplomatic message. But its cost for the local industry is anybody's guess. In the event that Chinese brands face curbs, two handset makers - Samsung and Apple - squarely stand to gain.
The Intelligence Bureau has said that out of the billions of information that has been collected from India by the National Security Agency, a meagre 20 per cent is connected to terror activities. Vick Nanjappa reports
It is apparent that an easing of tensions at the border and a disengagement of troops is on the cards, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Who in Pakistan was intending to carry out one of the most grievous acts of international terrorism just a few months ago?' Former CIA official Bruce Riedel reveals how the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the ISI planned the attack on the Indian consulate in the Afghan city of Herat in May to take Indian diplomats hostage and disrupt Narendra Modi's swearing-in.
Against the backdrop of growing Chinese assertion in the Asia-Pacific region, India on Thursday said it supports the "freedom of navigation" in international waters noting that any disputes or differences in the region must be resolved diplomatically.
President Barack Obama has said that the United States has ironclad commitment to bring its prisoners of war home, as his administration released five detainees from Guantanamo Bay detention centre in exchange of an American soldier in Taliban captive for nearly five years.
In 2005, the US had denied visa to Modi in the wake of the 2002 Gujarat riots, which is still continuing
'China's opaque defence allocation processes are shrouded in mystery and have triggered security dilemmas among its neighbours and others,' notes China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
'While the Khobragade affair has "upset and diverted attention, it does not mean there is a fundamental flaw in the US-India relationship",' former American envoy Frank Wisner tells Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa.
Singh, a former Army officer, had been ill after a fall at his home in August 2014 and was admitted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital. He had been in and out of the hospital and was admitted again in June this year.
Major General Sujan Singh Uban, a legendary veteran of the Second World War, was a natural choice to raise, train and command the Special Frontier Force and mould them into a well oiled fighting machine, recalls his son Inspector General Gurdip Singh Uban (retd), who led SFF troops during the Kargil War.
'Trump's new discovery is that Pakistan and its army are virtually god's gift to mankind.' 'They are required to facilitate a relatively orderly American exit from Afghanistan,' points out Ambassador G Parthasarathy, who served as India's high commissioner to Pakistan.
It has been obvious that the Sino-Pak axis would conspire to weaken India's sovereignty in Jammu and Kashmir, if not wrest Kashmir, says David Devadas.
Germany has ruled out granting a visa or asylum to Central Investigation Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden over concerns that it could worsen the already serious diplomatic row with the United States, sparked off over spy allegations.
Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi launched a verbal dual against India.
Mattis said the Trump administration is being very clear and firm in what it expects from Pakistan.
'Any normal human being, even if he is the American president, will find it hard, at least in the initial stages, to get over the gnawing feeling that Modi is Trump's man.' 'Modi should not be surprised if India and its requirements are treated as of low priority by Joe Biden,' warns B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
While it is the right-leaning Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) which chose Kovind, Narayanan, a diplomat-turned politician, became vice president in 1992 and the president in 1997 courtesy active support from the Left, which had proposed his name first
Cops revealed that the staffer Mehmood Akhtar was sharing sensitive defence documents and deployment details of the BSF along the Indo-Pak border to the ISI.
While India does not figure in the top 10 export destinations for Pakistani goods, it serves as a crucial channel for select goods such as leather hides and cheaper variants of fertilisers that are generally procured by importers at short notice.
Mattis also warned Pakistan of global "diplomatic isolation" and losing its Non-NATO ally status if it failed to take action against safe havens to terrorists on its soil.
Modi's visit to Spain will be first visit by an Indian prime minister since 1988.
'If the situation escalates, then mini-scale firing might happen.'
'The idea that the J&K issue gets internationalised by allowing foreign delegations to visit it appears bizarre to me because the issue is not about Article 370 or the decisions relating to the abrogation, but more to do with the post decision handling,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
"As Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi said in his latest campaign, 'Modi hai to mumkin hai,' or 'Modi makes it possible', I'm looking forward to exploring what's possible between our people," Pompeo said in his major India policy speech at the India Ideas Summit of US-India Business Council on Wednesday.
'Some Pakistani generals are saying -- a little more so now than before -- that the biggest threat to Pakistan is not external -- not India -- but internal.' 'The proof of that will be their change of policies and that is going to be the challenge,' Rakesh Sood, one of India's most distinguished diplomats, tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the lead agency to check customs frauds and smuggling, has decided to post officers at India's Mission in New York (US), Singapore, Brussels (Belgium) and in Nepal's Birgunj.
The ceasefire violations and firing from across the Line of Control are "quite serious" and the government wants a "quick resolution" of the problem there, IAF Chief Arup Raha said.
With Donald Trump the appeal has to be to his business instincts in which his personal interests seem to play a significant role, says former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.
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