The UN Security Council has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a threat to peace and security, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon deciding to deploy an "unprecedented" emergency health mission to combat the outbreak that has impacted the lives of millions.
'Pakistan has responded with appropriate contempt -- hrowing our national dignity into the waste paper basket.'
'Since India has to live next to Pakistan, it can't remain under permanent blackmail.' 'A predictable consequence of these fundamental shifts is the fraying of the principle of strategic restraint.' 'It hasn't been junked. But the threshold has been shifted to provide India much greater room for retaliatory action,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Incoming US President Donald Trump has assembled a core team that is -- not surprisingly -- overwhelmingly white and male.
'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.
Questioning the timing of the remarks, the BJP demanded a statement from former PM Manmohan Singh and former defence minister A K Antony on the issue.
'We will have to wait till the snows melt in June/July 2016 before we can get a clearer idea of whether Pakistan intends to get serious about ending support for cross-border terrorism,' says G Parthasarathy, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan.
'India has to judge what Pakistan says to us, not what they say to a domestic audience,' a source tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com, explaining why India-Pakistan talks remain on track despite discordant noises from across the border.
This test fire is the second time in less than a month and followed the sixth and most powerful nuclear test by North Korea to date on September 3.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Sunday said there was no question of any compromise with regard to the case relating to the two Italian marines who had allegedly shot dead two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast in February 2012.
The hotlines or secure lines of communication between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Barack Obama and their national security advisors have recently become operational, though it has not been put to use during its short lifespan so far.
'If you destroy the assets in Pathankot, you degrade the combat potential of India; you degrade the war potential of India.'
'How can Kashmir be demilitarised if the terrorist threat remains and Pakistan continues to incite elements in Kashmir to keep the internal situation unstable?' asks former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.
Chief Minister of the Punjab province in Pakistan and the Pakistan prime minister's brother, Shahbaz Sharif, tells Nayanima Basu that strategic issues go hand in hand with trade normalisation. Sharif believes that cordial relations are in the interest of the people of both India and Pakistan and issues such as Kashmir will also be resolved soon.
In an interview, Chief Minister of the Punjab province in Pakistan and the Pakistan prime minister's brother, Shahbaz Sharif, says that strategic issues go hand in hand with trade normalisation
The external affairs minister said PM Modi had discussed with his Pakistani counterpart of re-engaging with each other."
'A P Venkateswaran left an indelible impression on Indian diplomacy and made an incredible number of friends, who kept remembering him, more than other Indian diplomats, who served at those posts.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan salutes a legend of the Indian Foreign Service who passed into the ages.
The suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists dressed in army uniforms launched the attack with an aim of destroying the air base.
'Why has the rhetoric gone down on the Indian side, Durrani wondered aloud.' 'I said because almost total normalcy and peace had returned on the ground in Kashmir,' recalls Shekhar Gupta. 'The general gave me that career spook's laser look. And he said: "That situation on the ground can change in no time".' 'This was precisely when the Pakistanis began their first incursions into Kargil.' 'Durrani had been retired for five years.' 'But once the ISI boss, you are always in the know.'
Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan appealed to people to boycott products from China and also directed officials of his ministry not to procure any Chinese products for day-to-day office use while his ministerial colleague Ramdas Athawale said all restaurants and hotels that sell Chinese food in India should be closed down.
After weighing all the costs and benefits, the next administration is likely to reduce and restructure assistance to Pakistan but not to end it altogether, says Daniel S Markey.
'Admiral D K Joshi's resignation is certainly an example worthy of emulation by anybody who is in a leadership role. Unfortunately, over the last 30, 40 years, I can think of very few politicians or bureaucrats who could be termed real "Leaders". Without leaders, where will there be leadership?' asks Vice Admiral P J Jacob (retd), former Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.
President Obama had no intention of risking a global conflagration on account of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, especially at a time when he was struggling to wind up the wars his predecessor had started, says T P Sreenivasan
Rains will continue to batter Tamil Nadu for the next seven days and the next 48 hours are "very crucial", the IMD has said.
'If there's one administration that would be likely to put the squeeze on Pakistan, it's the Trump administration.' 'This is an administration that views terrorists as a black and white issue (kill them all, no questions asked), and will have little patience for Pakistan's selective policy toward terrorism.'
All international passengers will henceforth be screened at airports, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said at a press conference. Earlier, travellers from only 12 countries were screened at airports for the disease that has claimed over 3,000 lives and infected more than 90,000 worldwide.
'Delhi was not concerned.' 'It would continue sleeping for several more years, with the result that Indian territory is still occupied by China today,' says Claude Arpi.
The plan of UID/Aadhaar-based surveillance does not end with the collection of fingerprints and iris scan, it goes quite beyond it and poses a lethal threat to the idea of India, says Gopal Krishna.
'If, as appears to be the case, India is on way to 'mending fences' with China, and China is equally desirous to 'reset' the relationship, this could be a self-reflexive moment in India's positioning vis-a-vis not just the Dalai Lama, but also the Tibetan issue and China as a whole,' points out China expert Alka Acharya.
'An America at war with itself, groaning under a mounting debt, with woolly-headed economic policies of a neophyte president who is more feared and suspected among the comity of nations does not augur well for the world.' 'It would be well justified in asking,' says Shreekant Sambrani, '"Is this how you expect to make America great again, Mr President?"'
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