On Monday, June 10, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi held the first meeting of his Cabinet at his residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.
Defence is at the heart of the India-United relationship, so it is interesting that General Lloyd Austin, the US secretary for defense, was not among the officials present when Joe Biden met Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi for their first meeting since Biden became president in January.
After an official meeting with their respective officials in attendance, Kamala and Narendra then moved to the balcony of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building where the leaders had an animated chat.
The compulsion behind India and Japan to deepen security cooperation is in response to China's growing political and economic clout and its assertive behaviour in disputed areas. This has been the key driver for bringing both India and Japan closer in the domain of security cooperation, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
'Cricket is one of the many bonds that connect India & Australia.'
Although the special relationship might compel Bhutan to be considerate of Indian interests, new challenges will likely arise. An emerging new phase of relations will also call for fresh redlines between India and Bhutan, observe Harsh V Pant and Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy.
What some of our leaders were up to over the weekend.
'What Jaishankar says is simplistic.' 'The past does not matter that much.' 'If we think that it does it is because we are not good enough at running the nation competently today and are searching for excuses why,' argues Aakar Patel.
Taking to Twitter, Jawhar Sircar wrote, 'S Jaishankar's father, K Subramanyam said 'Dharma was killed in Gujarat (2002 Riots). Those who failed to protect innocent citizens are guilty of adharma. Rama...would have used his bow against the 'Asura' rulers of Gujarat.' Shame on son --serving Asura!'
Addressing the G-20 University Connect initiative, the first event of India's presidency of the grouping, Jaishankar said it would also be India's endeavour to emerge as the voice of the Global South -- comprising Asia, Africa and Latin America -- that has to face the brunt of polarisation and conflict in the developed world.
Go-getter, ambitious, dynamic, workaholic are some of the adjectives that officials who worked closely with B V R Subrahmanyam use to describe him.
Responding to a question, Jaishankar said while the issue of human rights was not discussed during the current meeting, it has come up in the past.
'Honoured to call on HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah this evening. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi.'
EAM Jaishankar's mission is aimed at strengthening India's strategic autonomy in a complex international environment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'You know the kind of force involved in all of this. They are not good for the country where all of this will happen.'
As president, global corporate affairs, Jaishankar will report to Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, the company said in a statement.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
'This speech is going to be more of a punishment. I spoke too much this afternoon' A tireless Prime Minister Narendra Modi left over 700 notable luminaries in peals of laughter with his quick wit and sense of humour during a dinner and reception hosted by Indian Ambassador Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Taj-owned, The Pierre Hotel. In the presence of the who's who of desi Americans and US lawmakers, Modi once again thanked the Indian-Americans for their contributions and discussed his plans of developing India and the ties he hopes to nurture with America. Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com presents a sneak-peak into the festive, grand dinner.
'Terrorism continues to be the overwhelming threat to security and stability in the SCO region and therefore Dr Jaishankar strongly pitched for 'collective action',' observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'India should respect Maldivian nationalism and their desire to be not over-dependent on India.' 'India should not behave like a big brother towards Maldives as many times, we tend to behave like that.'
'India will want a lot of help from the US, but it's not going to want US troops.'
'Without a poverty line, how are we to know whether poverty is the same, or it has come down or it has gone up?'
Saris were in vogue at the dinner President Droupadi Murmu hosted for G20 leaders on Saturday evening and earlier as well on Saturday morninbg when Kyoko Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's wife, hosted the leaders's spouses in New Delhi.
US President Joe Biden attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gala dinner in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Accompanying the Veep on his first foreign yatra after being elected to the vice presidency in August is External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who, we guess, will do the heavy lifting at the summit, while Dhankar works his well known charm on the ASEAN leadership fraternity.
At a time when China is trying to make its foray into South Asia, India should use its shared history to strengthen its ties in the region, says Dr Rup Narayan Das.
China on Tuesday urged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to stop sowing discord between Beijing and countries in the region, undermining regional peace and stability, amidst his visit to India for a high-level dialogue aimed at further ramping up their overall defence and security ties, and boost strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Had it not been for the slow but sure emergence of China as a threat to the western order, would India have been accepted as a near-equal partner by individual western nations, jointly and severally, questions N Sathiya Moorthy.
'While the US-Pakistan relationship has been stabilised, it's still mired in uncertainty.'
'This incident offers ammunition to those inside the US government and elsewhere who question the wisdom of trusting India, so it will have a lasting consequence no matter how it is managed.'
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday discussed issues relating to Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific during his bilateral meetings with global counterparts on the sidelines of the annual high-level UN General Assembly session.
'The MEA, hopefully, made it clear that the Indian PM can't be seen in Xi Jinping's company when China has, for all intents and purposes, annexed over 1,000 sq kms of Indian territory in eastern Ladakh, and essentially that the Wuhan spirit and the Mamallapuram spirit have turned into vinegar.'
What some of our leaders were up to on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.
Among the other names tipped to make it to the Cabinet are Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal, Baijayant Panda.
'I was amazed at how tasty it was.' 'They did a good job with millets and lentils, which Mr Modi liked.'
'China seems more intent on creating a new world order rather than shaping the existing one.' 'India is of course, at this moment in time, aligned with the West-led order because of China's full-spectrum aggressive behaviour towards India.'
India has realised that one can only deal with China from a position of strength and that is not palatable to Beijing, observes Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Mr Modi might have questions to ask himself on the most formidable strategic challenge before India that he inherited from the United Progressive Alliance: The triangulation between China and Pakistan. The failure to break out of it, or even loosen it a bit, is something to reflect on, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The India-Japan 2+2 dialogue added strategic heft to the special relationship in the wake of growing Chinese assertiveness on regional affairs, points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
'During Congress rule, the government used to get both the fishermen and the boats released whenever the Sri Lankan navy apprehended them.' 'Under BJP rule, only the fishermen are being released.'
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