Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The following is the full text of US President Donald Trump's first address to a joint session of the Congress on February 28, as prepared for delivery and released by the White House press office.
'The narrative of patriotism has been framed around the army and competing worldviews about Pakistan and those who do not fit the army's parameters are ostracised as rebellious, treasonous, and even blasphemous'
The ministry's year-end review is silent on the continued occupation by Chinese troops of territory that India has always claimed and patrolled.
Trump told Fox News that the claim as another "excuse" pushed by Democrats to explain his upset victory against Hillary.
The Supreme Court-appointed SIT on Friday called for effective norms to curb betting in cricket and a stronger set of norms for P-Notes, while also making a case for bringing donations to educational and religious bodies under tax net.
It will not be to India's advantage to create misperceptions that it is bandwagoning with some Anglo-American project for regime change in Myanmar, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'An armed helicopter equipped with counter-drone systems will provide the airborne counter-drone capability and flexibility needed to protect India's critical assets.'
Pence accused the Chinese government of orchestrating an aggressive military, economic and political campaign to expand its influence inside the US and across the world.
India has experienced hands and will emerge with flying colours, declares Inspector General Gurdip Singh Uban (retd).
"CCP's (Chinese Communist Party) territorial aggression is also apparent on its Indian border where China has attempted to seize control of the Line of Actual Control by force," US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said in a remark on China early this week in Utah.
'...but from those who control the narrative.' Powerful nations have mastered this art of narrative building. Those nations who aspire to become global powers must do so, observes Shanthie Mariet D'Souza.
The navy has significantly expanded its deployment in the Indian Ocean Region deploying a plethora of warships and submarines to create pressure points on China as the maritime space around the Malacca Strait is very critical for its supply chain through sea routes.
The USS John Paul Jones acted like a dog marking the lamp post, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'If we play our cards right, we may even benefit from the competition between the US and China as seen from increased investment from each of these countries into India.' 'The size of our market gives us an important lever of power which we shall have to play adroitly and intelligently,' points out Ambassador Gautam Bambawale -- who served as India's envoy to China -- in the Professor V M Dandekar Memorial Lecture 2019, delivered on March 8, 2019 in Pune.
'India need to look beyond the economic prism.' 'China had no qualms in taking the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council last year -- not once, but thrice -- thus violating Indian sensitivities,' observes China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
Here is the full text of the joint statement issued by India and the US.
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
He had come in search of jobs in America to rescue his presidency and India failed him in more ways than one, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
United States President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron had a working dinner on Thursday night at the White House as Cameron began a two-day visit.
There seems to be no dearth of funds to fuel this growth, report Peerzada Abrar and Shivani Shinde.
As many as 17 three star generals will retire before General Bajwa hangs his boots, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story on the alleged links between the country's powerful spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence and Al Qaeda.
The countries with positive employment outlook included India, Mexico and Turkey, as also the Gulf Cooperation Council region.
The IAF chief also said Pakistan has become a pawn of Chinese policy and its dependence on China would increase further in future. He said India needs to understand the interplay of some major events in its vicinity that would impact the security scenario of the region.
Gangs from across the country targeted visitors at three-day World Culture Festival in the New Delhi amid high security and made away with valuable articles like laptops, jewellery and cash, leading to at least 70 FIRs and the police apprehending about 30 persons.
It said the decision was a result of the United States government's 'pro-growth economic agenda'.
India has one thing that China has - the potential to be of interest as a huge market in its own right.
Ajit Balakrishnan offers a thinking man's guide to the angst of the professions.
'It was India's good fortune to have a Vajpayee lead the government at this crucial moment in history.' 'By taking the N-decision he saved future generations of Indians from being 'Kosovoed' or 'Iraqed',' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'It looked as if India had been a major player in science at that time, raising the question when and why things changed,' says distinguished aerospace scientist Professor Roddam Narasimha.
'Modi remains the most popular politician in India; the BJP's organisational and fundraising prowess is considerable; and the Opposition, while newly collaborative, has no leader or clear economic messaging as of yet.'
Will a time come when people will look beyond what they see as Modi'S strengths and begin to wonder why they have got poorer or sicker under his rule, asks Vir Sanghvi.
Many out of the total 85,000 NGOs operating in the country are using foreign funds to indulge into a lot of mischievous activities to hamper social and economic development, the Intelligence Bureau has alerted the Union home ministry in a report. From stage-managing protests to furthering conversion and money laundering, the problem at hand is huge, intelligence inputs point out. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Most of the hirings are, however, in the entry or junior level.
'Islamabad receives billions in aid from the US but continues to harbour terrorists,' he said.
'Everybody spies on their friends as well as their enemies. That's the way the world works these days'
Unanimously confirmed by the Senate last week, Panchanathan, 58, from the Arizona State University, replaces White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Dr Kelvin Droegemeier who served as Acting Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Giving economic aid to Kashmir is like giving TB medicine to a patient suffering from cancer and expecting it to work, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The Indian government wakes up after the fact when it can do nothing, or rather lacks the will to prosecute military actions to reverse these adverse PLA-driven developments.'
