A big question mark is on whether Shashi Tharoor, who had led the delegation to the US among other countries, will be picked as speaker by the Congress, as the seasoned Lok Sabha member's enthusiastic endorsement of the government's action following the terror attack has soured his ties with his party.
India is hopeful of getting the non-permanent Asian seat in the United Nations Security Council, said Minister of state for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Friday.
India has charged Pakistan of using 'jihadi' elements to "destabilise" it and Afghanistan and expressed willingness to normalise relations with Islamabad if it takes one step towards peace. "It (Pakistan) has been one of actually using jihadi militants as an instrument of destabilisation in both Afghanistan and India. And we think that's wrong," Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in an interview.
India on Monday said it was not surprised over former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's admission -- of use of United States' military aid against it during his tenure -- and asked countries providing such help to be 'extremely responsible'. "It doesn't come as a surprise. We have been arguing for some years now that the only problem we have with the US military aid to Pakistan is its misuse against us," Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said.
"It is not a sign of mounting tension....it is a sign that your government is determined to protect the borders of India and takes its responsibilities seriously," Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said in Thiruvananthpuram while reacting to media reports on the matter.
Shashi Tharoor on Friday appeared for the third time in two days before the SIT.
The attack has "footprints and tracks" similar to previous attacks claimed by The Resistance Front, the ministry said in a presentation, adding the terror organisation is just another name of designated terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
Bandyopadhyay told PTI that he received a call from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and the external affairs ministry, and was asked to go to the US but he informed them that he would not be able to go due to health reasons.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor himself may not be a stakeholder but the lady he is reportedly planning to marry is part of the consortium which owns the Kochi franchise of the Indian Premier League, revealed IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.
India supports American efforts in Pakistan, but is concerned about the diversion of United States' aid and military equipment by Islamabad against it.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Monday said the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama was visiting Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on his own and that India had not suggested him to do so.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has criticized the BJP for its allegations that elements in the American "deep state" were behind attempts to destabilize India, saying this "attack-dog" behavior is an embarrassment to India. Tharoor's comments come after the US rejected the BJP's allegations, describing them as "disappointing" and asserting that the US government is a champion of media freedom. The BJP had alleged that the US deep state colluded with the media portal OCCRP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to "damage" India's image.
Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is a part of India's diplomatic mission abroad, on Monday said it is 'distressing' that people back home are calculating political allegiances and asked if it is 'so difficult to be patriotic'.
A parliamentary panel on external affairs has expressed concern over China's growing presence and influence in the Indian Ocean Region, citing risks to India's national security and strategic interests. The panel also highlighted the strengthening China-Pakistan naval nexus as a cause for concern.
Misri is also likely to brief the parliamentary panel on the recent upswing in India's ties with China following the agreement to resume patrolling at friction points along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
'The Congress submitted four names to the government as the people who should accompany the delegation.' 'I don't know what happened to those names.' 'When I was approached, I told them to speak to my party.' 'I have no further involvement with this delegation.'
'We are very grateful that the US takes the trouble to keep us informed and to consult with us as this situation is being managed by them,' Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor tells rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa.
Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party chief L K Advani on Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sack Shashi Tharoor in the wake of the minister of state for external affairs getting embroiled in the Kochi IPL team ownership controversy. "The prime minister must drop Shashi Tharoor from the council of ministers because of gross impropriety unbecoming of the office he is occupying," Advani said.
The tweet further said, "We can't sit back and watch Muslim girls being publicly persecuted they said. Time for the Ummah to unite."
"Everyone will have to fall on the same page," was the External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's message on Wednesday to his junior Shashi Tharoor who publicly questioned the new visa rules.
On his maiden visit to the city, minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor conceded that the short-coming in the current visa regulations had led to the inflow of blue-collared workers on business visas, especially from China.
Tharoor's social media post condoling Musharraf's demise evoked a sharp response from the Bharatiya Janata Party which accused the Congress of "Pakistan parasti (worshipping)".
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his deputy Shashi Tharoor are ready to vacate their luxury hotel rooms following Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's call for austerity.
Welcoming the ban on terrorist organisations in Pakistan, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said India expects Islamabad to fulfill its commitment to take action against perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, including Hafeez Saeed.
Rediff.com takes a look at some recent high-profile resignations by politicians who went blue in the face proclaiming their innocence.
Tharoor said people of the country have the freedom to watch or not watch the BBC documentary on the 2002 riots and asked who can say the British broadcaster has no right to do a story on the topic.
India has no role in insurgency in Pakistan's Balochistan province and unlike 'certain other countries' it does not follow the policy of destabilising its neighbours, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said on Thursday.
The sources said Misri reiterated the government's stand that the decision to stop military actions was taken at a bilateral level, as some opposition members questioned US President Donald Trump's repeated assertions about his administration's role in stopping the conflict.
A top six-page secret Intelligence Bureau report on the Shashi Tharoor controversy has advised the Centre to arrive at a political decision, pressing the Minister of State for External Affairs to resign, sources have said.
Making it amply clear that IPL chairman Lalit Modi will have to face some tough questions at the upcoming BCCI Working Committee meeting, JKCA president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said there are some "issues" that need to be sorted out.
Sources say that there are serious reservations over the style of functioning of Lalit Modi who appears to have become "more and more high handed and autocratic" with each passing day and one option being considered is to appoint a full time paid professional IPL commissioner to run the league with Modi being made the chairman with much less powers.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Monday ticked off his junior minister Shashi Tharoor for publicly questioning new visa guidelines, saying if he had any "perceptions", those should be discussed within the "four walls" of the government.
"The action that is expected from Pakistan has to take place before we can engage once again in the kind of comprehensive dialogue process that we want," Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said.
Speaking to media persons outside his South Block office in New Delhi, Tharoor said: "We know Pakistan has been misusing US aid for years. I am not surprised by former President Musharraf's statement. This confirms India's stand on the misuse of aid. The United States should monitor aid given to Pakistan more carefully."
With the Kerala Youth Congress elections round the corner, the bitter rivalry between state party president Ramesh Chennithala and leader of Opposition and former chief minister Oomen Chandy has come to the fore. According to sources, Thiruvananthapuram's beleaguered Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has extended his support to Chandy, who has stood by the former minister of state for external affairs though the present IPL crisis.
Three years back they were rivals for the same job. Today, they were shaking hands in a meeting which, at least on surface, looked quite warm. United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki Moon shook hands with Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor in UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
Rejecting speculation that Shashi Tharoor was asked to step down during his meeting with senior Ministers Pranab Mukherjee and A K Antony, sources close to the Minister of State for External Affairs said on Wednesday night that things were "okay" on the issue.
IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi on Sunday exuded confidence of resolving the controversy over ownership of Kochi franchise saying he had no personal issue either with the team owners or Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
Saudi Arabia can be a 'valuable interlocutor' between India and Pakistan, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said on Sunday and subsequently clarified that he did not mean that Riyadh should be a mediator.
On the eve of boundary talks, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said China has no "locus standi" on a key irrigation project in Arunachal Pradesh which it is opposing as the state is integral part of India.
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