The deal shifts the US posture towards India from hostile to neutral, and that matters for growth, points out T T Ram Mohan.
The BJP has criticised the Congress party for allegedly prioritising its vote bank and outdated ideologies over India's national interest and citizen safety in its foreign policy approach towards Iran.
India's privatisation push, once projected as a cornerstone of economic reform, has suffered another setback, with the Centre set to call off the IDBI Bank stake sale, highlighting the political and structural constraints shaping the country's disinvestment policy, experts say.
United States Ambassador-designate to India Timothy J Roemer on Friday met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon in New Delhi, hours before United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embarks on a five-day visit to India. Roemer, who met Menon at his South Block office, arrived in New Delhi on Thursday night after his confirmation by the full Senate last week for the post. On his nearly hour-long meeting, Roemer refused to make any comment and only said, "Namaste."
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Friday called on External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and discussed relations between the two estranged neighbours. Bashir, who was in New Delhi for talks with his counterpart Nirupama Rao, spent approximately an hour talking to Krishna.They are understood to have taken stock of the bilateral relations and reviewed the discussions that were held between the two foreign secretaries on Thursday.
PAk's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Tehmina Janjua was the leading choice.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has defended its decision to appoint Amelia Valverde as head coach of the women's national team and addressed the controversy surrounding team kits during the Asian Cup.
The turning point came with the appointment of Sergio Gor as the US ambassador to India.
India has joined over 100 countries and global organizations in condemning Israel's "unilateral" decisions and measures aimed at expanding its "unlawful presence" in the West Bank.
Sources close to the prime minister indicated that if the results of the talks between Singh and Musharraf were positive and productive, then it could lead to the resumption of the stalled foreign secretary-level talks.
The nod for the extension of his tenure till January 28, 2018 was given by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, official sources said.
A top Swiss official has emphasised the growing importance of science and technology in international affairs, leading Switzerland to prioritise anticipatory science diplomacy in its foreign policy. Collaboration with India reflects a shared vision between two global innovation leaders.
Aziz said all issues, including Kashmir, would be part of the peace talks under the agreed formula for the fresh re-engagement with India.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The Sri Lanka Navy rescued 32 Iranian sailors from a sinking naval ship off the southern coast, while also recovering several bodies. The incident occurred outside Sri Lankan waters but within its search and rescue zone.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The Pakistani delegation will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and National Security Adviser J N Dixit.
Saran, an IFS officer of the 1970 batch, will succeed Shashank, who retires on July 31.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
Mathai, a 1974-batch IFS officer, will assume office from August one and will be there for a term of two years, official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said.
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
Alliances fight wars effectively only when they share an endgame. If Israel acted without US knowledge, then the military alliance is operating without real coordination at the level of strategic targeting. Neither picture is reassuring in a war that is no longer regional in its consequences. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
A 1966-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Shashank succeeds Kanwal Sibal, who retired on Sunday after an 18-month stint.
Mulford is understood to have conveyed the US' displeasure over the uncertainty that has come to surround the crucial initiative between the two countries. In his third meeting in four days with leaders and officials, the US envoy is believed to have sought to know what the government is planning to do to push the deal that is being vigorously opposed by the Left Front. The meeting came a day after Singh said the "process of evolving a meaningful consensus is still on."
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who faced trolling on social media in the wake of India and Pakistan reaching an understanding on May 10 to halt all military actions, has received support from veteran diplomat Nirupama Menon Rao, a body of Indian diplomats and a host of politicians from several parties.
Menon, who is leading a high-powered delegation comprising officials from the External Affairs, Information and Technology and Science and Technology ministries, will be here on a three-day visit.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India's energy decisions are guided by national interest.
'India is at a critical juncture in this century. I want to be a part of the diplomatic team that works to make India great.'
Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah's Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is poised to form the next government in Nepal after a decisive victory in the general election, significantly impacting established political parties.
Speaking during an event on Saturday, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari revealed that during New Delhi's retaliatory strikes in May, his Military Secretary urgently advised him to move to a bunker for safety, highlighting the intense fear gripping Pakistan's top leadership amid the Indian operation.
Was the visit connected to China's recent actions vis-a-vis Pakistan?
Kanwal Sibal retires on November 30 this year.
'We are getting used to the constant alerts to take shelter, listening to sonic booms from jets flying above us, hearing news of neighbouring ports being targeted, and being the only ship in the terminal.'
US Under Secretary of State William Burns held talks with India's Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on Wednesday during which the latter is understood to have conveyed India's disappointment over Pakistan's inaction against perpetrators of Mumbai terror attacks.
Sujatha Singh stands for the right values and quite simply, she's a "good person" who understands complex economic issues thoroughly, say her friends.
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