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.
Mattis attracted controversy in 2005 when he said 'it's fun to shoot some people'.
Prime Minister Modi addressed the second plenary of the executive session, during which he reiterated India's focus on small island developing nations of the organisation and delivering 'demand-driven, rather than donor-driven' assistance to the organisation's smaller member states.
The Supreme Court of India became "lions under the throne" when Jawaharlal Nehru brought in the fourth amendment in 1955, says T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
It would be a huge achievement if the new administration manages a successful transition to some sense of domestic and international normalcy in these frantic times marked by the pandemic and rise of illiberal regimes across the world, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
'Why can't a person who has supervised military intelligence head RA&W?' 'Why can't one who has overseen national security planning become our NSA or chair the National Security Advisory Board?' asks Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
As United States President Barack Obama's second term draws to a close, Chief White House Photographer Pete Souza shared his favourite images captured over the course of the last year.
India has gone through this exercise twice, and here's what happened then.
Despite losing four years of playing days due to World War II, Don Bradman still is head and shoulders above the rest. Haresh Pandya pays tribute to the incomparable Don Bradman.
President Pranab Mukherjee pays an emotional tribute to APJ Abdul Kalam
'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).
Credit Suisse thinks it possible for the company to narrow its forecast ('guidance') range.
Had the slain Indian-American engineer stayed in India, he would have earned less but his life might have been spared, Sunanda K Datta-Ray says, pondering the question of where one belongs.
"Features of the Bill are anti-people and anti-Constitution...it is a very dangerous act," the fiery TMC MP said.
'Non Resident Indians know that India's problems are the combination of many factors over the centuries, including foreign rule, lack of resources and the ever-growing population, among other things. Yet, India has achieved many things and even looks at Mars as a neighbour.'
'Tilting at the Government in English in front of India may make him feel like Joan of Arc, but without a feel for Bharat he will merely be Don Quixote,' says S Muraleedharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
President Pranab Mukherjee will be among over 90 heads of state and government who will attend an emotional memorial service in South Africa on Tuesday for anti-apartheid legend Nelson Mandela, making it one of the largest such gatherings in generations.
Like Mr Trump, says Kanika Datta, politics tempts many businessmen.
You cannot imagine your life without these modern inventions, can you?
'With any luck and a certain amount of rationality, we should be able to survive,' historian Antony Beevor tells Rediff.com's Sanchari Bhattacharya. 'We should learn that genocides and elimination of minorities achieve nothing and only sets a nation back. If we don't learn from our mistakes, then humanity doesn't deserve a chance to survive.'
'It is vital that objects such as the Harihara -- and collections from South Asia generally -- remain here,' the British Museum tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'Terrorism is merely a symptom of a deeper disease in Pakistan's body politic,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The 102nd Indian Science Congress, which concluded last week, saw claims on ancient aviation and surgery, and created quite a stir
From the Syrian civil war to the Ukrainian crisis to the terror unleashed by the dreaded Islamic State, there was no lack of news in 2014. Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
They bent rules. Shut down haters. And inspired many with their successes. Let them inspire you too!
'The "Hollandisation" of British policy may not bring the expected gains as the future may show,' says Claude Arpi.
Raja Sen wishes Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary filmmaker who transformed The Godfather into an immortal screen classic, a happy 75th birthday.
Donald Trump virtually sealed his Republican nomination for the United States presidential polls on Tuesday night after he scored a major win at the Indiana primary and his nearest rival Texas Senator Ted Cruz bowed out of the race.
The Reserve Bank of India cut its repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.50 per cent.
Were the May 1988 nuclear tests a success? 20 years after Pokharan, a look back at those decisive atomic tests through the eyes of someone who knew.
CNN International's Amanpour speaks with Margaret Rhodes, first cousin and longtime friend to Queen Elizabeth II. They speak about the impending birth of the Royal baby, the harsh public reaction to the Queen following the death of Princess Diana, and her thoughts on the film, The King's Speech. The transcript of this interview is below:
Right in the midst of bustling Kolkata lies what might be the most prominent population of Britons in India.
Amberish K Diwanji on Indian prime ministers and the seven-year itch.
The death of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight champion known as much for his political activism as his boxing brilliance, triggered a worldwide outpouring of affection and admiration for one of the best-known figures of the 20th century.
'You can ascribe any ideology to him, and it will be equally right - or equally wrong.' 'Even though the comrades on the Left will never admit it, he seems as much Stalinist as capitalist.'
Hein Kiessling has the kind of access in Pakistan that journalists (and spies) would die for, says Kanika Datta.
Zakir Naik, a gentle, rockstar televangelist, is dangerous as young Muslims may be swayed by his fundamentalist interpretations of Islam and justify victimhood and extremism, says Shekhar Gupta.
'That has always been my ambition -- to take the reader behind the scenes, to the places he was not allowed to visit, but which I had the privilege of entering.' Haresh Pandya remembers Ted Corbett, sports journalist extraordinaire, who passed into the ages on August 9.
'When the Brexit bomb goes off, the shrapnel will wound us.' 'We will in the time-honoured tradition apply band-aids all over.' 'Those who shout the loudest will get economic relief like interest rate reduction and debt restructuring.' 'Others will go on living lives of quiet despair,' says S Muralidharan.
More than 60 years ago, a bicycle thief in Louisville, Kentucky, unknowingly set in motion one of the most amazing sports careers in history.
