India desires cordial relations with Pakistan but an atmosphere of trust, devoid of terror and hostility, is 'imperative' for it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a letter to his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan.
Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as high commissioner of India in Sri Lanka.
The government is making efforts to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine through its land border crossings with its neighbouring countries and they would then be brought back home, official sources said on Friday.
The envoy said India has been successful in articulating its case with the international community including the US.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga are expected to deliberate extensively to give a new momentum to the functioning of the Quad at the summit, diplomatic sources said.
The invitation for the meeting to India was extended by Qatari special envoy for conflict resolution Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani during his visit to the national capital last week.
Top external affairs ministry officials on Monday briefed a parliamentary panel about efforts to bring back Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine, including plans for 13 evacuation flights in the next two-three days to its neighbouring countries and subsequent increase in the number of daily flights to nine, sources said.
Mizintsev said that places for temporary accommodation and rest have been set up at the checkpoints.
India has made it clear to China that peace and tranquillity in border areas is essential for the development of overall bilateral ties and the relationship has to be based on the 'three mutuals' of respect, sensitivity and interest, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, meanwhile, said the sixth flight under India's evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' left for Delhi from Budapest with 240 Indian nationals.
The BJP's top leadership will drop its MPs found to be facing anti-incumbency, according to its internal surveys -- a pivotal tactic to ensure the party achieves its target of winning 370 seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Joe Biden are expected to deliberate on ways to bolster bilateral ties in trade, investment and defence and security in their in-person talks in Washington, DC, on September 24, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday.
In October 2018, India had signed a US$ 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.
India will be within its rights to initiate reciprocal measures if the UK does not address concerns over the new travel rules relating to COVID-19 vaccine certification, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday describing the policy as "discriminatory".
Known to be having extensive expertise in dealing with India's neighbourhood as well as the US, China and Europe, the 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer pipped nearly half-a-dozen others in the race for the coveted post including Indian High Commissioner to UK Gaitri Issar Kumar (1986-batch IFS) and Ruchira Kamboj (1987 batch IFS).
It was the second time in the last three days that India asserted that the relationship with China depends on the resolution of the pending issues in eastern Ladakh.
Scindia said on Twitter the Romanian prime minister has assured his continued support to Indian students crossing the Romanian borders.
You will be part of fastest growing major global economy, India's ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringala told young American students.
India and the US are the world's largest democracies and the two countries are committed to taking on the toughest challenges together, President Joe Biden said after his first-ever in-person meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a review meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and top intelligence establishment over the Nagrota encounter in which four terrorists were neutralised, government sources said.
"As far as the US is concerned, we have certainly reached a level of no return. In other words, we have developed today what we call a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. "We are cooperating across the board on areas that are of mutual interest to both our countries," said Shringla.
India has been in touch with all parties concerned as part of overall global efforts to bring down the tensions.
As many as 31 evacuation flights will be operated to neighbouring countries of crisis-hit Ukraine and will bring back more than 6,300 Indians stranded in the eastern European nation, according to official sources.
It is understood that India's border row with China figured in the talks between Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale though there was no mention of it in the press statements issued by the two sides.
Asserting that sovereignty and territorial integrity of China are "sacred and inviolable", the country's national legislature has adopted a new law on the protection and exploitation of the land border areas, which could have bearing on Beijing's border dispute with India.
The ministry of home affairs on Tuesday clarified India's stand of giving Asylum to Myanmar refugees, saying that the country is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereon.
The need for an inclusive government in Kabul and a zero-tolerance stance on the use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups are among four aspects that Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed on Wednesday for countries in the region to focus on in the backdrop of the developments in the war-torn nation.
Downing Street said Johnson reiterated the year 2021 as an important one for UK-India ties and also re-emphasised the UK's commitment to the wider Indo-Pacific region, ahead of the first deployment of the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier group to the region next year.
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.
Poland's Ambassador to India Adam Burakowski on Monday said his country is allowing entry to people of all nationalities who are leaving war-hit Ukraine by road and food and shelter will be provided to them.
In a ceremony held in Amritsar, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla along with Afghan ambassador Farid Mamundzay and World Food Program Country director Bishaw Parajuli flagged off the first convoy of 50 trucks carrying the consignment.
If the visit takes place, it will be the first trip by a senior Chinese leader to India after the eastern Ladakh standoff between the two countries began in May 2020.
'When the decision was announced, the possibilities of cross border infiltration and terrorism, we know that there would be incitement to violence. We have simply taken preventive steps'
In a statement just before leaving for the US, Modi said he will conclude his visit with an address at the United Nations General Assembly focusing on the pressing global challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to combat terrorism, climate change and other important issues.
Shringla said that diplomacy is looking at a very changed scenario in terms of how statecraft and relations between countries work in the wake of the pandemic.
The first attempt to evacuate students on March 7 failed, despite ceasefire and planning.
India's ambassador to the United States, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who was visiting The NYT editorial board, rejected Khan's criticism.
The two leaders reaffirmed that the United States and India 'will take concerted action against all terrorist groups, including groups proscribed by the UNSCR 1267 Sanctions Committee'.
The ministry of external affairs said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told the envoy that discussions in the British Parliament on India's agri reforms represented a gross interference in politics of another democratic country.
Expressing concern over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India and Australia have underlined the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and stressed that the contemporary global order has been built on UN Charter, international law and respect for States' sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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