India's decision to skip the meeting came after a year of bilateral discord over China's stubborn opposition to India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group and a UN ban against Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar.
Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon meets US Under secretary William Burns in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves New Delhi on Wednesday on a 4-day visit to Maldives to attend the SAARC Summit on the margins of which he will meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
When Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visits Pakistan on July 15, he would be taking the next step on the road to reducing the trust deficit between India and its terror-vexed neighbour.
'I had done 23 years of very satisfying service -- 10 years in the police and 13 years in the Enforcement Directorate.' 'I had done law enforcement and thought the next step should be towards contributing to make good laws.'
The Padma Bhushan was conferred on 17 personalities including N Chandrasekharan, chairman of Tata Sons, Krishna and Suchita Ella of Bharat Biotech, Cyrus Poonawalla, Satya Nadella, chairman of Microsoft, Sunder Pichai, chairman of Google.
We have our own problems for sure and they are not trivial, but for now, our economy is in not too bad a shape, our politics is as personality-driven and authoritarian as that of most countries in the world. We must make the best of what we have and not be excessively unhappy looking at the grass on the other side of the septic tank which may not be greener after all!, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
The United States has assured India of providing 'fair solution' to Indian students affected by the shut down of California-based Tri Valley University, which has been accused of a massive visa fraud.
She carries Birkin bags, wears movie-star shades and at 34, is Pakistan's youngest-ever and first woman Minister of Foreign Affairs. So which dashing Indian politician would make the ideal counterpart to Hina Rabbani Khar?
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit has criticised Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna for his remarks that any further terror attack on India originating from Pakistani soil would greatly severe relations, said Islamabad cannot be 'bullied' by such statements.
'Neither State should take the matter into a terrain that involves tension -- and certainly not war.'
Indian Home Secretary GK Pillai's comments ahead of External Affairs Minister SM Krishna's trip to Islamabad on Wednesday on Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI's pro-active role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks came as a surprise to the Pakistani Foreign Office establishment.
ACN Nambiar's life was extraordinary and intricately linked to momentous turns in history. Having lived in Europe for five decades, he was witness to and entangled with what we today -- with the benefit of hindsight -- call recent history.
At an online book release event, former vice president Hamid Ansari lays to rest the controversies surrounding his tenure.
Indian Consul General in Chicago Ashok Atri, embroiled in a controversy over visa issued to Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative Tahawwur Hussain Rana, has met Union External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and said that no rules had been violated in giving him the travel document, as he had submitted all proper papers for the same.
'Misplaced national priorities have brought the economy to a cul-de-sac,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Five years after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar imposed total prohibition in Bihar, the liquor mafia continues to thrive, reports MI Khan.
December 3, 2021 marks 50 years since the beginning of the 1971 War which ended in a decisive military victory for India and the liberation of Bangladesh. Most analysts of the 1971 War agree that the IV Corps dash across the mighty Meghna river led by the brilliant General Sagat Singh was the turning point in the war, recalls military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Supreme Court Thursday ordered that the report of a high-level committee on the role of erring police officials in the 1994 espionage case relating to Indian Space Research Organisation scientist Nambi Narayanan be given to the Central Bureau of Investigation and directed the agency to conduct further investigation on the issue.
'Overlying his idealism was a hatred of war and of all things military. He gave no deep thought to politico-military matters and this prevented him from making sound security decisions.'
There is a deep-seated sense of rejection that the new generation Tamil youth have felt for a decade and more now, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Narrowing of differences on competing territorial claims along the un-demarcated LAC might take weeks, if not months, of hard-nosed negotiations. Without some give and take on both sides, the impasse will be hard to resolve, observes Virendra Kapoor.
If convicted, the offences entail a maximum punishment of seven years.
'Salman Khan should be booked under the National Security Act as he is destroying Indian culture.'
'Our strategy should be to 'hold the line' in the north on the Sino-Indian land frontier, but maintain and, if possible, enlarge India's current edge in the maritime south.'
India said a new mechanism will be set up for issues relating to trade and investment.
'My heart weeps for Vajpayee, the prince among poets, the king among politicians and the emperor among statesmen,' says Sudhir Bisht.
'If only Cariappa/Thimayya/Chaudhari/Manekshaw were given a free hand, there'll be no PoK, the Chinese would have been taught a lesson, 1965 would have slain the Pak demon and in 1971 just another fortnight's fighting after Bangladesh and West Pakistan would have been occupied.' 'No authoritative military account suggests anything remotely like any of these...' '...Chronologies, names, even periods get mixed up, but, never mind, because the point -- strong Army denied by cowardly Congress -- is made.' 'This is where Modi is coming from,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
'China has gone too long as a rogue power, trashing international norms, agreements, and treaties as if they were not the paper they were written on.' 'The ill-advised attack on Ladakh may be the beginning of the end of that nonsense,' advocates Rajeev Srinivasan.
A mix of industrialists and businessmen, who have inherited riches or rose from humble backgrounds and even endured boom and bust cycles, the top five MPs are illustrative of how the political stock of the wealthy is increasing rapidly.
Offering his condolences to Vajpayee's family and admirers, Rahul Gandhi said the former prime minister was loved and respected by millions.
'India's print media appears to be on the ventilator, gasping for breath, cutting staff, cutting salaries, cutting editions, cutting off its hands and legs,' notes Krishna Prasad.
'The Himmatsinghji Report is still 'missing'.' 'It is a great loss for the knowledge of India's borders.' 'It would have an immense value at a time China is bound to shift its attention to other border fronts in the Himalayas,' notes Claude Arpi.
Political stalwarts Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Pawar and former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma, cricketer Virat Kohli and Carnatic musician K J Yesudas were among the 89 people who were selected for this year's Padma awards.
India and the United States are destined to be partners at the world stage due to their shared common values and outlooks on a wide range of issues, the Pentagon has said as US Deputy Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter concluded his highly successful trip to New Delhi.
Modi, who was elected in May with a mandate to provide jobs and economic growth, has seen his reform agenda stymied by controversial statements by lawmakers in his party
'Unquestionably, the spirit behind the Panchsheel agreement and the 'Hindi Chini bhai bhai' slogan were thrown overboard by the Chinese, and a trust deficit was injected between the two nations.' A revealing excerpt from General J J Singh's The McMahon Line: A Century Of Discord.
The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan expressed optimism and desire to improve ties.
'The first year of the Modi government's second term has laid the roadmap for the future and we will embark on it with gusto,' promises Gopal Krishna Agrawal, the BJP's national spokesperson on economic affairs.
'The conception of Make-in-India, Skill India, Smart Cities, Digital India, Beti Bachao, Beti Padao and so on show a visionary breadth of mind, and Modi is almost the first political leader in India to put them into effect with single-minded zeal,' notes B S Raghavan, the former civil servant.