The central government on Thursday decided to immediately commence evacuation of Indians from Libya by sea and air in view of the "sharp and unprecedented deterioration" in the situation in the African nation which is witnessing anti-government protests that have claimed hundreds of lives so far.
The much-awaited hotline between the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao finally became operational on Thursday, thereby setting up a direct communication between the leaders.
India and China held their fourth round of strategic dialogue to discuss a host of issues such as New Delhi's concerns relating to issuance of stapled visas by Beijing for Kashmiris and its bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
The papers on the basis of which terror suspects David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana were issued visas by the Indian Consulate in Chicago may have gone mysteriously missing and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said she has asked for a factual report from the diplomatic mission.
India has assured Pakistan that it would not hesitate from sharing the findings of Samjhauta Express blast case but expressed inability to do so till the probe is not completed as Indian laws do not permit it. This message was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao during her meeting with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir will be meeting at New Delhi on February 25,2010, under a face-saving formula which would enable both the governments to claim that the respective stand taken by them after the 26/11 terrorist strike in Mumbai stands vindicated by this meeting.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Friday assured India that a thorough investigation would be conducted into the suicide bomb attack near the Indian embassy in Kabul to ascertain who was behind it.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will arrive in Islamabad at 10 am on Thursday and she will have her first meeting with her Pakistan counterpart Salman Bashir later that evening. The two full delegations will then have two sessions on Friday.
Taking a serious note of the killing of two Indian fishermen allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy, India on Tuesday told Colombo that the use of force against them should not be repeated and asked it to take a decision that will not upset bilateral ties. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna also directed Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao to convene a meeting of the Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on the issue around February 15 to discuss the issue.
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.
Dr Manmohan Singh first embossed himself on the national consciousness when as India's finance minister he flagged off economic reforms which changed this nation forever.
Strategic affairs experts express concern over US President Donald Trump's tariffs on India, his 'bullying tactics,' and increasing attempts to hyphenate New Delhi with Islamabad, signaling a potential shift in the bilateral relationship.
India would neither succumb to the Americans on issues of national security, such as its defence ties with Russia, nor cede ground on its domestic interests in the agriculture and dairy sectors.
The Congress party has claimed credit for the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, from the US, saying the Modi government did not initiate the process and merely benefited from the "mature, consistent and strategic diplomacy" begun under the UPA. Former Home Minister P Chidambaram said the government did not secure any breakthrough to make the extradition possible, nor is it the result of any grandstanding. He added that it was a testament to what the Indian state can achieve when diplomacy, law enforcement and international cooperation are pursued sincerely and without any kind of chest-thumping. Chidambaram detailed the UPA government's efforts in securing Rana's extradition, citing the registration of a case against him in 2009, diplomatic pressure on Canada and the US, and continued efforts despite legal setbacks. He highlighted the role of the UPA in securing Rana's conviction for other terrorism-related offences and the cooperation between the US and Indian agencies in gathering evidence and securing his extradition. The Congress leader further stated that it was the UPA's groundwork that paved the way for Rana's extradition, even after the change in government in 2014.
Nepal Maoist chief Prachanda sought to allay India's concerns that his party was strongly anti-Indian, but underlined that the two countries need to redefine the 'unequal' accords of the past given the dramatic changes of the past few years. On the second say of her three-day visit, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao met the Maoist chairman who also told her that his party was committed to honour the agreements signed in line with the peace process in Nepal.
After the ice-breaking foreign secretary-level talks on February 25, India has conveyed to Pakistan its willingness to hold the second round of parleys, but is yet to get any response from its neighbour. India also has not heard anything from Pakistan on the three dossiers given to Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir by her Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao during the FS-level talks. The dossiers contained the names of the 34 Pakistani terrorists wanted in India.
A host of issues like the civil nuclear cooperation, Iran and Afghanistan figured in talks between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian envoy Nirupama Rao, with both agreeing to work for consolidating the "tremendous progress" made in boosting Indo-US strategic ties.
Nirupama Rao, who took over as the foreign secretary on August 1, has had a variety of issues on her platter -- the reported incursions by China along the border, the attack near the Indian embassy in Kabul, Pakistan dilly-dallying on prosecuting Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and the mounting political pressure over the rehabilitation of displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan -- Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir -- have begun their much-anticipated meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, even as Indian officials have said that New Delhi is "looking at these talks in a positive and constructive manner".
At the end of the talks with Salman Bashir, Pakistani Foreign Secretary in New Delhi on Thursday, Nirupama Rao, the Indian counterpart, projected the initiative taken by India in proposing the meeting between the two countries as a prelude to a wider dialogue at different levels on various contentious issues -- though not necessarily in the form of a reversion to the composite dialogue process to which Pakistan continues to be attached.
Ahead of his talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will be meeting leaders of various separatist outfits from Kashmir over the next two days.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir who spoke to the media at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi on Thursday after meeting his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao said his country desired better ties with India but said Pakistan did not wants talks in which it is lectured to by India.
In diplomacy, it is inadvisable to be a straggler, as you may end up crawling back on a pitiless greasy pole.
Though no official announcement has been made regarding Suri's successor, it is reported that the Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Nirupama Rao is likely to be the next ambassador in Beijing.
They alleged that the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance was being used to "victimise especially those Indian men who are Muslim and women who dare to exercise their freedom of choice".
'Given his stint in Beijing, as India's longest serving ambassador there and that too through some challenging and interesting times, Jaishankar ought to have been appointed as foreign secretary in 2013 itself,' says Sanjaya Baru.
Ahluwalia was married to former deputy chairperson of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and is survived by her husband and two sons.
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In the first official visit by a United States vice-president to India in three decades, Joe Biden arrived in India on Monday on a four-day tour aimed at boosting ties in key areas of trade, energy, defence and security. The US vice-president will hold meetings with top Indian leadership, including President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday before flying out to Mumbai in the night.
Her research was focused on urban development, macro-economic reforms, industrial development, and social sector development issues in India.
India's new high commissioner in Islamabad goes to Pakistan at a time when the country is set to face much internal tumult.
Indian Ambassador to the United States Dr S Jaishankar told Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa that it was "a very nice meeting and President Barack Obama was extremely cordial."
Biden said, "One of the reasons why President Obama called our relations with India, quote, "a defining partnership of the century ahead" is that India is increasingly looking east as a force for security and growth in Southeast Asia and beyond."
'India in 2020 is a lot better prepared than in 1962.' 'It is no longer a pushover; and anything other than a crushing Chinese military victory will be a major loss of face for China,' observes Rajeev Srinivasan in the first of a three part column.
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