The Indian Nuclear Energy Pool, meant to insure risks from nuclear reactors, may take longer to be set up. While the idea of forming a pool was mooted earlier this year, it has reached a deadlock owing to differences among the stakeholders on certain clauses.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that recent missile attacks demonstrate Iran's capacity to strike globally, posing a threat to Europe and the rest of the world. He highlighted the need for international action to counter Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.
'Our diplomacy should have been focused on preventing war and avoiding the inevitable disruptions it would cause, posing a real risk to India's growth story,' asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
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.'
When missiles fly in this region, they are never just aimed at military targets.
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.
The United States, which entered this war in expectation of a short, sharp win along the Venezuela model, is now preparing for deeper involvement in a conflict it does not fully control, without the allies it typically relies on, against an adversary that is not behaving as expected, in a global environment that is already absorbing economic shock. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'There has definitely been a breakthrough in the nuclear logjam. It is good to see nuclear energy back on the rails,' says Dr Anil Kakodkar, former chairman, Atomic Energy Commission.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
In the Indo-Pacific's new era -- where perception shapes reality faster than treaties -- the real entrapment is not of China or the United States. It is the test Japan has set for itself -- and whether partners like India, acting as balancers rather than accelerants, can help ensure that the story ends in stability, points out Varun Arya.
The enduring relationship between the two countries have survived the disintegration of the erstwhile USSR in 1991, the end of the Cold War and the regime change in both countries, points out Rup Narayan Das.
On the table are additional batches of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia, which India used with immense success during Operation Sindoor. India could buy at least two squadrons of Su-57 fighter jets plus joint production of S-500 air defence systems.
The Russians have termed Putin's visit to India, his first to this country since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, as 'Druzhba Dosti', which means 'friendship' in Russian and Hindi respectively.
Whether Trump will actually press ahead with the oil sanctions remains unclear, since keeping Russian oil out of the world market risks high oil prices which could boomerang on the US economy and be damaging politically for Trump, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Will Russia's entry deter Trump on his warpath?, asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Under a 2010 nuclear liability law, nuclear equipment suppliers are liable for damages from an accident, which companies say is a sharp deviation from international norms
Union minister Jitendra Singh assured the members of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that there is better nuclear safety in India as compared to many other countries and there are enough safeguards in the Indian nuclear plants.
This would make India the world's second-biggest nuclear energy market after China
Several nuclear power projects held up for the lack of such an insurance pool can now be expected to move forward.
Modi has made nuclear power a key element of his clean energy strategy
Shigeru Ishiba is expected to prioritise strengthening Japan's military capabilities and fostering deeper international partnerships, particularly with India, with whom Japan shares significant strategic interests, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president and a champion of peace and human rights, has died at the age of 100. Carter, who was known for his work with the Carter Center, promoting democracy and conflict resolution, was also a close friend of India. He visited the country in 1978, forging a lasting relationship between the two nations.
'At a time when the entire India-US relationship needs to be defined by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi, a fresh look at the liability issue has become urgent,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, former Governor for India at the IAEA.
Weeks after 'breakthrough', substantial work is yet to be done
India has a 'natural global partnership' with US, says PM.
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
French President Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by his wife Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron, besides senior ministers from his Cabinet, began their four-day visit to India by meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife. On Friday night, Macron was received at the airport Prime Minister Modi in a special gesture. Here are glimpses from Macron's visit.
India is one of the few countries in the region that enjoys good relations with both Israel and Saudi Arabia, and IMEC would allow it to recreate the old Spice Route to Europe. All this is in jeopardy now, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
India as the G20 host has a 'unique role' to play in bringing about an end to the war in Ukraine due to its 'longstanding historical' ties to Russia, the United States has said, expressing hope to work closely with New Delhi to find a way to stop the conflict.
The process of decision-making and making large policy moves in the force has slowed down owing to the absence of the designated chief.
It is for the companies and the industry to ascertain where they want to run with the US-India civilian nuclear agreements reached by Washington and New Delhi, says United States Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal. Aziz Haniffa reports for Rediff.com from Washington, DC
'The US will not want to tangle with China landwards.' 'Nor will the US confront the Chinese navy seawards on India's account.'
The agreement was reached in intensive negotiations between contact groups that Obama and Modi had set up in September.
'The biggest lacuna in this agreement is it is called 'full civil nuclear cooperation agreement.' Actually, it is anything but full.'
Russia and China have a broad consensus today on almost all core issues related to global strategic stability, which is unprecedented in modern history, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'One thing I've learned about nuclear power is that these are not fast kind of time-lines.'
The world's largest and most respected centre for scientific research has shown how collaborative effort in the acrimonious field of particle physics can prove of enormous benefit to mankind.
PM Modi seems to be gradually ending India's strategic ambiguity