Mahinda Rajapaksa is a democratically elected leader who received a massive mandate of 71% of votes, and he owes nothing to Delhi or Washington for staging his political comeback, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The United States is committed to ensuring India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a top American diplomat said on Wednesday, expressing "regret" that his government was unsuccessful in making it a member of the grouping at its pleanary in Seoul last week.
While the two sides' objectives may appear to differ, it is clear that both India and China are emphasising on the common minimum possible areas of cooperation between them, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
Pompeo would leave for New Delhi on June 24.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he had a productive meeting with visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during which they discussed the bilateral ties, COVID-19 relief efforts, India-China border situation and Afghanistan and vowed to work together to address areas of shared concern.
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Saturday said that China's ambitions and aspirations to global power presented an 'omnipresent danger' to stability in South Asia.
The very severe cyclonic storm 'Biparjoy' intensified into an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' and is likely to cross Saurashtra-Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts around the afternoon of June 15 as a 'very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS)', the India Meteorological Department said on Sunday.
The IMD attributed the projection to a weakening of El Nio and the Indian Ocean Dipole turning positive.
The billions India invested in dams, schools, etc in Afghanistan will be gone. The Hindu and Sikh population of Afghanistan has already shrunk from some 200,000 to about 500, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
'We are not saying we are going to face a drought... We are a doing and performing government. A contingency plan is being prepared,' Science Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan tells Rediff.com
'Which will not happen.' 'Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has expressly refuted Beijing's statement that normalcy was returning to Sino-Indian relations.'
When Jaipur's Maharaja Madho Singh was invited to attend King Edward VII's coronation in 1902, he chartered a ship for Rs 15 lakh for the journey. He also carried 27,000 litres of Ganga jal on board. Prakash Bhandari recalls the maharaja's voyage to attend a British monarch's coronation on a day when Charles III will be crowned king at Westminster Abbey.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first-ever in-person meeting with President Joe Biden raised a number of issues involving the Indian community in America, including access for Indian professionals in the US and speaking about the H-1B visas, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said.
'2020 will show whether India's troubled domestic economic and political house reveals a mismatch in their strategic association or whether closer strategic ties are yet possible,' says Anita Inder Singh.
Khanderi is the second of the Navy's six Kalvari-class submarines built in India. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine which is designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS which is being manufactured at Mazagon Dock in Mumbai.
The Indian authorities have to reconfirm that Prabhakaran is dead. It may require seeking assistance from Interpol and also involve the re-opening of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, and more so, the investigations, formally or otherwise, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Very thankful to #IndianNavy & all who rescued me,' Tomy was quoted as saying in the Indian Navy spokesman's tweet.
The minister said that the available data and model studies do not indicate inundation in a major part of southern Mumbai occurring at least once a year during 2040-50, as published in an international study report.
The sale of 10 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II air-launched missiles is estimated to cost $92 million (Rs 699 crore), while 16 MK 54 All Up Round Lightweight Torpedoes and three MK 54 Exercise Torpedoes are estimated to cost $63 million (Rs 478.8 crore), the Defence Security Cooperation Agency said on Monday in two separate notifications to the Congress.
Elevated food price-led inflation could become a sore point for markets, which they seem to be ignoring at current levels, observe analysts. Retail inflation in India - as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) - came in at a three-month high of 6.52 per cent in January 2023, compared with 5.72 per cent in December and 5.88 per cent in November 2022. The inflation print for February, according to Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda, will be critical for the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee.
The time is ripe to extend the confrontation with the Chinese to the maritime domain, says former RA&W officer Krishan Varma.
'Gwadar has the potential to facilitate PLAN's operations in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.' 'Reports of China setting up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar to monitor US and Indian naval activity and shipping traffic through the Straits of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea lend credence to this,' says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday security in the ocean needs to be strengthened as most of the narcotic drugs are shipped in Pakistan and go via Iran to Sri Lanka and Africa.
Britain has granted refugee status to Mohamed Nasheed, the former president of the Maldives who was jailed in 2015 after a trial that drew international criticism.
The United States on Sunday shot down another unidentified airborne object in its airspace, a day after it brought down a similar 'cylindrical' object over Canada.
'While many Chinese policy makers dismiss the political, economic and technological component of US-India relations, they express caution on the defence-related ties which also happens to be a major driver in US-India relations,' explains China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
The navy wants to spend Rs 40,000 crore on INS Vishal, a choice the army and air force oppose. This is as much about turf as about funding. explains Ajai Shukla.
The Chinese coercion and aggression spans the globe, but it is most acute in the Indo-Pacific, it said.
'Adani can attract vessels at a much lower cost to Vizhinjam as he has the financial muscle to do so.'
Just an hour or so from the ones we commonly throng to, they promise a lot more for a lot less.
Hard to believe that some of these surreal places do exist.
China seeks to cash in on Modi's vision of modernising a creaking train system that 25 million people use daily
95 aircraft, 16 ships and 2 submarines from 3 countries are taking part in Malabar exercise.
The Obama administration has christened his vision of Indo-US ties that has overcome the "hesitations of history" and working for the betterment of the global good as "Modi Doctrine".
India must break out of this strategic triangulation between China and Pakistan. We need to settle our issues with one of the two, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'Beijing is comfortable with Hasina's pragmatism -- perceived as 'pro-India', but staying out of Indian orbit and receptive to forging close ties with China and yet, siding with neither neighbour,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
United States President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have made the first use of the secure hotline set up between Washington and New Delhi as they reviewed progress on key areas of cooperation and discussed global issues ahead of the upcoming G-20 summit.
We do not know, because there has been no discussion, no transparency and most likely no real thinking on this matter at our end, observes Aakar Patel.
President Trump, in a move that could have implications on India's energy security, on Monday decided not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran, further squeezing Tehran's top export commodity.
Thailand's importance to India's Act East policy is too significant to be overlooked.
