The impact of Shinzo Abe's towering personality is such that even in death, Abe remains a polarising figure, asserts Dr Rajaram Panda.
'The credit for managing Trump should go to Modi.' 'Biden is a predictable and rational person with plenty of administrative experience,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'India enjoys the maneuverability of a coming big power.' 'It is this possibility that has persuaded Moscow to humour India and stayed Washington from getting punitive about India's neutrality on the Ukraine issue.'
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar left London at the end of a four-day visit to the United Kingdom on Friday with a message of convergence as the two countries agreed on an ambitious '2030 Roadmap' towards a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
During their talks, the two leaders decided to significantly expand their ties in several key areas including defence, trade, energy and education.
Any form of entanglement with India or the US on the strategic plane will be anathema to Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa rulers, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The BJP has done the Uri surgical strikes, handled the Dokalam crisis and the Balakot strikes.' 'So if there is a de-escalation only at the diplomatic level and not resolving this issue of a colonel being killed, then it translates into public anger.'
'Trump's stated strong stance against Islamist extremism and terrorism could play into the Indo-US relationship.' 'It could mould US attitude and exert pressure on Pakistan.' 'In the event of US military presence in Afghanistan increasing, however, Pakistan could gain an opportunity to again emphasise its importance.'
The Americans have expended a lot of diplomatic energy to coax India into toeing their line but India has refused to buckle under pressure. As Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, India has not taken anyone's side but its own side, points out Virendra Kapoor.
'China would want to take a tougher stance against India forming those strategic partnerships and prevent Quad from becoming a military alliance.'
'There are three pillars of concern: The expansion of Hindu majoritarianism, the concentration of executive power and decay of independent institutions, and curbs on free expression and dissent.'
Modi cautioning that cryptocurrency can spoil the youth.
'Under General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Xi Jinping, Beijing has stepped up its aggressive foreign policy toward New Delhi. Since 2013, China has engaged in five major altercations with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),' said a brief issued by US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Two powerful US Senators have urged President Joe Biden not to impose provisions of the punitive Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act against India for buying the S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia.
'Our equations with China require engagement and not confrontation; its interfaces with Pakistan and with some other South Asian neighbours also add to the complexities,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
The Modi government has to embrace the history of Tamil conquests in South East Asia and stop obsessing about Babar/Humayun, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Relations between India and Japan are robust and devoid of either shadow of history or any irritant.' 'In fact, there is plenty of warmth and goodwill earned over history. There are no negatives but only opportunities,' notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Whether it liked it or not, the Ukraine crisis forced India to choose between the aggressor Russia and the US-led free world, a decision it hated to make, Virendra Kapoor points out. In the end, it abstained from the vote in the Security Council.
Modi has the chance to break out of India's passive mode and firmly tell Russia that in this day and age, India will not support unilateral invasions, asserts Harishchandra Dighe.
'But, then are we saying that armed forces must prepare for war? No'
Expressing grave concern over a US nuclear-powered submarine sustaining damage in the disputed South China Sea, China on Friday demanded Washington to reveal the details and the location of the accident and blamed America's frequent air and naval sorties in the Indo-Pacific to assert the "freedom of navigation" as the "root cause" of the incident.
'The aim of Russian policy is to reform European security, stop NATO expansion and in a more general sense -- set up the new rules of relations between the great powers.' 'From this perspective. the invasion of Ukraine is quite pointless.'
Military sources said the research ship Shi Yan 1 forayed into Indian waters in September but was forced to retreat after it was suspected to be involved in spying.
Another crucial power group, the US legislative Congress, is increasing pressure for closer ties between Washington and New Delhi.
Participating in an online session, a panel of Hindu-American women, from different walks of life, expressed their strong views in favour of President Trump.
'Pakistan has robust incentive to turn heat on LoC.'
The entire gamut of China's activities is aimed at keeping India on tenterhooks, cause fatigue to its troops and keeping its security system unstable, so that it cannot play a meaningful role in international geopolitics as an effective partner of the US and Japan, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Amid China's growing assertiveness in South China Sea, India, Japan and the US at their first ever trilateral ministerial dialogue in New York.
'India's preference today seems to be to exploit the deepening chill in relations with China to breathe new life into its meandering partnership with the US,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
US President Trump "presented the Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating the US-India strategic partnership," O'Brien said in a tweet.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that India and China are going through a 'particularly bad patch' in their ties because Beijing has taken a set of actions in violation of agreements for which it still doesn't have a 'credible explanation' and it is for the Chinese leadership to answer where they want to take the bilateral relationship.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official asserted that US President Donald Trump, during his presidency, has really strengthened all aspects of the US-India security and defence cooperation to build a comprehensive, enduring and mutually beneficial defence partnership.
The US has been, historically, a sleeping partner in India-China relations. Today, any attempt by the Modi government to make a bilateral move to improve relations with Beijing could upset Biden's apple cart, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Modi's first foreign trip at the very outset of his second term as PM reinforces a growing impression that this regional tour underscores a shift in emphasis in India's foreign policy that was traditionally focused on the northern tier of countries to the Indian Ocean rim,' explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Two members of the small delegation accompanying External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the UK have tested positive for Covid-19, forcing him to rework his official schedule in London.
The other top officials who will accompany the US president are Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien and Energy Secretary Dan Broulliette, the sources said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that he held a "good discussion" with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on many important issues, including on the two nations' commitment to democratic principles, recent protests, and the importance of resolving issues through dialogue.
From Covid to climate change, Shankar Acharya's look at some of the trends and events that might shape 2022.
It will not be to India's advantage to create misperceptions that it is bandwagoning with some Anglo-American project for regime change in Myanmar, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
