EAM Jaishankar's mission is aimed at strengthening India's strategic autonomy in a complex international environment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir urged the Centre to strengthen the ongoing peace process through internal and external dialogue at an all-party meeting held in Srinagar on Monday.
'It is time to not merely assert that Kashmir is an internal problem, but begin to act on it,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The worst-affected Sindh province reported 90 new coronavirus cases, taking the provincial tally to 357. The new cases have been detected in pilgrims who returned from Iran and have been quarantined in Sukkur, according to a spokesperson for the Sindh health department.
Schools in the Valley will reopen next week, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam said.
Stone-pelting youth were not giving up their lives for tourism but for resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the wishes of its people, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said.
National Conference on Saturday said it was not an opportune time for the elections in Jammu and Kashmir as the state was reeling under the aftermaths of the devastating floods and decided to hold deliberations to work on the future course of action for the party.
The French president said that peace should be maintained in the region and peoples' rights should be protected.
India is likely to send a high-level delegation, headed by the minister, given the conference's importance.
'We repent our decision today as we feel we betrayed our (Congress) party, while the DAP betrayed us'
Dr Rama Singh and six academics from McMaster University's Center for Peace Studies in Canada were in Jammu and Kashmir recently for a conference on peace and democracy.
United States Congressman James Moran, a Democrat from Virginia, who hosted the 10th International Kashmir Peace Conference on Capitol Hill, believes the Kashmir problem between India and Pakistan also involves the issue of water. In his opening remarks, Moran lamented, "While the United States has been fighting a war in Afghanistan that we read about everyday, there has been another conflict -- one that is older and arguably more complex."
Harinder Baweja, editor (news) of Tehelka.com, argues that the main reason that a resolution of this problem had been elusive was because of "India's mind-set."
Kashmiri Pandit employees on Monday threatened to appeal to international human rights organisations for asylum if the central government failed to relocate them from the Valley in the wake of attacks on minorities.
Addressing a public reception in Sikkim's Pelling, Singh accused Pakistan of trying to "destabilise" India by fomenting trouble in Kashmir. "But I want to tell all of you that our government will find a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue," he said, without elaborating.
Sharma will decide whom he wants to hold talks with, Singh said when asked whether he would have dialogue with the Hurriyat Conference.
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (both of separate Hurriyat Conference factions) and Yasin Malik of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front issued a joint statement here, rubbishing her and her offer.
Corps Commander Lt Gen K J S Dhillon of the Chinar Corps also requested mothers of Kashmiri militants to persuade their sons to surrender.
'Pakistan had almost disappeared from Kashmir.' 'Now in the last three, four years we have brought Pakistan back again by not handling Kashmir properly.'
Soulful strains of some of the most popular and best known western classical music compositions reverberated in the majestic backdrop of Zabarwan Hills when Zubin Mehta, world famous conductor, performed before a mesmerised audience in the Shalimar Gardens on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar on Saturday evening.
India said on Thursday that it desired normal relations with all its neighbours, including Pakistan, and advised Islamabad to create a conducive atmosphere, including by taking "credible, verifiable and irreversible actions" to stop cross border terrorism against it and enable the two countries to engage and address issues bilaterally.
'It is the impression in Kashmir that if ever a realistic resolution of the problem/dispute is sought to be seriously attempted by New Delhi, the BJP is the best bet,' says Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished observer on Kashmir.
'I could have never imagined any other prime minister giving time to a separatist leader.' 'I think the Hurriyat should not be ignored. I think like Pakistan, they are being unnecessarily ignored.' A S Dulat, the former RA&W chief who visited Kashmir recently, speaks to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
The government on Wednesday said that time was "not appropriate" for withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Jammu and Kashmir.
"Talks are the only option," Mehbooba said. "How long can you have a confrontation?"
An uptick has been noticed in the number of foreign terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir post the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan but the overall strength of militants in the valley is low and can be capped below 200, outgoing CRPF DG Kuldiep Singh said on Thursday.
'Knowing him personally, I can safely say that the usually soft-spoken, qualified medical doctor would not have said what he was 'caught' saying if only he had realised that he was stepping on a political landmine across the emotional LoC, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
While the government interlocutor for J&K may be tasked with holding talks with 'all stakeholders', the central government is singing a very different tune in the Supreme Court, Aditi Phadnis points out.
It would be the highest level visit to India by any Pakistani leader in recent years and a possible opportunity to break the ice between the two nations.
The veteran politician said he spoke to Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia on Tuesday night and promised to visit them at the protest site.
The separatist amalgam appealed to the international community to intervene in putting an end to the daily violence and tragic loss of life in Kashmir by "pushing for the resolution of the lingering Kashmir conflict, which is the root cause of all this suffering".
The Congress is planning to call a meeting of Opposition parties in May. It is possible to keep all possibilities open in case Karnataka yields a hung House, leading to a recalibrated Opposition.
IAF conducts the air show, Srinagar and the government is part of the ongoing 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations
Kashmiris hope that India and Pakistan can find a lasting solution to what many call the Kashmir 'problem'.
"The government's claims of democracy in the context of Jammu and Kashmir are hollow and baseless," Geelani said.
'It will be foolhardy to overlook that this stunning shift in China's stance comes as the culmination of the severely damaged India-China relationship under the present government,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The celebrated Pakistani rock band, Junoon is in Srinagar to perform live, to promote peace and harmony. The band will perform on Sunday afternoon at the Sheri Kashmir International Conference Centre on the shores of the Dal Lake.
'Aggravated fears about the fate of Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution have reopened old wounds and laid bare the widening emotional distance between Srinagar and New Delhi,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Organisations and individuals that try to create sympathy for terrorists must also be isolated, he said addressing the third 'No Money for Terror Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing' hosted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
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