The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will inspire terrorists and trigger an "explosion" of extremism and security challenges for the world, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned on Thursday.
Given all the turbulence created by Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi's unexpected tirade against Saudi Arabia, it is likely to be business as usual between the two countries, albeit with a bit of caution on the part of both, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Kim Jong-un declared he would never surrender North Korea's nuclear weapons weapons even if his country faced 100 years of sanctions. Dr Rajaram Panda explains Pyongyang's new nuclear doctrine that makes the world a much more dangerous place.
Russia and China are tight-fisted and Iran is broke and none of them has the political will or capacity to bankroll the Afghan economy, which only the US can, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Though Bajwa met Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Saudi Arabia's military chief of staff General Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili, he failed to meet the crown prince.
Flights from Mumbai and Kerala will also have to transit through these routes due to restrictions
Iranian President Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Organisation of Islamic Conference an ineffective body, welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza and proposed free and fair elections to end the crisis in Syria.
Hoping for a peaceful resolution of the Iranian crisis, the top Indian diplomat in the United States has cautioned the international community that talk of war will not help in reaching a solution. "The talk of war will not help a solution, it only erodes global cohesion," Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao said while speaking at a session on the 'Role of India in the changing landscape in the 21st Century', in Boston on Wednesday.
Cut off from the world and having to contend with an orthodox and repressive Taliban government, Afghans are facing the brunt of Pakistan's decades old policy of nurturing militant groups, note Harsh V Pant and Kriti M Shah four months after the Taliban took Kabul.
The implications aren't too significant, given the size of Ukraine and its role in the global economy.
India shifted gears in rejuvenating strategic ties with its major partners like the US and Russia and focused on drumming up global support for its distinct strategy in the Indo-Pacific to check Beijing's increasing muscle-flexing in the region.
Robust military preparedness along the entire perimeter of our nation is the only iron-clad permanent guarantee for our security, asserts Vivek Gumaste.
A beautiful documentary from Delhi. A shocking satire that spares no one. A thriller about a serial killer in Iran. A Pakistan film about family secrets... Aseem Chhabra lists the best films he saw in Cannes.
Obama and Putin discussed the necessity of countering the Islamic State and the situation in Ukraine, the White House said.
Neither Biden nor his successors can any longer ignore the threat China has come to pose to the US in both economic and military fields, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The US is not going to be able to mount a concerted 'Western strategy' against China or Russia in the present international milieu, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The country has produced a record harvest, but many farmers in the onion bowl of Maharashtra have lost a large share of their crop damaged in storage, adding to the country's inflation woes.
'Qatar has been funding and supporting terrorist organisations.' 'It has used its media to spread lies and create unrest in neighbouring countries.'
Trump hopes that the US will be able to deal in a very open and honorable fashion with North Korea.
India annually spends Rs 4.5 lakh crore on importing petroleum products, and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari feels methane is a cost-effective import substitution. But is it? Pallava Bagla examines the pros and cons.
The list, according to media reports, also features reducing ties with Iran and closing a Turkish military base.
'There is far more goodwill towards India from across the board in Afghanistan'
'Both Russia and the USA seek New Delhi's friendship, because for both -- Russia and the USA -- India is a certain counterbalance to China.'
Former US national security adviser Mark Pfeifle said that more than 220,000 Iran tweets were sent through Twitter every hour at its peak, helping document the crisis in Iran following the contested presidential election results last month. 'It became the assignment desk, the reporter and the producer. And, because of this, Twitter and its creators are worthy of being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize,' he wrote in the Christian Science Monitor.
The oil crisis could not have come at a worse time for the Modi government as its tax collection has fallen short of its 2020-2021 target by Rs 5.2 lakh crore.
Both statesmen possess a cultivated pugnacious style which they keep in reserve and can at will bring into play, and despite the mutual distrust in Russian-American relations, they are proponents of detente, quintessentially, who take their mission deadly seriously, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In a scathing attack, Democratic presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton has accused China of "hacking into everything that doesn't move" in America and "stealing" huge amounts of government information.
With this subdued forecast, India is likely to record its worst growth performance since the 1991 liberalisation. However, it is among the only two major economies, which will register a positive growth rate in 2020. The other being China, for which the IMF has projected a growth rate of 1.2 per cent.
Imran Khan knows Pakistan is holding a strong hand and doesn't have to flaunt it while claiming victory. But Pakistan has learned from the experience of the 1990s -- high risk of going out on a limb, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In his maiden address to the employees of the State Department, the US president said he has come to the building to send a clear message to the world: America is back. America is back. Diplomacy is back.
Thimpu apparently didn't think it necessary to take Delhi into confidence. Bhutan is loathe to getting dragged into the geopolitical rivalry between India and China. And for Beijing, this was too good an opportunity to be missed to thumb its nose at the powers-that-be in Delhi, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
One indictment accuses Huawei of trying to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile, and of promising bonuses to employees who collected confidential information on competitors. A second indictment claims the company worked to skirt US sanctions on Iran.
Afghanistan will remain a frontline state for Washington for a foreseeable future in terms of the potential threats to US national security from terrorist groups, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
US President Barack Obama, on Friday, sought a new era of engagement with the world where power is no longer a "zero-sum game" as he asked them to share responsibility for tackling key challenges of security and prosperity.
Volkswagen mess costs Germany its strongest nation brand position.
Would Ukraine be such a pushover if it had that nuclear stockpile?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
'The US appears to think that Pakistan is highly vulnerable today due to its economic crisis and one more turn of the screw may bring about desired results,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday accused the United States of killing people in "large numbers and in organised ways" in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan and also blamed the UNSC for the crisis in the Middle East.
Barack Obama on Wednesday landed in Israel on his first visit to the Jewish state as United States President in what is expected to be a show of America's unwavering support to its closest ally in the region which is grappling with the Syrian crisis and Iran's nuclear programme.
