Among the other names tipped to make it to the Cabinet are Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal, Baijayant Panda.
The two-plus-two dialogue will be held on Tuesday. A host of crucial bilateral, regional and global issues including China's efforts to expand influence in the Indo-Pacific region as well as its aggressive behaviour in eastern Ladakh is likely to figure in the talks.
India has flattened its Covid-19 graph and 146 districts have reported no new case of the viral disease in the last seven days, 18 in 14 days, six in 21 days and 21 districts in the last 28 days, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday.
A task force has been set up to keep a close tab on the developments in South Sudan.
Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark T Esper will visit India on October 26 and 27 for the high-level dialogue aimed at further boosting defence, security and global strategic ties between the two countries.
The new framework of the ministerial dialogue was initiated in order to provide a forward-looking vision for the strategic partnership between the two countries.
'We have not had one discussion on the border incursions or the subsequent report of the building of Chinese villages on Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh.'
The high-level talks came a week after 20 Indian Army personnel were killed in a violent clash between the two sides in Galwan Valley.
Political leaders across parties reacted to the Air India Express aircraft crash, which took place on Friday evening at Kozhikode airport.
It is the first highest level face-to-face meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May.
The nation celebrated the 71st Republic Day on Sunday with a grand military parade and exhibition of its history, cultural diversity and strategic weaponry at the Rajpath.
The BJP's effort comes in the wake of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal set to attend the eighth RCEP ministerial meeting in Bangkok from October 10 to 12.
Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The CoWIN portal will be made available in Hindi and 14 regional languages by next week, while 17 more laboratories will be added to the INSACOG network to monitor the variants of COVID-19, the health ministry said on Monday.
'This pandemic has given him a new platform to perform,' says a member of the government. 'He should feel lucky that he has got an opportunity now to demonstrate to the world his original talent.' 'He needs a visionary script to perform.' Sheela Bhatt reports on the politics of the pandemic.
India and China on Friday held 'in-depth' discussions on addressing the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, holding that disengagement in the North and South banks of Pangong lake provided a good basis to work towards their early resolution.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
'Both have a very nationalistic view of foreign policy.' 'They think they are shrewd and clever diplomats.'
Making a statement in Lok Sabha, Singh also said the Indian Army has inflicted heavy costs including casualties on the Chinese side during the clash with the People's Liberation Army at the Galwan valley on June 15.
The stand by China spelt out by its foreign ministry insisting that it takes the 1959 line on perception of the LAC amid a nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh triggered a strong reaction from India.
The two sides held talks on Tuesday as well but it could not produce any tangible outcome, the sources said.
They said the Indian Army has further bolstered its presence around the Southern Bank area of Pangong lake by deploying additional troops and bringing in more weaponry including tanks and anti tank guided missiles.
Once the tanks roll back, a zero-based assessment of future equations with China is necessary. Given the conflict situations that China is imposing on India time and again, the red, amber and green lines of interactions with China need to be laid down and communicated in no uncertain terms, asserts Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
S Jaishankar called Basit to his South Block office and lodged a strong protest over the issue as he made a specific reference to LeT terrorist and Pakistani national Bahadur Ali.
India will be the most consequential partner for the US in the Indo-Pacific this century, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday ahead of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue between the two countries next week. Esper on Tuesday told a Washington audience that he and the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would be travelling to New Delhi next week for the 2+2 ministerial with their respective Indian counterparts Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Strengthening the portfolios of the home minister and the finance minister is a message that should not be missed, points out A K Bhattacharya.
'Modi personally provides the higher direction of the ministry and the minister then works with bureaucrats on implementation,' points out Aakar Patel.
The focus of the deliberations was on finalising modalities for disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh.
The effort made to define the larger picture by focussing on history and the wish not turn differences into disputes and conflicts is welcome. In the obtaining circumstances today, nothing more could have been possible, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Amarinder Singh told mediapersons that both Kovind and Modi had accepted the Punjab government's invitation to be part of the historic celebrations and that the modalities of their visits would be chalked out after the Kartarpur Corridor opening programme was finalised with Pakistan.
'Both sides should, therefore, focus on easing tensions in the friction areas by refraining from any actions that may lead to an escalation in the situation'
A blast took place outside the Israeli Embassy in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi on Friday evening, a fire service official said.
'The Modi Model we see now is still the old Gujarat Model.' 'But with an acknowledgement that governing India is more challenging than governing Gujarat,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
Thousands of farmers are protesting on various borders of Delhi since November 26, seeking repeal of three farm laws enacted in September.
'Kashmir is the main issue between the two countries.' 'We have not been able to resolve it bilaterally.' 'As the two major countries in South Asia, we have to go back to the drawing board and start engaging.'
New Delhi's candidature was unanimously endorsed by the 55-member Asia-Pacific grouping, including China and Pakistan, in June last year.
It also comes ahead of a possible visit by President Donald Trump to India later this month. Trump is set to visit India on a two-day trip between February 23 and 26 and both sides are in the process of fine-tuning his schedule, according to sources in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison in Washington, DC, ahead of the first in-person Quad meeting to be hosted by US President Joe Biden and discussed a broad range of issues of bilateral, regional and global importance, including the Indo-Pacific.
Folk artist from Chhattisgarh Teejan Bai, Guelleh, Naik and theatre actor from Maharashtra Balwant Moreshwar Purandare will be honoured with Padma Vibushan.
