Violence in Nepal continued unabated on Tuesday as thousands of people protesting the proposed new Constitution clashed with police in which one person was killed, taking the death toll to 11 and prompting authorities to deploy army in a riot-hit district bordering India.
Whether it is Sri Lanka, Maldives, or Nepal, quietly but steadily, India has been reclaiming some of the ground it had lost to China, observes Aditi Phadnis.
The family members of 26 people from Madhya Pradesh, who were killed in the Uttarakhand accident, cannot believe that the pilgrimage met with a tragic end.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held bilateral talks with all Heads of Government and State attending the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the only conspicuous exemption.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in India Thursday evening in the highest-level visit between the two countries after the ties came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh standoff nearly two years ago.
Modi has been wrong in thinking that he can influence people and win friends in Pakistan through his high-octane brand of diplomacy. That is why his Pakistan policy that started off on the high note of saree-and-shawl diplomacy now threatens to end with a whimper with cloak-and-dagger games, says Rajeev Sharma.
'Pakistan's military leaders have to accept that the policy of proxy wars has damaged Pakistan more than it has damaged the enemy,' says former R&AW chief Vikram Sood.
2,500 kg of sandalwood to Pashupatinath temple cost India Rs 1.9 crore, reports Nivedita Mookerji
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time addressed the leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Kathmandu in Nepal. Here are the top quotes from his speech:
'There is nothing that Pakistan has done which deserves a resumption of dialogue. The assurances made in Ufa contain no commitment except a whole range of talks, which could take place without the paraphernalia associated with a joint statement of prime ministers.'
'The Modi government's grandstanding has hardened the reflexes in Beijing, Islamabad and Kathmandu and complicated India's relations with these three countries, which were even otherwise highly problematic.' 'Whatever prospects existed for a fair and balanced resolution of the territorial disputes may also have receded,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'We are moving away from the path of democracy and towards Hindu religious dictatorship,' scientist P M Bhargava, who announced his decision to return the Padma Bhushan, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
The decision was taken just a day before the Army squad was set to travel to Pune, where the drill will commence on Monday, the Kathmandu Post reported.
The advent of technology, the widespread use of smart phones across the country and the increasing popularity of the social media has caused the mushrooming of media platforms and led to the gradual disintermediation of the mainstream traditional media. The BJP leadership has only caught on to this trend quite fast and has used it to counter the influence of the mainstream media, says A K Bhattacharya.
'I can assure you the Ganga will be more polluted in 2030 than it is now.' 'What they are trying to do now is clean the Ganga without understanding how to do so.'
Ramdev is in the Nepalese capital with his associate Acharya Balkrishan for his Yoga Shivir from April 24 to 29.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Nepal visit was an eye-opener for most Indians, as it appears as though the hard feelings of 17 years of neglect by Indian PMs has been overcome by this single, sincere visit, says Rajeev Srinivasan.
When people say the two-day visit was been successful in taking back the bilateral relationship to the political plane, essentially the reference (mostly left unsaid) is to the wresting of initiative from the intelligence 'agencies', whose meddling had hurt bilateral ties, says the distinguished editor Kanak Mani Dixit.
The death toll from Nepal's earthquake has risen to over 3,700, two days after the devastating earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter Scale struck the Himalayan nation.
Modi said the coming together of SAARC leaders will lead to effective outcomes and benefit citizens in the fight against coronavirus. The PM on Friday had proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.
The meeting came days after Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli telephoned his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to greet him on India's 74th Independence Day, in the first high-level contact after bilateral ties came under severe strain following issuance of a new political map by Nepal in May.
He said all necessary medical help should be given to the injured, including treatment in India, if required.
China has not limited the 'battle' to the diplomatic field alone; the People's Liberation Army has become aggressive on the ground too. The recent 'fights' in Northern Sikkim and Ladakh are part of the pattern, asserts Claude Arpi.
The operation is not a favour to Nepal. It's in India's interests to rebuild a new Nepal
Stepping up relief and rescue operations in quake-hit Nepal, India on Sunday deployed over two dozen aircraft and choppers along with nearly 1000 trained personnel and said the situation in the Himalayan nation was "very, very serious".
Not many people in Bangladesh are talking about the Teesta issue.
It's troubling times at the Line of Control with the Indian Army personnel fighting off terrorists who have been trying to infiltrate into India. On Thursday morning, a jawan was killed and three others were injured after a fierce gunbattle broke out between security forces and the terrorists who had sneaked into Arnia border sector while another infiltration bid was foiled along the Line of Control in Rajouri district.
The injured included five tourists -- four Israelis and one Australian.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid homage to the victims of horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks on its sixth anniversary and saluted the security personnel while reaffirming India's commitment to combat the menace of terror and "uproot it from the face of humankind".
Just hours after the White House confirmed that United States President Barack Obama would be travelling to India in January, the State Department on Friday announced that it will send a top diplomat to India next week to lay the ground work for the historic presidential visit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that developing close relations with India's neighbours is a key priority of his government, ahead of his planned visit to Kathmandu on Tuesday afternoon to attend the 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Summit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries will meet in Kathmandu on Wednesday with an aim to revitalise the regional grouping and make it a major platform to fuel economic growth through liberalised trade and combat challenges of terrorism and climate change effectively.
However, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that Modi's visit to Nepal was decided soon after K P Sharma Oli's election as the prime minister in February.
'If his three priorities are the economy, the economy, the economy, then there is need for a stable region, a stable neighbourhood.'
'Keeping its financial interests in mind, China wants no enmity with the Nepalese government.'
14 coaches of the Indore-Patna Express was derailed near Pukhraya in Kanpur Dehat district on November 20. The findings showed that it was a "conspiracy".
Shringla began his two-day official visit to Nepal on Thursday. He was accorded a warm welcome on his maiden visit to Nepal which is happening at the invitation of Nepal Foreign Secretary Paudyal, amid a strain in bilateral ties following a bitter border row between the two countries.
He said there would be progress on some issues soon while it will take time for progress on others.
Headed by additional secretary in the Home Ministry, B K Prasad, the team will also monitor the evacuation of stranded Indians in Nepal.
Singh, a former Army officer, had been ill after a fall at his home in August 2014 and was admitted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital. He had been in and out of the hospital and was admitted again in June this year.
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