India and Brazil on Wednesday called for urgent progress in reforms of the UN Security Council, as they agreed to scale up bilateral ties and deepen cooperation in international fora.
'It needed political courage on the part of the prime minister to make such an intervention at the present juncture when the hawkish opinion rules the roost in the Indian foreign-policy discourses in our media, and, unfortunately, the sane voices have largely fallen silent,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Lawmakers were not going to be in town on that particular day, and would be in their constituencies preparing for the mid-term elections in November. Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports
The previous United Progressive Alliance government had permitted up to 51 per cent foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail but the current National Democratic Alliance government is opposed to it.
Here's why Rajeev Srinivasan believes there will be nothing particularly positive about the prime minister's US visit.
Starting as a maker of hydraulic pumps, the Bengaluru-based company graduated to components for automakers like BMW and Audi, and then Airbus and Boeing
There was no breakthrough in US Secretary of State John F Kerry's India visit, but no breakdown either, says C Uday Bhaskar.
Majority of India's international routes have been captured by foreign airlines.
The Middle East's power house is about to get a new ruler who is only 31 and he may lead Saudi Arabia for decades, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India, China must further strengthen business ties for growth.
'I am hoping that now with the strategic status of our relationship, the Indian voice will get heard in Saudi Arabia,' says Ambassador B S Prakash.
India-Israel relations are at a crossroads. Simply chanting old hackneyed mantras on terrorism, secularism, democracy, et al, won't suffice. There is danger of stagnation setting in, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Two US lawmakers write to the House Speaker asking to extend an invitation
'... For the India-US relationship to continue its positive trajectory, it will require India to adapt to a different approach.' Nisha Desai Biswal -- who as the Obama administration's point person for South Asia was in the inner circle of all the Obama-Modi Summits -- tells Rediff.com's Monali Sarkar why she is hopeful that India and the US are on an irreversible forward course.
Modi has debunked the uncontested wisdom of foreign and strategic policy remaining unchanged and running on a broad national consensus. This is clearly seen in his unhesitating embrace of the US and the clear hardening shift in India's stance on Pakistan, says Shekhar Gupta.
Falling margins, high inflation pitting workers against management.
Upendra Kushwaha, president of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, which is part of the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, admits the Bihar assembly elections will be a close contest and will be fought along the lines of caste.
Silicon Valley can be replicated, but this will only be achieved so long as fresh talent is welcomed by both our countries - a move that will surely spark a billion ideas and discoveries.
'India is no longer the India of the '70s and the '80s.' 'It's a large country with the fastest growing economy.' 'In working with India, you just can't go and humiliate the nation publicly.' USIBC President Mukesh Aghi tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com about how he advises American companies to do business with India, what he thinks of Modi's government and the way forward for the India-US relationship.
The vote assumes significance as it could end Scotland's 307-year union with England and Wales as Great Britain -- and see it launch into the world as an independent nation of some 5.3 million people. Here's what you need to know about the landmark referendum.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday discovered a "special connection" with Mongolia when he entered the Buddhist country's Parliament to deliver a speech, the first foreign leader to do so on Sunday -- a holiday.
Praising the US for turning barriers into bridges of partnership, he said that America had stood with India when the support was needed the most, like when terrorists attacked Mumbai in November 2008 and in other economic endeavours as well
Imported components account for up to 30% of the firm's total production cost.
India and Japan have a shared interest in countervailing China's hegemonic ambitions in Asia. Although neither has an interest in forming an overt anti-China alliance, Tokyo and New Delhi feel increasingly obligated to work together to find ways to guard against a muscular Beijing's power sliding into arrogance, says Brahma Chellaney.
Without some firmer pledge of debt relief, neither Greece nor the IMF is likely to accept a deal
In a break from protocol, Netanyahu received Modi at the Ben-Gurion International Airport.
Members of the United States Congress break bread to celebrate the contributions of Sikh Americans. Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports
'India-US relations seem to have soured when the US expected India to not only balance China in the Asia-Pacific, but also make concessions to Pakistan as a price for US technological help,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Enunciating slew of measures initiated by the UPA to augment the sector, the finance minister said 19 oil and gas blocks were given out for exploration and 7 new airports are under construction.
'Pyongyang's strategy seems to be a cry to be treated as equal with the US and Beijing and this aspiration is premised on equipping itself with weapons as devastating as theirs,' says Rajaram Panda.
Modi is likely to seek support of Switzerland and Mexico for India's membership of the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group as both these countries are key members of the elite group. The issue is likely to figure during Modi's meeting with Obama in Washington.
Reiterating his 'suit-boot ki sarkar' jibe, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a feku (a brag).
2015 will be a real test for Modi govt.
US President Barack Obama's India visit, marked by "high-end symbolism", is a signal to businessmen of both countries to look for opportunities from each other, Mahindra Group Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra has said.
This and more from the happenings in the world of footbal.
While the two sides' objectives may appear to differ, it is clear that both India and China are emphasising on the common minimum possible areas of cooperation between them, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
"Reform is not an end in itself. Reform for me is just a way station on the long journey to the destination. The destination is the transformation of India," he said.
'When George Bush Senior decided in 1992 that India and the United States must start talking in this-now-changed world, who would have thought that 10, 15 years down the road, we will start looking at each other as strategic partners?'
'Big countries do not agree on every set of issues.' 'Look, one of the differences in the relationship is that when we do not agree, we are sitting down and talking to each other.'
As the western forces prepare to leave Afghanistan in the coming year, India stands at a crossroads where it remains keen to preserve its interests in Afghanistan but has refused to step up its role as a regional security provider. New Delhi needs to recognise that there is no short-cut to major power status, says Harsh V Pant
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