Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited " from the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, ending days of speculation of when and how he will be extradited, officials said. The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives. Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.
The MEA said there has not been any change in India's position on the LAC and the mutual redeployment as a result of the disengagement process should not be misrepresented.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it a 'brazen assault' on the Constitution and part of the BJP's strategy to keep society in a 'permanent state of polarization.' She also spoke out against the One Nation, One Election Bill, calling it a 'subversion of the Constitution.' Gandhi further accused the Modi government of ignoring the women's reservation bill and other demands for reservation, and of 'dragging the country into an abyss' where the Constitution will only exist on paper. She also criticized the government for limiting the speaking time of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and for not allowing discussions on important issues like the working of the defense and external affairs ministries and the challenges posed by China on the border.
The government on Thursday said the passport application of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani cannot be processed in its present form, noting that it was incomplete.
The talks between Singh and Esper came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump.
During the meeting, President Xi addressed the ministers and discussed the bilateral issues among the countries and the issues affecting the South-Asian regions.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has a long-standing relationship with Russia which is based on "mutuality" of interests.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter will sign a fresh 10-year defence framework agreement with India on Wednesday
The Deputy High Commissioner was summoned by Joint Secretary in Ministry of External Affairs Rudrendra Tandon in South Block and delivered a strong diplomatic message, sources said.
Ahead of his much-anticipated visit to conflict-torn Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India firmly believes that no problem can be solved on the battlefield and it is ready to extend all possible cooperation for the restoration of peace and stability in the region.
India and the United States have in principle agreed to extend their defence agreement for another 10 years which will take forward the cooperation between the two countries in the crucial area.
The 58-year-old Rajya Sabha MP will face several challenges, including strengthening of the combat capabilities of the army, navy and the air force due to changing regional security matrix and geo-political dynamics.
Asking the US to respect the efforts by China and India to resolve their boundary dispute peacefully, a top Chinese official on Monday said the two nations are wise enough to deal with it after the Pentagon accused Beijing of deploying more troops along the Sino-India borders.
The Chinese and the Indian troops were engaged in a standoff for 73 days in Doklam.
China is ready to take "conciliatory steps" in order to avoid new violations of the obligations on the India-Chinese border, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday, a day after holding a crucial meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar over the current standoff in Ladakh. Speaking during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Wang said troops and equipment should be withdrawn from the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Vietnam, which is involved in a territorial dispute with China, is keen to get it hands on the supersonic missiles that can be fired on land, water and under water.
Swaraj and Sitharaman will take part in the first meeting of the '2+2 Dialogue' with US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James N Mattis on July 6, it said.
Three weeks after India handed over a coastal radar system to the Maldives, Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar, chief of the naval staff, met Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and other senior leaders of the island nation in its capital Male with a focus on further boosting the bilateral defence ties.
The Pakistan Army chief arrived in Washington last week on his first official visit to the US.
The spokesperson said India has "always advocated constructive, solution-oriented, and practical engagement with all stakeholders to achieve a negotiated settlement to this conflict".
Any government support or incentive to help exporters deal with high freight and insurance costs is unlikely.
At a time when tensions are high over the repeated ceasefire violations perpetrated by Pakistan's troops at the Line of Control and China's incursions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the country's top military officers at the defence ministry.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be on a two-day official visit to India from Thursday, his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last month.
A summit of the world's top five emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- begins on Saturday in Goa.
The disclosure of files provided by India's second army chief General Sir Roy Bucher to Nehru Memorial Museum and Library about Jammu and Kashmir related to the period of 1947-49, which may throw light on Accession, is in 'national interest,' the central information commission has observed in an order.
The agreement provides for creation of an enabling framework for closer cooperation and interoperability, besides allowing militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases and facilities for repair and replenishment of supplies, the official said.
India's mission in Kuwait is ascertaining the full details from the concerned Kuwaiti authorities on the tragic fire incident in a building in the southern city of Mangaf which killed 49 foreign workers, including around 40 Indians, and injured 50 others, even as officials started an investigation into one of the worst fires in the Gulf nation.
India has shared lists of 337 civilian prisoners and 81 fishermen in its custody, who are Pakistanis or are believed to be Pakistanis.
Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova has conveyed to her Indian interlocutors Kyiv's desire to build a stronger and closer relationship with New Delhi.
There is a view that heavyweight portfolios like home, finance, defence and external affairs besides education and culture, two ministries with strong ideological hues, will be kept by the BJP, while its allies can get anywhere between five to eight cabinet berths.
On June 27, the ministry of external affairs confirmed that the US postponed the 2+2 dialogue with India, which was scheduled to be held on July 6, due to "unavoidable reasons".
India and Canada have mutually beneficial political and economic linkages. The two countries should get together and find a solution. The expulsion war should, in the meantime, be a guarantee against any deterioration of the situation, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the first Indian head of mission to be ever expelled by any country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will visit India to hold the inaugural '2+2' ministerial dialogue between the two countries on December 6, the Russian embassy has said.
India and China agreed during their military talks on Sunday to stay in close touch and work out a mutually acceptable solution to the "remaining issues" in eastern Ladakh at the earliest, but there was no indication of clear forward movement in ending their three-year-long border standoff.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met in Moscow on Thursday amid hopes of a possible breakthrough in reducing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's itinerary for his June 21-24 US visit could include an address to a fledgling business advocacy group, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
With the killing of five Indian soldiers by Pakistan Army along LoC looming large over the fate of a meeting between their Prime Ministers next month in the US, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday said it was not the "appropriate" time now to comment on possibility of such a meet.
However, as of now, container availability has not been seen as an issue as adequate empties are available. The Red Sea strait is vital for 30 per cent of global container traffic and 12 per cent of global trade.
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Saturday raised questions about the alleged presence of American Special Forces in India. The party pointed out that Commander of the US Pacific Command Admiral Robert Willard had stated at a Congressional hearing that American Special forces assist teams are stationed in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. But the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of defence have both denied his claims.
