With Modi's international image seriously damaged -- perhaps, irrecoverably -- and Indian foreign policy finding itself in drift, we move on to the New Year in a depressing scenario, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It is not every day that one of the planet's richest men is arrested by his government.
The government will have until June 24, 2018, to implement the new decree
'The stage is set for increasing tensions in a highly volatile region as crucial as ever from a geopolitical standpoint,' predicts Claude Smadja.
With developments like the Russia-China alliance and the rise of China in the Middle East, India's role has diminished though the India-Israel-US-UAE grouping may assume some importance in the future, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
India is upset at a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by a US state department official while defending the immunity it had extended to Saudi Arabian ruler Mohammad bin Sultan, who is facing allegations of killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The highly anticipated historic G20 Leader's Summit begins on Saturday, September 9, in New Delhi.
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).
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered at the GulfKingdom's consulate in Istanbul in October, and three other journalists were named TIME's Person of the Year, an honour that recognises them for "taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths" and "for speaking up and for speaking out". "For taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths, for the imperfect but essential quest for facts, for speaking up and for speaking out, the Guardians -- Jamal Khashoggi, the Capital Gazette, Maria Ressa, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo -- are TIME's Person of the Year," the magazine said on Tuesday. Here's all you need to know about TIME's Guardians.
China welcomes all initiatives that truly help developing countries build infrastructure and sincere efforts to promote connectivity and common development, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
A prominent Saudi billionaire, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has been released from a two-month detention after paying a settlement in an anti-corruption bust. Alwaleed was being detained at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was detained in November after the new Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman implemented a crackdown on corruption in the wealthy state. Hours after his release, he gave a tour of his palatial 'cell' at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh to counter rumours of torture or mistreatment and gloss over the allegations against him.
Morocco, in second place in their group but tied on 4 points with top team Croatia, play their final game of the group stage against Canada on Thursday.
Modi held several bilateral and trilateral meetings with world leaders.
The IAF has already set up a dedicated operations direction centre for coordinating various aspects of the arrangements with security agencies concerned, they said.
Global financial markets are not yet fully factoring in any escalation in the Israel-Palestine geopolitical conflict, said Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies in his latest weekly note to investors, GREED & fear. The pertinent point about ongoing events in West Asia from a financial market perspective, according to him, is that, despite much talk about a pending ground invasion of Gaza, no such invasion has yet happened. "This is beginning to make GREED & fear wonder if it is ever going to happen.
Doval and Salman also deliberated on a range of bilateral, regional issues including the missile and drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities last month and ways to further deepen anti-terror cooperation.
'We began foolishly bragging about Saudi-Emirati investment plans as indicative of the sheikhs 'distancing' from Pakistan, including on Kashmir,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India has not yet received any confirmation on Chinese President Xi Jinping's in-person participation at the upcoming G20 summit, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday amid reports that he is likely skip the conclave.
'The IOC was not consulted about the OCA decision with regard to the Asian Winter Games and was not involved in the decision-making process.'
'The victim's body was dismembered and destroyed following his death by suffocation -- again, in line with advance plans'
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.
Last week's surprise 2-1 win over Argentina means victory over Mexico on Wednesday would take Saudi Arabia into the next round in Qatar and the Green Falcons' improved performances have come as a result of increased professionalism domestically.
"We had a crazy coach who gave us instructions and motivated us strongly during halftime," Saudi Arabia midfielder Abdel-Ilah al-Maliki told Al-Kass TV station after the win over Argentina.
The deal was hailed by the White House as 'a significant expansion of (the) security relationship'.
Fifty-nine-year-old Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi journalist who lived in the US as a legal permanent resident and wrote for the Washington Post, was critical of the prince's policies and was killed in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in the Turkish city on October 2, 2018.
Trump tweeted that the Saudi Crown Prince "told me that he has already started, and will rapidly expand, a full and complete investigation into this matter. Answers will be forthcoming shortly."
Combating threat of terrorism and radicalisation are expected to figure high on the agenda of the talks between Modi and the leadership of Saudi Arabia, a country known as spiritual home of Islam which recently has formed a major coalition of 34 Muslim nations to fight terror, particularly the Islamic State.
Authorities in Turkey are still searching for Khashoggi's remains. Last week, the Turkish chief prosecutor's office said the 60-year-old's body was dismembered after he was strangled, while the Washington Post reported investigators were looking into the theory that the body was dissolved in acid.
Diplomatic sources in Islamabad said that Gen Bajwa was accompanied by the Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.
Mukesh Ambani, who is in talks with Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco to sell one-fifth of his oil-to-chemicals business in India for $ 15 billion, said the two countries have all factors to drive growth - technology, young demography, and leadership.
Petrol and diesel prices were on Wednesday hiked by 24-25 paise per litre, the steepest increase since July 5 Union Budget, as a fallout of turmoil in global oil markets following drone attacks on Saudi Arabian crude oil facilities.
The twins are grief-stricken and are praying for his well-being.
China remains the elephant in the room and has to be tamed, which the United States alone is unable to do and therefore calls allies to come on board.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries is reported to have held talks with Saudi Aramco on a cash and share deal for sale of a 20 per cent stake in its oil refining and petrochemical arm. Ambani had in August 2019 announced talks for the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business, which comprises its twin oil refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat and petrochemical assets, to the world's largest oil exporter. The deal was to conclude by March 2020 but has been delayed for reasons not disclosed by either company.
The enduring legacy of trade routes lies in shared stories and religious diversity. Can the India-Middle East-Europe Economic corridor harness this legacy to empower nations, asks Arundhuti Dasgupta.
Saudi Arabia's Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died on Friday and his half-brother Salman took over reigns of the world's top oil exporting nation in a smooth transition of power, calling for "unity and solidarity" among Muslims.
Russia dominated Saudi Arabia in oil supplies as the world's fastest-growing major economy for fossil fuels in October, relegating the Kingdom to third place. Iraq was India's top oil supplier, according to the data from Vortexa. Saudi Arabia's decline in India's oil market has coincided with Russia's rise, and ironically occurred amid growing diplomatic ties between Riyadh and New Delhi. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is visiting India this month to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The French sources also said that the country will insist on maintaining Pakistan on the 'grey list' of countries at the ongoing meet of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris.
Nearly two weeks after drone and missile attacks on its vital oil facilities, Saudi Arabia has said it is enhancing cooperation with India to combat terrorism, including choking funds to terror networks and exchange of information and intelligence.
While many Western countries, including the United States, Britain and Australia, are diplomatically boycotting the Winter Olympics over China's human rights record, Putin will join a number of Beijing-friendly leaders at the Games.
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