US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday named Robert Destro, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, as the special coordinator for Tibetan issues. Destro will focus on advancing dialogue between the Communist-run government in Beijing and the Dalai Lama, protecting the distinct religious cultural and linguistic identity of Tibetans, improving respect for their human rights and much, much more, Pompeo said.
'To treat a Hindu fleeing persecution and certain death in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan on par with a Muslim voluntarily sneaking into India for economic reasons or otherwise is callously cruel, blatantly perverse and grossly unjust.' 'The concept of equality cannot be invoked to perpetuate a historical wrong that needs to be righted,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
Fresh protests erupted in several United States cities for a second night as coast to coast demonstrations witnessed thousands of people filling the streets, including at the White House and outside Trump's properties.
Warren urged India to respect the rights of the people of Kashmir.
The Association of Indian Muslims in America has given the call, which is endorsed by the Indian Muslim Council-USA and the Indian Muslim Relief Committee.\n\n
Amidst increasing report of prosecution of religious minorities and the violation of their human rights, an eminent American think tank has demanded that Pakistan be put on the genocide watch list.
A jury in Orange County, California, convicted Iftekhar Murtaza for murdering his ex-girlfriend's father and sister and attempting to kill her mother, the Orange County district attorney's office announced on November 22.
'For some South Asians, it may be tempting to think "I'm not Muslim, this doesn't really affect me".' 'But please know, it affects all of us,' says Arun Venugopal, a reporter at WNYC in New York.
What the Indian economy looks like next January will influence her view on India, not her genetics, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Bahram Ghasemi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issued a telegram message on Sunday noting that visas would be issued for the Americans partly because of the decision by a US federal judge to "halt the execution of discriminatory restrictions against the entrance of Iranian citizens to America", IRNA reported.
Aseem Chhabra picks Indian and other South Asian gems at the Toronto International Film Festival.
None of the more than half a dozen new Indian Americans candidates, many of whom caught national attention by giving tough fight to their opponents and out raising them in the fund raisers, could make it to the House of Representatives.
'Even as discord over US-India trade and commerce colours diplomatic relations, defence relations between the two countries remain on a firm footing,' points out Ajai Shukla.
Expressing concern over the situation in Afghanistan, a group of eminent persons, including former ministers K Natwar Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Mani Shankar Aiyar, on Wednesday urged the government to continue engaging with the Taliban and not allow any political party to use the developments in that country to communally polarise Indian society for electoral gains.
'The Chinese are only about 160-170 km behind.' 'It will not take much time for them to bring their troops back, considering that they have better infrastructure -- and the weather is now favourable.' 'They can move in much faster as the terrain favours them.'
Boston Celtics' Kanter sparks backlash in China after comments on Tibet, Xi.
The JuD has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in June 2014.
Donald Trump, known for his unpredictable leadership style, divisive rhetoric targeting both allies and opponents, and the only US president to be impeached twice, left the White House on Wednesday with a tainted legacy never seen before in American political history.
'The Delhi police is not acting only at the behest of the home minister; blame lies nowhere else but the home ministry.'
'It will be a fine day when we can claim to have institutions in civil society as influential and as popular as ACLU, which is a strong body only because millions of Americans support its values.' 'When Indians take offence at how other Indians are treated, when we take injustice to others personally, we will begin to make India great,' says Aakar Patel.
While Trump played on fears about Muslims and immigrants, Hillary played out the fear of Trump, says Sankrant Sanu.
Afghanistan will remain a frontline state for Washington for a foreseeable future in terms of the potential threats to US national security from terrorist groups, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
On June 23, in a huge blow to Indian IT professionals eyeing the US job market, the Trump administration suspended the H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to protect American workers in a crucial election year.
Indo-American Muslims hail the defeat of Republican Joe Walsh, who demanded a visa for Gujarat CM Narendra Modi. George Joseph reports
It is time the current leaders who swear by 'cultural nationalism', that is religion neutral, assert that Bharatiyata is at the core of our nationalism and India was never a 'Hindu Rashtra', argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Bharati Dutt witnessed life-changing events that shaped India on the threshold of freedom. Her memories are an account of how ordinary Indians saw India change.
Sukanya Verma brings the latest action on OTT platforms this week.
"The visit of Obama will not benefit the country in anyway and linking it with progress is baseless," Jawwad said.
'If any party talks too much about Muslims, it will lose.'
Unless the Taliban goofs up in a big way, which seems highly unlikely, we are looking at a regime that will be around for quite a long while and present a level of governance that the puppets of the richest and most advanced countries failed to provide, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
This year, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana, the 'dadi from Shaheen Bhagh' Bilkis, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Professor Ravindra Gupta are among TIME's 100 most influential people of 2020.
'By annoying the Arabs and cozying up to Iran, Pakistan may end up losing Arab economic support, annoying the Americans and increase Shia-Sunni tensions domestically,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) points out.
'The best thing that Modi can hope for in this visit is that he is able to mobilise Indians in America to vote Republican and try and help Trump return to power,' argues Aakar Patel.
'There is need to invent another enemy.' 'If you can add Maoists to Muslims, the tukde-tukde thread will tie in nicely.' 'You might even have a 'nation in grave danger' story by the summer of 2019,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
The founder of the Republican Hindu Coalition first attracted attention in the US as the "Punjabi tycoon" who was a huge supporter of Narendra Modi in the US. 'He will be best for India. There is no better ally for the US than India in the region,' Shalabh Kumar tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
Norway nabbed the first gold medal of the Winter Games on Saturday
'With Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the unemployed jihadis will certainly turn their gaze to India and Kashmir.' 'Despite this imminent danger to national security, defence preparedness does not find a mention in the ongoing electoral campaign,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
In the mid-1980s, India and the US struggled to arrive at sufficient confidence for Washington to even sell a supercomputer to India for monsoon prospecting. Now, the most sensitive military technologies, data, and intelligence resources are being shared. This would not have happened without that one, big deal that changed the fundamentals of India-US relations, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at airports across the US to protest the ban announced by President Donald Trump on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, extending solidarity to those affected as chaos and fear gripped individuals trying to enter the country.
Here are the images that encapsulated the biggest moments in the month of August.