In response to a question about whether US citizens should be concerned about a nuclear war breaking out, Biden said "no."
The government's briefing is expected to focus on its evacuation mission from Afghanistan as well as its assessment of the situation in the war-torn country in the wake of the Taliban seizing control of almost all key Afghan towns and cities, including Kabul.
Pakistan is expected to reopen the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation supply line anytime now, as the United States has agreed to tender an apology in 'soft words' over the Salala checkpost incident, reports Tahir Ali
The former Central Intelligence Agency director, was confirmed by the Senate by 57-42 votes. He replaced Rex Tillerson, who was fired by US President Donald Trump last month.
The White House has ruled out an apology to Islamabad for November 26 incident in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border fire by the North Atlantic Traty Organisation and said it is time that the two countries move ahead. "I wouldn't have anything new to offer on that beyond what we have said, that we deeply regret the incident. We have thoroughly investigated it. We shared the results of that investigation with the Pakistanis," said a US official.
Top military commanders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on Sunday discussed border control measures and mechanisms to avert "untoward incidents" along the Afghan frontier, as the three sides resumed high-level military contact after a break of several months.
'Polls have shown that about 70% of Afghans are waiting to see which side to pick - the US/NATO forces or the Taliban.'
He said that "the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship, that's natural".
Having major stakes in peace and development of Afghanistan, India is expected to press the world not to think about exit from there at a multilateral conference on the war-ravaged nation to be held in London on Thursday.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said his government is in no hurry to reopen the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation supply routes that were closed after a cross-border air strike last year and that a decision on the issue will be made only after evolving consensus among political parties.
'What would we feel if we found the world behaving the way it has?' 'Forced to fight our own prolonged battle; nobody from outside really demanding that the war end or actively working to make it end, and above all, a completely toothless United Nations reduced to pleading for a halt to the violence,' notes Shyam G Menon, exactly a month after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
'The RSS ideology has been borrowed from fascism and is not borne out of Hinduism.' 'They want India to have one historical identity whereas India is a land full of divergence which goes in every direction.'
In further escalation of tension with the United States, Pakistan has asked for the visit of President Barack Obama's special envoy to be put on hold till it formulates its policies towards Washington, in the wake of the deadly strike by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, killing 24 Pakistani soldiers. Obama's Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Marc Grossman was scheduled to visit Pakistan as part of his ongoing tour to the region.
Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal wanted to fight North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan as an 18-year-old when the US launched its campaign against Taliban following the 9/11 attacks, investigators have said.
The United States probe into the November 26 air attack on Af-Pak border that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers has found that American forces acted in self-defence after being fired upon and there was no intentional effort to target them, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said Modi will lead the Indian delegation at the summit. "The prime minister will lead the Indian delegation to the 20th summit of the SCO council of heads of state which will be held in the virtual format on Nov 10. The meeting will be chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin," MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
"Not only this, but we also helped the citizens of our neighbouring countries to return to their country when the COVID-19 pandemic had struck, irrespective of caste, religion, class, area etc," said minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt.
The group along with three copies of the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, was airlifted from Kabul to Dushanbe by a military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Monday.
It is for the investigating agencies to probe all aspects of the assassination, including a possible Chinese hand, or if the killer was just a disgruntled element who acted on his own and wanted to earn some dark space in history like Nathuram Godse or Lee Harvey Oswald, notes Japan expert Rajaram Panda.
'It's waging an offensive with no seeming precedent.' 'The fact that it's now entering cities, as opposed to remaining massed around their perimeters, is a game changer.'
Wang said that the situation in Ukraine has changed rapidly and that China laments the outbreak of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and is 'extremely concerned' with the harm to civilians, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Tirumurti voiced deep concern for the safety and security of thousands of Indian citizens, including students, stranded in Ukraine.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to vote on Friday evening on a draft resolution on Russia's military operation in Ukraine as well as the escalating situation in the eastern European country.
'It is crucial today to realise where we have reached in this 15 year-period in order to fully and properly assess the profundity of what General Rawat has said,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
As the United States prepares to withdraw its troops from the conflict-torn country under President Joe Biden's order to end America's 'forever war', the full withdrawal of US troops from the country is expected very soon.
Jaishankar also met his Iranian counterpart H Amirabdollahian and held productive discussions on bilateral economic cooperation, Afghanistan and the joint comprehensive plan of action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
In response to another question, he ruled out calling Putin. "No," he said.
'It would be a huge mistake to think that Gorbachev's reforms did not achieve anything.' 'We all live in the world, which is in many respects a result of Glasnost and Perestroika.'
If you are serious about countering the Chinese threat, then the best weapon is investing in real freedom, plurality, elections and democracy. Unfortunately, it isn't an approach all Indians currently seem to agree on, asserts Shyam G Menon.
'If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations -- the answer is no'
China is going to be an indispensable partner in Russia's ongoing crisis with the US, while on its part, China cannot remain indifferent if Russia gets crushed by the US, lest it loses 'strategic depth', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pak's role in Kabul is not sending a good message to India, a top American lawmaker has said
Blinkin said the US will engage with the Taliban not on the basis of what a Taliban-led government says, but what it does to live up to its commitments.
The United States' acceptance of the news terms of engagement with Islamabad is likely to result in the lifting of the seven-month blockade of NATO supply line to Afghanistan, reports Tahir Ali.
Reconstruction efforts after the Russia-Ukraine war will be dominated by the heft of the membership of major nations across international organisations. India is hamstrung because it does not play host to any major global institution nor does it hold positions of significant influence in the ones in which it has membership. As a result, the world's sixth largest economy is obliged to follow the rules set by most of them.
A total of 168 people, including 107 Indians and 23 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, were flown from Kabul to the Hindon airbase in a C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Representatives from the United States and Qatar, the UN, China, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the EU, Germany, India, Norway, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan joined a regional conclave on Thursday to discuss ways to contain the escalating security situation in Afghanistan.
Twenty to thirty rockets landed at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the centre of Kabul, Tolo news reported. There are no reports of causalities yet.
