National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday called Mahatma Gandhi 'a great strategist' and said that the revered Indian leader knew the importance of utilising soft power against the brute forces during the freedom struggle.
Previously, for nearly a decade, we had no body for analysis, assessment and follow-up action. Today we have three --- the JIC of the old vintage, the NSCS of the 1998-99 creation and the National Security Advisory Board, which came into existence in 1999 as a body of non-governmental analysts and advisers on national security. From a state of practically no analysis, we have gravitated to one of a plethora of analysis.
NSA is overseeing the discussion National Test Research Organisation, under the Home Ministry, along with DoT is holding with smartphone maker Blackberry to find a solution where the data traffic passing through the Canadian firm's network could be intercepted by security agencies. So far the government has been insisting to have a local server to host emails in India, but Research-In- Motion, the makers of Blackberry, has cited problems in setting up country-specific servers
In the first high-level contact between India and the new United States government, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan is expected to meet Richard Holbrooke, special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Munich during his three-day visit that began on Friday.
Under NSA, the government can detain a person for as long as it wishes and the authorities need not disclose the grounds of detention. A person booked under the provision of Gangsters Act becomes part of a gang listed in police records. It entitles the police to keep track of those booked under the Act and issue summons to them for attendance at the local police station for questioning even if no fresh case is lodged against them.
With seven million new subscribers, India accounted for the highest net addition of mobile subscriptions globally in the second quarter of 2023, according to the August edition of Ericsson Mobility. Among national markets, India was followed by China with five million and the US with three million subscribers. The subscriber penetration in India, however, stood at 79 per cent, compared to 120 per cent in China, the report said.
Criticising the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government's decision for holding a National Security Advisor-level meet between India and Pakistan in Bangkok, the Congress Party on Sunday said the government's series of flip flops since it came to power depicts less productive outcome from such a meet between the two neighbouring countries.
Menon, who arrived in Colombo by a special flight just after midnight on Thursday night, is scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his younger brothers Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic development; and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary, officials said.
National Security Advisor M K Narayanan has suggested a ban on Bajrang Dal may not be sustainable and refused to term the Sangh Parivar outfit and SIMI as two sides of the same coin, leaving Railway Minister Lalu Prasad peeved and prompting the BJP to speak of another disconnect between the NSA and the government.
It is learnt that the home minister will review the area domination plan, zero terror plan, law and order situation, cases related to UAPA and other security-related issues.
Briefing newsmen in New Delhi, BJP leader Rajeev Pratap Rudy asked Dr Singh also to explain if the NSA had brought this to his notice.
United States President Joe Biden has slammed his predecessor Donald Trump for dragging Indian-American Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's husband into the swirl of personal attacks.
Sinha said there has been an increase in terror... not only the incident in Udhampur and Gurdaspur there has been a spate of terror attacks and even today there have been terror attacks in which policemen have been killed.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday sent a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state's police chief over the incident.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday called on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and reaffirmed India's commitment to assist Afghanistan in building a strong, democratic and prosperous country.
Santhanam also sought to counter claims by Narayanan and others in the establishment that he was not privy to the test measurements and information on Pokhran-II tests.
The Centre on Monday extended the ban on terrorist group Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for five years for its involvement in fomenting terrorism and disturbing peace and communal harmony in the country.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan held different opinions about talks with Pakistan, a cable released by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has revealed. The former NSA has described Dr Singh as a "great believer" in talks and negotiations with Islamabad, while Narayanan himself was "not a great believer in Pakistan".
"The stand of the government, I have told you very clearly and categorically, is that it is a talk on terror," Telecom minister said.
Chouhan said he was saddened by the incident, as he washed the feet of the man, Dashmat Rawat, while sitting on the floor at the CM's residence in Bhopal.
Pakistan is still considering the dates proposed by India for the NSA-level talks between the two nations, an official of the Foreign Office said in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Menon reached Washington late Thursday night, several hours after his scheduled arrival, due to inclement weather in the region because of which his flights had to be diverted.
Terming the opposition in Parliament over the End User Monitoring Agreement between India and the United States as 'bunkum', former national security advisor Brajesh Mishra said, "We should ask these leaders to address the question: do you want defence equipment from US or not?"He said, "If you want to buy the American agreement, then you will have to agree to the EUMA also. It is up to you to decide what you want."
Seven persons accused of being involved in smuggling activities for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels and the Maoist movement have been detained under the National Security Act (NSA). While three of them were involved in smuggling activities for the LTTE, the others were part of the Maoist movement, a release said.
The Pakistan high commission has invited Kashmiri separatist leaders for consultations with Sartaj Aziz ahead of the National Security Advisor-level talks with India in New Delhi next week.
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.
Two days ago, the Chinese foreign ministry following a meeting between NSA Ajit Doval and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Johannesburg claimed that Xi and Modi had reached an 'important consensus' on stabilising bilateral ties at the interaction on the margins of the G20 Summit last November.
According to reports from the states, several congregation participants are yet to show up before authorities.
As Modi spoke, two Cabinet ministers sat behind him as did senior diplomats and civil servants. National Security Adviser Ajit K Doval -- a regular attendee alongside Modi at such international gatherings -- was intriguingly seated behind the Cabinet ministers and the PM's principal secretary.
With fresh inputs on the Burdwan blast indicating pan-India existence of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday ordered immediate neutralisation of the terror modules of the banned group.
In his memoir Four Stars of Destiny, Naravane recounts Singh's direction as well as a flurry of phone calls between the defence minister, external affairs minister, the national security advisor and the chief of defence staff that night on the sensitive situation.
Speaking about the character of the jihadi activity from Pakistan, Narayanan said it tends to go up and down but added that "we don't mind the flip-flop".
Jai Prakash Yadav, languishing in the district jail in Gorakhpur since December 11, is embroiled in a case of attempted murder.
Nineteen US organisations have filed a lawsuit against the National Security Agency, claiming that its secretive internet and telephone surveillance program violates the constitution.
Reflecting anger in the government, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon on Tuesday termed as "despicable" and "barbaric" the treatment meted out to India's Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade in New York.
Pakistan tonight said it was "deeply disappointed" at India putting forth "pre-conditions" for National Security Advisors-level talks, accusing it of going back on the decision mutually agreed at the highest level by coming up with "frivolous pretexts".
All leading newspapers carried the story about cancellation of NSA-level talks on the front page, highlighting the Indian "pre-conditions" which, according to local media, led to the breakdown of parleys.
Papalpreet Singh, the mentor of absconding Waris Punjab De (WPD) chief Amritpal Singh who was caught by the police in Amritsar district, was brought to Dibrugarh in Assam, over 2500 km away from the northern state, and lodged in the central jail along with seven others of the pro-Khalistan outfit on Tuesday.
The sudden arrest and immediate release of Kashmiri separatist leaders who are to meet Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz introduced an intriguing element into the scheduled talks he will have with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on terror on next week.
United States President Joe Biden is not travelling to India next month to grace the Republic Day celebrations as the Chief Guest, and New Delhi is looking at holding the next Quad summit later next year instead of its earlier plan to host it in January, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
