Noting that the session is taking place just ahead of the 70th Independence Day, Modi said he was confident that discussions of the highest standard will be held.
All this makes nonsense of the idea of India's professed "credible minimum deterrent", which is understood as a few dozen weapons. (After all, how many bombs does it take to flatten five Chinese or Pakistani cities? 15, 20, 50?) India already has an estimated 100 to 150 nuclear weapons. Adding to the stockpile can only encourage a vicious nuclear arms race with Pakistan and, more ominously, with China, further destabilising already volatile South Asia
Against the backdrop of Beijing's negative role at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Vienna, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and held talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Dr Singh told Yang that India was pleased to get the NSG waiver last week, official sources said.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon left for Washington Saturday morning after the two-day Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Vienna ended inconclusively on Friday with another round scheduled early next month for considering India's case for an exemption to do nuclear commerce with other countries.
Acceptance of the draft waiver in its current form could fuel a nuclear arms race in the Asian subcontinent, Edward J Markey, a critic of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal said, as the 45-member grouping yesterday held discussions over the matter as part of a two-day meet in Vienna.
It is the first meeting between the two leaders after India boycotted the high-profile Belt and Road Forum.
A day after National Security Guard Lt Col Niranjan Kumar and Garud Commando Gursewak Singh were slain in the Pathankot air base attack, their remains were brought home for the last rites. Locals, family members and politicians gathered to pay their respects to these heroes.
Pakistan said that the incipient United States-India nuclear deal has spelled concerns in Islamabad over maintenance of strategic stability in the region, but that it will keep the balance despite its opposition to arms race.
Asking the Indian government to take a "courageous" decision on the civil nuclear deal considering the "short timelines", the Bush administration has cautioned it against attempting such an arrangement with other nations ignoring the United States..
Days after the standoff between terrorists and NSG commandos at the Taj Palace hotel came to an end, Hemalatha Kasi Pilai, a Malaysian, is still missing.
'If it had not been (Major) Sandeep's house, not even a dog would have glanced that way.' This was how Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan heaped scorn on Monday on the family of NSG Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan slain in the Mumbai terror attack during commando operations, igniting a controversy after smarting under the snub from the father of the angry officer's when he went to Bangalore to offer his condolences.
The terrorists achieved what they wanted to and have managed to send out panic waves across the country though they were defeated at the end.
As the terror drama unfolded in Mumbai, social networkers and bloggers rapidly posted pictures of the ongoing events and sent sms-es over phone to whet the growing hunger for information and reports of live unedited action.
Pak-US ties are sliding down the hill due to difference over handling of peace issue in Afghanistan and US' growing defence tie with India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left here for home on Tuesday night at the end of his nine-day visit to the US and France, during which the landmark nuclear cooperation agreement was signed with the latter.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday assured the Centre of all cooperation to fight terrorism and promised to work together, as the country's security and intelligence chiefs including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval discussed with her the Burdwan blast case.
The recent NSG waiver, which has opened a new window for nuclear commerce in India, will benefit over 600 domestic and international firms and help draw over Rs 180,000 crore (Rs 1,800 billion) in foreign investment over the next 10-15 years, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (Ficci).
During their talks, the two prime ministers agreed on expanding bilateral cooperation in civilian uses of nuclear energy, an issue which has figured during high-level exchanges between the two Asian giants.
The European Union is following with great interest India's discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the civilian nuclear agreement and will take a decision on supporting India at the Nuclear Suppliers Group after studying all the developments.
This comes at a time the domestic industry is gearing up to enter the nuclear arena. On Monday, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industries set up a lobby group comprising 40 Indian companies, including Jindal Power and Tata Power, to promote private participation in nuclear power generation.
'When the Brexit bomb goes off, the shrapnel will wound us.' 'We will in the time-honoured tradition apply band-aids all over.' 'Those who shout the loudest will get economic relief like interest rate reduction and debt restructuring.' 'Others will go on living lives of quiet despair,' says S Muralidharan.
Ahead of the crucial Itentaional Atomic Energy Agency meeting on Friday, a group of arms control experts has urged both the atomic watchdog and Nuclear Suppliers Group to look at the Indo-US nuclear deal 'very carefully and remove all ambiguities'.
An authoritative and well-connected strategic affairs journal in China has come out with a prompt independent comment on the progress in the N-deal.
Menon is expected to press India's case for allowing it to have civil nuclear cooperation with the international community. He is likely to cite India's impeccable track record on the non-proliferation front despite being a non-signatory to the NPT.
An ATS official and an NSG commando who came outside the Taj Mahal hotel for a breather told rediff.com that it is a do or die situation inside the hotel. "We have been firing, searching and retreating for a while as the terrorists go back into hiding," they said. "We have no option but to either kill them or capture them. The manner in which the terrorists are holding fort and retaliating, makes it clear that they are here only for destruction and nothing else."
Over 200 people are still trapped inside Hotel Trident in Mumbai and five to six staff members of the luxury hotel have been killed in the night-long terror attack."Altogether there would be around 200 people inside the Oberoi complex in Mumbai. We believe that not less than 100 people are at the Oberoi side and not less than 100 people inside the Trident side," Vice Chairman of Oberoi Hotels S S Mukherjee told a TV channel.The plush hotel is currently surrounded by army.
At least 40 to 50 hostages are holed up in one room by six to eight terrorists in the topmost floors of the Taj Mahal Hotel, said a National Security Guards commando involved in the operation. There are 170-odd NSG commandoes involved in the flushing-out operation, said the commando who had stepped out for a breather
P K Krishna Das, the Kerala Member of Parliament who was trapped at Mumbai's Taj Mahal Hotel, was rescued by the police and NSG commandoes at 9.45 am on Thursday. "It has been nightmarish 12 hours for me and two other MPs. The whole thing started around 0945 last night. We were about to have dinner at the Shamina restaurant. Suddenly, two gun-wielding men appeared out of nowhere and started shooting indiscriminately. I ducked under a table along with some others."
Saradha scam accused Matang Sinh, who was recently arrested by the CBI, too will continue to enjoy Z-plus security.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived in Japan on Monday to attend the G-8 summit, met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss various issues listed on the summit's agenda, including the climate change which tops it.
As the Left parties watch every move of the government on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet US President George W Bush and other influential members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and seek their support for the civil nuclear cooperation with the US in these fora.
She was travelling in an Ola cab when unknown persons stopped the vehicle, pulled her out and thrashed her.
The Left parties have given notices of breach of privilege against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in both Houses of Parliament on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal.
The 3,000-strong force, plus its highly trained dog squad, is responsible solely for the protection of one person: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi.
He was responding to a query on NSG guidelines that restrict the export of reactors by members of the grouping, including the US, France, Russia, Australia and Japan.
Sleuths of the National Investigation Agency and the National Security Guard investigating the Burdwan blast on Thursday found IEDs in the attic of the two-storey house in Khagragarh where the militants were staying.
India cannot choose its neighbours and we have to deal with the inscrutable China till eternity. Lessons of each experience should be learnt rather than wished away.
The massive combing operation at the sprawling Air Force station in Pathankot ended on Friday, seven days after six terrorists struck.
The confirmation of the RDX had established involvement of cross-border anti-national forces in the incident, the police said.
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