Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the nation on the eve of 72nd Republic Day.
India and Japan on Friday sought a peaceful solution to the territorial disputes in the strategic South China Sea, saying parties involved in the matter must not resort to "threat or use of force", in remarks that could anger China which is opposed to any outside interference.
Interestingly, India had objected to the establishment of a UNHCHR when it was proposed by the US at the Vienna Conference on Human Rights in July 1993 and the whole proposal was remitted to the General Assembly in New York because India and others said that the whole issue should be examined in detail, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who had led the Indian delegation for negotiating the terms of the HCHR.
'Indira Gandhi and P N Haksar did not want Pakistan to leave as an embittered foe hell-bent on taking revenge for being humiliated so comprehensively.'
The spotlight is back on the hawala trade in diamonds.
In a blunt message, the United States has asked Pakistan to intensify efforts to counter terrorist sanctuaries inside its borders and take concrete steps against the dreaded Haqqani network responsible for major attacks on American installations in Afghanistan.
As the pandemic unfolded, the India-China relationship has come under severe stress. To restore normalcy, agreements between the two countries must be respected scrupulously in their entirety. Where the Line of Actual Control is concerned, any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo is unacceptable, declares External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
India on Wednesday asserted there can be no military solution to the lethal Syrian conflict and societies cannot be "re-ordered from outside" as people have the right to choose their own destiny.
'We are completely engaged in fighting poverty; alas, our neighbour Pakistan seems only engaged in fighting us.'
"Our relationship is so big that it is no longer a bilateral relationship. It has global dimensions," the report quoted Jaishankar as saying.
The FATF continuing Pakistan in the 'Grey' list means its downgrading by IMF, World Bank, ADB, EU and also a reduction in risk rating by Moody's, S&P and Fitch.
'If the Ram Mandir is made, it is because of the collective strength of our country.'
Besides the border question, India and China discussed issues related to counterterrorism including Beijing's blocking of India's bid in the United Nations to ban Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said on Thursday.
Fifty years ago, India and Pakistan fought a short but bloody war. The author finds out how Sainik Samachar, the defence ministry's journal, reported it.
'Why has the peace been kept?' 'Basically because there is a balance.' 'Maybe they think that balance has changed.' 'People can make mistakes. People can miscalculate.' 'If that is the cause, then I think what we have done, matching their build-up, etc, it is giving a good account of ourselves in the face-offs.'
Addressing world leaders at the 68th session of the UN General Assembly, Obama said if the international community cannot be united against forcing Syria to give up its chemical weapons, "then it will show that the United Nations is incapable of enforcing the most basic of international laws".
Due to the continuous activity of the protesters, the site has virtually become hell for the residents, the Tribunal said.
The missile was launched at 23:41 North Korea time from Jagang province in the north of the country, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
"All the Indians in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand are safe. We have not received reports of any untoward incident so far. We advise people to continue to watch the situation continuously," Indian Ambassador to Thailand Anil Wadhwa said.
'Biden's promise of returning to 'normalcy' after Trump appears to mean that the same old politicians, who are responsible for the 'endless wars' in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, are being brought out of the woodwork after four years,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The new minister must commit himself to supporting long-term defence plans or else defence modernisation will continue to lag and the growing military capabilities gap with China will assume ominous proportions, warns Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Talking about the threat of terrorism, he said "As diverse and pluralistic societies, we both face threats from fundamentalist terrorism. Yet, we do not seem to be able to cooperate as effectively we should in some critical international forums dealing with this subject."
The first phase of the polls in the Kashmir Valley saw 8.3 per cent turnout on October 8 while only 3.4 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in the second phase held two days later.
This is the first time the Pakistan army has publicly backed the arrest of India-focused jihadis.
'Many said his visit was very risky. But mercifully, Air Force One has taken off from Delhi without Mr Trump stepping on anybody's toes,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The world is still figuring out the man as he continues his enigmatic journey towards the first 100 days of his presidency.
Cities are setting the rules that now carry life and death implications for their residents, and most of these rules are sought to be set by the municipal authorities who have never wielded such power, reports Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Indian authorities failed to "prevent many incidents of religious violence and contributed to tensions through polarising speeches", Amnesty International said.
With this, multilateral lenders like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Union may continue downgrading Pakistan, making its financial situation more precarious.
The White House said that the US-India partnership has come a long way in the past eight years, but the best is yet to come.
Only he, with his tremendous political capital and personal stature, can pull it off, observes B S Raghavan, the veteran civil servant.
Two powerful blasts triggered by Islamic State in two churches packed with worshippers celebrating Palm Sunday in Egypt's Tanta and Alexandria cities.
Considering the common linkages, high-level trust, complementarities, and convergent interests between the two nations, Malaysia has the potential to become India's key partner in Southeast Asia, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
Asserting that there was growing scourge of terrorism in view of fast growing linkages of terrorist groups across the globe, India on Tuesday strongly advocated stepped up cooperation through intelligence exchange and training with 54 African countries.
'We rarely choose to fight when the threat is still a nascent threat. When we do fight, we fight when the invaders reach Panipat and are preparing to knock on the gates of Delhi.'
Boosting trade and simplifying visa regime, apart from security and defence cooperation, were among the key bilateral issues. The two leaders also discussed regional and international matters of mutual interest.
Taking on Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik for his remarks on the law and order situation in the state, the ruling Samajwadi Party on Monday dubbed him as "a RSS worker" and advised him to join the Union ministry to pursue his "communal agenda".
It asked all nations to work together to expedite the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the UN General Assembly without any further delay.
Prohibitory orders were imposed in Delhi and parts of Karnataka. Police kept tight vigil in Kerala. In Gujarat, 50 people were arrested for Thursday's violence.
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