The Congress on Wednesday expressed sadness over 'pictures of Indians getting handcuffed and humiliated' while being deported from the United States and recalled that America had to express regret over the treatment meted out to India diplomat Devyani Khobragade in 2013 after the then United Progressive Alliance government retaliated sharply.
'It is high time that the 'war on terror' is removed from our diplomatic toolbox.' 'Certainly, our parliamentarians have no role in it,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Former embassy officials Shubham Shokeen and Aarti Mandal allegedly made Rs 32,00,000, charging Rs 50,000 per visa by clearing files of questionable candidates, they said.
A blast took place outside the Israeli Embassy in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi on Friday evening, a fire service official said.
The move came against the backdrop of Turkiye backing Pakistan and its condemnation of India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor.
An 18-year-old Nepalese student of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Odisha's Bhubaneswar was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her hostel room on Thursday, police said.
In a televised screening for Indian journalists on Wednesday, the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi held a screening that revealed horrific and chilling videos of October 7, the day when over 2,000 terrorists entered Israel from the Gaza Strip and carried out what is being considered the biggest terror attack against the Jewish nation.
An Indian engineer, Yogesh Panchal, was detained in Iran for almost two months for allegedly clicking photographs in a restricted zone. He was released earlier this week after the Ministry of External Affairs intervened. Panchal, who hails from Nanded district in Maharashtra, visited Iran in December to explore business opportunities. He was apprehended from his hotel room on December 7 and accused of shooting videos and photos in a restricted zone. He was held in a local detention center for 59 days and treated well, although blindfolded throughout his incarceration. The family sought help from Rajya Sabha member Ajit Gopchade, but the Iranian Embassy in Delhi initially did not cooperate. The MEA's intervention led to a hearing and his eventual release.
In what was perhaps the most critical meeting before full-scale war broke out, Shastri defined India's immediate war objectives to his defence minister, army, and air force chiefs: 'To defend against Pakistan's attempts to grab Kashmir by force and to make it abundantly clear that Pakistan would never be allowed to wrest Kashmir from India; To destroy the offensive power of Pakistan's armed forces...' A fascinating excerpt from Shiv Kunal Verma's must-read 1965: A Western Sunrise India's War With Pakistan.
India on Saturday delivered 15 tonnes of relief materials to Myanmar under its 'Operation Brahma' that was launched after a powerful earthquake hit the neighbouring country as well as Thailand.
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, was the third American leader to visit India during which a village in Haryana was named Carterpuri in his honour.
The United States has deported a group of Indian migrants on a military transport aircraft, marking the first such deportation to India as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. The US embassy in New Delhi confirmed that Washington is tightening immigration laws and removing illegal migrants. The deportation comes as India and the US are finalizing details for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington in February. India has indicated its willingness to work with the US on addressing illegal immigration, and has said it will take back all Indians who have overstayed or are in the US without documentation.
'Fears in Washington began to intensify when it was realised that subsequent Pakistani and Indian attacks on major military facilities -- which were significant in terms of geographic scope and intensity -- could rapidly take both sides to where neither actually wanted to go.' 'The US objective was to stop the fighting as soon as possible. Everything else was secondary.'
India has confirmed that 12 Indian nationals have died while serving in the Russian military during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Another 16 Indians, who were serving in the Russian armed forces, are listed as missing by Russia. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said a total of 126 Indians were serving with the Russian military and 96 of them have so far been discharged.
Eight individuals, including seven posing as students and one as a professor, were apprehended at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai while attempting to illegally immigrate to London. The accused, who claimed to be part of an exchange program, were caught at the airport's immigration checkpoint and were found to be using forged documents and false information to obtain UK visas. The incident involved alleged human trafficking, with the accused reportedly paying Rs 20 lakh each to an agent for facilitating their illegal immigration. The case has been handed over to the Sahar Police, and the crime branch is investigating further.
'If you follow the law, America offers opportunities. But those who violate the law will face the consequences.'
Everyone is in the Diwali spirit, from our dear readers to Bollywood, to the White House!
A minor IED blast took place near the Israeli embassy in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi on Friday evening.
"The Embassy staffers have all openly supported the cause of the protestors. You must realize that Gaddafi is a very powerful man. With this one act of ours, we could end up homeless. That is why nobody is ready to talk," the diplomat says.
Since April this year, the ministry of defence of the Russian Federation has stopped recruiting citizens of a number of foreign countries, including India, into the military service, it said.
An Indian woman sentenced to death in Abu Dhabi for the alleged murder of a four-month-old child has been executed on February 15, the Delhi High Court was informed on Monday. The woman, Shahzadi Khan, was handed over to the Abu Dhabi police on February 10, 2023 and sentenced to death on July 31, 2023. Her father, Shabbir Khan, had filed a petition seeking information about her well-being. The court was informed that the woman's last rites will be held on March 5.
The air hung heavy with grief as an Indian Air Force aircraft carrying the mortal remains of 14 of the 45 Indians who died in a devastating fire at a building in Kuwait landed at Delhi's Palam technical area from Kerala's Kochi on Friday evening.
Terrorism and insurgency in J&K had subsided when India demolished East Pakistan -- for the simple reason that Pakistan understands power. We need to follow Chanakya's dictum of Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed for strategising against Pakistan, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd). The ground truth is that unless we are prepared to acknowledge our shortcomings, including massive intelligence failures, punish those responsible and take corrective actions, we will continue in the same vein, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, the US has called on both countries "not to escalate" the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to speak with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India as early as today or tomorrow. The US State Department said Washington is reaching out to both India and Pakistan "regarding the Kashmir situation" and telling them "not to escalate the situation."
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has criticized the BJP for its allegations that elements in the American "deep state" were behind attempts to destabilize India, saying this "attack-dog" behavior is an embarrassment to India. Tharoor's comments come after the US rejected the BJP's allegations, describing them as "disappointing" and asserting that the US government is a champion of media freedom. The BJP had alleged that the US deep state colluded with the media portal OCCRP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to "damage" India's image.
The Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested four students from Ladakh in connection with the blast near the Israel embassy in January this year, officials said.
In a show of support for the people of Palestine, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday carried a bag to Parliament that had 'Palestine' emblazoned on it.
Dr Manmohan Singh first embossed himself on the national consciousness when as India's finance minister he flagged off economic reforms which changed this nation forever.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has links to an organisation financed by the George Soros Foundation, which has reportedly supported the idea of an independent Kashmir. The party claims this connection demonstrates foreign influence in Indian internal affairs. This comes after BJP's claims of US involvement in destabilizing India, which the US has denied. The BJP also accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of collaborating with the Soros-funded OCCRP to damage India's economy and reputation. The allegations have drawn criticism from the US embassy and the opposition Congress.
India also advised its citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Iran.
Visa delays have perturbed Indian visitors this summer. But a solution could be in sight soon, as embassies gear up to address the challenges caused by a spike in applications and staff shortages. While the British High Commission has said it is working urgently to reduce the current visa processing time, the German Embassy has introduced extra shifts to process more visas. However, appointments with the latter are fully booked till August-end due to high volumes.
331,602 Indians are studying in the US, making India the 'top sender' of international students to America for the first time in 15 years, as it overtook China for the academic year 2023-2024.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into allegations of Pakistan links of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn. Sarma alleged that Colburn had visited Pakistan after her marriage and that there are apprehensions of ISI infiltration into the Chief Minister's Office when Gogoi's father, the late Tarun Gogoi, was the chief minister. Sarma also shared screenshots of social media posts by Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, an advisor of the Pakistan Planning Commission and a former colleague of Colburn, claiming that the relationship between the Gogois and Sheikh appeared to be "deeply rooted." Sarma's allegations have been rejected by the Congress as "laughable and entertaining."
'Without his vision and foresight, his willingness to take a risk that no one else was willing to take, his deep and abiding love for India, the Indian automobile industry could not have become the powerhouse that it has become.'
'Adventure travel, cultural tours, and wellness retreats are in high demand.'
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it is verifying details of deportation flights to Panama and Costa Rica, which were undertaken as part of a bridge arrangement between the US and the respective governments. The MEA spokesperson said that India is in touch with the local authorities in Panama and Costa Rica to ensure the return of any Indian nationals who may have been deported.
Investigators probing the minor blast near the Israeli embassy have not come across "anything concrete" yet as most of the CCTV cameras near the site of the explosion were "non-functional"
The visit comes days before Rahul Gandhi's visit to the US between September 8 and 10.
'The strategic direction of the relationship will not be affected. But the perception has been affected.'
The announcement comes days after an incident of violent disruption by protestors carrying Khalistani flags at a consular event co-organised by the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton and the Indian Consulate.
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