When the prime minister met President Zardari in Tehran, 26/11 was clearly on the Indian leader's mind. Nikhil Lakshman reports from the Iranian capital.
Rediff.com's Editor-in-chief Nikhil Lakshman, who is traveling with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the BRICS summit in the Chinese town of Sanya, offers an insight into what the Indian delegation can expect during the visit
In Seoul, Nikhil Lakshman discovers, fears about North Korea and its bizarre ways are never far away.
Vice President Hamid Ansari's visit to Havana provided rare insights of the Castro brothers, Fidel and Raul. Rediff.com's Nikhil Lakshman reports.
Women grow weak at the knees. Grown-up men weep during his films. Nikhil Lakshman encounters SRK and Bollywood in Lima, Peru.
The prime minister on Anna Hazare, China, Pakistan and whether he has changed after all these months of attack by the Opposition and media. Rediff.com's Nikhil Lakshman listens in
He was once tipped to be one of China's NextGen leaders, someone who would guide the Middle Kingdom's future for the next decade, once the present leadership retired. In a dramatic saga, unparalleled in contemporary China, Bo Xilai suddenly fell from grace these past weeks, his wife now accused of murder. Nikhil Lakshman, who met Bo a few times, recounts those encounters with a Chinese politician like none other.
India's attempts to make some headway in the Great Game in Central Asia may be the reason behind Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Kazakhstan, says Rediff.com's Nikhil Lakshman, who is travelling with the PM to the Kazakh capital of Sanya
Gilani wants power from Punjab and fought hard to get India MFN status. Nikhil Lakshman listens in on Air India One
Unlike Wagah, where India and Pakistan mount an elaborate daily drama of military ritual watched by tourists on both sides, the Demilitarized Zone, which separates North and South Korea is barren and desolate, a terrain bristling with hostility, discovers Nikhil Lakshman.
The second Nuclear Security Summit opens in Seoul on Monday. Will it confront the dangers posed by Pakistan's unsecured nuclear programme, asks Nikhil Lakshman, currently in the South Korean capital.
Rediff.com's Nikhil Lakshman, who is travelling with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the BRICS Summit in the Chinese town of Sanya, reports that the next BRICS Summit will be held in India in 2012 even as the five BRICS nations pledged to jointly work towards peaceful transformation of the world order.
Rediff.com's Editor-in-chief Nikhil Lakshman, who is traveling with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the BRICS summit in the Chinese town of Sanya, reports that the two Asian giants have agreed to set up a working mechanism to resolve irritants that have led to a deterioration in relations
At first, I think it is the same young lady, confused as I am by the numbers of women with identical nasal injuries that I encounter. Then, I realise that these ladies would need to be tele-mobile to be in different Tehran locations at almost the same time. It is thus that I stumble on the Case of the Bandaged Nose.
As the NAM summit opens in Tehran on Thursday, Nikhil Lakshman, who is traveling with the prime minister, captures the mood in the Iranian capital.
'There is absolutely no reason for India and China to even contemplate a conflict! Yes, but we are rivals.' says National Security Adviser M K Narayanan.
In the final part of an interview conducted days before the Supreme Court fast-tracked the SIT probe into the 2002 Gujarat riots, Chief Minister Narendra Modi talks about national security, vote bank politics, terrorism and the riots.
'Terrorism creates suspicion among neighbours, suspicion among communities, which could be a major blow to India's otherwise widely hailed and widely recognized society'
'People are so much more aware of what is what. There is no degree of passivity today,' says National Security Adviser M K Narayanan.
'Politics is playing a very big role in keeping communities apart in terms of religion,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
'Their offices are in Pakistan. Some of their hideouts are in Pakistan,' says Afghan envoy Masood Khalili.
'We have shown them what we are going to do. That we are willing to separate the civilian and military nuclear establishments.'National Security Adviser M K Narayanan in an exclusive interview.
'Our self interest lies in ensuring that this planet is in good health,' says Dr Rajendra K Pachauri, IPCC Chairman.
'This is not a simple enemy. It has an organisation and money spread all over the world. It has 3,000, 4,000 suicide bombers,' says Afghan Ambassador Masood Khalili.
'Afghanistan needs not to be abandoned, not to be forgotten,' says Afghan ambassador Masood Khalili.
'You cannot bring down a nation by killing a few people. Certainly not in a country like India,' says National Security Adviser M K Narayanan.
'We know our glaciers are melting very rapidly.' Dr R K Pachauri, Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, outlines the implications for India.
'I would think a hundred times before I wrote a gay character or a mentally challenged character because it requires a lot of research and empathy. That's the reason I shy away entirely from stories that have rape. I just can't. It's just terrifying for me, as a woman, to handle subjects like that because it's so sensitive.'
'The theory of karma and the principle of dharma go hand in hand,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
'We can fight our own battles. Let me make it clear that we are not asking America to help us.' National Security Adviser M K Narayanan in an exclusive interview.
'In spite of enormous problems, there is still compassion, there is still the sense of serving the needy,' says His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
'I told the Indian foreign office, whether you recognise Kabul or not, we will fight to the last and return to the gates of Kabul,' recalls Afghan Ambassador Masood Khalili.
'Not for somebody else.' National Security Adviser M K Narayanan on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, a former diplomat himself, explains his sense of India and the world. Nikhil Lakshman, traveling with Vice President Ansari to Peru and Cuba, listens in.
'We used to get Rs 250 for a Test match, and if the match was over in 4 days, 50 rupees were cut.'
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
'They have the greatest number of cricketers, they have the greatest enthusiasm for the game, they have the greatest resources, they have the greatest stakes in their own success.'
'Israel is counting on the United States to enter the fray on their behalf and perform destructive strikes against these targets that are beyond Israel's conventional capabilities.' 'They may well get their way if they start a war, because the United States is still committed to Israel's security, and it won't matter whether it is Trump or Harris in the White House.'
'...to prevent this episode from disrupting ongoing cooperation.' 'The discovery of this plot had the potential to derail much of what has been achieved in the relationship during this administration's tenure -- I don't think that fact has been sufficiently appreciated in India.'
Fidel Castro meets Vice President Hamid Ansari for an unprecedented meeting. Nikhil Lakshman reports from Havana.
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