Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday assured family members of the victims of the shooting incident in United States that the state government will bear all expenditure of the transportation of the bodies to India -- for cremation at their native places. Badal contacted Indian Ambassador to US Nirupama Rao on telephone on Monday night and informed her that the Punjab government would extend all possible help to the bereaved families of the victims.
The first killer provision in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill is the ban on client site placement for H-1B workers.
Acknowledging that India's trade and economic relationship with the US has not scaled the heights reached in US trade and economic ties with China, she said there are goals yet to be achieved in this area.
Striking a positive note ahead of the India-Pakistan talks, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Monday said Islamabad would extend all required cooperation to India on the terror issue and share related information.
Mathai, a 1974-batch IFS officer, will assume office from August one and will be there for a term of two years, official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said.
Pakistan was on Thursday dismissive of India's attempts to raise fresh evidence of Inter Service Intelligence's links to the 26/11 attacks at the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks, stating clearly that the agenda would be limited to three issues: Kashmir, peace and security and friendly exchanges.
The bomb threat to the Indian embassy here was made by a caller from the western United States city of Utah by a man speaking in 'Hinglish', indicating that he was apparently of South Asian origin, sources said on Wednesday.
The government of India in welcoming the new United States ambassador to India, erstwhile India and South Asia hand, Nancy J Powell, has said that while India would not be new to her, it would not be the same either, considering the transformational changes India has undergone.
India on Tuesday reacted strongly to Pakistan terming New Delhi's demand for action against all those responsible in 26/11 Mumbai attacks as 'outdated,' saying the country was consistent about this and Pakistan knows this.
The central government on Thursday decided to immediately commence evacuation of Indians from Libya by sea and air in view of the "sharp and unprecedented deterioration" in the situation in the African nation which is witnessing anti-government protests that have claimed hundreds of lives so far.
As the Barack Obama administration tries to impress upon India and other nations to join in the US-led sanctions regime against Iran to isolate that country for its alleged nuclear weapons programme and reduce their energy dependence on Teheran, India's Ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao noted that India's imports of Iranian oil has been on the decline and predicted it may dissipate even further.
India is looking towards "unlocking processes" and exploring "doables" to revive the stalled dialogue with Pakistan, officials said on Friday, as Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao prepares to meet her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir next week in Thimpu.
After protracted re-negotiations, India and Russia have ended the stalemate over contentious price and technical issues for the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier which had become an irritant in bilateral ties.
The much-awaited hotline between the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao finally became operational on Thursday, thereby setting up a direct communication between the leaders.
Noting an upswing in bilateral ties over the years, the United States has pitched for greater role for India in the world and said it was keen to work with New Delhi on it.
India and the United States have come up with the idea of 'a triangular cooperation' on development issues involving countries like Afghanistan, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on Monday."An interesting new idea has emerged -- that of a triangular cooperation in places like Afghanistan and Africa. Let me say that on Afghanistan, (Secretary of State Hillary) Clinton spoke very positively about India's role in that country," said Nirupama Rao.
Describing the India-United States strategic partnership as a "defining and indispensable" collaboration for the 21st century, American President Barack Obama has said the two countries share a dynamic and broad relationship that serves to advance peace and prosperity in Asia and the world.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday pressed US President Barack Obama to convince Pakistan to take strong action against terrorists involved in anti-India activities in that country following disclosures made by LeT operative David Headley.
India and Pakistan must focus on a creative and realistic approach as they begin the long haul of normalising relations following a constructive meeting of their Foreign Secretaries, the Pakistani media and analysts said on Friday. News reports of the coordial meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir dominated the front pages of the dailies.
According to an Indian government source, there is no way any Indian administration will ever de-link talks from terror. In fact, neither can the Pakistani government.
Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan -- Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir -- have begun their much-anticipated meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, even as Indian officials have said that New Delhi is "looking at these talks in a positive and constructive manner".
India on Wednesday said "nothing spectacular or dramatic" was expected from a series of forthcoming high-level political contacts with Pakistan because of the complexity of bilateral ties.
India on Friday made it clear to Pakistan that resolution of the Kashmir issue cannot take place under the "shadow of gun" as the two countries concluded "satisfactory" talks which resulted in agreement on various confidence building measures.
At the end of discussions at the foreign secretary level between Indian and Pakistan in Islamabad, which were focused on peace and security, India pointed out that terrorism had complicated the Indo-Pak relationship. India has urged Islamabad not to follow a segmented approach.
Ahead of its engagement in the process of bridging "trust deficit" with Pakistan, India has asked it to "shed its insecurity" on asymmetries in sizes and capabilities between them, including the strategic leverage gained after Indo-US nuclear deal, as they were not targeted against it.
India's concerns over terror and slow pace of Mumbai trial were discussed in the first round of Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks dealing with the issue of peace and security during which the Samjhuta bomb blast case also came up with both sides holding "substantive" deliberations in a "forward looking" approach.
During the much awaited talks later this week, India should discreetly flag its concerns so that a greater political maturity on both sides facilitates a discussion on sensitive issues, says B Raman
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani held 'very good talks' in a 'free and frank' manner, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters, after the two leaders met on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit, for 50 minutes on Thursday.Dr Singh told Gilani that cooperation between the two nations was vital for the progress of SAARC's goals and peace in south Asia.
No bilateral meeting has been fixed so far between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani in Bhutan during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on Thursday."As of now, no such meeting has been set up between the prime minister and Gilani," she said, adding that Dr Singh will have separate meetings with leaders from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan.
Sunando Sen, the 46-year-old Indian immigrant who died after being pushed in front of a subway train in New York by a woman, was on Monday cremated by his friends.
Mixing cricket with diplomacy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held wide-ranging discussions with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani when he favoured the need for an "atmosphere free of violence" in order to ensure thorough mobilisation of bilateral ties
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Friday called on External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and discussed relations between the two estranged neighbours. Bashir, who was in New Delhi for talks with his counterpart Nirupama Rao, spent approximately an hour talking to Krishna.They are understood to have taken stock of the bilateral relations and reviewed the discussions that were held between the two foreign secretaries on Thursday.
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao met her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Thursday to kick off a dialogue between the two countries after a hiatus of 14 months. India had suspended the composite dialogue with Pakistan after the terror attack on Mumbai on November 26, 2008, which was planned and carried out by Pakistani terrorists.
India is likely to put before Pakistan a set of specific demands related to tackling terrorism when their foreign secretaries meet next week, and Delhi's political circles believe that its response will determine the future course of such talks. Expectations from the talks between Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, to be held in New Delhi on February 25, are 'realistic', informed sources said.
The Cabinet Committee on Security today took stock of the situation arising out of the Pune bomb blast and is understood to have discussed issues related to the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan.
India has told Pakistan that the proposed talks with it will focus on terrorism and other issues "hurting" bilateral relations and has given no indication about the full-fledged resumption of the stalled composite dialogue process, official sources said on Friday.
India's purchase of oil from Iran has dropped slightly in last two years and is expected to drop further given the difficulties New Delhi might have in making payments through banks due to tough sanctions imposed by US-led international community against top Iranian banks.
India has assured Pakistan that it would not hesitate from sharing the findings of Samjhauta Express blast case but expressed inability to do so till the probe is not completed as Indian laws do not permit it. This message was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao during her meeting with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.
India and Pakistan on Sunday night agreed on the need for constructive talks to resolve all outstanding issues after a fresh round of parleys in an attempt to infuse new life to their stalled dialogue process.
The papers on the basis of which terror suspects David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana were issued visas by the Indian Consulate in Chicago may have gone mysteriously missing and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said she has asked for a factual report from the diplomatic mission.