The Sri Lankan government has appointed an advisory committee comprising eminent economic and fiscal experts to provide guidance on addressing the current debt crisis and engaging with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other lenders as the country struggles to combat the unprecedented shortage of foreign reserves.
It is understood that India's border row with China figured in the talks between Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale though there was no mention of it in the press statements issued by the two sides.
By passing this bill, Congress is showing that the US will not turn a blind eye to the suffering of the oppressed, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said.
Amid growing concerns over the spurt in COVID-19 cases in China and some other countries, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the focus is to ensure that no unknown variant of the virus enters India and at the same time there is no impediment to travelling.
A BMW car hit a pedestrian who was walking on the city's Embassy Road at around 8am and attempted to flee, Geo News reported quoting some eyewitnesses.
While the US omitted China and Russia from the list of invitees, Beijing was furious over the invitation to the self-governing island Taiwan, which China said is a blatant violation of the 'One China' policy that considers Taipei as the integral part of the Chinese mainland.
Key to China's decision regarding Taiwan will be its leadership's assessment whether the US will come to Taiwan's defence, explains Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
The ex-foreign secy was the government's pointsman for China and the US.
Pakistan on Wednesday brushed aside India's unhappiness over Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz's meetings with Kashmiri separatists in New Delhi, saying such meets were "customary" and the Kashmir issue remains the "core dispute" between the two countries.
Xi Jinping's recent actions in South Asia have amply demonstrated the disastrous impact of China's embrace, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and China expert.
The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it is taking all measures to extradite fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, accused in bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines from United Kingdom, but the process is being delayed due o some legal issues involved in the matter. A bench of Justices U U Lalit and Ashok Bhushan posted the matter for further hearing on March 15, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought some time to file report on the status of extradition of Mallya. At the outset, Mehta shared a letter of the ministry of external affairs' official Devesh Uttam written to him on the status of extradition of Mallya from the United Kingdom.
The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also observed silence for two minutes in the memory of Mukherjee.
At the same time, it is learnt that Indian officials in Ukraine are facing growing complexities to evacuate the Indians to the neighbouring countries with Russian forces closing in on Ukrainian capital Kyiv and targeting several other key cities by land and air.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
One priority for Delhi (for the new foreign secretary in particular) is to have an in-depth discussion with Dharamsala as soon as possible, suggests Claude Arpi.
The speed at which he led the central bank in different areas -- ranging from internal reorganisation to inflation fighting, stabilising the currency, taking on rogue corporations, cleaning up bank balance sheets, and opening the sector -- makes one believe that Rajan knew he had only three years to do his job. A fascinating excerpt from Tamal Bandyopadhyay's MUST-READ Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking.
Regional States will be worried that the US's nascent engagement with the Taliban behind the fig leaf of humanitarian aid enables the return of US intelligence personnel to Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Shand, a 'suspected smuggler of undocumented foreign nationals', was arrested near the US/Canadian border on January 19 for transporting two Indian nationals, who were illegally present in the US.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the Charge d' Affaires of Pakistan High Commission was summoned and informed about the decision which was based on instances of involvement of Pakistani officials in 'acts of espionage' and 'dealings with terrorist organisations'. The activities of the two Pakistani mission officials caught red-handed and expelled on 31 May 2020 was one example in that regard, MEA said in a statement.
"Pakistan is committed to the decisions agreed at Ufa between the prime ministers," foreign office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said.
The Pakistani PM is now scheduled to travel to Malaysia next week and to China on November 3 to seek financial assistance from the two friendly countries.
Sharing his experience, Kulshrestha, 46, said the Chinese authorities looked after and treated him "well" during the detention and that he now wants to move on.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Monday that his government will allow India to send a humanitarian shipment of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to neighbouring Afghanistan through its territory after finalisation of the transit modalities.
He said his country will take all steps to 'expose' India's role in the break up of East Pakistan in 1971 and to 'destabilise' it through terrorism.
According to the tentative plan, September 23-24 is being worked as the expected dates for Modi's US visit.
As Abhay turns 45 on March 15, Joginder Tuteja looks back at his best work.
'It is advisable for Indian interlocutors to follow the Chinese tactic of repeating the Indian position, both for the record and to test the Chinese negotiator's resolve and intentions.' A riveting excerpt from former foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale's The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate With India.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted raids in three locations in and around Kolkata and again recovered large stacks of cash from a flat linked to Arpita Mukherjee, considered a close associate of arrested West Bengal Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee.
As an applicant, you must understand there is a difference between getting an offer letter from a university and receiving a study visa, explains Ajay Sharma, president, and founder, Abhinav Immigration Services.
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Modi government must push reforms at a fast pace to restore growth.
These releases are in addition to 26 Taliban detainees freed last year by Pakistan.
In its 42-page ruling, the ICJ ruled that Pakistan had "breached" the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, which gives countries the right to consular access when their nationals are arrested abroad.
Singh, a former Army officer, had been ill after a fall at his home in August 2014 and was admitted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital. He had been in and out of the hospital and was admitted again in June this year.
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In cyber security, India's main concerns are Pakistani and Chinese espionage. Which is exactly why the US needs to build up partnership with India.
Rescue teams from India and 33 other countries were on Saturday asked by Nepal to leave as it prepared to launch massive operations to rehabilitate millions of uprooted victims of the devastating temblor that has killed at least 7,365 people, including 41 Indians.
It's a simple resolution, which cannot be voted in the other chamber, Senate, and does not have the force of law.
India and Pakistan in a surprise announcement said on February 25 that they have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and other sectors.
"The entire edifice of security of the PM, in a federal structure like ours, stands on the strong bond of mutual trust and confidence between state police and the SPG. State police are fully responsible for ensuring a secure route for the PM's travel," former NSG Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia said.
Parliamentarians, who have been slugging it out for past the few days in Lok Sabha over several issues, were seen mixing freely at a dinner hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday night to commemorate three years of his presidency.
Condolences continued to pour in from world dignitaries for former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj who breathed her last due to cardiac arrest on Tuesday night.
