Mahinda Rajapaksa is a democratically elected leader who received a massive mandate of 71% of votes, and he owes nothing to Delhi or Washington for staging his political comeback, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Four frontline warships of the Indian Navy participated in the 'PASSEX' exercise when the US carrier strike group was transiting through the Indian Ocean Region on its way from the South China Sea, the officials said.
Sheep eyeball juice, frog smoothies and fruit bat soup... Which one do you find yucky?
Researchers have pinpointed the locations -- like Indonesia's Sumatra Island -- where the world's largest earthquakes are most likely to take place, with greater accuracy than ever before.
'Any future course of action towards active participation in the alliance when formed would need a lot of deliberation, long term vision and should be in our best national interests,' notes Commodore Vengalil Venugopal (retd).
In his departure statement ahead of his week-long visit, Modi referred to Indo-US relations and said working together, the two nations can contribute to building a more peaceful, stable, secure, sustainable and prosperous world.
Modi will also meet Chinese President Xi on the sidelines of the summit. It would be their fourth meeting in last seven months.
As many as 3,50,000 people have been rendered homeless in the region.
The experts said that climate change is not only raising temperatures and making India's heatwaves hotter, but also changing weather patterns that further drive dangerous weather extremes.
The World Nature Photography Awards announced the winners of their 2020 competition, showcasing an array of talented photographers from around the world. The grand prize winner award went to Thomas Vijayan for his image of the endangered Bornean orangutan. Vijayan spent hours up a tree, waiting to see if one of the local orangutans would use it to cross over to a nearby island. Take a look at some of the jaw-dropping images.
Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas.
'From the very start, PM Modi was insistent that visiting foreign leaders should be exposed to an India beyond its capital.' 'Through these experiences, he felt that the full Indian narrative would be much better understood across the world,' explains External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. A riveting excerpt from Bluekraft Digital Foundation's Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery.
'I do not agree that the intent was to send a political message to China that the US treats friends and foes alike.' 'In any case, such acts do not ruffle a feather in China,' observes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Hubbard, 43, competed in men's weightlifting competitions before transitioning in 2013.
The people will view it from their viewpoint, their immediate interest, historical experiences, their insecurities, he said.
Get ready to pack your bags!
'They talk about their 2021 centenary goal, their 2035 goal, and their 2049 goal. They're accelerating. There's also been this unfortunately bashing of nationalism inside the People's Republic of China by the government'
Leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan did discuss the 'challenge' posed by China during the first meeting of the Quad, and they made clear that none of them have any 'illusions' about Beijing, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said.
A wide spectrum of drills including surface and anti-aircraft drills, helicopter operations, maneuvers and cross-deck flying was carried out for the second consecutive day as part of the 11th edition of the biennial Indo-Russian exercise Indra Navy.
PM Modi articulated five action points that would serve the common interest of promoting peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Six simple words eloquently summed up the impact Jonah Lomu had on rugby union when New Zealand paid its final respects to the former All Blacks winger on Monday.
'Pyongyang's strategy seems to be a cry to be treated as equal with the US and Beijing and this aspiration is premised on equipping itself with weapons as devastating as theirs,' says Rajaram Panda.
Indonesia is not even counted as a next-door neighbour of India, though the southern-most tip of India is less than a hundred miles away from the northern-most tip of Indonesia. Bringing Indonesia back in the mainstream of the Indian strategic calculus is a step long overdue, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
The Modi government has to embrace the history of Tamil conquests in South East Asia and stop obsessing about Babar/Humayun, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Twenty-three nations, 47 ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise scheduled June 26 to August 1, in and around the Hawaiian Islands.
China also said that it was opposed to any third-party involvement in the resolution of the Sino-India boundary disputes.
China's newly-formed Rocket Force has held an exercise with advanced DF-16 medium-range ballistic missile with a range of over 1,000 kms that could threaten a number countries, including India, Japan and the United States.
'It is only when Beijing sees a country with an infirm political will such as India that it acts up as the PLA has done in eastern Ladakh.'
It is speculated that the tsunami was caused by activity around a volcanic island in the strait, Krakatoa, which is 156 km west of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
During the 13th annual summit, the two prime ministers reviewed developments in bilateral relations and explored new areas of cooperation, focusing on shared vision for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, where China is flexing its muscles.
With the situation in Ladakh tense and no resolution in sight the trigger to take the India-US relationship to a transformational one is already there, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, while reacting to Japan's plans to step up investments in the northeastern states, told the media that China is opposed to any foreign investment in the areas where it has disputes with India.
The sale of 10 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II air-launched missiles is estimated to cost $92 million (Rs 699 crore), while 16 MK 54 All Up Round Lightweight Torpedoes and three MK 54 Exercise Torpedoes are estimated to cost $63 million (Rs 478.8 crore), the Defence Security Cooperation Agency said on Monday in two separate notifications to the Congress.
Japan's Meteorological Agency has called off the tsunami alert that it had issued in the wake of the massive earthquake.
Pompeo, who became the Trump administration's highest ranking official to visit Sri Lanka, said that the US and Sri Lanka shared a vision for democracy to build a relationship and the "freedom to hold democratic elections".
The more pernicious of these measures is EC Regulation 1383 that allows customs officials and rights holders to interfere in the legitimate trade of generic medicines.
He said India would continue to actively pursue and promote its geo-political, strategic and economic interests on the seas, in particular the Indian Ocean.
The prime minister also pitched for respecting freedom of navigation against the backdrop of South China sea dispute.
The Indian and Chinese armies have been locked in a bitter standoff at multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for over eight weeks since May 5.
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