Whether it liked it or not, the Ukraine crisis forced India to choose between the aggressor Russia and the US-led free world, a decision it hated to make, Virendra Kapoor points out. In the end, it abstained from the vote in the Security Council.
The European Parliament has urged India and Pakistan to resume dialogue in pursuit of a peaceful solution in Kashmir, while urging for 'normalcy' in the region.
The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) swept the maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls by winning 110 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party by getting 75 seats after securing the largest vote share in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday.
'Modi wants to be pragmatic -- acknowledge the problem of Pakistan and that full reconciliation is essentially a non-starter, but at the same time grab the low-hanging fruits (such as trade) to put things on a more even keel, to engender enough stability in the relationship to allow him to focus on other priorities.'
'If Islamic extremists regain power in Afghanistan, Pakistan will lead them to Kashmir as a fighting arena again. India needs to fortify Kashmir and prepare against these Islamic extremists before they come again.'
'I don't believe that it beholds democracies like us who claim to be the largest democracy in the world, to have such a thin skin about the possibility of foreign commentary.'
The intelligence wing will have 650 field and staff agents to gather actionable information.
'In the course of my interactions with him, Modi insisted that he does not believe charisma alone can sustain people's trust for long.' 'That is why Modi consistently refers to Mahatma Gandhi to contextualise his politics.' 'He believes in taking his ideas to the masses and getting their acceptance as an index of approval.'
A revealing excerpt from Ajay Singh's The Architect of the New BJP: How Narendra Modi Transformed the Party.
If New Delhi finds itself out in the cold in Afghanistan, both the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA have only themselves to blame. Each has been in power for a full decade from 2001, without reaching out to the Taliban, points out Ajai Shukla.
'Goa is a tiny state, but in terms of its Business of Politics, several powerful lobbies of India are involved in it, be it the mining lobby, hoteliers' lobby, casino lobby, hawala lobby, drugs lobby etc.'
'This movement is not about Hindus, Muslims or Bengalis, but about all Assamese, irrespective of their religious faith or economic class'
India has the ability in all respects to be a great power and address our security challenges in the best national interests, says Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Gopalan Balachandran, Harris' maternal uncle, said she will script many firsts if she wins and expressed the hope her top-level position will give Indians in the US "greater access" in interacting with the US administration.
'This is the "naya/new J&K" after Aug 2019. We get locked up in our homes with no explanation. It's bad enough they've locked my father (a sitting MP) & me in our home, they've locked my sister & her kids in their home as well'
The two sides are also expected to explore ways to deepen defence collaboration, including exercises, defence transfers and technologies ahead of the next edition of the 2+2 defence and foreign ministerial dialogue to be held in the US later this year, they said.
'There will be much for President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to discuss including growing Chinese military cooperation with Pakistan, which heralds a new attempt by China and Pakistan to neutralise India's influence in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy.
We reproduce Aditya's letter to Rajdeep Sardesai in its entirety:
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party Monday described the meeting between the foreign policy adviser to Pakistani Prime Minister Sartaj Aziz and the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders as a 'welcome revival of the process initiated by the National Democratic Alliance government' and said that 'it should be carried forward in all its dimensions'.
Singh said information that was completely wrong was being regularly circulated on social media.
The International Crisis Group said that security forces were allowing 'anti-India outfits... to operate madrasas and charity fronts'.
The senior Congress leader opined that the situation in Assam can now be divided into two phases -- pre-CAA and post-CAA, and it was necessary to unite all anti-CAA forces in order to protect the ethos of the Assam Accord.
The separatist leaders were told that "restrictions have been imposed on their movement in the national capital" ahead a possible talks between NSA Sartaj Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.
Taking a swipe at the Centre following release of a tape claiming Dawood Ibrahim's presence in Karachi, the Shiv Sena on Monday dared the government to undertake an operation to capture the evasive underworld don just as United States forces eliminated terror leader Osama Bin Laden.
'Suspect all, fix all.' 'It is this mindset that begins at the very top of an establishment and then trickles down and across,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
Air Commodore Nitin Sathe discovers how the IAF trained Pakistani air force pilots, during the 1971 War, which led to the birth of the Bangladesh air force.
Independent candidates have emerged as big winners in Jammu and Kashmir's maiden District Development Council polls, with 49 of them having been declared elected so far from 280 seats, putting them ahead of parties like the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.
He said alleviation of poverty from interior Sindh will be among top priorities of his government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit was cut short on Wednesday after a "major security lapse" as he was stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes due to a blockade by protesters, prompting the Union Home Ministry to seek an immediate report from the state government and strict action against those responsible.
He said the farmer's agitation in Punjab against the new farm laws could lead to 'serious consequences' for national security and alleged that China and Pakistan were seeking to disturb peace in the country's border state. Stressing that his intention was not to disturb peace, Singh said he was trying to 'save' his state's farmers as the Centre was 'playing with' their livelihoods.
Shah admitted that the BJP may have suffered because of the statements made by some party leaders in the Delhi polls.
The 5-day political stand-off between the Pakistan government and anti-Sharif protestors intensified on Monday as efforts by the ruling PML-N to reach out to Opposition leader Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul Qadri failed with both the leaders remaining adamant on the ouster of the embattled prime minister.
'Galwan has turned everything.' 'The casualties on both sides alerted the Chinese to the fact that Indians are not going to take it lying down.'
'The osmosis between Hinduism and Islam that really gave birth to the Hindustani or Indo-Islamic civilisation was due to the conversation between Muslim mystics and yogis.'
'The politicians waiting to grab the space left behind by Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti do not have any credentials,' says Athar Parvaiz.
'Under the more strident Modi version of Hindutva, Nehru has almost become a contemporary political figure.' 'The ruling party knows that without total erasure and distortion of Nehru, their fantasies will always be wobbly.'
Senior ministers of Pakistan's ruling Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz party on Wednesday rallied in Parliament in support of embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and dismissed demands for his resignation by protest leaders Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri.
'Many people thought that a Hindu nationalist party's government would take bold steps vis-a-vis Kashmir. But sadly their approach has been led by military and security priorities.' 'We would suggest to India that she initiate the dialogue following the Vajpayee model. That is the way forward. Otherwise, there is a looming threat. We are seeing educated youth joining militancy.'
As many as 47 people, including 20 security personnel, have been killed and over 130 injured in the R S Pura sector in Pakistan shelling and firing this year.
'Shaheen Bagh is no longer a mere ghetto of lower middle class Muslims.' 'Now, it is a metaphor for resistance, secularism and struggle,' notes Md. Zeeshan Ahmad.
The BRICS also called upon all nations to adopt a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism including countering radicalisation and blocking terror financing sources.
