In a new twist, it has now emerged that senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade enjoyed full diplomatic immunity including from personal arrest and detention on December 12 when she was taken into custody by the United States authorities in a visa fraud case.
US diplomats and their families in India will not be able to avail special treatment at the airports from Thursday night when the deadline expires for surrendering their special passes, as part of government's retaliatory action against the treatment meted out to diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York.
India's winning streak in elections to UN bodies demonstrates it is time for the country to become a permanent member of the Security Council and those who doubt this can no longer behave like "ostriches in sand", the Indian envoy to the world body has said.
'Hatred increases with every killing.' 'It sets one family against another.' 'The sooner it is stopped, the better.'
Billionaires are not only eyeing a profit as they push mankind out into the stars.
It appears India will be among those nations consigned to being among the watchers and not participants of this crucial phase, observes Aakar Patel.
Last week, two BSF troopers from Rajasthan, members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Congo, were killed by protestors. Do we need to lose lives fighting in a country not ours, in a war that is not ours and for a cause that is not ours, asks Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), who served in the UNPKF in Congo.
As the UN marks 75 years of its existence, the 193-member UN General Assembly adopted a forward-looking political declaration that gave a clarion call for strengthening mechanism to combat terrorism, reformed multilateralism, inclusive development and better preparedness to deal with challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.
'If it weren't for Om Puri, a whole range of our big city experiences wouldn't have found their honest representations on the screen.'
'In terms of ticket sales, Hindi is at 50-60 per cent while the South markets are at 80-90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.' The patchy performance of Hindi, the largest segment of the business is the nub of what is bothering Indian cinema.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
The image of a yoga posture was projected onto the United Nations headquarters as the world body geared up to host the second International Day of Yoga on Tuesday.
"This august forum witnessed a new low on its 75th anniversary. The leader of Pakistan today called for those who incite hate and violence to be outlawed. But as he went on, we were left wondering, was he referring to himself?" First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Mijito Vinito said, making India's Right of Reply.
The US is 'putting every ounce of its energy' to eliminate the long visa wait time in India, including sending a cadre of consular officers to the country and opening up its other overseas embassies as far away as Germany and Thailand for Indian visa applicants, according to a senior US visa officer. India was one of the very few countries where applications for US visas saw a major upswing after coronavirus-related travel restrictions were lifted. There have been growing concerns in India over the long waiting period for first time visa applicants, especially for those applying under B1 (business) and B2 (tourist) categories.
Guterres referred to the Simla Agreement, which is a bilateral agreement and rejects any third-party mediation in the issue.
There is no chance of the case against Devyani Khobaragade being dropped, but a plea deal is possible, which could avoid a jail term for the Indian diplomat, sources in the US government tell Rediff.com's George Joseph in New York.
India, which abstained during the vote on a strong resolution against Sri Lanka's human rights practices at the UNHRC, on Tuesday urged Colombo to fulfill its commitments on the devolution of political authority, to carry forward the process of reconciliation and address the aspirations of the Tamil community in the island nation.
India said on Tuesday that terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries must be dismantled immediately and terrorist supply chains disrupted for enduring peace in Afghanistan as it called for zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border attacks.
Separately, China is also processing requests of thousands of Indian students studying in Chinese universities who have conveyed their interest to re-join their colleges and universities.
Devyani Khobragade's lawyer on Wednesday said the United States authorities goofed up in the investigation and arrest of the Indian diplomat on visa fraud charges as a federal agent made a "serious" mistake in reading the paperwork submitted regarding her maid's salary.
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade has been exempted by a United States court from appearing in person for pre-trial processes in the case filed against her on visa fraud charges, her lawyer said on Monday.
Hearing the Centre versus the Delhi government over the issue of demarcation of power, a constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said an elected government needs to have control over the administration.
The Biden administration has reaffirmed its commitment to support India's permanent membership in a reformed UN Security Council and New Delhi's entry to the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.
A special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly will mark Nelson Mandela International Day on July 18, honouring the South African anti-apartheid leader's contributions to democracy, racial justice and reconciliation.
If we ignore Pakistan and direct our energies to more important issues at the UN, our position against internationalising Kashmir would be strengthened.
During his speech, he recalled the role of sport and the Olympic Games to build bridges, bring people together and shape the peace.
In further retaliatory steps over the arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade, India has asked the United States to "discontinue" commercial activities being undertaken from its embassy premises in New Delhi by January 16.
India has told the United Nations that its citizens have faced repeated inhuman terror attacks by "proxies" of Pakistan, which continues to abuse the concept of self-determination to bolster "territorial aggrandisement" against it.
India has asked the UN Security Council to make mandatory provisions for prosecuting and neutralising armed groups that threaten to harm UN peacekeeping operations.
Amid slogan shouting by MPs from the Trinamool Congress, the Congress and other opposition parties from the Well of the House, Modi began replying to the debate on the motion thanking the President for her address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at the start of the Budget Session, and accused the Congress of adopting only 'tokenism' to solving problems the country faced.
"We are now living in an era when non-state military actors are a major factor," Narendra Modi said in a veiled reference to threats posed to India from Pakistan
A day after India stepped up security for the United States embassy and other American institutions, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Fridaysaid the decision was not based on "reciprocity but on threat perception".
Abstaining in the UN General Assembly on a vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, India on Thursday asserted that if it has 'chosen' any side, it is the side of 'peace and it is for an immediate end to violence.'
India has informed the United States that Devyani Khobragade was accredited to the United Nations as a member of the country's delegation to the general assembly before her arrest in a visa fraud case.
Secretary of State John Kerry plans to call his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid soon as the ties between two sides are too important to be derailed by an "isolated incident" of the arrest of a diplomat, the US State Department has said.
According to a ministry of home affairs order, those allowed to travel to India include OCI cardholders who wish to come to the country on account of family emergencies. Minor children born to Indian nationals abroad and holding OCI cards, couples where one spouse is an OCI cardholder and the other is an Indian national and they have a permanent residence in India, and university students who are OCI cardholders (not legally minors) but whose parents are Indian citizens living in India were also allowed to visit the country.
The UN celebrated the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar with a top official describing the noted Indian social reformer as a "global icon" for marginalised people.
General Pande said the northern border region has been peaceful and steps have been taken to maintain peace through established protocol and existing mechanism.
The 193-member UN General Assembly on Thursday voted to adopt a draft resolution moved by the US to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) over allegations that Russian soldiers killed civilians while retreating from towns near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaj Sharif on September 29 in New York will obviously send 'some significant signals' to Islamabad about India's concerns on cross-border terrorism.
'The simultaneous fire from so many guns rained down on the enemy and pulverised them, a sight I can never forget till my last breath.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances