Former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi also paid their tributes.
In significant remarks, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said only time will show what will be done by India but made it clear that nobody was talking about military action.India has handed over to Pakistan a list of 20 terrorists, including Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar besides Dawood Ibrahim, who are based in that country and are suspected to be behind terror attacks in India.
The United Progressive Alliance government on Thursday expressed hope that India will get the support of all member countries during its negotiations on the nuclear deal but noted that it would be difficult to fix an exact timeframe for making the agreement a reality.External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency is likely to meet on August 1 to discuss the India-specific safeguards agreement.
'It sent a clear message to the Americans that despite the Hyde Act, India would deal with Iran on the basis of its own lights.'
The meeting, officials said, provided an opportunity for Mukherjee to hold comprehensive talks with the political leaders on a host of issues, including the India-Pakistan peace process.
How can you issue an ordinance along with summoning the Parliament session, the President is learnt to have asked the government.
Just 6.4% of branches owned by new private sector banks are in the rural areas
Amid China's claims over parts of Arunachal Pradesh, India on Sunday said the differences between New Delhi and Beijing over border issues can be resolved through dialogue. "It is true that we have differences with China over the border. But we have agreed to resolve them through dialogue," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters after the G-20 meeting in Scotland. Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao had agreed to maintain peace.
"There is no denying the fact that we voted against Iran at IAEA. The intention was to ensure that its nuclear issue does not go to the Security Council as it would entail sanctions and more problems," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while rejecting allegations that India's foreign policy was being affected by the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday described the failure of talks between India's telecom giant Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN on the $23 billion merger deal as "part of the game".
Making it clear that Islamabad's claims of cooperation in Mumbai attacks probe will not suffice, India on Thursday asked Pakistan to implement its words and show in a "transparent" manner that action has been taken against Jamaat-ud-Dawa and other such groups.
Pakistan has not responded officially on India's dossier on the terror attacks in Mumbai, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in New Delhi on Tuesday.National Security Adviser M K Narayanan had told a TV channel on Sunday that Pakistan had sent two sets of questions about the dossier and Indian officials have already replied to one set of questions.
The government had earlier this week briefed top BJP leadership on the same foreign policy issues.
In a clear indication that it is against the appointment of an American special envoy for the sub-continent, India said on Tuesday that there was a bilateral mechanism to improve Indo-Pakistan ties and third party intervention would not make any difference.Asked about US media reports that the incoming Obama administration may appoint former President Bill Clinton or some other person as special envoy, Pranab Mukherjee said that such news reports were speculative.
The Congress is working on "evolving a general consensus" for naming the candidate for the next president of India with sources in the party confirming that Pranab Mukherjee appears to be the only name doing the rounds.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday refused to comment on a letter sent by his ministry to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the 2G spectrum scam, saying he cannot make any remark on the matter as it is "subjudice".
President Pranab Mukherjee will on August 2 watch a special screening of a documentary capturing the story of the Rashtrapati Bhavan from its conception to its completion and the changes it has undergone during his tenure.
Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday refused to add any fodder to the talk of him being the front-runner for the President's post, saying he was himself "in the dark" over the issue that has hogged headlines back home. The past week has witnessed intense speculation in India over who would occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan next, with Mukherjee and the current Vice President Hamid Ansari being touted as the main contenders.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also asserted there's been no pressure by the United States for India to enact financial sector reforms, particularly in the banking and insurance sectors, on the eve of President Obama's visit.
The President in his book,The Turbulent Years:1980-9, has written about the conversation he had with Rajiv Gandhi in a bathroom about prime ministership.
Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stresses on stronger Indo-US ties at the CEO meet in Washington, DC.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee lost his temper in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after being repeatedly interrupted by Communist Party of India - Marxist member Brinda Karat during discussions on the price rise issue. "I am not going to accept this. This is indiscipline. It is not permitted here," an incensed Mukherjee retorted at Karat's intervention. As she objected to his remarks, Mukherjee shot back, "Please do not show your temper here, show your temper somewhere else."
Pegs 2012-13 GDP growth at 7%, says turnaround of the economy likely, rules out fiscal stimulus to revive growth prospects
"If I go there at all, I would be addressing the (US-India) CEOs meeting and also have some bilateral meetings with Treasury officials. I do not know of any other meeting. I do not know from where these things come," he told media persons in Ahmedabad when asked about reports about his plans to meet with Dow Chemicals CEO Andrew Liveris in the US.
Addressing a joint session of Parliament on Monday, President Pranab Mukhejee spelled out the Narendra Modi's government's agenda. Here are the highlights of his speech,
'Dr Shashi Tharoor by far is a much better choice.'
During the trip, Mukherjee will hold bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on civil nuclear cooperation, defence ties and partnership in higher education.
Ripun Bora in a letter wrote, "It is very surprising that you (Mukherjee) are going to attend the meeting of such an organisation which is totally opposed to the Congress's ideology of secularism, which is not only the basic foundation of the Constitution but also the social fabric of our nation."
President Pranab Mukherjee has said that the return of awards by writers and intellectuals was "evidently spontaneous" and a way of protest that has triggered a nation-wide debate on the issue of intolerance, a release issued on Thursday by a group of intellectuals has claimed.
Naveen Patnaik's guest list has been prepared with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls, reports Archis Mohan.
The slogan of "Swachh Bharat" on Friday echoed in Rashtrapati Bhavan where President Pranab Mukherjee urged students, who came to meet him on the occasion of Children's Day, to keep their schools and surroundings clean.
The party said it was 'an inexcusable slip-up', for which responsibility was being fixed and action would be taken.
The prime minister's decision is reportedly a fallout of the 'hue and cry' created during his Washington visit over the 2G spectrum issue.
Olympic medallists Sushil Kumar, Vijender Singh along with India's top cricketers including Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Anil Kumble paid tribute to former President Pranab Mukherjee, who passed away on Monday.
Given Modi's penchant for springing a surprise, the BJP nominee for next President could be anyone. The only thing certain is that it will be an RSS person, reports R Rajagopalan.
What Shekhar Gupta would have really liked to know from Pranabda: Why did Sonia prefer Dr Singh to him as PM? Why did he deny finance first, why did he accept it 5 years later, and why did he make such a mess of it? How did he force Sonia to nominate him for President and not Hamid Ansari? And how does he justify that most toxic legacy -- the Vodafone tax amendment?
Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday met President Pranab Mukherjee and leaders of political parties in an attempt to find an amicable solution to the problem of division in New Delhi Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana state.
More than merely being an economic balancing act, this was also about walking the political tightrope.
While the whole world is using good words to describe India, its main opposition leader is claiming on foreign soil that the country has been destroyed and democracy is no longer there while the judiciary and the media are in a bad shape, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday requested the Centre to follow "established practices and conventions" and refer the bifurcation issue to the state assembly for "appropriate resolution".
