'Taranjit has the ideal temperament to deal with the Americans who understand firmness and appreciate flexibility.' 'He can hold his ground with a cheerful face and still make it clear that India and the US are partners, rivals,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
A Muslim funeral for Muhammad Ali on Thursday drew thousands of admirers to the boxer's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where mourners prayed over the body of a man who battled in the ring and sought peace outside it. An estimated 14,000 people, representing many races and creeds, attended the jenazah, or "funeral" in Arabic, where he was repeatedly feted as "the people's champion." Ali, a three-time heavyweight champion known for his showmanship, political activism and devotion to humanitarian causes, died on Friday of septic shock in an Arizona hospital. He was 74.
As we wave goodbye to 2019, we look back at the highlights of the year, in the numbers that made it memorable.
'I made it known through diplomatic channels that I was unhappy.' 'So, he called me and tried to explain, but I said this is something that doesn't happen between friends.'
'It is beyond belief that Obama failed to sense the disconnect that had developed between the ruling elites and the 'masses' in America, something that Trump, albeit a novice in electoral politics, spotted almost instinctively,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Belgian-born Rich, whose trading group eventually became the global commodities powerhouse Glencore Xstrata, died in hospital from a stroke.
"It is a reflection of the bipartisan support in the US to the relationship with India. It is also a reflection of the value people attach to this relationship," Singh said.
'We have never before seen an Indian prime minister's visit to the United States so heavily business-oriented and so packed with meetings with the US business community.' Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC.
Trump's move came on Thursday a day after the House Speaker urged him to reschedule his annual State of the Union address slated for January 29, citing security concerns triggered by the shutdown that has entered its 27th day.
'The setback for Trump carries a message not only for him, but for the far right in general.'
'The facts have become unimportant and useless.' 'What is important is the constantly shouting of patriotism even as one undermines the interests of the people.' 'And the abusing of rivals as being traitors,' says Aakar Patel.
Bush's remains will lie in state in the US Capitol Rotunda till Wednesday, when he will be honoured with state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.
Donald Trump, on the verge of becoming the third United States president to be impeached, has attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and accused the Democrats of an "unprecedented and unconstitutional" abuse of power as he described himself as a victim of an "illegal, partisan attempted coup."
In George Fernandes's passing, many will mourn him -- even those who disagreed vehemently with him, writes Aditi Phadnis.
Last year, Trump broke with decades of precedent by not hosting the annual Iftar dinne.
Trump is the first nominee of a major party in over a century to have no experience whatsoever of any political, administrative or military office.
If November 9 ushers in a Hillary Clinton presidency, you can bet your last dollar that Huma Abedin will be back at POTUS' side.
Even Trump's own party chief, Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, said this was unacceptable.
'The Indian side has realised that not talking to Pakistan has not served any useful purpose.'
US election results may not reverse Indian markets' bearish trend, says Devangshu Datta
Naresh Chandra was most certainly among the greatest patriots two generations of Indian strategists have seen.
Vajpayee had always felt that India must act with conviction and panache. He decided that, irrespective of the attendant risks, he would undertake what many felt was a precarious course. A fascinating excerpt from N K Singh's Portraits Of Power: Half A Century Of Being At Ringside on Atalji's 96th birthday, December 25.
'Every single American act to weaken Syrian forces would only tilt the military balance in favour of ISIS whom Trump pledges to vanquish from the face of the earth,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
During Vajpayee's tenure, he was there as an indispensable insider, witness to every action that had an impact on history: Pokhran-II (nuclear tests in 1998), the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indo-Pak Agra Summit in 2001, intense engagement with the United States on nuclear issues besides the Kandahar hijack.
Summers dogged by controversies over past views
'America's withdrawal from Vietnam was an inspiring moment for all of us. We believed that it was a glorious victory of ideology and spirit and as historic as the defeat of the Nazis exactly 30 years ago,' remembers Kumar Ketkar 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War.
'Biden's promise of returning to 'normalcy' after Trump appears to mean that the same old politicians, who are responsible for the 'endless wars' in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, are being brought out of the woodwork after four years,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
With a decelerating economy that weakens India's hands on geopolitical issues, it will be interesting to know which way this trip will go.
'There are millions of Americans who are doing their best to undo the damage that he (Trump) is doing to the world,' Michael Moore tells Indira Kannan in Toronto.
All this caucus talk and the US elections itself has left you confused, don't worry, we're here to help.
Bunker Roy, founder of the Barefoot College at Tilonia in Rajasthan, was awarded the Clinton Global Citizen Award at a ceremony in New York on September 25.
Trump's tweet came a day after he reluctantly signed into law a bill imposing tough sanctions against Moscow under mounting domestic pressure.
At no other time has a single meeting of the leaders of two democracies been so critical and hazardous.
'Another rejection of mediation between India and Pakistan will leave Mr Trump disappointed.' 'In that case, he is likely to point out the war-like situation on the border and press for direct talks which have been stalled on account of continuing terrorism from Pakistan,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Many of the stories, the pictures going out of India worldwide lately with these provocative processions, taunting of Muslims, bulldozers targeting mostly their properties, the sweeping 'othering' of a community of 200 million are painting the front pages and TV screens in the democratic world. That is where most of the friends we covet lie. Soon enough, these will also make our vital friends among the Muslim nations, from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, uneasy. The best time for course correction is now, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Mr Trump is too capricious to be trusted,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'Whatever the two countries are doing these days, on the diplomatic front and on their borders, that hostility is not sustainable.' 'Today's world doesn't approve it.'
'Seen in the context of world turmoil in face of the pandemic and the Chinese 'miracle' of being the only country in the world to control it, this is not merely a 'Sputnik' moment, but a 'Sputnik Plus' moment,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Did Prime Minister Modi receive a different kind of reception at the Biden White House on Friday than he has has been used to at the American president's home?
India is observing the sixteenth anniversary of the Kargil War this week.
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