US Vice President J D Vance and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz are scheduled to visit India on April 21, reflecting Washington's focus on strengthening its relationship with India amidst global concerns over President Donald Trump's tariff policy. Vance's visit is likely to be more of a private trip, while Waltz's visit will be a business trip with discussions on security in the Indo-Pacific region, high technology, critical minerals, and export controls. Both are expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi before his trip to Saudi Arabia. The visits come in the wake of Trump's recent pause on tariffs on all countries except China, following widespread economic concerns.
The external affairs minister also recalled how Pandit Nehru was hesitant in taking assistance from the United States following the 1962 war with China as he was unsure how it would be seen.
The Indian government briefed an all-party meeting on Thursday on the success of "Operation Sindoor", the retaliatory airstrikes against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. Top government functionaries and opposition leaders met for a second time in a fortnight amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan. The meeting was chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by several prominent leaders from various political parties. The government highlighted the strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke.
The CCS meet was held at the prime minister's Lok Kalyan Marg residence, a day after he held a meeting with the top military brass and accorded operational freedom to the armed forces on the "mode, targets and timing" of India's response to the April 22 attack that killed 26 people.
The external affairs minister said the SAARC is in trouble as one of its members has been supporting terrorism.
Jaishankar said he was confident that Prime Minister Modi and President Putin will meet for an annual summit next year.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday expressed concern over the vandalism of a Hindu temple with anti-India graffiti in the United States, and said extremists and separatist forces outside India should not get such space.
'Although we are facing constraints related to lending and resource mobilisation, the government is aware of these.'
Addressing a special 'Youm-e-Tashakur' event at the Pakistan Monument in Islamabad, Shehbaz said that India and Pakistan fought three wars and got nothing.
Hitting out at Canada, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said it is necessary to call out things like violence, threats and intimidation against Indian diplomats and missions and wondered if this had happened to any other country would the world have taken it with equanimity.
Jaishankar said the US ambassador will say what he feels is the thinking or position of his government.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi told US Vice President JD Vance on May 9 that Indian response will be "more forceful, stronger, devastating" in response to Pakistani actions, the sources said.
India's precision strikes using an array of weapon systems and missiles on eight key installations ranging from air defence systems to radar sites and command centres of the Pakistani military forced Islamabad to urge New Delhi to end the hostilities, the sources said.
India on Tuesday told the UN General Assembly that the days when a few nations set the agenda and expected others to fall in line are over, underlining that its presidency of the G20 sought to focus on key concerns of the many, not just the narrow interests of a few.
India succeeded in busting the Pakistani narrative on Operation Sindoor, particularly among the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member nations, where Islamabad sought succour after carrying out terror activities across the border, Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde said.
Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy said the country wanted to know whether any aircraft were downed during the conflict, especially in the wake of the CDS' "admission".
The death toll from a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar has risen to more than 1,000, as rescue workers continue to recover bodies from the ruins of collapsed buildings.
The Congress leaders maintained that Indian defence forces had attained complete superiority and dominance over Pakistan before the sudden "ceasefire" was announced by US President Donald Trump.
The Finance Ministry's annual report has revealed that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded seven projects worth USD 750 million in India during the 2023-24 fiscal year. The projects, implemented in partnership with the Indian government, cover areas like agriculture and food security, water and sanitation, renewable energy, disaster management, health, sustainable forests, and climate adaptation. This disclosure comes amidst controversy over USAID's alleged role in influencing Indian elections, with claims that the agency allocated USD 21 million to India for 'voter turnout'. However, the report clarifies that no funds were dedicated to enhancing voter turnout.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday took a critical view of some of the key decisions made by the Jawaharlal Nehru government, and said one needs to get out of this "cult worship" that the period from 1946 onwards was "great years" and the country did "splendidly".
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
The Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, will visit India on April 8-9, during which he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and participate in a business roundtable seeking to bolster India-United Arab Emirates ties.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, has urged President Donald Trump to help ease tensions with India, highlighting the Kashmir issue as a "flash point" in nuclear terms. He believes that the US should take a more comprehensive and sustained approach to address the situation rather than just immediate de-escalatory measures.
He may have spent his entire adult life in diplomacy, but doctorate in nuclear physics Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's face betrays both fusion and fission of his moods.
In a move sending a strong signal to China, foreign ministers from Quad countries -- India, Australia, Japan and the United States -- in a joint statement on Tuesday strongly opposed any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion.
Relations between India and China have been in an 'abnormal state' since the 2020 Galwan clash and it is a 'possibly longer than medium-term issue', External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in New York.
The announcement on expansion of CPEC was made following a meeting among Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and Afghanistan's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Beijing, according to a Pakistani readout.
The latest annual report of the finance ministry has disclosed that the agency funded seven projects worth USD 750 million in 2023-24.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and firmed up the responses to the terror attack.
India has secured international support in its fight against terrorism, with Russia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates expressing solidarity and a commitment to working together to combat the threat. This follows a recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, India, which claimed 26 lives. Multi-party parliamentary delegations from India briefed the leaderships of these countries on Operation Sindoor, India's response to the attack, and discussed ways to enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism and combating radicalism. These developments highlight the growing global consensus against terrorism and the importance of international collaboration to address this shared challenge.
With United States President Donald Trump reiterating his claims of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the Congress on Wednesday asked what do the 'typically loquacious' Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have to say about this revelation and did they 'mortgage' India's security interests in the face of US 'pressure'.
The sources said Misri reiterated the government's stand that the decision to stop military actions was taken at a bilateral level, as some opposition members questioned US President Donald Trump's repeated assertions about his administration's role in stopping the conflict.
'It is high time that the 'war on terror' is removed from our diplomatic toolbox.' 'Certainly, our parliamentarians have no role in it,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
An Indian Air Force C-130 J aircraft carrying 15 tonnes of relief material, including tents, blankets, sleeping bags, food packets, hygiene kits, generators, and essential medicines, landed in Yangon on Saturday, March 29, 2025.
He went on to say that even though this has not been discussed, he is going to 'increase trade substantially with both of these great Nations.'
Jaishankar described the October 7 strikes on Israeli cities by Hamas as "terrorism" but at the same time asserted India's long-standing support for a negotiated two-state solution to the Palestine issue.
There is a growing sentiment in the world and the global South in a way embodies it. But there's also political resistance, he said.
US Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha, the first Indian-American Second Lady, are set to visit India early next week. Vance will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit. The visit comes amid global concerns over President Donald Trump's policy on tariffs. Vance's visit is likely to be more of a private trip though it will have official components.
'Fears in Washington began to intensify when it was realised that subsequent Pakistani and Indian attacks on major military facilities -- which were significant in terms of geographic scope and intensity -- could rapidly take both sides to where neither actually wanted to go.' 'The US objective was to stop the fighting as soon as possible. Everything else was secondary.'
Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, the US has called on both countries "not to escalate" the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to speak with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India as early as today or tomorrow. The US State Department said Washington is reaching out to both India and Pakistan "regarding the Kashmir situation" and telling them "not to escalate the situation."
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