The conference was attended by envoys of Pakistan posted at Washington, Beijing, New Delhi, Afghanistan, UN New York, UN Geneva, Vienna, Brussels and Moscow among others.
The government on Monday slammed Congress leader Kamal Nath for his remarks that Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's decision on the issue of grant of Leader of Opposition status could be "flavoured" by BJP, saying it is "unfortunate" as the Speaker is above party lines.
The union home ministry has rejected the ministry of external affairs's proposal to grant visa-on-arrival facility to Bangladeshi nationals and visa-free entry to citizens of that country under the age of 18 and over the age of 65.
Shringla last served as India's envoy to the US. He will be serving a two-year term. In the course of a diplomatic career spanning 35 years, Shringla has held a variety of positions in New Delhi and abroad, and is considered an expert on India's neighbourhood.
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.
'Will Pakistan allow R&AW and Indian armed force officers access to roam around their strategic bases?' 'Is there any precedent anywhere in the world of such permissions being granted?'
Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, Modi said India has always prided itself as the first responder in the region - a friend in need.
The road ahead will be long and winding and much resistance can be expected from the high-flying 'hawks' in our skies. But that should not deter the policymakers from planning a road map with the 'big picture' in mind, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Maharashtra has reported 31 positive cases, Kerala 19, Uttar Pradesh 11, Delhi and Karnataka six each, Ladakh three, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Telangana two each; and Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab one case each. The total number of confirmed cases also includes 17 foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian, it said.
Holding Pakistan responsible for the violence in the valley, the J-K CM said hat if Islamabad is really concerned then it will try to help in fixing the crisis rather than fanning the flames.
Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in rivers in all the districts in Uttar Pradesh -- his karmabhoomi.
'Like Nehru, too, Modi has found dealing with Beijing more and more difficult and has adopted an increasingly assertive approach towards managing India's northern neighbour.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to have secured a rare concession from Pakistan that 'terrorism' and not the issue of Kashmir be the central theme of the India-Pakistan dialogue.
The two leaders shook hands and exchanged pleasantries at the end of the media briefing which was addressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. China is the host and chair of the SCO.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the government has asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been a few cases of local transmission so far and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.
'India showcased its ability to launch multiple Special Forces strikes simultaneously across a well defended front.' 'Through these strikes Pakistan was given a glimpse of the full range of India's military capabilities,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Senior Indian Police Service officer Archana Ramasundram was today appointed Director General of Sashastra Seema Bal, the first woman to head a paramilitary force.
The biggest success of Nawaz Sharif's visit to India is that it will lessen mistrust between the two countries, writes Amir Mateen from Islamabad.
It is the first meeting between officials of India and Pakistan to discuss the Kartarpur corridor issue, amid heightened tensions between the two nations over the Pulwama terror attack, followed by India's pre-emptive air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in Balakot and Pakistan's subsequent retaliation.
Asserting that it accords high priority for improvement of ties with India, Pakistan on Tuesday said "all branches" of its government have been given "clear policy directives" to work towards it.
'Jaitley was one of the earliest politicians to sense the changing political scenario in Delhi. He had closely watched the rise of the BJP and declining fortunes of the Congress party during the L K Advani era. But it was between 2009 and 2014 as the Leader of the Opposition that he began to read the tea leaves. 'And thus it was that he introduced Modi-Amit Shah duo to Lutyens Delhi,' says senior journalist R Rajagopalan who had known Jaitley since 1975.
How the two South Asian neighbours will interact with each other in the coming months will be decided by the two prime ministers in Washington.
"I had kept the first fruits of the Modi mango variety solely for the prime minister but I do not have a medium to send them to him."
Borrowing from Narendra Modi's phraseology, Pakistan on Tuesday said 'acche din aa rahe hain' for bilateral ties with India.
'If all goes well, Modi will visit the Maldives later this year. But two Indian concerns remain unaddressed: President Yameen's intentions about Mohammad Nasheed and China,' says Rajeev Sharma.
In his latest response to his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry's fresh invitation of August 19 for talks, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar once again emphasised on the need for earliest possible vacation of Islamabad's illegal occupation of PoK and conveyed that not just India but the larger region is aware that Pakistan is actually a "prime perpetrator" of terrorism.
In the year 2016, 8132 human trafficking cases have been reported in India.
By addressing the Indo-American audience with such visionary jargons, Modi has created an inclusive environment for people who are living outside India to contribute back home, says Sriram Balasubramanian
Hours ahead of his dinner with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned the United States against hasty withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, citing the mistakes it has committed while pulling out from Iraq.
'Modi's promise of change during the election campaign was on the domestic front, but his first year in office focused on foreign policy beyond all expectations,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'China's growing nexus with Pakistan and the two countries' unresolved territorial disputes with India continue to pose a formidable national security threat to India,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Postponed several times due to a variety of reasons, the much-delayed but the biggest South Asian Games ever begin, in Guwahati, on Friday, with hosts India expected to stamp their superiority in the regional spectacle.
India wants more business and closer engagement with ASEAN even as China's influence spreads in the region. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, who is travelling with the prime minister on his visit to Brunei, reports from Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of the tiny oil-rich country.
The kind of people Narendra Modi has chosen, the decisions he has taken and the rail and central budgets suggests that he is treading carefully in New Delhi. There is less of innovation and more of continuity, so far. He is not ready to rock the boat and start from scratch, says Sheela Bhatt.
'Look East' policy was first coined by the Narasimha Rao government in the 1990s and has been followed by the successive governments.
Thirty-four years after he traveled to space, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih that he looks forward to Gaganyan, India's first manned space mission in 2022.
'Independence Day has been India's annual general meeting. For the most part, it has been a forgettable experience of ritual observances. Not so this year... Mr Modi instead presented what I call a moral balance sheet of India,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
Once again an Indian prime minister has realised that with Pakistan and China, things will not move as he wishes.
Following her spat, 'Aunty National' Irani took to Facebook to speak out against her detractors. Here's the Facebook post in response to her critics which Rediff.com represents verbatim:
Swadeshi economist, columnist and chartered accountant S Gurumurthy speaks to Shobha Warrier about one year of Modi Sarkar.
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