Modi, who met Putin last week on the sidelines of the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan's Samarkand, had told the Russian leader that "today's era is not of war".
Reconstruction efforts after the Russia-Ukraine war will be dominated by the heft of the membership of major nations across international organisations. India is hamstrung because it does not play host to any major global institution nor does it hold positions of significant influence in the ones in which it has membership. As a result, the world's sixth largest economy is obliged to follow the rules set by most of them.
The prime minister will leave for the Indonesian city of Bali on Monday on a three-day visit to attend the summit that is expected to deliberate extensively on pressing global challenges including the Ukraine conflict and its implications.
On his maiden visit to Beijing, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which the two leaders agreed to strengthen the all-weather friendship and the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Both Russia and the USA seek New Delhi's friendship, because for both -- Russia and the USA -- India is a certain counterbalance to China.'
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state -- but China views the self-ruled island as a breakaway province. Beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve unification.
'If an 'informal meeting' with Xi Jinping materialises before the SCO summit in June, that itself could be regarded as a significant breakthrough in India-China relations,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
With Beijing having had a profound rethink on India's admission as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the tectonic plates of the geopolitics of a massive swathe of the planet stretching from the Asia-Pacific to West Asia are dramatically shifting. That grating noise in the Central Asian steppes will be heard far and wide -- as far as North America, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It is the first highest level face-to-face meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May.
'The fact that Modi and Xi exuded confidence to accelerate the negotiations for a border settlement alone underscores that the Russia-India-China triangle has become very dynamic,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India requested Pakistan to let Modi's aircraft fly over its airspace to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.
'Problems will keep recurring unless China vows to resolve all outstanding issues between the two sides,' says Sana Hashmi.
Doval's visit was 'part of regular high-level engagements between India and China', an Indian Embassy press release in Beijing said.
India says it cannot accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Jaishankar said full restoration and maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas was essential for the development of the bilateral ties.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the two sides should work for an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas as this has been an essential basis for progress in Sino-India ties.
The meeting, which lasted for nearly 50-minutes, comes in the backdrop of stiff Chinese opposition to India's entry into the NSG, which looks after critical issues relating to nuclear sector, including trade and export of nuclear technology.
The external affairs minister said the broad principle around which his position would be constructed would be about the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility along the border for the overall development of ties which has been reflected in the last 30 years of the relationship.
'Russia's interest lies in boosting Pakistan's grit and capacity to withstand US pressure,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
President Rouhani will be accorded a ceremonial reception on February 17. He will call on President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Modi.
The flawed Indian policy toward Afghanistan is missing the woods for the trees. The Modi government doesn't have a 'big picture', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's systemic dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
China said that for a long time China has been conducting activities on its side of the Line of Actual Control and they have always complied with relevant agreements.
President of the Kyrgyz Republic, who is the current Chair of the SCO, and the PM of Mauritius, who was the chief guest at this year's Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, have also been invited, the MEA said.
Unless the Taliban goofs up in a big way, which seems highly unlikely, we are looking at a regime that will be around for quite a long while and present a level of governance that the puppets of the richest and most advanced countries failed to provide, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Like China, India too should connect the dots and move ahead with a long-term perspective in Afghanistan, advises Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The MEA said there has not been any change in India's position on the LAC and the mutual redeployment as a result of the disengagement process should not be misrepresented.
During their hour-long in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conclave in Dushanbe on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also told his Chinese counterpart and State Councilor Wang Yi that any unilateral change in the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was 'not acceptable' to India and that the overall ties can only develop after full restoration of peace and tranquillity in eastern Ladakh.
China on Monday said India's membership bid in the NSG has become "more complicated" under the "new circumstances" as it again ruled out backing New Delhi's entry in the grouping, saying there should be non-discriminatory solution applicable to all non-NPT signatory countries.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
China may accord recognition to the new government in Kabul at an early opportunity, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
"When we have something to share, we will share. Discussions are ongoing," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said replying to a volley of questions on whether India and China are working on specific proposals to resolve the over six-month-long row in eastern Ladakh.
India, the world's third biggest oil consumer, meets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs through imports.
The meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek is their first interaction after Modi's re-election following the stunning victory of the BJP in the general elections last month.
The Indian Army said the soldier, a Corporal in the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA), has been identified as Wang Ya Long and he will be returned to the Chinese military at the Chushul-Moldo border point after completion of formalities.
A feature of this year's BRICS summit was economic cooperation.
India on Friday sought resolute and comprehensive global action against terror infrastructure, saying the challenge must be taken seriously as different "theatres" are getting interconnected through terror networks as well as globalisation of the "supply chain of ideology".
An MoU on sharing hydrological information of the Brahmaputra River by China to India and another pact on amendment of the protocol on phytosanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China to include non-Basmati rice were signed after the Modi-Xi talks in the eastern Chinese port city.
'The Indian version is that the two top diplomats merely exchanged pleasantries, while the Pakistani side characterised the encounter as an 'informal dialogue'.' 'The truth, as always in such piquant situations, is somewhere in between.' 'It stands to reason that ice has been broken,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Although the United States have denied confirmation, but it's apparent that Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud has been killed in a recent US drone attack in South Waziristan, Pakistan. Mehsud's death signifies tremendous implications, and was possibly a result of intelligence penetration. Explains security expert B Raman
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