Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia has issued as many as 92,000 emergency exit certificates by end of the first phase of grace period for those affected by labour law 'Nitaqat', Ambassador to the Kingdom Hamid Ali Rao said on Thursday even as India was in discussion with the country to streamline the visa regime to check fraudulent contractors.
A Saudi Arabian businessman is leading bidding to watch the latest chapter in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's celebrated rivalry in global soccer with a 10 million riyals ($2.66 million) offer for a ticket to a showpiece game.
The winds of revolution are blowing all over the Arab world. A bit, slowly in Saudi Arabia, perhaps, but nevertheless. Some women did drive, defying the ban and were duly arrested. But the day is not long, may be, just another century at most, when women can actually drive, in women-only lanes, of course, says B S Prakash.
Pakistan found itself in the cross hairs of Middle East politics after Saudi Arabia included it in a 34-nation military coalition of Muslim countries to combat terrorism without getting Islamabad's consent, media reports said on Wednesday.
Seven Indians had died after terrorists allegedly owing allegiance to Al Qaeda had stormed the Al Khobar residential complex.
The flight will operate every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. While the inaugural flight AI 139 left at 6 pm (Indian time) on Thursday, the scheduled departure will be 4.50 pm (Indian time) from March 25 when the summer schedule comes into operation.
With developments like the Russia-China alliance and the rise of China in the Middle East, India's role has diminished though the India-Israel-US-UAE grouping may assume some importance in the future, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The United States has vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council on the latest Palestinian bid to be granted full membership of the United Nations, an outcome lauded by Israel but criticised by Palestine as 'unfair, immoral, and unjustified'.
'Five months after the elections in February 2024, the Pakistan army has not been able to break Imran Khan's resolve and break his political party.'
'Many countries believe that if they join BRICS, they will be seen as emerging countries and their stature will be enhanced.' 'G-20 still has common action plans while BRICS does not do that much.'
A US-raised Saudi Arabian princess freshly appointed to increase female participation in sport plans to help licence gyms and modify outdoor spaces for women in the ultra-conservative Gulf Kingdom, she said in an interview on Monday.
There have been sharp differences between the Russia-China combine and the Western countries over the text to describe the Ukraine crisis.
'But unlike Bond who killed an individual, Israel is killing a nation.'
'There's no pro-China tilt in BRICS.' 'All these countries want to be close to China, but they are all good friends of India also.'
Sheikh Hasina was on Thursday sworn in as the prime minister of Bangladesh for the fifth term, days after her Awami League won an overwhelming majority in the general elections boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies.
'It is commendable that India is able to persuade all sides.' 'It shows that India counts and finally, we are reaching a position where we can find a place in the sun at the global level.'
'Israel has received an extremely hard and rude reminder that it cannot go ahead and talk of normalisation of relations with other Arab countries without addressing the issues pertaining to Palestine.'
India's voting pattern in the United Nations with regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict is lately marked by a calibrated distancing from Israel, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Last year, Trump broke with decades of precedent by not hosting the annual Iftar dinne.
'The sooner Pakistan and India face these geopolitical realities, the better it will be for their own security and prosperity,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'By making it so public in the House of Commons, you know the reaction in India... Mr Modi is not very happy about it; you're kicking out Canadian diplomats; you suspended visa services for Canadians...'
Chastened by the Kargil conflict, Pervez Musharraf will be remembered for gradually lowering the profile of terrorism and seeking a realistically negotiated settlement to the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy, who served as India's high commissioner to Pakistan when Musharraf seized power in a coup in October 1999.
The spokesperson was responding to a question by a Pakistani journalist on the condemnation by several Muslim nations over remarks by BJP's former national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal against the Prophet and the Secretary General's response to it.
According to an official statement, Modi, at a high-level meeting, instructed relevant officials to remain vigilant, closely monitor developments in Sudan and evaluate safety of Indian nationals there.
'In India, legal advocates and faith leaders from across the country's diverse religious communities condemned a case of extreme hate speech against Muslims in the city of Haridwar, calling for the country to uphold its historical traditions of pluralism and tolerance'
It is the first visit to India by a senior minister of a member nation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation after the controversial remarks triggered anguish in the Arab world.
India's dream to be in the forefront of international politics has come true. India has placed itself firmly as a major player in the shaping of a new world order, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Israel needs to come terms with the new reality that they are no longer invincible or the dominant power in the West Asian region, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Considering that Qatar is a trusted ally of Washington for decades, it is expected to be a steady influence on the Taliban leadership, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Is it because they perceive India as a soft state?'
'Why not ask for a change of leadership in Qatar, Bahrain or Saudi Arabia? Is there a constitution in Saudi Arabia? Are there elections in Saudi Arabia? Why no talk of democracy in these countries?' 'America said change the leader now, but is now ignoring the feelings of the Syrian moderate majority. Is that democracy,' asks H E Dr Riad Abbas, Syrian ambassador to India, in an interview to Cleo Paskal.
'India is respected by both Israel and Palestine.' 'India can push the international community for the peace process.'
Several Muslim nations have condemned remarks by BJP's former national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal against the Prophet.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The silver lining for India's presidency is likely to be the support by almost all G20 countries to its proposal to include the African Union as a permanent member of the bloc that has emerged as perhaps the most influential multilateral forum after the United Nations.
The overwhelming feeling at the end of COP 27 was that despite decades of meetings and landmark accords, like the Paris Agreement, the world was still not doing enough to slow the climate crisis, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Beijing was caught by surprise as Kishida, who was on an official visit to New Delhi from March 19-21, entered Poland from India using a secretly chartered plane instead of the standard government aircraft, Japanese TV channel NHK reported.
Iran has offered to help India meet its energy needs by relaunching rupee-rial trade for export of oil and gas, said Iranian ambassador to India Ali Chegeni. Chegeni said if both the countries resume rupee-rial trade, bilateral trade can touch $30 billion. Iran used to be India's second largest oil supplier but New Delhi had to halt imports after the former US president Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed sanctions on its oil exports.
But it is less adventurous. It seems, at last, that in its eighth decade, Pakistan has settled into being a parliamentary democracy just like Bangladesh has and like we have always been, observes Aakar Patel.
