Thirty-two young leaders from India and Pakistan who have just completed a three-week conflict resolution programme in Maine under the auspices of The Seeds of Peace programme, were felicitated at the State Department by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher, who hailed them as the leaders of tomorrow and the catalysts of peace in a region beset by conflict for far too long.
'Washington knows that it ultimately has to depend on the Pakistani army.'
Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday addressed senior defence commanders in New Delhi in the wake of a deteriorating security scenario in the South Asian region, especially in neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan.
'Acting, by definition, is a portrayal of a character other than oneself.' 'If every role is to be played only by someone answering to that precise description, most professional actors -- of all ethnicities and genders -- would be out of a job,' observes Indira Kannan.
Applauding India as a "responsible steward" of atomic power, the US has said it looked forward to "trying to complete" the civilian nuclear deal this year so as to bring New Delhi to the "mainstream".
India has airlifted more than 6 million COVID-19 doses to nine countries in Phase-I under its initiative termed "Vaccine Maitri".
Rice's concerns were over the bills in their current form. India believed this was a case of 'moving the goal-posts.'
Describing India as a "rising world power", US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher on Friday emphasised the need to fight the global menace of terrorism "jointly".
The nation has been put on high alert following intelligence inputs that Pakistan-based terrorists, who are against any thaw in Indo-Pak relations, may strike in a desperate bid to derail the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation meeting in Islamabad.Sources said the advisory issued by the ministry of home affairs has asked all states to maintain increased vigil and take precautionary measures to ensure security.
Suryakumar Yadav leads a sprightly bunch of 'Gen-Next' stars against a strong Australian side in a five-match T20 series, starting in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
Meetings of SAARC foreign ministers and foreign secretaries will precede the summit.
Encouraged by the possibility of talks between India and Pakistan, the Obama administration has said the two south Asian neighbours share a number of important interests -- from tackling terrorism to encouraging trade.
In the face of the Left opposition, the Bush administration has refused to set a timeline for moving the Indo-US nuclear deal forward, saying it will start work towards operationalising the agreement when New Delhi is ready.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has decided to skip the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Foreign Ministerial meeting in Colombo on Friday and in his absence his deputy E Ahamed would represent India at the meet.
The United States has said enhancing economic ties with India will create thousands of jobs for Americans, as against the general impression about the US jobs being outsourced to the South Asian country.
Amid the dispute between India and China over exploration in South China Sea, the United States on Tuesday said the laws of the seas should apply and issues should be addressed through dialogue.
The arrest of Madhuri Gupta, a diplomat working in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, on charges of spying will have an impact on the mood of the ongoing South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Thimphu because the matter is related to India's national security. Gupta, 53, a promotee officer of the ministry of external affairs, was arrested in New Delhi four days ago. Prasad refused to elaborate further on the issue. Gupta used to work as a translator.
'India will want a lot of help from the US, but it's not going to want US troops.'
Greater physical, economic and people-to-people connectivity among SAARC nations can foster growth and development in the region, he added.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday called for close cooperation between India and Bangladesh for building mutual trust to combat the threat of terrorism.
'I believe it is the greatest civilisation ever on this planet, and those strong genetic factors are bound to \n\nre-emerge,' says Andrew Krieger.
This will be External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh's first visit to Pakistan after assuming office.
Although Afghanistan will be formally inducted as the eighth member of SAARC on Tuesday, Afghan Foreign Minister Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta also attended the meet.
The scaling up of the India-US strategic partnership to the level of non-NATO ally with defence deals, sharing and transfer of defence technology, interoperability, joint collaboration and joint production of defence equipment has exacerbated Moscow's anxiety, notes Rup Narayan Das.
'Steve was the foremost strategic analyst on South Asia,' remembers Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Under the shadow of the serial blasts in India, foreign ministers of the eight-member South Asian association for Regional Cooperation met on Thursday in Colombo to set the agenda for the weekend summit aimed at boosting trade ties and combating the food and energy crisis.
The external affairs ministry was authorised on Thursday by the Union Cabinet to negotiate and finalise the text of the Convention for cooperation on criminal matters, so that it can be signed during the SAARC Summit in August, to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He has written a letter to the Pakistan PM in this regard.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India on Wednesday has granted an NOC (no objection certificate) for the registration of the newly-formed boxing federation, in addition to depute an observer for the federation's elections.
India on Tuesday said the inclusion of Afghanistan in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation would go a long way in establishing lasting peace and stability in the region.
In a phased and planned manner the countries will go for Free Trade Areas, a Customs Union, a Common Market, and a Common Economic and Monetary Union.
Musharraf attended the SAARC summit in 2002 at Kathmandu where he grabbed headlines with his famous handshake with the then Indian Prime Minister A B Vajpayee in a bid to reduce the mounting military tensions.
'I don't believe that this was a parting shot by any means. This was simply the President speaking to what makes us great democratic nations.'
According to Dawn, Modi in his message reiterated India's desire to build good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.
'Thirteen years have passed since the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai. On today's anniversary, we remember the victims, including six Americans, and the resiliency of Mumbaikars. It is long overdue for the perpetrators to face justice,' Blinken said in a tweet on Friday.
The government is working for the success of the Indo-US nuclear deal mechanism to address the concerns raised by the Left parties, Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday.
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed on Tuesday met Bangladesh Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan to discuss bilateral and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation matters.
