Departing from the usual protocol, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife will receive Japanese Emperor Akihito and his spouse Empress Michiko who will arrive in New Delhi on Saturday on a six-day visit, their first to any South Asian country after being enthroned in 1990.
'The curtain is coming down on India's leadership role as a regional power even before the drama of the Asian Century truly began,' warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The increase in home-grown radicalised Islamic groups and the rise of Islamic State and Al Qaeda in Bangladesh should be a matter of worry for India, which shares a 4,100 km border with its eastern neighbour, says Rajeev Sharma.
Key to China's decision regarding Taiwan will be its leadership's assessment whether the US will come to Taiwan's defence, explains Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
'India has ramped up infrastructure on its side, so the Chinese military is finding Indian soldiers in locations where they are not used to seeing an Indian footprint,' points out Harsh V Pant.
'We didn't expect the film to be recognised at this level; we focused on making an honest and simple film.' 'We didn't have any expectations even like being appreciated at festivals.'
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.
'We are beginning to see that the rest of the world will not simply accept the domination of one power'
He underlined that Lok Sabha election results in India show that the Modi government kept alive and strengthened the 'expectation of change' in the country.
Pakistan and Israel will define the relationship between the Modi government and the Middle East. While the region is concerned that India-Pakistan relations may become prickly in the Modi regime, it is also worried that the BJP government will give greater weightage to its ties with Israel.
All people deserve to have a voice in their government and be treated with respect no matter who they are, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday while noting that Indians and Americans believe in human dignity, in equality of opportunity, the rule of law, fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion and belief.
A series of flip-flop on policies and a non-existent charging infrastructure are the biggest challenge in achieving the target of selling 6-7 million hybrid and electric vehicles by 2020.
'We should not have waited for the political crisis in Nepal to erupt before being galvanised into action,' says Shyam Saran. 'We should have seen what was coming and not accepted assurances from the leaders of the political parties at their face value.'
My candidate for the best general of the last century hailed from a little, poor colonised Asian nation whose impact on world affairs rarely amounted to much, notes Shankar Acharya.
Determined to keep the Olympic dream alive despite the long-standing administrative mess, a spirited Indian boxing team, featuring the likes of M C Mary Kom and Shiva Thapa, will take off on Monday night for the Asian Qualifiers in Qian'an City, China. Ten men and three women form the 13-strong team which will be in action from March 25. In the men's competition, only the top three boxers in each weight category will make the Olympic cut with the third spot decided via a box-off between the two bronze-medallists. In the women's draw, only the gold and silver medal winners will qualify for Rio de Janeiro. In the absence of a recognised federation, the Indians will once again compete under the flag of the International Boxing Association (AIBA). "It is going to be a very tough tournament because not many from the Asian region qualified during last year's World Championships. I am expecting around 30 countries and more than 250 boxers to be there at this event," national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu told PTI ahead of the team's departure.
The Emirati organisers of this year's Indian Premier League are hopeful of at least some fan presence in the stands during the matches, a top official said. The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) is finalising preparations to host the world's richest Twenty20 league from September 19 after India's struggle to contain the COVID-19 surge prompted its relocation.
Xi arrived at the Nyingchi Mainling Airport on Wednesday and was warmly welcomed by local people and officials of various ethnic groups, Xinhua news agency reported.
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.
'This includes increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and the detention of human rights activists and journalists'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Pakistan to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit likely to be held in September 2016.
India on Friday assured support to its nationals that law-abiding people have nothing to fear after authorities here arrested 31 Indians for alleged rioting in Singapore's worst outbreak of violence in over 40 years.
Raj Mukherji, a rising young Indian-American political figure who won an election to the New Jersey state legislature, wants to see more people from the community getting involved in the United States government.
Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi's invite to the heads of governments of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation-member countries has the stamp of approval of not only President Pranab Mukherjee but also the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
'Pleasure to meet FM Sergey Lavrov, this time in person. Excellent talks that reflect our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. Value our exchanges on the international situation,' Jaishankar tweeted after talks with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the SCO meeting.
The United States, Blinken said, is committed to looking at everything done from day one through the present and draw lessons from it.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is very much aligned with the foreign policy priorities of the Modi 2.0 government, says Sana Hashmi.
One of cricket's greatest players passed into the ages on Monday. Rediff.com salutes the legend.
The US side had pushed for removal of price caps on medical equipment such as coronary stents and a commitment by India to reduce trade imbalance
The prime minister said India has always played a constructive role in the world and that Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence can counter extremism and radicalisation.
'With Prime Minister Modi's electoral victory, President Obama very quickly reached out, and we were off to the races.' 'We've seen two highly successful leader-level engagements in the past five months. We've really turned things towards a new beginning -- a new energy, a new momentum...'
Twenty-four Indians were on Tuesday charged in a Singapore court in connection with the country's worst outbreak of violence in over 40 years following the death of a compatriot in a road accident.
"The government's position for bilateral redressal of all India-Pakistan issues in an environment free of terror and violence hasn't changed."
While the main building of the National Archives will remain intact, its annexe will be demolished and a new building will be constructed, officials said.
Many world leaders on Monday condoled the death of former president Pranab Mukherjee, saying they have lost a true friend who made immense contributions to the strengthening of India's relations with their countries.
India needs sustained GDP growth of 9-10 percent - Jaitley
India wants good relations with Pakistan but the neighbouring country must stop terror activities directed against it as talks will get subdued under the din of bomb blasts, Sushma Swaraj said after taking charge as External Affairs Minister on Wednesday.
Leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan have also decided not to attend the summit, which now has to be cancelled as per the SAARC charter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initial weeks in office and the composition of his national security team give a sense of his government's foreign policy and national security priorities, says Harsh V Pant
'Any 'de-escalation' that brings down tensions will deprive the BJP of a plank with seamless possibilities to project PM Modi as the 'Iron prime minister' and hype up jingoism in the upcoming election campaign,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
This is the sixth time in over two weeks that the Indian Deputy high commissioner has been summoned to the FO in Islamabad.
