Yuli Vorontsov will be mourned in India by many, who knew him as a sophisticated and friendly diplomat.
Pak-US ties are sliding down the hill due to difference over handling of peace issue in Afghanistan and US' growing defence tie with India.
There is growing acceptance of the idea in the international community that engaging the Taliban government is a far better approach than ostracising it, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Americans, after 18 years of war in Afghanistan, have got tired and they want to withdraw for their domestic reasons'
Specially designated global terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, who carries a reward of $10 million US bounty on his head, is the acting interior minister while his uncle -- Khalil Haqqani -- has been named as acting minister for refugees.
The officials said the freed Taliban leaders include Sheikh Abdur Rahim and Mawlawi Abdur Rashid, who had served as the insurgent group's governors of Kunar and Nimroz provinces respectively during the Taliban administration before it was deposed by the US-led forces in 2001.
Khan had said in January 2018 that meeting Trump would be a 'bitter pill' to swallow.
China's Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and Acting Minister of Refugee Affairs of the Afghan caretaker government Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani attended the handover ceremony at the airport.
'We had two camps prior to the IPL for a week each which really helped us'
Pakistan is once again becoming a frontline State in big-power rivalry. But this time around, Pakistan stands to gain out of its geography, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sachin scored 34,357 runs across all formats. No batsman to date has breached the 30K mark, let alone come near to breaking Sachin's record.
The statement comes Days after Trump sought Imran Khan's help in the Afghan peace process.
"China and the Afghan Taliban have unimpeded and effective communication and consultation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been allocated a total of Rs 18,050 crore in the Union Budget for 2023-24 which is an increase of around 4.64 per cent over last year's allocation of Rs 17,250 crore.
'Afghan people will not accept a governing structure that excludes women and minorities'
'The US-India relationship is in a different league altogether,' Obama administration officials tell Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
In an unusual personal intervention in a foreign election, United States President Barack Obama has asked the two presidential candidates in Afghanistan's disputed polls to maintain calm and threatened to cut-off American aid if 'extra-constitutional' steps are taken.
"But the completion by August 31 depends on the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport for those who were transporting out and no disruptions to our operations," US President Joe Biden said.
'India's treatment to a member of parliament of Afghanistan was not good and I am very upset about this action.'
Keeping the contents of the BBC documentary aside, Rishi Sunak's response needs to be viewed in the backdrop of Britain's historically close relations with Pakistan, argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Seventy two years ago, a newly independent India ventured to hold the the first Asian Games in Delhi with meager resources.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in India Thursday evening in the highest-level visit between the two countries after the ties came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh standoff nearly two years ago.
India and five Central Asian countries on Thursday decided to establish a joint working group on Afghanistan at the senior officials' level, ministry of external affairs secretary (West) Reenat Sandhu said.
"We are in talks with the Taliban on a daily basis through both political and security channels. I'm not going to get into the details of those discussions here, to protect those discussions, which are covering a wide range of issues," Sullivan told reporters at a White House news conference.
Australia's World Cup winning captain Michael Clarke feels the Indian skipper should fly back from Surrey to play the historic one-off Test in Bengaluru.
After 18 years of war, the US and the Taliban signed the peace deal in Doha on Saturday to facilitate intra-Afghan dialogue in Oslo this month and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan in 14 months.
The Western powers appear to regard Delhi as the most logical destination in the region in these extraordinary times -- as a counterpoint to the ascendance of political Islam and a rising red star over Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Nine Indian reporters were among 110 journalists killed around the world in 2015, a media watchdog group said, dubbing India as "Asia's deadliest country" for mediapersons.
The ulema have a leading role in educating the people on the original tolerant and moderate principles of Islam and countering extremism with progressive ideas and thought, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said Tuesday.
The US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins is stepping down, Secretary of State John Kerry today said amid a political crisis in the war-torn country.
The maiden bilateral meeting between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday will further strengthen the US-India strategic ties and allow the leaders to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and how the two countries can work together to fight terrorism, a senior White House official has said.
Addressing the 76th UNGA session in New York, Modi called for ensuring that no country 'tries to take advantage of the delicate situation in Afghanistan and use it for its own selfish interests'.
'If push comes to shove, Pakistan does have the capability to make it difficult for the US and NATO forces to make even a withdrawal of troops out of Afghanistan in orderly fashion,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"India has been deeply concerned over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Ukraine and the ensuing humanitarian crisis," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said.
The last meeting of the 2+2 was held in New Delhi and the next meeting is to be hosted by the US in Washington, DC.
A day after the National Investigation Agency filed a chargesheet against Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar in the Pathankot attack, India took on Pakistan at the United Nations and called on the hostile neighbour to leave behind its ways of terrorism, with the warning saying that, "what you sow will bear fruit".
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.
Wang arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening in the highest-level visit between the two countries after the ties came under severe strain following the military standoff in eastern Ladakh that began nearly two years ago.
All things taken into consideration, the Taliban statement on Kashmir portends trouble ahead. The Taliban is notorious for doublespeak and when it says there is no link between the Kashmir issue and the Afghan settlement, the opposite must be taken into account as well, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Delhi-Washington stalemate can end only if India's concern over trans-border terrorism is addressed.' 'The Indian security establishment expects a spike in terrorist attacks in the months ahead.' 'And there is every likelihood that India may retaliate against Pakistan at some point,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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