A deft hand on India-China relations, Bambawale earlier handled the China desk at the MEA.
The US spent $1.5 million a day since 2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. After hundreds of airstrikes failed to curtail the Taliban's $200-million-a-year opium trade, the US military quietly ended the campaign when the Trump administration officials engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban, notes Atanu Biswas.
Robin Raphel, a former US diplomat now under a counter intelligence investigation, has spent much of her professional life dealing with Pakistan and defending it against criticism as she doled out billions in aid to the "frenemy".
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.
India slammed China for helping Pakistan in trying to raise the Kashmir issue at the UNSC, saying Beijing should seriously reflect on the global consensus. The latest attempt failed as other countries of the 15-member council felt Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
The Taliban had promised an 'inclusive' government that represents Afghanistan's complex ethnic makeup, but there is no Hazara member in the cabinet.
"The part (of J&K) which is with Pakistan (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and this side to India. This won't change. Let them fight how many wars they want to. This won't change," Abdullah said.
'For so long as the rulers of Pakistan remain committed to confronting and vanquishing India, they will sustain delusions, breed terrorists, and export them.'
Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York during which he raised the Kashmir issue.
The attempt failed as other member countries felt Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
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 US on Thursday raised concerns over India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill and draft non-personal data governance framework, claiming these could potentially threaten innovation and economic growth. In its latest 'Special 301' Report, the US Trade Representative (USTR) kept India on the priority watch list, maintaining the country remains one of the world's most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP). In December 2021, a joint parliamentary committee released a report recommending changes to the PDP Bill, 2019, that could undermine important IP protections in India.
So far, almost every positive development in terms of the bilateral ties has been overtaken by innate hostility that is often driven by popular sentiments.
For the first time, India will host the annual meeting of the council of heads of government of the SCO. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said all eight member countries, four observers and dialogue partners of the grouping will be invited for the meeting.
China said the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army were conducting 'normal patrols' on the Chinese side of the LAC.
She said the prime minister who resolves the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and ends bloodshed in the state will have his name written in "golden letters" in the history.
'We strongly object to raising the internal issue of India here and we also reject the politicisation of this forum'
'Pakistan's capacity to carry a normal relationship with India doesn't exist.' 'The relationship with Pakistan is less important than several others.'
The New York State Assembly has passed a resolution calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to declare February 5 as Kashmir American Day, drawing a sharp reaction from India which noted with 'concern' attempts by 'vested interests' to misrepresent Jammu and Kashmir's rich cultural and social mosaic to divide the people.
Poland, which currently holds the council's rotating presidency, has listed the matter for discussion at 10 am on Friday, the diplomats were quoted as saying.
Pakistan has been using various UN fora to raise the issue of Jammu and Kashmir ever since India passed the law in Parliament to strip the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir of its special status under the constitution and turn the state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh last year in August.
The Delhi high court on Monday refused to stay the Centre's order dismissing Satish Chandra Verma, a senior IPS officer who had assisted the CBI in its probe in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, a month before his scheduled retirement.
The resolution, drafted by France and Tunisia, 'demands a general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations on its agenda and supports the efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General and his Special Representatives and Special Envoys'.
I tried to reason in my mind that wouldn't beating Pakistan again and again -- in the league matches and in the knockouts if they made it -- be a better tribute to our martyred soldiers? A revealing excerpt from Vinod Rai's Not Just A Nightwatchman: My Innings In The BCCI.
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.
The heat wave has caused havoc and triggered an emergency situation in major hospitals of the province.
'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.
'China has refused to act upon the threat posed by Pakistan using terrorism as an instrument of its foreign policy.' says Rajeev Sharma.
Communal violence is like a lava erupting from a volcano which scars the ground it touches, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court on Wednesday while arguing for Zakia Jafri who has challenged the SIT's clean chit to 64 persons including Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister during the 2002 riots there.
A federal counter intelligence probe against former top American diplomat Robin Raphel, who also lobbied for Pakistan post retirement, would not impact America's ties with South Asian countries, a US official has said.
India's Right-wing has sought to own our democracy by making itself appear the stuff of majority, and sometimes, a national ethos older than the Constitution on which our democracy is based, argues Shyam G Menon.
'The Indian government wakes up after the fact when it can do nothing, or rather lacks the will to prosecute military actions to reverse these adverse PLA-driven developments.'
Tulsidas Balaram, who passed into the ages last week, was a member of the Indian football team which reached the semis at the Olympics and won an Asian Games gold medal.
The European Parliament has urged India and Pakistan to resume dialogue in pursuit of a peaceful solution in Kashmir, while urging for 'normalcy' in the region.
'A conventional war is not in fashion today and not seen as being able to deliver the objective.' 'Perhaps surgical strikes that are deeper, this time not on Pakistan's terrorist facilities, but on Pakistan army facilities.' 'The nation has to be prepared for losses.' 'War is not something that can be pussyfooted around.' 'If we go for limited number of posts in Kashmir, these are very difficult posts to capture and very difficult operations.' 'Be prepared for 200 to 300 killed.'
The US has all along interfered in India-China issues. The objective is clear: Bring the Sino-Indian standoff to a flashpoint that would compel Modi government to take shelter under an American umbrella, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
They also asked Pak to take 'demonstrable action' against terrorist groups within its territory.
Besides the border question, India and China discussed issues related to counterterrorism including Beijing's blocking of India's bid in the United Nations to ban Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said on Thursday.
'The meeting marks the first tentative step in the effort to understand whether the two largest Asian nations can co-exist peacefully while realising their aspirations.' 'Caution and watchful wariness will dominate the effort of both sides,' says Jayadeva Ranade, former RA&W officer and China expert.
The 193-member general assembly voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to condemn Russia's "illegal so-called referendums in regions within the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine and the attempted illegal annexation of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, following the organisation of the above-mentioned referendums".
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