While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
Times have changed, situations have changed, but the basic nature of superpower geo-politics remains the same and so also India's diplomacy -- call it non-alignment, strategic autonomy or neutrality; it all depends on the time scale, notes Rup Narayan Das.
'What did the quest for self-sufficiency buy India over a span of forty-odd years?
President of the Kyrgyz Republic, who is the current Chair of the SCO, and the PM of Mauritius, who was the chief guest at this year's Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, have also been invited, the MEA said.
There is a view that heavyweight portfolios like home, finance, defence and external affairs besides education and culture, two ministries with strong ideological hues, will be kept by the BJP, while its allies can get anywhere between five to eight cabinet berths.
A video by Khalistan supporters, dated July 2 posted on Twitter, showed the act of arson at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.
United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, while briefing reporters on the meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on the sidelines of the 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the issue of direct and complete access to Pakistani American and Lashkar operative David Coleman had not come up at all at these talks.
Christine Fair, who infuriated New Delhi when she alleged that India was meddling in Balochistan, has been offered the India portfolio in the Obama administration.
The growing Indian-American community will play a major role in strengthening ties between India and the United States, with the diaspora making significant contributions in fields such as technology, services and economy, a senior US State Department official has said.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan is not going anywhere. That being the case, why is the hesitation to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban? asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Pakistan's 'freedom struggle' has begun again with the ouster of his government due to a 'foreign conspiracy', former prime minister Imran Khan said on Sunday in his first comments since his unceremonious removal hours earlier.
'Tensions and dialogue are likely to go hand-in-hand with China.' 'The goal should be to cultivate power so that one can negotiate from a position of strength.'
The growing Indian-American community will play a major role in strengthening ties between India and the US, with the diaspora making significant contributions in fields such as technology, services and economy, a senior US State Department official has said.
Blinken is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi late on July 27. He is scheduled to attend a full slate of engagements on July 28. During his stay in the country, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
If smart enough, India should befriend China and respect Pakistan, preventing disputes from spilling over, the article said.
Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal will travel to Bangalore and New Delhi from March 4 to 6
United States President Barack Obama has nominated Nisha Desai Biswal as the new assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs.
The Indian elections in no way precluded the United States from working jointly with India to try to alleviate the lot of the affected Tamil civilians caught up in the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan troops, the outgoing point man on South Asia for the Obama Administration has said.
United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O Blake, the Obama administration's point man for the subcontinent, still can't get over the Bharatiya Janata Party's opposition to the US-India civilian nuclear deal, despite the fact that it initiated and championed this accord during the time it was in power.
Boucher, who is the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, was asked by rediff.com not to dodge the question but to clearly articulate which one was binding on Indiathe Hyde Act or the 123 agreement. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had recently assured the Congress that for the nuclear deal to be consummated, it has to be consistent with the Hyde Act.
China's assistance to build new nuclear plants in Pakistan are "inconsistent" with its commitments to Nuclear Suppliers Group, a top United States official has said.
'Bilateral trade has suffered seriously because of the growing unrest.' 'There is a standstill on both sides amid the curfew.'
The United States Administration believes that the involvement of India and neighbouring countries in the security component of the US-led war on terror in Afghanistan will complicate the situation, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert O Blake has said.
Canadian minister of state for foreign affairs, Peter Kent discusses Canada and India with rediff.com's Ajit Jain
India is one of the key countries that will shape the 21st century, believes Robert D Blake, assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs in the Barack Obama administration.Keynoting a conference titled 'Natural allies? US-Indian Relations in the Obama Era', organised by the Washington-based think tank American Enterprise Institute on Monday, Blake stressed that India's importance to the United States has not diminished.
Moon Jae-in's visit will play a crucial role in exploring complementarities between India's Act East policy and South Korea's New Southern policy, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
'The diplomat's arrest has led to a major diplomatic spat, the likes of which I have not seen in my nearly three decades of covering the US-India relationship, says Aziz Haniffa. 'The knee-jerk reaction by the powers-that-be in Delhi was myopic to say the least.'
A top US official said Pakistan has to "exercise effective control over all its territory" so that it is not used by terrorists.
The meeting comes as India continues its attempts to isolate Pakistan in the South Asian region after the attack on its army camp in Uri.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Parliament on December 14 on the recent developments in India-Pakistan relations.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries will meet in Kathmandu on Wednesday with an aim to revitalise the regional grouping and make it a major platform to fuel economic growth through liberalised trade and combat challenges of terrorism and climate change effectively.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher announced the assistance after holding talks with Musharraf.
The Bush administration apparently has no problem with the new Pakistani government's peace deal with militant groups in that country's North West Frontier Province, including Waziristan that have been sympathetic and allied with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It has even given the tentative agreement its cautious blessings.
Is Chandrababu Naidu being in jail an opportunity? How will the TDP capitalise on it? Or will it implode with nothing more than a sigh?
'Washington knows that it ultimately has to depend on the Pakistani army.'
India on Thursday pitched for unleashing the "collective strength" of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj underlined the need for a South Asian Economic Union with greater connectivity and forward movement on pending agreements on rail and motor vehicles.
