Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
It is important the SCO focus strongly on economic development and regional integration that leads to greater benefits for the least developed regions of member-countries, writes Sana Hashmi.
Don't be surprised if Imran invites Modi and other South Asian leaders for his swearing-in ceremony, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will hold its first in-person summit in Samarkand in Uzbekistan on Thursday after two years, shaking off Covid fears and providing a rare opportunity for all its eight heads of state to meet on the sidelines of the event to have face-to-face talks on pressing global and regional issues of common concern.
The Australian Cricket team delayed its planned departure to Bangladesh after been warned by the Australian government that there is a potential security risk from militants.
The Union Health ministry put the number of positive cases at 82, eight more since Thursday night, which includes the woman and a 76-year-old man from Karnataka who became the country's first coronavirus fatality besides 17 foreign nationals, Health Ministry officials said.
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.
'India will soon have the world's largest and youngest population -- just imagine what tomorrow's citizens of India will be able to accomplish, given the right education, training, and opportunity.'
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.
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.
'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.
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.
The Singapore Minister applauded Prime Minister Modi's effort to make India the manufacturing hub of the world.
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.
Ahead of his two-day maiden visit to Bangladesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he was looking forward to it with a great sense of "enthusiasm and delight" as the two sides readied a host of pacts to be signed including one on enhancing connectivity.
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.
"The government's position for bilateral redressal of all India-Pakistan issues in an environment free of terror and violence hasn't changed."
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is very much aligned with the foreign policy priorities of the Modi 2.0 government, says Sana Hashmi.
'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.
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.
China remains the elephant in the room and has to be tamed, which the United States alone is unable to do and therefore calls allies to come on board.
The President was apparently unaware of the Narendra Modi visa ban controversy till April. Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com has the scoop.
The sanctioned individuals and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China. They and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China, according to the statement by the Chinese foreign ministry.
'We are beginning to see that the rest of the world will not simply accept the domination of one power'
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.
India has become the 37th country to join the list of Strategic Trade Authorization-1 category, the only South Asian nation.
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
In what is seen as the first sign of China's exasperation over Russia's Ukraine war, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday raised 'questions and concerns' over the conflict in his meeting in Samarkand with Russian President Vladimir Putin who thanked Beijing for its 'balanced position' on the crisis.
The tactics deployed by Obama to bring India on board, which was the only major power in his way of the climate deal, was described by his former top personal and national security aide Benjamin Rhodes in a podcast interview.
'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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.
'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.'
'If we could break through this symbolic barrier of sanctions and a dysfunctional relationship, we could do anything.'
India provides an intrinsic and important link between the developing and the developed world, and maintains a distinct relationship with the United States and China on individual basis, says External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
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
'Both India and Pakistan are now, for the first time in history, very closely allied and connected with the US -- economically and politically.'
Purvi Patel is the first woman in America to be sentenced to prison for foeticide. Chaya Babu/Rediff.com reports on the verdict and the ripples of shock and fear it set off.
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 has maintained that there can be no talks with Pakistan unless it stops supporting terrorists.
The United States on Friday said it wants India to work for encouraging democratic reforms in Myanmar and suggested that New Delhi has already begun playing an active role in the South East Asian country.
