'Those who worked with him or came to know him rated him as one of our best, with a sharp intellect, unfailing courtesy and ready wit.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan fondly remembers Ambassador B S Prakash, wonderful human being, unusual diplomat and long-time Rediff.com columnist, who passed away into the ages on Monday, October 4, 2021.
'There is no parallel in UN history of an individual terrorist being bailed out by a world power,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The GST rate is 5 per cent and 12 per cent on economy and business class tickets, respectively
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United States President Barack Obama will meet in Washington on Thursday to chart a course for "future cooperation" in areas such as civil nuclear technology, trade, investment, defence and counter-terrorism, amid perceptions that bilateral strategic ties have plateaued.
'There is far more goodwill towards India from across the board in Afghanistan'
Diplomatic sources in Islamabad said that Gen Bajwa was accompanied by the Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.
On International Women's Day, hundreds of women took to streets while raising slogans of "kisan ekta" (farmer unity) and some broke into nonchalant rhythmic steps of 'bhangra'.
"Democratisation of the United Nations must be a fundamental plank of our strategic partnership," Singh told leaders from over 100 countries in Jakarta attending the Asia Africa Summit and the Golden Jubilee of the Bandung Conference.
China is going to be an indispensable partner in Russia's ongoing crisis with the US, while on its part, China cannot remain indifferent if Russia gets crushed by the US, lest it loses 'strategic depth', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
To believe that the key job of his senior ministers is to ensure that his image be kept intact whatever be the outcome of his policies is to expect too much even of someone as ambitious as Narendra Modi, asserts Rashme Sehgal.
'Now, no one can stop me from making music till the day I die.'
Trump is all set to meet Kim by May.
Obama and Modi would primarily focus on climate change but will also review progress in bilateral relationship and discussion on regional and global issues including terrorism.
With regard to where relations between New Delhi and Beijing stand, the Union minister said that he does not have a definite answer to offer at "this moment".
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will inspire terrorists and trigger an "explosion" of extremism and security challenges for the world, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned on Thursday.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon On Tuesday asked India to take a leadership role in reaching a "meaningful" climate change pact in Paris later this year.
ndia has become the world's second largest market of asbestos as the government backed by powerful corporate lobby turns a blind eye to diseases related to the use of the hazardous chemical.
"A permanent Security Council seat in the UN for India means a major injustice, which has no moral ground. How will such a country (India) be made a permanent member, when it has not honoured the body and rejected its resolutions on Kashmir," Chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani said.
India expressed "outrage" over Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's imminent release.
The PM will make a six-day visit to the United States from September 21 to 27 to attend various events including the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York and a diaspora event in Houston in Texas in which US President Donald Trump is also participating.
Less than two months before the election, United States President Donald Trump seems to have something to celebrate -- a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The accord covers all crucial areas.
Irani said urgent steps are needed to ensure that such "mockery of justice" does not take place anymore.
"Ambassador Mittal raised India's concern that Afghanistan's soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner," it added.
The negotiations started on Sunday, a day ahead of schedule.
India on Monday did some plain-speaking with China over its blocking of the Indian bid to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN and warned the global community of "serious consequences" if it continues to adopt "double standards" in dealing with terrorism.
Their leaders in the provinces, which have been under the control of Taliban commanders for several months now, speak the language of the bigot. Women are known to have been abducted and enslaved. Several young girls have simply disappeared.
Over 300 drones and unidentified flying objects have been sighted along the sensitive border with Pakistan post the 2019 abrogation of Article 370, central security agencies have said, even as they grapple to find a suitable technology to check these lethal sky-floaters.
She added that Washington wants to facilitate both the Palestinian Authority and Israel coming together, 'being accountable' and moving forward for peace.
Trump said it would be tremendous for the world if the meeting went well.
UN economists announced a likely USD 50 billion drop in the worldwide manufacturing exports in February alone as the extent of the damage to the global economy caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) moved further into focus. Citing the China Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), Pamela Coke-Hamilton, who heads UNCTAD's Division on International Trade and Commodities, said that it had fallen to 37.5 -- a drop of about 20 points -- the lowest reading since 2004. "This also correlates directly to exports and also implies a two per cent drop in overall exports," she said, with a resulting "ripple effect" worldwide "to the tune of a USD 50 billion fall in exports."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said the progress at the climate conference here have been "insufficient", warning that the absence of a "breakthrough" would condemn the lives of billions of people "to smaller futures".
Johnson also reiterated his plan to visit India ahead of the G7 summit, after a scheduled visit for Republic Day this month was called off due to the coronavirus crisis.
Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh wrote a letter to Members of Parliament on the Cancun climate conference outcome, explaining how the Indian delegation pleaded with the international body and why it was not a 'sell out' as was alleged by the opposition political parties to describe his stance.
The security of all provinces will be under Afghan leadership within five years. This was the pledge made in London on Thursday at a conference aimed at aligning the international community with the reintegration plan set out by President Hamid Karzai.
The Taliban had promised an 'inclusive' government that represents Afghanistan's complex ethnic makeup, but there is no Hazara member in the cabinet.
The United States, Blinken said, is committed to looking at everything done from day one through the present and draw lessons from it.
US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have already expressed their intention to attend the 15th conference of signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change slated to kick off on December 9.
India's negotiating posture at the multilateral negotiations should be aligned with a significantly transformed development strategy domestically.' 'The positions the country takes at the negotiations will then carry credibility, says Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary and India's chief negotiator on Climate Change 2007-2010.
Representing India at the 'High-Level Segment for Heads of States and Government' at the UN COP26 underway at Glasgow, UK, Prime Minister Modi said that India is working very hard on tackling climate change related issues.
