President Pranab Mukherjee will be among over 90 heads of state and government who will attend an emotional memorial service in South Africa on Tuesday for anti-apartheid legend Nelson Mandela, making it one of the largest such gatherings in generations.
Israel on Sunday resumed its military offensive on Gaza after Hamas militants continued to fire rockets rejecting a 24-hour humanitarian truce requested by the UN as the 20-day conflict killed 1,050 Palestinians and 46 Israelis, including an Indian-origin soldier.
"Ban's spokesperson issued the e-mail on his own, misquoting the secretary general. And some of the separatist leaders tried to exploit it by claiming that the SG is calling for dialogue between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue," the sources said. "The issue has been settled despite what some news media is claiming."
The powerful UN Security Council on Thursday strongly condemned the 'heinous and cowardly' terror attack.
External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh maintained that India will demand veto power if it gets the permanent seat in the Security Council.
Syria has agreed with the Russian proposal to place its chemical weapons stocks under international control to "uproot US aggression", hours after President Barack Obama said he would "absolutely" put on hold any military strike on the country if it does so.
Gujarat has earlier made a strong pitch in the area of solar energy.
In a major breakthrough, the United Nations Security Council on Saturday voted unanimously on a resolution to destroy Syria's chemicals weapons stockpile and warned of strong action in case of non-compliance by Damascus.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed deep regret over the death of an Indian UN peacekeeper who was killed during clashes between renegade soldiers of Congo and government troops on the border with Uganda.
He expressed hope for positive changes in a world that faced a myriad of daunting challenges, ranging from poverty to global warming and terrorism.
He is currently the second Indian to hold the rank of Under Secretary-General.
As the world readies to welcome its seventh billion inhabitant on Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for "unity of purpose" among people across nations to address problems of climate change, economic crisis and inequality.
