The US intends first to cripple the Afghan government financially through sanctions, freezing of assets, denial of access to international banking, etc, and then proceed to do pretty much what it wants to do with scant regard for Afghanistan's sovereignty, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Pyongyang's strategy seems to be a cry to be treated as equal with the US and Beijing and this aspiration is premised on equipping itself with weapons as devastating as theirs,' says Rajaram Panda.
Inputs available from different agencies suggest that Dawood, a prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, has bases in Pakistan and keeps changing his location from time to time, Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary told the House.
'The Chinese made their point repeatedly after August 5. They backed Pakistan more overtly than in the past.' 'Kashmir is not completely off their radar. But in order to keep the atmosphere surrounding the Chennai meeting, they did not discuss Kashmir.'
The minister said the terrorist groups created by Pakistan is not only harming India, but also hurting its neighbours.
"Have just got the good news that due to the hard work of our teams and your cooperation, a consensus has been reached on New Delhi G20 Leaders Summit Declaration," Modi said while addressing the second session of the Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
Rubbishing Pakistan's claim of a victory in the case, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Islamabad has its 'own compulsions to lie' to its people.
Although the Malabar is a routine exercise which has been carried out for several years now, security experts attach a lot of traction to it in view of China's assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, observes Rup Narayan Das.
Three people were killed and over 20 others injured in a bomb blast outside the house of the Mumbai terror attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed in Lahore on Wednesday, the police said.
Russia and the US began second round of negotiations on securing Syria's chemical arsenal, hoping the high-stakes talks would lead to broader peace efforts, even as Damascus submitted application to UN for joining the chemical weapons convention.
Foreign Ministers of G-4\ncountries, including External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh,\nare here for crucial talks with their African counterparts
India voted on last Saturday in favour of the US-supported resolution by the UN atomic watchdog agency that ordered Iran to suspend its nuclear programs.
With Chinese President Xi Jinping listening, Modi said: "We must unitedly fight against it (terrorism), without any discrimination between groups, or countries, sponsors or targeted countries.
Addressing world leaders at the 68th session of the UN General Assembly, Obama said if the international community cannot be united against forcing Syria to give up its chemical weapons, "then it will show that the United Nations is incapable of enforcing the most basic of international laws".
Pakistani security agencies on Thursday arrested two suspects involved in the car bomb blast outside the house of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and chief of the banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) Hafiz Saeed, an official said.
"The world, which includes our brotherly friends (China and Saudi Arabia) whom the foreign minister (Khawaja Asif) thanked in a prematurely triumphant tweet on Tuesday, is not impressed with what they see as this country's continued intransigence," the Dawn said in a stinging editorial, criticising the policies of the government, especially the powerful military.
The decision was taken during a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the southwestern the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday.
The two countries also decided to expand trade and commercial ties holding that there are opportunities to exploit untapped economic potential in the two countries.
While trying to persuade North Korea to give up its provocative actions, engaging China is the first hurdle that world leaders will have to deal with, says Rajaram Panda.
'By the time he came out after nearly five hours, he had a one-to-one conversation with the President, a delegation-level meeting, a reception, a dinner, a tour of the White House and a joint statement of a kind none of his predecessors ever had,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'To get a 100 per cent consensus document without any reservation, any bracket, any chair summary is unprecedented in the history of multilateral forums.'
The pressure on India to take a hostile attitude towards Russia and China was not subtle, but it was guarded, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan after Monday's 2+2 ministerial meeting in Washington, DC.
'France has decided to sanction Masood Azhar at the national level by freezing his assets'
India and China have resolved the stand-off at the Ladakh border and withdrawal of troops will begin on Friday and be completed by September 30, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said describing the resolution of the issue as a "big accomplishment."
The resolution, which was passed unanimously, would extend the NATO led force's area of operations to several provinces which are now ruled by armed warlords.
Xi said China is ready to work with Pakistan to forge a closer China-Pakistan community of shared future in the new era.
'This award is funded by American money so I took this decision.'
The meeting took place two days after a military tribunal sentenced Indian national Kulbhushan Jadav to death on charges of spying
Top security czars of India, Russia, Iran and five central Asian countries on Wednesday pledged to work for ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for global terrorism and called for the formation of an open and truly inclusive government in Kabul.
A recent statement by a "foreign country's defence minister" was enough to prove who is harbouring terrorism in Pakistan, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Thursday.
The announcement of McMaster's ouster, who the White House said had a "good working relationship" with Trump, is the latest in a string of high-profile White House departures since President Trump took office in January 2017.
Japan is considering a new draft resolution for expansion of the United Nations Security Council and is expected to consult other G-4 members, including India, on it.
The move was apparently aimed at Israel, which neither admits nor denies possessing nuclear weapons but is perceived by the countries in the region to have such arms.
In New Delhi, Singh will continue US administration's ongoing consultations with India, and advance a range of issues in the US-India economic relationship and strategic partnership.
On the border dispute, officials on both sides say the protracted boundary talks made progress, while both sides made attempts to avert tensions along the 3,488-kilometre-long Line of Actual Control, which remains undefined.
While India's High Commissioner Bisaria is in Islamabad, his Pakistani counterpart Moin-ul-Haq is yet to take charge in New Delhi.
He said his country will take all steps to 'expose' India's role in the break up of East Pakistan in 1971 and to 'destabilise' it through terrorism.
Pakistan is expected to seek a bigger role for the United Nations military observers deployed along the Line of Control when the Director Generals Military Operations of India and Pakistan meet for the first time in 14 years on Tuesday.