A defiant Pakistan on Wednesday made it clear that it will continue talking to Kashmiri separatists despite India's protestation, saying that the "bottomline" for Indo-Pak talks on Kashmir issue was to engage all stakeholders and dialogue was not a favour by Pakistan to India or vice versa.
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).
In an unprecedented move, Britain and France are mulling the option of recalling their envoys from Israel in protest against its decision to expand settlements, a media report has said.
However, Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour countered the Israeli prime minister's claim.
A video showing Azizuddin, asking the Pakistan government to meet the demands of his abductors, including the release of some Taliban cadres, was aired by the Al Arabiya TV channel on Saturday. The militants holding Azizuddin, his driver and bodyguard had demanded the release of Taliban leader Mullah Obaidullah Akhund. They have also demanded the release of five or six other Pakistani and Afghan militants held by Pakistani authorities.
Pakistan has dropped plans to send Syed Ibne Abbas as the new high commissioner to India and instead replaced him with career diplomat Abdul Basit, a top Pakistani official said on Monday.
China on Monday said that the latest round of talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama failed to make progress on the vexed Tibet issue and vowed that it would never compromise on the status of the Himalayan region.The Chinese side held parleys with Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, the two envoys of the Tibetan spiritual leader. The unification of the motherland, territorial integrity and national dignity are the greatest interests of the Chinese people, it said.
Muizzu's request came when India's Union Minister Kiren Rejiju paid a courtesy call on the new president at the latter's office, the Maldivian President's Office said in a press release.
Richard Holbrooke, United States special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died after undergoing surgery to repair a torn aorta.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet and routinely protests visits by Indian leaders, foreign officials as well as the Dalai Lama to the area.
Outgoing Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan has said China and India face similar challenges and have every reason to work together to deepen "mutual trust, promote friendship and expand cooperation."
During the meetings, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Special Envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan S K Lambah and the top US officials discussed the progress made in Afghanistan so far and how the two countries can work together to achieve their common objective of defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban, and help in the emergence of a stable and democratic Afghanistan.
Pakistan on Friday summoned the acting American envoy to lodge a "strong protest" against an anti-Islam film and demanded that the US government take immediate steps to remove the "blasphemous" video from YouTube.
Meanwhile, Israel has expressed its "deep disappointment" with China's response to the war.
A deft hand on India-China relations, Bambawale earlier handled the China desk at the MEA.
Diplomats of European countries have called on Nagaland Governor Nikhil Kumar and Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio amidst a controversy in New Delhi over their 'uninformed' visit to the North-Eastern state. The diplomats discussed the possibilities of enhancing cooperation between India and EU in various fields pertaining to the N-E region and Nagaland in particular during their meetings with Kumar and Rio on Monday, official sources said
India today summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest over the denial of access to its envoy in Islamabad and consular officials to visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib and meet visiting Indian pilgrims.
Indian envoy to Nepal Ranjit Rae on Monday briefed the government on the latest situation in that country after it adopted its new fully secular and democratic Constitution amid violent protests in several parts of Nepal along the Indian border.
Gulf Oil Lubricants wanted to recruit a woman's cricketer as brand ambassador -- MSD and Hardik Pandya are its other product plenipotentiaries -- signing Smriti was a no brainer.
Pakistan on Monday summoned India's Charge d'Affaires to the ministry of foreign affairs and conveyed its concern over the alleged hate speeches made at a conclave held in Haridwar recently to incite violence against the minorities.
It was not immediately known how Arya, a 2008-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, died.
The government on Monday announced the appointment of Jayant Prasad, India's permanent representative in Geneva, as the next ambassador to Afghanistan.
Atul Keshap would be 'a superb fit for Sri Lanka as he knows the ins and outs of the politics there and all the political players, including the new disposition in Colombo intimately,' US diplomatic sources in Washington, DC told Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com
Lashkar-e-Islami chief Mangal Bagh, who wields considerable influence in the Khyber Agency, said Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin is not in the tribal region and it would be unjust for the government to conduct any sort of military operation in the agency to locate him. The radical leader also told Dawn News channel that Azizuddin had not been kidnapped from the Agency, contrary to media reports.
Ganapathi, secretary (West), ministry of external affairs, has been tasked to once again take up the matter and convey the government's views on the issue to the Norwegian authorities, official sources said.
India on Wednesday said it is "disappointed" at the ceasefire violation on the border by the Pakistan army that killed a woman in the Jammu region.
"Few nations are more vital to the future of American security and prosperity than India," Garcetti told the committee.
Pal has been meeting leaders of various Pakistan political parties to acquaint himself with them ever since he took over recently.
This was the first meeting of the top Indian diplomat with Trump after he was sworn in as the US President on January 20.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his country's stance against an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during his meetings with key Middle Eastern leaders on Saturday, CNN reported.
Colorado-based Indian American businessman Vinai Thummalapally, who raised funds for President Barack Obama's presidential campaign, on Wednesday said he was proud to be nominated as the first Indian American to serve as United States' envoy to Belize.Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the confirmation hearing, Obama's nominee to the Central American state said he would work to strengthen US interests in Belize, if confirmed.
Vikram Doraiswami, an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1992 batch, is the youngest Indian diplomat ever to be assigned to the Court of St James.
India's high commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri has sought premature retirement, upset over envoy Shiv Shankar Menon, who is two years junior to her, being appointed as the foreign secretary
Concerned over the rise in tension between India and Pakistan over the brutal killing of two Indian soldiers, the United States said it has been counselling both governments to de-escalate the situation and has instructed its envoys there to work in this direction.
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered Italian Ambassador to India Daniele Mancini not to leave the country till April 2, when the next hearing into the killing of two Kerala fishermen allegedly by two Italian marines is scheduled.
India abstained on the procedural vote taken in the Security Council ahead of a meeting to discuss the tense situation on the Ukraine border.
Clinton has already said that she is visiting New Delhi to start a strategic dialogue which will include issues like climate change and clean energy. To put the issue of climate change on fast track, Clinton will be joined by President Barrack Obama's special envoy for climate change, Todd Stern, who is known as a man in hurry.
Earlier in the day, the Chinese embassy in Delhi first posted and later removed a statement on its website saying that the two met after the Congress denied it as "fake news".
"I judge by the first day of their control over Kabul. The impressions are good. The situation in Kabul is better now (under Taliban) than it was under Ashraf Ghani," Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov was quoted as saying by Moscow's Ekho Moskvy radio station on Monday.
In an open letter to President Barack Obama, the former ambassadors warned that if the US "continues to adopt a punitive posture towards Pakistan in the matter of civilian nuclear cooperation and to follow double standards in an area vital for Pakistan's security and economic development", the partnership between the two countries will remain fragile.
