United States President Barack Obama has appointed Cliff Sloan, a high-powered lawyer with extensive experience in all three branches of the government, as his special envoy for the closure of the much-criticised terrorist detention centre at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday said that Pakistan had given a 'blank cheque' to China, authorising it to negotiate with India on its behalf to deal with the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.Speaking at a reception at the Chinese embassy in Islamabad on Wednesday night, Qureshi said he had told Chinese special envoy He Yafei to "go to Delhi and you have a blank cheque from us".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Special Envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan S K Lambah met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and discussed a range of issues related to the bilateral ties, including plans for continuing the US-India Strategic Dialogue.
Times have changed, situations have changed, but the basic nature of superpower geo-politics remains the same and so also India's diplomacy -- call it non-alignment, strategic autonomy or neutrality; it all depends on the time scale, notes Rup Narayan Das.
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A US special envoy met senior Taliban representatives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and discussed the issue of Afghan central bank reserves.
There are a lot of very bad men out there. And Syed Asif Ibrahim is the best officer to deal with them. Aditi Phadnis reports
India's concerns over China's plans to build two nuclear reactors for Pakistan and bilateral issues are set to figure prominently during talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy Shiv Shankar Menon and the Chinese leadership in Beijing from Saturday.
The T20 World Cup in the US is a 'landmark event' and there is huge excitement among the diaspora as well as across America, said Consul General of India in New York Binaya Srikanta Pradhan.
Academy Award winning actress Angelina Jolie, often billed as the 'most beautiful woman on the planet', is doing some amazing work as a special envoy for the United Nations's body for the refugees, the UNHCR. The ravishing actress, who has covered some of the most troubled regions in the world with a message of compassion, is currently on a humanitarian mission in Lebanon to meet with Syrian refugees.
Norway's special envoy to Colombo Jon Hanssen-Bauer said in an interview to PTI that India was to be the main partner for Sri Lanka in the future, and that Oslo was in regular touch with New Delhi over the issue of peace process in its neighbouring country.Norway had brokered the now-defunct ceasefire treaty between the Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2002.
A young girl from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, who has been tackling the problem of child labour, has been conferred with the first United Nations Malala Award for spreading education among child labourers. Razia Sultan, 15, will be felicitated as United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education's Youth Courage Award for Education
United States President Barack Obama last week appointed his Deputy Associate Counsel at the White House, Rashad Hussain, 30, to serve as his Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference -- which comprise over 50 member states and is the second largest inter governmental organisation in the world.
The surprise retirement of Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, who played a seminal role in finalising the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, will take "some of the focus away" from the accord but his continuation as special envoy will help in its early conclusion, experts said.
"International law doesn't recognise India's unilateral and illegal actions of 5 August 2019. The judicial endorsement by the Indian Supreme Court has no legal value. Kashmiris have an inalienable right to self determination in accordance with the relevant UN SC resolutions," Pakistan's caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said in a post on X.
Singh said some students who returned without anyone's help were neither sad nor unhappy.
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China and Tibet have agreed to resume formal dialogue and a date will soon be finalised, the Dalai Lama's special envoys Kasur Lodi and Gyaltsen Gyari said on Thursday in Dharamshala.
With the world commemorating November 10 as 'Malala Day' in honour of Pakistani child activist Malala Yousafzai, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon extended his support to the young girl and her fight for education, describing her as the "global symbol" of every girl's right to an education.
'Much as the Palestinian issue remains the core obstacle to peace in the Middle East, the question of Kashmir must be addressed in some meaningful way to bring stability to this region,' he said. He hoped the Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan will work towards a 'just and reasonable' solution to the issue.
There were also posts on social media claiming that some Indians are cancelling their scheduled trip to the Maldives in view of the row.
The last meeting of the 2+2 was held in New Delhi and the next meeting is to be hosted by the US in Washington, DC.
The Chinese envoy said that the India-China bilateral ties can't take the strain of another Doklam episode
"India will continue to play a constructive and positive role, along with like-minded countries, to this end," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said while briefing on the talks Gambari had with Dr Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon during his two-day visit to New Delhi since Monday.
Organisers of next year's Glasgow Commonwealth Games are introducing some of the "best practices" of the 2010 New Delhi Games, Senator Hugh Segal, Canada's Special envoy for CWG renewal, said.
India has said it was "deeply worried" over the potential nexus between clandestine proliferation of nuclear weapons and terrorism and favoured "transparent verification procedures" to prevent such materials falling in dangerous hands.
Indian Ambassador to Egypt Chinmaya Gharekhan, a former special envoy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for West Asia, tells Sheela Bhatt that India should welcome the changes taking place in Egypt and it should not be doubting the Muslim Brotherhood at all.
America's top commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley A McChrystal, and his advisors have reportedly ridiculed United States Vice President Joe Biden, President Barack Obama's Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard C Holbrooke and the US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry.
"As the ISI tries to rein in those militant proxies that have slipped from Islamabad's grasp, it will likely try to regain their support by redirecting their attention away from Pakistan and toward India, an enemy on which both Islamabad and the militants can agree. As a result, it is likely India will come under attack again," Stratfor warned.
Pakistan's efforts to secure an apology from the United States for a cross-border NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year has run into rough weather, with the issue emerging as the biggest hurdle in resetting ties between the two sides.
Richard Holbrooke, the special United States envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, remained in critical condition on Monday following a surgery to repair a torn aorta at the George Washington Hospital in Washington. Holbrooke, 69, was admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital on Friday after he fell ill at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. Obama's point man for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Holbrooke underwent a surgery on Saturday.
Holbrooke was admitted to the intensive care unit of the nearby George Washington University and was being treated for blood clot, the ABC news reported.
United States President Barack Obama's Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said that while Washington supports renewed contacts between Pakistan and India and wants the process to continue, Pakistani leaders should not burden the nascent process with insistence on 'core issues,' specifically Kashmir.
James F Dobbins, a veteran United States diplomat, has been named as the new special American envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, at a time when both countries are going through "a pivotal moment". Announcing his appointment, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "He has a deep and longstanding relationships in the region and I couldn't be more grateful that Jim has agreed to take on this assignment."
Addressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, America's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke identified the Lashkar as the group, which planned and executed the 26/11 attacks.
The police have questioned multiple autorickshaw drivers, including the one who brought the suspect to the spot before the blast took place.
Wen, on his part, said that "a healthy, stable and dynamic China-India relationship is of far-reaching significance to the two nations, Asia and the whole world at large."
India and China on Sunday discussed the possibility of working in collaborative projects in third countries, including joint initiatives in Afghanistan to tap large mineral resources, as part of efforts to broad base their relationship.
United States President Barack Obama joined world leaders in paying rich tributes to late Special Envoy for Af-Pak region Richard Holbrooke, calling him a leading light who served the country until his final moments. "It is no coincidence that his life story so closely paralleled the major events of his times," Obama said, eulogising Holbrooke, who died on December 13, at a memorial ceremony, also attended by visiting Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday.
The US will send its top energy expert to India next week to help the country reduce dependence on Iranian oil, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said as she lauded the steps taken by New Delhi on the issue.
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