Right wing US conservatives led by the likes of nationally-syndicated columnist Cal Thomas have launched a vitriolic campaign against Indian American Rashad Hussain. They pilloried President Barack Obama for appointing him as Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference and called for Hussain's ouster, calling him a 'voice of radical Islam.'
Briefing reporters at the conclusion of a two-day meeting of 17 major economies on climate change and energy, prime minister's special envoy Shyam Saran said there has to be a balance between historical responsibility and current emissions.
The Mumbai terror attacks, which were carried out by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror outfit, closed the door for any Indo-Pak discussions on Kashmir, according to a top American diplomat.
Terming it as an important meeting, the Dalai Lama's Special Envoy, Lodi Gyari, said the Tibetan leader would speak about Tibet, and as two Nobel Peace Prize laureates, he and the President are likely to discuss global concerns.
The United States has once again rejected the notion regarding it playing a role of an 'intermediary' between India and Pakistan to help both nuclear powered countries to resolve long pending issues between them.
Talks between China and special envoys of the Dalai Lama were not a Sino-Tibetan dialogue, but a meeting with two 'private representatives' of the spiritual leader on the future of His Holiness and his associates, write B Raman.
Kasur Lodi Gyari, the special envoy of the Dalai Lama, along with four other members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile's task force, visited China from January 26 to 31 to hold the ninth round of discussions with representatives of the Chinese leadership.The Dalai Lama's representatives handed over a note about the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for All Tibetans containing seven points that addressed the fundamental issues raised by the Chinese leadership.
As its factories resumed operations after over two-month of grim battle against coronavirus, China is busy tapping into the vast business opportunities of export of key medical goods, specially ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE), across the world, including India, where both private and government bodies are placing orders for the import of these products.
India has pressed the new Barack Obama Administration to lift the 'unnecessary' restrictions on international trade with New Delhi on dual use items and technology. Addressing a meeting at the prestigious Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank, prime minister's special envoy on climate change Shyam Saran also hoped that America would scrap the so-called entity list, which prohibits sale of US technology to a number of Indian companies.
United States President Barack Obama's Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, who is currently on a three-day visit to Pakistan, is expected to make a short visit to New Delhi on Friday.
Seeking a resolution of the Kashmir issue for lasting peace, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said Pakistani people were disappointed that the United States Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke's mandate did not include India and hoped that the Obama administration would review the matter.
A top US delegate at Copenhagen summit denied the possibility that hacked e-mails had made the case for sceptics stronger and said the incident would not affect the fate of climate change bill in the American Senate.
India has told China not to "shift goalposts" and "confuse" managing the border affairs and restoring peace at the frontiers with the larger issue of the resolution of the boundary question, which is dealt with by different designated mechanisms.
Alarmed by the confusion created by the public expression of divergent opinions by his key advisors on climate change, the prime minister summoned Saran and Ramesh and asked them to put their heads together and come forward with an agreed text that would reflect both their concerns, a senior government official confirmed.
The United States on Thursday said that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba was as dangerous as Taliban and Al-Qaeda with which it was working in close coordination and that Pakistan has been asked to deny it a foothold in that country.
Armed with a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group India is now scouting for uranium from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Niger to fuel its atomic power plants which are running at half their installed capacity.
Iran and Pakistan recently signed an export deal that commits Tehran to selling natural gas to Islamabad from 2014.
Former US President Bill Clinton is in North Korean capital Pyongyang to negotiate the release of two American television journalists who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for illegally entering North Korea.
This was conveyed by Union minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah to US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern in a meeting, where the two leaders also deliberated on ways to intensify collaboration to harness renewable energy.
He has been named as special envoy of the diplomatic quartet pushing for peace in Middle East.
Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran says he is "optimistic" of the nuclear deal being cleared at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting. Saran -- the prime minister's special envoy on climate change and the India-US nuclear civilian agreement -- also confirmed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the G-8 summit in Tokyo later this week.
United States President Barack Obama is sending a team of officials led by Richard Holbrooke, his special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, to visit refugee camps housing lakhs of people who have been displaced by the military offensive in Swat and adjoining areas of the North Western Frontier Province. Holbrooke is expected to have a first hand assessment of the situation and then recommend how best the US can accelerate relief measures.
The government is finalising the national action plan on climate change and would release this in June, said Shyam Saran, Prime Minister's special envoy for climate change. The action plan would focus on key issues like improving energy efficiency, harnessing solar energy, studying the melting and cracking of icebergs on the Himalayas and understanding the dynamics of coastal and island territories.The plan would contain mechanisms for implementation of various policies.
Two days after his statement on Kabul attack which did not go down well with authorities in New Delhi, US Special Envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke on Friday regretted any "misunderstanding" caused by his comments that Indians were not the target of the terror strike.
"Now if the Indians were supporting those miscreants that would be extraordinarily bad (and) really dangerous. But they're not. There is no evidence at all that the Indians are supporting the miscreants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas or North West Frontier Province or Waziristan. None," he said.
President Asif Ali Zardari has assured the United States that the Pakistan government will not allow anybody to challenge its writ or run a parallel administration in any part of the country. Zardari gave the assurance to US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke during a telephonic conversation, the Daily Times reported on Friday.
Special Envoy Shyam Saran on Tuesday said "political uncertainty" over the N-deal agreement could increase if the government in Washington changes. "This government has a commitment to the agreement and every effort possible will be made to see the deal through," he added.
As Australia is one of the world's biggest uranium-producing countries, its attitude will be critical to India's efforts to open up trade in nuclear materials.
Such a partnership between the two countries, after the civilian nuclear deal, is essential to jointly meet the challenges of climate change, prime minister's special envoy on climate change Shyam Saran told a meeting of US corporate leaders organised by the US India Business Council. USIBC had played a significant role in the passage of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, despite tough hurdles.
"Therefore, we have given our full support to the consolidation of a multi-party democracy in Afghanistan. We feel that it can and should be a multi-ethnic society, a plural society backed by the United States and India," Saran said.
Saran's appointment will bring in a professional diplomat, who does not have any experience of handling internal security (which was Narayanan's strength) and issue of terrorism. But on other side, Saran has the backing of more than three decades of experience in international affairs and has recently gained thorough understanding of issues related to climate change.
The Barack Obama administration is facing a dilemma with respect to Pakistan as unlike Afghanistan, it cannot send its troops there to fight Al Qaeda and Taliban and needs to find other means, top United States Special Envoy for the region Richard Holbrooke has said. "The dilemma is that the leadership of both the Al Qaeda and the Taliban are in a neighbouring country (of Afghanistan) where our troops cannot fight. And therefore we have to find other means," he said.
Part of the focus of the current discussions is also on the "next steps" that are involved in the civilian nuclear initiative such as status of India's negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency on India-specific safeguards and the NSG
In a stern warning to Pakistan, President Barack Obama on Tuesday asserted that his administration will not allow "safe havens" for Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists operating with "impunity" in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. "My bottom line is that we cannot allow Al Qaeda to operate. We cannot have those safe havens in that region," Obama said in his first press conference after assuming office on January 20.
After the announcement of the South Asia visit of the United Staes special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, the US state department on Friday announced that the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would also visit South Asia.
Strategic affairs specialist Ashley Tellis believes the November 26 terror attacks on Mumbai has given birth to the "misguided notion" that a resolution of the Kashmir dispute is imperative to rein in terrorism in South Asia, and that this should be the priority of the proposed special envoy to the region.
In a strong reaction to attacks on African nationals, heads of African missions in India termed the incidents as "xenophobic and racial" and asserted that no known, sufficient and visible deterring measures have been taken by the government.
Amid growing world pressure on India over Myanmar issue, United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Monday met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon who emphasized that New Delhi favoured democracy in the neighbouring country, but opposed coercion.
India's credibility for initiating such a campaign will now be particularly high as it itself had become a nuclear weapon power, said India's Special Envoy for West Asia and the Middle East Peace Process.
The Palestinian President also welcomed India's friendly relations with Israel saying it can be 'a factor of support' considering the historic Indo-Palestine ties and help in pushing forward the peace process.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances