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
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.
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.
With the Nuclear Suppliers Group draft set to be amended because of demands from some member countries, the government in Delhi on Sunday held a high-level meeting to analyse the new development and discuss options available to it. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee held hour-long discussions with Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Nuclear Deal Shyam Saran and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Atomic Energy on the issue.
The Delhi police probe into the February 13 terror bombing on Israeli envoy Tal Yehoshua's car in New Delhi has revealed that journalist Syed Mohammad Kazmi had plotted it in collusion with members of a military arm -- Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, including one Syed Ali Mahdiansadr.
With his administration focusing on alternative sources of energy so as to reduce dependence on fossil fuel, US President Barack Obama wants to build Indo-US renewable energy partnership which would end up in benefiting not only the two countries, but also the entire world.
Amid differences with America on the issue of drone attacks against high-value terrorist targets on it soil, Pakistan on Tuesday said it would not give any "blank cheques" to the United States and not accept foreign troops in its territory in the ongoing war to root out the Al-Qaeda and Taliban.
Conveying that there will be no let up in India's drive to modernise its energy and defence sectors, prime minister's special envoy Shyam Saran said on Tuesday this should encourage Washington to look at New Delhi as a source of demand for its goods and services.
India can play an important role in pushing ahead the peace process as it is an influential country due to the relations it has with the key players in the world.
"References made by President Obama did seem to suggest that there is some kind of a link between the settlement on Pakistan's western border and the Kashmir issue. Certainly that had caused concern," he told Karan Thapar's India Tonight programme. "I do think that we could make President Obama understand, if he does have any such views then he is barking up the wrong tree," he said.
While India's High Commissioner Bisaria is in Islamabad, his Pakistani counterpart Moin-ul-Haq is yet to take charge in New Delhi.
Australia's new government on Tuesday said that it will not sell uranium to India until the country signs the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Last year, the previous federal government struck an in-principle agreement with India to sell uranium to the country. The deal was to be subject to strict conditions, including guarantees that the uranium would be used for power generation only, despite India not being a signatory to the NPT.
Differences among the Association of South-East Asian Nations came to the fore on Tuesday night when 10 heads of governments aborted a briefing by United Nations Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari on the Myanmar situation after Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein strongly opposed the move.
Senior Indian Foreign Service officials Sharat Sabharwal and Meera Shankar will be the next envoys to Pakistan and the United States respectively. Sabharwal, Special Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, will succeed High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal, who reaches superannuation on February 28. Shankar, India's Ambassador to Germany, will succeed Ronen Sen in Washington.
Four Indians and an American, were killed during the five-hour long siege that ended early Thursday morning.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be on a two-day official visit to India from Thursday, his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last month.
The two deliberated on how to go about in implementing the agreement, with the US Ambassador emphasising the need for taking the next steps as early as possible as delay could endanger the agreement
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also likely to be in Beijing in November or December, the State-owned China Daily said a day after India's Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon held talks with senior Chinese officials on a range of issues
The decision is significant as it comes in the midst of India's efforts to lobby support in the international community for its civil nuclear energy ambitions.
In the meeting, Ngodup Dongchung, an official in the Tibetan government-in-exile and representative of the Dalai Lama, thanked Blinken for the continued support by the US to the Tibetan movement.
Saran is on a visit to Australia and New Zealand to try and assuage their concerns with regard to backing India's nuclear aspirations.
Special United States envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman has resigned after leading the American diplomatic campaign in the volatile region for two years as President Barack Obama's pointsman to the region. Grossman would be replaced by Deputy Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan David D Pearce in an acting capacity. His resignation would come into effect on December 14.
The Volcker panel had named Natwar Singh, who was divested of External Affairs Ministry, and the Congress party among the non-contractual beneficiaries of the oil-for-food programme in Iraq.
Talking about opposition by the Left parties to the growing ties with Washington, the Prime Minister's envoy said, "Whatever be the reservations that have been expressed about our relations with the US, no other friendly country, member of the NSG has the necessary standing to lead the process of opening up the existing multilateral regime to accommodate India".
The Indian side expressed readiness to provide extensive humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, Mujahid was quoted as saying by Afghanistan's Tolo News.
India on Thursday said it will scale up nuclear energy production to 60,000 megawatts by 2030 after signing the pending N-deals with more countries.
The PM expressed his anguish over the deteriorating situation and the humanitarian crisis in the war-hit country, while reiterating India's appeal for cessation of hostilities and a return to dialogue.
Oil experts from Iran and Pakistan will meet in Teheran on Tuesday to add finishing touches to the $7-billion gas pipeline project linking the two countries as well as India, which is not attending the talks, a media report said.
He replaces Shyam Saran, who has been designated as India's special envoy for the Indo-US nuclear deal.
In the first high-level contact between India and the new United States government, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan is expected to meet Richard Holbrooke, special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Munich during his three-day visit that began on Friday.
India's growing relationship with Israel is not at the the expense of New Delhi's traditional commitment to the Palestinian cause, a top Indian diplomat has said while attempting to give a push to the West Asia peace process.
'All options are there on the table. Yesterday when this terror attack was conducted, we celebrated the 29th anniversary of the full establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and India, exactly yesterday. So, it may not be a coincidence but all options are being investigated'
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