Special envoys of China, Russia and Pakistan have met the top officials of the Taliban's interim government as well as Afghan leaders Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and discussed the formation of an inclusive government, combating terrorism and humanitarian situation, a top Chinese official said on Wednesday.
'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'If the new regime in Kabul wants diplomatic recognition, or to unlock the billions that are currently frozen, they will have to ensure safe passage for those who wish to leave the country, to respect the rights of women and girls, to prevent Afghanistan from, again, becoming an incubator for global terror, because that would be disastrous for Afghanistan'
'At the heart of the strategic relationship between our countries are economic ties.'
In a significant move coinciding with the visit of a top United States official probing war crimes, the American embassy in Colombo on Thursday posted pictures of places where civilians had died allegedly during Sri Lanka's final war against rebel Tamil Tigers four years ago.
The government's response came after the Pakistan foreign ministry put out a video of Jadhav in which the 47-year-old Indian is purportedly asking India why it was "lying" that he was not working for an intelligence agency.
'As a member of Congress, it was important to meet with Prime Minister Modi. Promoting the India-US relationship is a priority. It is important to have a constructive dialogue with the biggest democracy in the world,' US Congressman Mike Honda tells Ritu Jha/Rediff.com
Gambhir also took a dig at Qureshi's emphasis on a "new Pakistan" under Khan, saying while the Indian delegation had come to listen to Pakistan's "new" foreign minister outline the vision of a new Pakistan, "what we heard is a 'New Pakistan' cast in the mold of old."
India has said that terror groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba do not "live on love and fresh air", expressing regret that they receive funds despite being slapped with sanctions by the United Nations, as the world body reaffirmed the need to cut the monetary lifeline of terrorists.
MEA said Pakistan has been using terrorism as state policy against India and it must stop exporting terror.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came out with a Sunday night statement condemning the action of Indian security forces.
The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO have expressed concern on the new law and warned of retaliatory measures.
Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters on Wednesday that the group of about 100 UN personnel from across the system travelled from Kabul to Almaty, where they will continue their work remotely.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders Declaration, a significant victory for India's G20 presidency that came amid increasing tensions and divergent views over the Ukraine conflict.
Pakistan has said that the Kashmir dispute has international ramifications and rejected India's assertion that the ongoing strife there is an internal matter where Islamabad has no role to play and should have no role to play.
The India delegation flagged concerns over the possible implication of the Taliban's capture of power for the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir as there are apprehensions about spill-over of terrorist activities from Afghanistan to the union territory, the sources said.
American analysts and their camp followers in India are talking absolute rubbish when they try to establish that India is facing a Hobson's choice in regard of Donbass, called upon to take sides between Russia and the West, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
During the day-long debate, the lines between science and religion often got blurred with many invoking religious texts and the contribution of 'rishi munis' to highlight India's tryst with the extra-terrestrial world.
Australia are due to face the Afghanistan men's team in Hobart from November 27, but Cricket Australia said on Thursday they would not host the side if reports women's cricket would not be supported in the country were substantiated.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 3-day visit to the US, hundreds of Indian-Americans from across the country have joined hands to give him a rousing welcome in front of the United Nations headquarters and the White House.
M Karunanidhi was a masterful practitioner of modern-day politics, wielding considerable influence beyond his own state, in the corridors of power in New Delhi, for a long time and sewing up alliances with both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has slammed the mainstream American media, including The Washington Post, for their 'biased' coverage of India.
'We are completely engaged in fighting poverty; alas, our neighbour Pakistan seems only engaged in fighting us.'
Britain favours closer engagement with Gujarat and its Chief Minister Narendra Modi to realize the country's wide-ranging objectives in the state, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
It is high time the Indian government signalled discomfort with the UK providing refuge to those accused of financial crimes in India, states Jaimini Bhagwati.
Hours before US President Barack Obama's meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at the White House, China demanded its immediate cancellation, warning that the unjustified interference in its domestic affairs will cause "great damage" to bilateral ties.
India believes no country would emerge victorious in the Russia-Ukraine war as all will suffer losses and there will be a "more serious" impact on developing and poor countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday after holding talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as both leaders reiterated the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
One shocking finding of the investigation was the extent to which sexual violence was committed against detainees, often extremely brutally, by the Sri Lankan security forces, with men as likely to be victims as women.
Saeed, who plans to hold funeral prayers in absentia for Wani and others on Friday in Lahore, said issues in Kashmir should be resolved as per the wish of Kashmiri people.
Pakistan has been sharply critical of India with its leaders slamming Modi's recent remarks in Bangladesh that Pakistan was creating disturbance and instigating terrorism in India.
Thousands of farmers are protesting on various borders of Delhi since November 26, seeking repeal of three farm laws enacted in September.
Even as the polity find ways and means to address the genuine concerns and fears of the society, the Sri Lankan State apparatus would have to unravel these mystery-questions with convincing answers, and a road-map to the future, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
Modi said different laws related to Hindus, Christians and Parsis and the Special Marriage Act 1954 has determined minimum marriage age of 18 years for a woman and 21 years for man but the Muslim Personal Law holds marriage of a girl legal after she has attained puberty.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner's battle against Islamic State will go down in history.
Hindu American Foundation: 'As an organisation that works on issues affecting Hindu minorities... in the civil war although all groups were affected, Hindu temples and Hindu institutions were disproportionately affected, and Hindus continue to be affected.' Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States Prasad Kariyawasam: 'Assume that Sri Lanka is referred to the ICC through the UN Security Council -- which will never happen because Sri Lanka has enough clout to block it. But assume it is. Still, the ICC cannot handle it because retrospectively they don't have jurisdiction.'
'India has given assistance that we required, otherwise we would not have been able to survive this far.'
Resettlement of refugees elsewhere is not the morally correct solution to the problem for it lets the perpetrators off the hook.
The minister said the terrorist groups created by Pakistan is not only harming India, but also hurting its neighbours.