'US and Iran have not annulled the ceasefire, and the possibility of continuing negotiations remains open.'
A bewildered world is at a loss to find bilateral and multilateral measures to stop President Trump from pursuing his vision of a world unabashedly dominated by the United States, points out T P Sreenivasan.
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
From the 30-Sensex firms, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Trent, State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers. On the other hand, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Electronics, Larsen & Toubro and HDFC Bank were the laggards.
The United States has encouraged India to purchase Russian oil already at sea to mitigate supply shortages and price increases amid the West Asia conflict, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. This move is described as a short-term effort to stabilise the market without altering Washington's policy towards Russia.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump feels "very positive and strongly" about the future of India-US relationship.
Anti-government protests in Iran have continued for the fourteenth consecutive day on Saturday, with authorities tightening security measures as demonstrations spread across multiple cities.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India is concerned about the recent developments in Venezuela, marking the first strong public statement after the latest United States actions in the South American country.
United States Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday claimed that Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra spoke to him last month about India buying less Russian oil and asked him to tell President Donald Trump to relieve the 25 per cent tariff.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Led by Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MP Supriya Sule, Group 7 will engage with key countries in Africa -- Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia -- and Qatar to present India's position on Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
United States President Donald Trump has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'knew he was not happy' with India's purchases of Russian oil and that Washington, DC can raise tariffs on New Delhi 'very quickly'.
Vice President C P Radhakrishnan addressed Nagaland University graduates, urging them to become responsible leaders and contribute to nation-building, emphasising the importance of peace, unity, and character for development.
Kwatra termed India's successful launch of an American communication satellite on Wednesday as a 'very important and big day' for partnership between Washington and New Delhi, saying it caps a series of achievements in 2025 in bilateral space cooperation between the countries.
The threat of wars hovers over the negotiations in Oman, but the good part is that Trump called the talks to be 'very good' and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian responded that they 'constitute a step forward', points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
While both sides have announced the decision to restart talks for a trade deal, government officials said discussions are continuing virtually.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, delivered a sharp response to comments made by Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad.
India emerged from the war militarily bruised and strategically altered. The United States, under the guise of friendship, had succeeded in achieving what open alignment never could: The psychological and political repositioning of India within the Cold War order, points out Dr Kumar.
India has joined the US-led 'Pax Silica' alliance, aimed at building a resilient supply chain for critical minerals and artificial intelligence, marking a significant step in strengthening bilateral ties and fostering economic security.
The question is no longer whether the war will expand. It has. The next few days will tell us whether the war stabilises around Hormuz or whether the Strait itself becomes the trigger for a far larger rupture. What to watch for over the next 48 hours is simple: Any move by the US toward direct naval control of the Strait; any credible Iranian attempt to disrupt or mine shipping lanes and, critically, whether energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be targeted.If those lines are crossed in tandem, the war will no longer be containable within the region.
Earlier in the day, the ministry of external affairs "strongly advised" Indians to avoid travel to Iran until further notice, amid rising tensions and protests in the Islamic Republic.
'Trump had done a deal with the current regime minus Maduro. The current regime is giving Trump entry into Venezuelan oil. They are obeying him and doing whatever he says.' 'They are happy because they have saved their heads by sacrificing only two, Maduro and his wife. Thousands of Venezuelan military leaders would have been jailed or killed in American action had Maduro stayed in power.'
Former Indian envoys to Venezuela R Viswanathan and Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha said the action was anticipated and even 'unsurprising' in nature, claiming that the US has always worked against Maduro's regime.
Afghans have deep self-respect and are the last people to put up with humiliation. Is it any surprise that relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have touched an all-time low and the two countries are now at war? asks M R Narayan Swamy.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced that an interim trade agreement between India and the US is likely to be signed in March and operationalised in April, with chief negotiators meeting in Washington to finalize the details.
A group of US lawmakers has written to the Indian Ambassador to the United States, urging a fair and timely trial for activist Umar Khalid, who has been detained under the UAPA.
India strongly criticized Pakistan at the United Nations for misusing UN platforms to promote a divisive agenda by repeatedly raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
Talks on the proposed trade deal between India and the United States will resume after the year-end holidays, coinciding with Sergio Gor -- a close aide of American President Donald Trump -- taking charge as the US Ambassador to India in early January, according to a person privy to the development.
India has accused Pakistan of being a "rogue state" fueling global terrorism, following a confession by Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif admitting to his country's history of supporting and funding terrorist organisations. India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Yojna Patel, delivered a strong Right of Reply at a UN event, highlighting Asif's admission and condemning Pakistan's actions. Patel asserted that the world can no longer turn a blind eye to Pakistan's role in supporting terrorism.
Russia and China on Saturday condemned the United States airstrikes on Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
What appeared to be a generous act of friendship was, in truth, a manoeuvre within a much larger strategic game. The United States used the 1962 war not just to aid India but to test how far it could be pulled into the Western fold, points out Dr Kumar.
'Nehru was an idealist, he was certainly a visionary in one way, but Mao Zedong was not. Mao Zedong was a very down-to-earth strategist. He wanted to take Tibet, to take the plateau, to take the rivers, to take the minerals.'
Records stretching back to 1947 suggest a consistent strategy by Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), of using terrorism as a state policy against India.
US President Donald Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and greeted him on Diwali, amid ongoing trade tensions between the two countries.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
The statement did not name any country. But the US has often blamed India and China for purchasing Russian oil even when there are no tariffs on Beijing for it.
By picking Rubio and Waltz as his top diplomat and NSA guarantees a continuation of bi-partisan support and further strengthening of India-US relationship under the second Trump administration.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday (local time) hailed India as 'one of the top relationships that the US has in the world today' during the Senate confirmation hearing for Sergio Gor, US President Donald Trump's nominee for US Ambassador to India.
Gor underlined that President Trump has a "deep friendship" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that is something that is unique.
Indian strategic affairs experts criticize the US strike on Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, warning of a 'bad precedent' and potential for similar actions by other powers.
