'This is going to be an opportunity to hear from the prime minister of the new India and the progress made in the last two years of the growing cooperation between the US and India in several areas, including areas that would have seemed implausible a few years ago.' US Congressman Ed Royce, who led the campaign to have Prime Minister Modi address a joint session of Congress, speaks to Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
Xi and Modi met soon after their arrival at a summit of the BRICS group of emerging powers. Xi said the two countries should join hands in setting global rules and suggested he attend the November meeting of the 21-nation APEC in Beijing, as well as take part in Chinese-led regional initiatives.
China on Friday cautioned foreign countries against hosting the Dalai Lama and interfering in its domestic affairs on the vexed Tibet issue, a day after United States President Barack Obama and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader appeared together in public for the first time.
Reflecting the strong bipartisan support to the India-US relationship, the lawmakers welcomed the decision of the House Speaker Paul Ryan to invite Modi to address the joint meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a joint meeting of the United States Congress will be an opportunity to energise efforts to improve bilateral ties, top American lawmakers from across the political divide have said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described Trump as a "talented and outstanding man".
In the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, allegations have been made that the Muslim militants in Sri Lanka draw sustenance from India. An overarching impression is being created that the ISIS is gaining ground in India, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The separatist resurgence in Balochistan is thwarting Pakistan's plans to build CPEC projects to optimally utilise Balochistan's energy reserves,' points out Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Vijay Gokhale's appointment as foreign secretary can be regarded as a certain 'adjustment' that could make a difference to the poor climate of India-China relations,' says Ambassdor M K Bhadrakumar.
However, Denmark said it is difficult to conclude on the real intention behind this.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Japan, a key strategic partner, next month as he embarks on a busy foreign travel schedule in coming months that will include Bhutan, Brazil and the US.
Veteran Pakistani diplomats Syed Ibne Abbas and Jalil Abbas Jilani would be the new Pakistani envoys to India and the United States respectively as part of a wide-ranging reshuffle of envoys in key capitals around the world.
Aziz Haniffa, who has covered every Indian Prime Minister's visit to the US since Rajiv Gandhi in 1985, gives us a peek into what's happening in Washington, DC on the eve of the Modi-Trump summit.
The American, Russian and Chinese reactions to the Uri attack indicates how tough it will be for India to 'isolate' Pakistan internationally,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Amid tensions over the South China Sea, China on Wednesday warned the United States not to take "dangerous actions" that threatens its sovereignty and security interest, days after an American destroyer patrolled the disputed area.
Fresh protests erupted in several United States cities for a second night as coast to coast demonstrations witnessed thousands of people filling the streets, including at the White House and outside Trump's properties.
A host of United States lawmakers attended an event on Capitol Hill on Friday to hail India's election and the Bharatiya Janata Party's landslide victory, and to also invite Narendra Modi to Washington to discuss issues ranging from counter-terrorism to bilateral economic cooperation and investment.
Indian Ambassador to the United States Dr S Jaishankar told Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa that it was "a very nice meeting and President Barack Obama was extremely cordial."
Modi is likely to seek support of Switzerland and Mexico for India's membership of the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group as both these countries are key members of the elite group. The issue is likely to figure during Modi's meeting with Obama in Washington.
'The bottom line is that at least now we should take an honest look at this business of NSG membership (or Masood Azhar for that matter.),' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Trump also announced the appointment of Gina Haspel to head the Central Intelligence Agency -- the first woman selected for the agency's top post.
'In his eulogy at Sandy's memorial service, President Clinton recounted the unusually hot US Independence Day, July 4, 1999, when most of official Washington was more interested in watching fireworks than international diplomacy. Sandy insisted that Clinton confront Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in no uncertain terms.' Former US Assistant Secretary Raymond E Vickery, Jr salutes Sandy Berger, Clinton's National Security Adviser, as a true friend of India.
At scaling back Tehran's nuclear programme and relieving the Islamic Republic from the sanctions
Since the 1984 national elections, no party has won a clear majority in the lower house of Parliament, a US intelligence report has observed. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Carter has said India's designation as a 'major defence partner' would allow the US to cooperate with it --
'The "Hollandisation" of British policy may not bring the expected gains as the future may show,' says Claude Arpi.
The development comes after four of the eight member states -- India, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh -- decided to pull out.
'The most striking thing about the US strike on Syria is its futility of purpose beyond a symbolic value to impress the domestic constituency that Trump is a forceful decision-maker,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'We are witnessing a spectacle of breathtakingly creative diplomacy at work, riveted on the firm foundations of the country's strategic autonomy,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The MoU was signed by New York Consul Geneal Dnyaneshwar Mulay on behalf of the ICCR and Richard L Edwards, executive vice president for Academic Affairs and interim Chancellor, Rutgers University to initiate this academic partnership.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh, while keynoting a Capitol Hill conference on the topic of India, Afghanistan and Regional Security, has said that as long as Pakistan offers safe havens to the Taliban and terrorist groups within its territory, the United States-led war on terrorism would be a failure.
In a move that may thaw the 34-year-old icy relationship between the United States and Iran, US President Barack Obama on Friday called his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani and "exchanged pleasantries" in a 15-minute conversation.
The White House has slammed those calling for identifying threat coming from terror groups as "radical Islam" arguing that such a move would advance dreaded outfit Islamic State's narratives.
'One of the great assets that India has is its enormous intellectual content, enormous intellectual developmental content, and some of the things we need to be working on are unmanned systems, for example, the enormous opportunities for us to jointly partner and develop -- not simply sell our equipment to India -- but actually partner and develop in areas like drones, areas like advanced aircraft and even areas around certain missile systems, where we can have a win-win.'
'Pakistan's security establishment, despite its appallingly immoral approach to conflict, has worked with limited resources to maximise its national defence resources to continue bleeding India,' says Ajai Shukla.
India may not be prepared to meet US demands, say experts
India has some ability to influence what the world order will look like, but it needs to make structural changes to the ministries of external affairs and commerce, and evolve formal coordination mechanisms with the ministries of finance and home, says Nitin Pai
'Were they two yaars of yesteryears brought together again by fate?' 'Were they two crafty spies hoodwinking each other?' wonders B S Prakash.
'China might soon have to seriously consider whether it prefers an Indo-US hyphenation to a Sino-Indian one.'
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