Here's the full text of address to the nation by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of the Republic Day 2023.
Will Empire strike back to prevent a game changing election result, asks T P Sreenivasan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in Rome, Italy to participate in the G20 Summit where he will join other leaders in discussions on global economic and health recovery from COVID-19, sustainable development and climate change.
The PM gave a call for 'Sabka Prayas' (everyone's efforts) along with ''Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'' for building a self-reliant India.
Someone suggested Jaishankar was a potential Kissinger who could try and resolve the Russia-Ukraine imbroglio through his intellectual and diplomatic strengths. But calling the spade a spade on issues like imperialism, colonialism and exploitation, he would have raised many eyebrows in the West at a time when the fractures and wounds needed to be treated and healed, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Sumit Nagal, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, along with team physiotherapist Yash Pandey came up with some crazy dances with Indian tennis legend Leander Paes also joining in the fun.
Shringla, a 1984-batch Indian Foreign Service diplomat will succeed Navtej Sarna.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington, DC, on Wednesday on an official visit to the United States during which he will hold the first face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris, attend the maiden in-person Quad summit and address the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
A genuine attempt was made to reset relations in a positive way, signalling a stepping back from the brink of conflict, much to the relief of the world, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
"Ambassador Mittal raised India's concern that Afghanistan's soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner," it added.
Former Indian diplomats on Monday termed the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan as a "setback" for India strategically, and asserted that the priority for New Delhi right now should be to evacuate its citizens from the war-torn nation.
The Summit for Democracy seems to have done more harm than good, notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Those who worked with him or came to know him rated him as one of our best, with a sharp intellect, unfailing courtesy and ready wit.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan fondly remembers Ambassador B S Prakash, wonderful human being, unusual diplomat and long-time Rediff.com columnist, who passed away into the ages on Monday, October 4, 2021.
The bilateral and Quad summits, in which Prime Minister Modi played a significant role, has sent the right message to China, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
During the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston in last September, Modi, who shared the dais with Trump, invited the latter and his family to visit India, saying it will give a new height to the shared dreams of the two countries.
The Blinken visit indicated that the Biden administration is still somewhat tentative about the specifics of its relations with India, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who has served multiple stints at India's embassy in Washington, DC.
'We have been bold and innovative on recognition in the past and we do not need to rush,' advises Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Shringla, a 1984 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service, is considered an expert on India's neighbourhood and is currently serving as envoy to the US.
Kamala succeeded as she identified herself with the larger minority groups rather than narrow ethnicity, prodded by her mother who did not want to return to India, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who has done multiple stints in India's embassy in Washington, DC.
In his condolence message, Dr Singh said: "An era has passed away with Pandit Ravi Shankar. He was national treasure and global ambassador of India's cultural heritage."
As President Biden moves ahead with a new 'strategic concept' for China and Russia, the going is bound to get rough for the US and its G7 partners, notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The trust some people in India had that the Biden-Harris administration would be friendly to India has been eroded already, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The race for the UN secretary-general for 2022-2027 is already over and another term for Antonio Guterres is a foregone conclusion, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Like the other platforms, the Clubhouse will have more users in India than anywhere else because of the interest we have in knowing what others are doing and in letting others know about our activities, predicts T P Sreenivasan.
Yuvraj Singh feels Virat Kohli is the best batsman of this generation, but it unfair to compare India's Test captain with Sachin Tendulkar.
'No prime minister of India is averse to normalise relations with Pakistan, if it is possible to do so without altering our fundamental position on Jammu and Kashmir,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Veteran industrialist Ratan Tata was conferred the title of "Global Visionary of Sustainable Business and Peace" by the Federation of Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce (FIICC) for epitomising "unity, peace and sustainability". "Ratan Tata's support toward Israel has been unstinted. His commitment to put India on the global map with dignity and respect has been noted by each and everyone. "A man respected by the business communities of all the three countries - India, Israel and UAE - he epitomises unity, peace and sustainability," the president of the bilateral chamber, Gul Kripalani, said.
Ambassador of India to the UAE Pavan Kapoor quoted a tweet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said that COVID-19 does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or borders before striking.
An agreement between India and Pakistan, however tenuous, has its own meaning and impact. We have not heard the last word about the ceasefire agreement, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The reduction of tension on the Chinese border may have reduced the urgency of a Biden-Modi meeting, but the sooner Modi starts a bromance with Biden the better as he had done with Obama and Trump, suggests Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Mathai took the office on Monday. He succeeds Jaimini Bhagwati, who retired recently.
'Somehow the Flying Sikh has endured in people's memory.'
"Hindustan jeevay, Pakistan jeevay," he chanted while reading a verse.
China is acutely conscious of the need for the next Dalai Lama to be under its control. It was for this reason that China recently stressed their claim on Arunachal Pradesh. There were rumours that the next Dalai Lama may be found in Tawang. If that happens, India-China relations will become tense and there may be demands for the child to be handed over to the Chinese, points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
He will be the "last person to curb" skipper Virat Kohli's on-field aggression but newly appointed chief coach Anil Kumble made it clear that as "ambassadors of India" the players should also be aware that there exists a "thin line" which needs to be respected. "I love his aggression. I was also no different as I was very aggressive. But we were probably very different in terms of how we came across in the field. But you don't want to curb aggression. I will be the last person to curb someone's natural instincts," Kumble said at the pre-departure press conference ahead of India's tour of West Indies.
The effort made to define the larger picture by focussing on history and the wish not turn differences into disputes and conflicts is welcome. In the obtaining circumstances today, nothing more could have been possible, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The reversal of Trump's policy with regard to Iran, like the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, may not be a matter of just turning the clock back, but one of patient negotiations, with uncertain consequences in the post-COVID-19 world, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Lobbying on the Hill is time consuming and cumbersome, but very effective to influence US government policies, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Washington, DC after the 1998 nuclear tests and during the Kargil War.
Dentist Puneet Mehra, 35, said that the Indian Embassy in Beijing informed him on Monday that the transportation of his mother's body has got delayed in view of the restrictions on movement of people and vehicles in China after the outbreak of coronavirus epidemic in the neighbouring country.
If the Ladakh episode has ended, this is the time to find the truth about all the aspects of it and inform the nation and the world, the time is here and now, advises Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
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