'The Indian version is that the two top diplomats merely exchanged pleasantries, while the Pakistani side characterised the encounter as an 'informal dialogue'.' 'The truth, as always in such piquant situations, is somewhere in between.' 'It stands to reason that ice has been broken,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Was the Modi-Obama summit the panacea for all that troubles the India-US relationship?
'Offensive operations to capture objectives across the LoC to eliminate terrorist launch pads and deny the use of the most dangerous routes of infiltration, are likely to be limited to brigade-level attacks.' 'These limited operations are unlikely to escalate to war across the international boundary,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
He also said that the Obama Administration has not expressed any objection to the recent signing of a pact by India and Iran to develop the Chabahar port, despite some concerns expressed by a few Senators.
'There will be some issues of contention, especially on H1B visa and on trade policy.'
Describing the Narendra Modi-led BJP's electoral victory as a "breathtaking landslide", eminent American think tanks and experts have said the win has given him an opportunity to "redefine" Indian politics.
India must develop structured multilateralism to its defence buys
India must present its demands of America confidently, instead of fearing that its pocket will somehow be picked, says Ajai Shukla.
With the United States delivering an increasing share of India's arms imports, New Delhi must work with it to retain control of our regional waters
'We had to convince our people that we were doing nothing that would erode our strategic programme. We were all the time arguing that we are not doing anything, which will remotely impact on our strategic programme.'
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 administration and America Inc have invested in Narendra Modi's power to transform India. Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC.
'Prime Minister Manmohan Singh refused to allow us to project his real personality to let the people of India know exactly what he really was. He was always shying away from greater public exposure. Since the last two years we have seen enormous criticism, ridiculing the prime minister. He has been made into an object of jokes. It certainly hurts. I think this man deserves lots of good reviews... His contribution to social policy, his contribution to the economy, his contribution to coalition management, his contribution to foreign policy.' Dr Sanjaya Baru, Dr Singh's former media advisor who is in the eye of a storm over his book on the prime minister UPA speaks to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
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