The hour-long meeting, also attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and senior home ministry officials, apprised the Muslim clerics about activities of the West Asian terrorist group and its efforts to attract Indian youth to its fold.
India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran and has already lined up $20 billion as investment in oil and gas as well as in petrochemical and fertiliser sectors there.
Home loans also pose lower bad-debt risks for the banks than corporate loans.
'India-US relations seem to have soured when the US expected India to not only balance China in the Asia-Pacific, but also make concessions to Pakistan as a price for US technological help,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A round-up of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers played on Thursday
'The threat that India faces and the threat the United States faces is not just to the homeland, but to our people and to our institutions wherever they may be.' In an exclusive conversation with Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com, US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal outlines the importance of Prime Minister Modi's visit for America.
Smart Cities can be a success depending on the basic amenities it manages to provide citizens.
'By crudely dragging the topic into the bazaar to flog it for momentary pleasure, we turned it into a dead carcass by the time Modi even got back from Xiamen,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Deborah Lee James will travel to India later this month as part of a maiden visit to four Asian countries that would also take her to Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines and will discuss the situation in the South China sea as well as the growing threat of terrorism.
The BDCA is yet another dose of insidious placebos administered on the people of India by their own government that has been in perpetual denial over the steady incremental loss of strategic Indian territory, says R N Ravi
'Gwadar has the potential to facilitate PLAN's operations in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.' 'Reports of China setting up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar to monitor US and Indian naval activity and shipping traffic through the Straits of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea lend credence to this,' says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
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The agency had "almost finished" its probe into the matter, which involved Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, an official said.
'The intrusion in Chumar, during and beyond the Chinese president's visit, is unprecedented and has qualitatively changed the tone of the India-China relationship,' says Jayadeva Ranade, a member of the National Security Advisory Board.
'China's excessive military aid to Pakistan is the real elephant in the room as far as Sino-Indian relations are concerned. India should be confident enough to accept a degree of closeness between China and Pakistan, since China may wish to use this link for its foray into the Muslim world.' 'But the Chinese must be realistic enough to know that as time passes, the tactic of using Pakistan as a proxy to check India will yield diminishing returns. The US tried it for 60 years but failed, so will China,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Diplomats agree that amid stormy relations with China and Pakistan, Modi has posted impressive foreign policy successes, notes Aditi Phadnis.
The target announced is 13.6 per cent higher than that set last year and 145.4 per cent higher than the revised target for 2013-14.
In the metal pack, Tata Steel was up 3.7% while Vedanta was up 1.8% .
A realistic assessment will tell us that not much has changed between India and Pakistan; the relationship remains as fraught as before with little prospect of reconciliation, notes Ajai Shukla.
'Relations between India and Japan are robust and devoid of either shadow of history or any irritant.' 'In fact, there is plenty of warmth and goodwill earned over history. There are no negatives but only opportunities,' notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
The EC limits campaign expenses incurred by a candidate to Rs 50 lakh to Rs 70 lakh. But there is no such limit on spending for parties. The vendors aren't complaining.
The 2 countries signed 15 agreements including one on defence cooperation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held 'productive discussions' with President Joko Widodo.
Eyeing greater cooperation with South East Asian countries on economic and security issues, India on Thursday announced a separate Mission for ASEAN region to be set up in Jakarta with a full-time resident Ambassador.
Voicing his frustration over the double game played by the Inter-Services Intelligence in the war against terror after 9/11, a former central intelligence agency chief has said that "duplicitous" is a gentler way to describe the notorious Pakistani spy agency, which has close links with terror groups.
'We appreciate his positive evaluation of the relationship and share his optimism about its future directions.' 'We look forward to welcoming him in India next week for detailed discussions on further strengthening of our partnership,' the MEA said on Friday.
Being a pragmatist Modi is not likely to give preference to China over Japan. Both security and economic aspects are likely to shape Modi's decision in terms of engaging the two biggest economies of Asia, says Sana Hashmi.
Two former senior United States diplomats, with more than 60 years experience in South Asia between them, have exhorted Washington to establish communication with Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi sooner than later.
'We use the word "historic" perhaps too much, but the prime minister's visit certainly was historic in so many ways.'
The 36-year-old desi speaks impeccable Arabic and quotes freely from the Quran during his speeches, reports Aziz Haniffa.
The idea is to boost household savings and turn more of them into growth capital. If the plan succeeds, sustained eight per cent-plus rates of gross domestic product growth should be within reach in a few years.
The US and its allies must evolve a more comprehensive long-term plan to defeat the new danger that the caliphate poses to the world order. And India too must do its bit for course correction, says strategic expert Gurmeet Kanwal.
'The army has stopped short of exerting the sort of influence it may have done historically.' 'It is comfortable with its relations with the civilian government as the superior partner.'
Dey, a veteran crime reporter, had planned a book, titled 'Chindi -- Rags to Riches', wherein he was going to write the stories of 20 gangsters with humble origins.
The RBI cut rates for third time in 2015 due to favourable economic conditions.
'If, as appears to be the case, India is on way to 'mending fences' with China, and China is equally desirous to 'reset' the relationship, this could be a self-reflexive moment in India's positioning vis-a-vis not just the Dalai Lama, but also the Tibetan issue and China as a whole,' points out China expert Alka Acharya.
'It is a tense border and there are numerous elements that keep these tensions alive.' 'India is willing to militarily respond if provoked.'
'A participant in many rounds of the border talks with China once told me that China seemed not interested in resolving the border issue as it wanted to keep it as a ready excuse to intervene in the sub-continent,' says Colonel (retd) Anil A Athale.
May touch 64/$ due to foreign flows slowing down
In a major security breach at Tihar Jail, two undertrials scaled the wall of the ward they were lodged in and then dug a tunnel through the boundary wall to escape from one of the most high-security prisons in the country.
'Whichever option India chooses, it should be clear to the government that the China-Pakistan nexus poses a clear and present danger to national security,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
