Jaishankar also spoke about how he expected a change in Russia's direction towards the rest of the world and it may likely want multiple options in Asia.
India and Pakistan on Thursday agreed to continue the four-year-old border ceasefire as they discussed various confidence building measures in New Delhi to strengthen bilateral ties. During the day-long expert-level talks on conventional CBMs, the two sides deliberated upon various proposals including early repatriation of inadvertent border crossers. Both sides are keen to ensure early repatriation of those who cross the borders accidentally.
The government is considering reducing the strength of security forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir by 25 per cent as a confidence building measure.
There have been growing global concerns over China's sweeping claims of sovereignty over all of the South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons.
Curfew remained in force in the northern Odisha town of Balasore for the second day on Wednesday following a clash between two groups over animal slaughter in which 10 people were injured, an official said.
Senior officials of India and Pakistan will meet in Islamabad on July 19 to discuss measures aimed at facilitating travel and trade across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
Union minister Farooq Abdullah on Monday hailed the invitation extended by India to Pakistan prime minister-in-waiting Nawaz Sharif, saying that such initiatives would help the two countries come together and resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir.
These officers will oversee the entire poll processes as eyes and ears of the commission on the ground to ensure free, fair and voter-friendly elections.
It will be Putin's first participation in a multilateral summit after a mercenary group launched a short-lived armed rebellion last week that rocked Moscow.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday slammed Pakistan Parliament's resolution condemning the hanging of Afzal Guru, saying there can not be normalisation of ties with that country after its polity gave stamp of approval on the terror attack on Indian Parliament.
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of being soft on Pakistan-sponsored terror, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday suggested that the diplomatic relations with the neighbouring country be scaled down "for the time being".
Pakistan's top leadership has re-affirmed its support for the people of Kashmir, saying confidence-building measures initiated with India should lead to the resolution of the dragging dispute over the region. In messages issued on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day that is observed on February 5 every year, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf reiterated Pakistan's political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people.
Committing to maintain peace and tranquility on the boundary, India and China on Saturday agreed that it was an "important guarantor for growth in ties and in this context pledged to early conclusion of negotiations on a proposed pact aimed at avoiding flare-ups on the border.
India on Friday said the composite dialogue with Pakistan will be resumed after the new government there settles down, and pending confidence building measures between the two countries are implemented.
Support to terrorist activities inside India by elements in Pakistan's military and its spy agency could lead to confrontation between the two neighbours which has the potential to rapidly escalate into a nuclear exchange, a top American commander on Thursday warned.
The recurrence of violence in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council (BTC) area of Assam during the last few days despite heavy deployment of forces and continued imposition of night curfew has proved that the hatred between the two communities -- involved in the clashes that erupted on July 21 last -- has run deeper than realised by the political leadership.
With confidence-building measures and scaled up security in place, exodus of Northeasterners from here for their home-states fearing backlash over Assam violence has stopped, police and railway officials said on Monday.
India on Thursday made it clear to Pakistan that bringing those guilty in the 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice is the biggest confidence building measure that Islamabad could do.
Separatists and mainstream Peoples Democratic Party have been dismissive of the report submitted by Kashmir interlocutors to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram Wednesday.
The forthcoming Indo-Pak home secretary-level talks will for the first time include heads of Central Bureau of Investigation and National Investigation Agency, an organisation formed in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai attacks.
India and Pakistan on Wednesday announced additional Confidence Building Measures related to Kashmir, including increasing cross-LoC trading days and expanding travel to include tourism and religious aspects.
Firming up confidence building measures, India repatriated 91 Pakistani prisoners, including 87 fishermen, at the Amritsar-Wagah Border on Tuesday on the eve of crucial talks between the foreign ministers of both the nations in New Delhi.
Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan on Tuesday held consultations to finalise the agenda for the meeting between their foreign ministers on Wednesday during which they will discuss Confidence Building Measures and India's concerns on terror and Jammu and Kashmir.
The proposal for including cruise missile tests in the existing bilateral agreement on Pre-Notification Of Flight Testing Of Ballistic Missiles, signed in October 2005, was mooted by the Indian side during Thursday's talks between the foreign secretaries on peace and security, sources familiar with the discussions told PTI
This programme is qualitatively a downgraded version as compared to the Chinese military exercises with others such as with Russia (in August 2005), Pakistan (in 2005 at Taxkorgan area north of Sakshgam valley and in December 2006 at Abbotabad in Pakistan), Central Asian Republics (in August 2007).
In a major confidence building measure, India and China on Tuesday signed an agreement for setting up a mechanism to avert any untoward incident on the border, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying good cooperation between the two countries would bring "great changes" in the world. The agreement was signed after two days of talks between Special Representatives -- National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo.
The two countries, which possess nuclear weapons, are likely to discuss measures to boost confidence in each other and prevent any misunderstanding that may spark off a nuclear misadventure between them. Every year, both countries also exchange lists of nuclear installations in either country.
Defence ministers of India and China will hold talks in New Delhi on Tuesday during which they are expected to take a decision on resuming the military exercises of their Armies stalled since 2010.
Senior Indian and Pakistani officials will meet in Islamabad on December 26 and December 27 for talks on nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures as part of the bilateral dialogue process. This will be the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on nuclear and conventional CBMs in over four years though other officials, including the two Foreign Secretaries, have discussed these issues in recent meetings in Islamabad and New Delhi, diplomatic sources said.
Ways to deepen ties between the two neighbours with special focus on issues like visa regime and education and the progress in the dialogue process came up for discussion at the fourth round of India-Pakistan Parliamentarians Dialogue.
The Express Tribune quoted a source as claiming that the US was instrumental in persuading the two countries to discuss the possibility of a meeting between the heads of the Research and Analysis Wing and Inter-Services Intelligence.
India should demonstrate "seriousness" in implementing its announcements regarding reducing troops in Jammu and Kashmir as a confidence-building measure, Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said.
Centre's interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday said there was a need for reducing the trust deficit between the government and the people, but confidence building measures and focus on development should not distract the pursuit of a political settlement. "CBMs and development should not distract from finding a political settlement to the Jammu and Kashmir problem while a political settlement should also not impede the development scenario," said Dileep Padgaonkar
Continuing with the confidence building measures, India and Pakistan are set to ink a new visa agreement. Amir Mir reports from Islamabad
Carrying forward their engagement process, India and Pakistan on Wednesday announced new Confidence Building Measures, notwithstanding the unhappiness in New Delhi about Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar's meeting with Kashmiri separatist leaders.
Striking a positive note ahead of the India-Pakistan talks, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Monday said Islamabad would extend all required cooperation to India on the terror issue and share related information.
Notwithstanding the agreement on various confidence building measures during the India-Pakistan foreign secretary-level talks, most sections of the Pakistani media contended on Saturday that the parleys did not lead to any "major breakthrough" and the most crucial issue of Kashmir was "left for another day".
Since Pakistan is in the middle of an intense regional and internal issue, the Rao-Bashir talks are not the "major attraction" in Islamabad, reports Sheela Bhatt from the Pakistani capital
This is the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on nuclear and conventional CBMs since October 2007 though other officials, including the two Foreign Secretaries, have discussed these issues in recent meetings in Islamabad and New Delhi, diplomatic sources told PTI.
