Chinese foreign policy will acquire a more ideological and less pragmatic character. It will be conducted with more nationalist overtones, predicts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Though it would be wonderful for Indians to have the Kohinoor and Peacock Throne displayed in all its glory at the Red Fort, it seems unlikely that the British will part with the Kohinoor in a hurry.
'She's not going to keel over.' 'This is the kind of difficult situation that she thrives in.'
'If the jihadi infiltration attempts are assisted by the Pakistan army, the Indian Army will retaliate strongly.'
The external affairs minister, delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial lecture, also made it clear that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is 'unacceptable' to India.
Prime Minister Modi made a strategic blunder of Nehruvian proportions -- presuming no war can happen now, and the Chinese won't be a military threat and risk their economic interests, observes Shekhar Gupta.
"Wife diplomacy", which has become focus of China's new leadership, would come into full play in India on Wednesday when Chinese Xi Jinping arrives in Ahemdabad along with his singer wife Peng Liyuan, who has become a fashion icon here.
'Although Hong Kong weathered many a storm and displayed a remarkable resilience to bounce back, the developments in the territory have raised question marks with regard to its future stability and prosperity.' A revealing excerpt from Rup Narayan Das's Hong Kong Conundrum: Pangs of Transition.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 37, will visit the country shrugging off security fears to follow in the footsteps of William's grandparents, father and late mother, Princess Diana.
In the past, India strongly rejected references made to Jammu and Kashmir in a previous joint statement by Pakistan and China.
The Delhi high court on Friday directed the Delhi government and the police to ensure that the number of Afghan nationals, protesting outside the UNHCR office in New Delhi and seeking refugee status, is suitably reduced and they strictly follow Covid-19 appropriate protocol.
What the UK is getting out of the Serum Institute is what India is losing. And the responsibility of the Indian State ought to have been to dictate where Serum Institute's vaccine doses should go, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A victory for France over Portugal in Sunday's European soccer Championship final would give the country a welcome morale boost, French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday.
'By killing innocent people, they are using Sun Tzu's tactics of 'kill one, terrify thousands.'
An opinion is steadily gaining ground in Muslim countries in India's 'extended neighbourhood' that the Modi government is adopting State policies that are decidedly 'anti-Muslim', warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Indian high commission in London is making efforts to take the manuscript to India for display.
'They have done in Eastern Ladakh what we did in Dokalam in 2017.'
The people in both places have lived in a state of denial, refusing to accept the bald fact that resorting to violence against an infinitely superior force is suicidal, observes T N Ninan.
The description of his career by Ambassador Nazareth in his elegant language, judicious choice of details, without ego or malice to anyone, shows that it had its ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies and lucky and unlucky accidents. Ambassador T P Sreenivasan reviews A Ringside Seat to History.
United Nations General Assembly on Friday appointed Antonio Guterres as the UN Secretary General for a second term beginning January 1, 2022, days after the powerful Security Council unanimously recommended his name to the 193-member body for re-election.
She faced off against former disciple-turned-defector Suvendu Adhikari in a very different contest. It's not land acquisition, but an ego clash that has acquired, tragically, communal overtones, explains Kanika Datta.
'If you behave like a nail, the adversary will behave like a hammer.'
'India is not the India of 1962. We are not carrying that baggage of history anymore.'
India is apprehensive about the Taliban's return as it would mean loss of access to Baluch rebels and help to the restive tribals of Waziristan. This would be a setback to the Indian strategy of returning the compliments of death by a thousand cuts to Pakistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
As the pandemic unfolded, the India-China relationship has come under severe stress. To restore normalcy, agreements between the two countries must be respected scrupulously in their entirety. Where the Line of Actual Control is concerned, any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo is unacceptable, declares External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
'Those who follow the workings of the establishment believe that Indian diplomacy has managed more by the individual flair and brilliance of a few individuals than its systemic strength or organisational excellence.'
'Both Doval and Jaishankar are savvy enough to know what is good for them and won't want to meet the fate of Icarus in Greek mythology,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pulwama must become the defining moment in our fight against terror, effecting a sea change in our mindset. The erratic, blow hot blow cold approach, the hallmark of our anti-terror-Pak-Kashmir policy must end. In its place is required a pragmatic, comprehensive, robust hard line course that is relentlessly pursued even in times of relative calm until the final objective is met, namely the eradication of separatism and the total annihilation of terror, says Vivek Gumaste.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Who knows, the moment of truth in Ladakh may also augur for a giant leap toward boundary settlement with China in the fulness of time. The news that the special representatives of the two countries are planning to meet gives a positive signal, suggests Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
On December 10, Kissinger began to encourage the Chinese to take action against India: 'If the People's Republic were to consider the situation on the Indian subcontinent a threat to security, and if it took measures to protect its security, the US would oppose efforts of others to interfere with the People's Republic.' On the 50th anniversary of India's greatest military victory, Claude Arpi recalls how the US suggested that China intervene militarily on Pakistan's side.
Neel Mullick lists a few must-don'ts as well!
Under the deal, Israel would suspend its plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank.
The memorable portrayal of a pathan 'Sher Khan' by actor Pran in Bollywood movie 'Zanjeer' on Friday found its way into diplomacy as Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned it to underscore how Indians view Afghans as true and magnanimous friends.
Vijay Keshav Gokhale's tenure as foreign secretary promises to guide India's external affairs along paths never taken before, says K P Nayar.
'The reason why we don't have an escalation of war like in 1962 is because in 1962, we didn't have this connectivity.' 'Whereas today, we have lots of incentives to stay stable and connected to China even though we still have that political rivalry.'
Shivshankar Menon said the government's amendment to the Citizenship Act was a "self-inflicted goal".
'Rajapaksa's victory poses a serious foreign policy challenge for the Modi government,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Trump can afford to say that COVID-19 is a 'China virus', but we can't expect Modi to say that aloud while his actions may speak louder, says Rup Narayan Das.
Modi's arrival has changed the optics of the visit. There is a different demonstration of the confidence level in the Indian leadership, but not much has changed beyond that, reports Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
