India-Canada ties saw tensions after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September 2023 in the House of Commons said there were "credible allegations" of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed China's anticipation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, emphasizing the importance of strong India-China relations and mutual cooperation.
The entire impact of Trump's tariff policies over the last six months or so has taken the whole world back, and India too had a bit of a jolt just two to three days ago, Tharoor said.
Rejecting the criticism of the CAA, Jaishankar said, "There are people who publicly said on record that because of CAA, a million Muslims will lose their citizenship in this country."
A former Bangladeshi beauty queen, Meghna Alam, has been detained for allegedly setting up a honey trap for a former Saudi ambassador in Dhaka, in an attempt to extort USD 5 million. Alam, who runs a charity, was initially detained without charge under the controversial Special Powers Act. Her arrest sparked a media outcry and concerns by rights watchdogs. Alam denies the allegations, claiming the diplomat wanted to marry her. The Saudi embassy has not commented, but media reports suggest the envoy left Bangladesh as the scandal unfolded.
Amid uncertainty over trade talks with the US, Prime Minister Modi asserts India's commitment to protecting the interests of farmers and fishermen, vowing no compromise on their behalf.
India is the fifth largest economy in the world and it is central to a number of critical global supply chains, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said, arguing that the leadership of the country must be part of discussions at the upcoming G7 summit.
It is learnt that Ottawa is yet to send an invitation to the Indian prime minister for the summit, but Modi, in any way, would have skipped it as such a visit would have required a lot of groundwork considering the current state of ties between the two sides, said the people cited above.
Trump's new rules for how countries should treat him have led to the current breakdown in India-US relations, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
haroor said the visit's main purpose was to share what India has endured and seek solidarity in the fight against terrorism.
American sourcing firms and exporters in China are approaching Indian companies to supply goods to the US as high tariffs imposed by Washington are making it difficult for them to ship directly to America, apex exporters' body FIEO said on Monday. The US has imposed 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods entering the American market. For India, the duty is just 10 per cent.
In the short run, the Trump presidency has already ensured one thing: The assumptions of the past can no longer guide the strategies of the future, points out Manish Dabhade.
Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has said that his interim government wanted good relations with India, but 'something always went wrong'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said relations between India and Canada are 'extremely important' and the two nations should work together to achieve win-win cooperation in various sectors.
'We are too important to want to be paired with Pakistan but too intensely connected to it to successfully detach ourselves,' asserts Aakar Patel.
India and China should build on 'good progress' in normalising the bilateral ties to address border-related issues including de-escalation, and it is essential to avoid 'restrictive trade measures and roadblocks', External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday during talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
If India caves in to US pressure as Trump hopes it will, he will further try to blackmail it into submission, points out Ramesh Menon.
Lee Jae-myung's decisive victory in South Korea's snap presidential election marks a major political shift driven by public backlash against authoritarian, with significant implications for domestic reform and the future of the US-South Korea alliance, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
India abstained from a UN General Assembly vote on a resolution regarding Afghanistan, citing the need for a balanced approach that combines incentives and disincentives, and calling for new initiatives to address the humanitarian crisis.
India's engagement with China is "complex" and Chinese attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh starting from April-May 2020 seriously disturbed the peace and tranquillity in border areas, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said in a report on Monday.
rediffGURU Kanchan Rai, founder of the Let Us Talk Foundation, offers career advice on how to deal with a competitive colleague in a professional manner.
'It brings precarious peace because the red lines have shifted. 'The next Pahalgam attack would mean a full scale war.'
'Very rarely does a film give you the opportunity to do this, I was constantly improvising and adding scenes on the set.'
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
The 'mediation' by the United States from behind the scene on the diplomatic track appears to be once again working, which calls on both Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and pull back from a military confrontation, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
He said that the two nations will have issues in the foreseeable future. However, there are ways of addressing those issues and what happened in 2020 was not the way to address those issues.
The Chinese military on Monday denied reports that its largest military cargo plane has carried arms supplies to Pakistan and warned legal action against those spreading such rumours.
'If there is a military standoff eyeball to eyeball on the western border, the Chinese could create problems by making movements in the north, in our northeast, which could involve us tying down some forces there so that could stretch our military actions.'
The Indian government has lodged a strong protest with Canada after consular officials at the Indian consulate in Vancouver were informed they were under audio and video surveillance and that their private communications had been intercepted. The Indian government maintains that Canada has provided space for pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity and has urged Canada to take action against anti-India elements.
World leaders, including the UN Secretary-General and US President Donald Trump, have urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and seek peaceful solutions to the ongoing tensions. The calls for calm come after India conducted airstrikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to a recent terrorist attack. Leaders from the US, Russia, UK, China, UAE, Qatar, and Japan have expressed concern over the escalating situation and emphasized the need for dialogue and de-escalation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday pledged to strengthen the strategic relationships with neighbouring countries by 'appropriately' managing differences and enhancing supply chain ties as China's tariff war with the United States escalated.
'In the short term the relationship will get worse.'
China and Pakistan are in a tight strategic alliance. India must deal with them one at a time, but be prepared in case they decide to collude, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'Trump's sons, and the son of Trump's Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff, are in the crypto business and recently signed deals with Pakistan's crypto council.' 'It may not be coincidental that not long before the Trump-Munir meeting, the head of Pakistan's crypto council met with Trump's White House crypto policy czar.'
While Canada denies harbouring extremists or terrorists, Kugelman pointed out that India remains firm in its disagreement.
'He is intrigued by the intractability of Kashmir issue. With his interest in dealmaking and peacebrokering, he sees it as an exciting challenge to tackle.'
If the only superpower, which calls India an ally, sees the region through an India-Pakistan prism, it is unacceptable. Rather than endorse India's sphere of influence, this undermines it, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Unfortunately, India and Pakistan could learn a 'lesson' from this conflict that will make them more likely to use these weapons against each other in the future.' 'Rounds of missile and drone attacks could be more routine features of their hostility, just like artillery fire has become a familiar fact of life along the Line of Control.'
The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
'The way our President was greeted, that itself shows how far India has come.' 'People were aware of who she is, people know who our prime minister is.' 'Everybody knows India now and everybody respects India.'
