The defence secretary was responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson, a friend of India in the Congress who, of late, has been critical of India deciding to take an independent position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Will it be a foreigner from among the 57 applications received for job? Is it a race between Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri, Sandeep Patil and Venkatesh Prasad?
Sri Lankan security forces raided the main anti-government protest camp at the President's Secretariat in Colombo early on Friday, arresting nine people and injuring several others, as the protesters continued to occupy the sensitive area despite the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president.
The emergency was imposed because of the mass scale protests planned for April 3 against the current economic hardships faced by the people.
British-Indian prime ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak on Wednesday pledged a crackdown on Islamist extremism, the UK's most "significant terror threat", with a widened government definition of extremism and strengthening existing terrorism legislation.
Pakistan's Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday noted that National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri's move to dismiss a no-confidence motion against embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan through a controversial ruling is, prima facie, a violation of article 95 of the constitution as the apex court heard the high-profile case for the fourth day.
Prominent Indian-American Republican leader Nikki Haley has said that she thinks she can be the "new leader" who can take the country in a new direction and the United States cannot have a second term under Joe Biden as president.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
The responsibility for peace in Ukraine now rests in the hands of the two principal belligerents, Russia and the US, and the prime victim of this great power rivalry, Ukraine, points out Nitin Desai.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Donald Lu, was speaking to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, just after India had abstained from a vote on the United Nations General Assembly resolution.
The leaders of the Quad comprising India, the United States, Australia and Japan are set to demonstrate that the grouping is a 'force for global good' and has a unifying commitment to a rules-based international order amid China's increasingly intimidatory behaviour.
Sunak joins fellow Indian-origin candidate Suella Braverman, the UK Attorney General who is among the early Tory MPs to announce her plan to contest.
The legislative amendment was passed on Thursday by voice vote as part of an en bloc (all together as a single unit) amendment during floor consideration of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA).
The court ordered all parties to avoid taking any unconstitutional measures and adjourned the hearing until Monday.
History would not see the institution kindly if it continues to avoid, as appears to be the case, hearing and deciding some of the most pressing issues of our time, asserts Aakar Patel.
'He could indeed survive [the no confidence vote] even as he faces his biggest political test.'
'These accusations of my film being a copy only makes our chances at the Academy harder.'
Gandhi, then a newly appointed Congress chief, had staked claim to form the government at the Centre after the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 1999.
What would an Indian American president of the US look like, sound like and act like, especially on issues and policies pertaining to his or her 'mother-land'?, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
'To lead the Congress party, you need experience.' 'You should have held some positions which give you the experience of running the party at any level.' 'Tharoor doesn't have any such experience.'
The increased amount, defence sources say, will be consumed mostly by the allocation for employees-related expenses, salaries and allowances of servicemen.
Khan, who faced his toughest political test since assuming office in 2018 due to defections in his party and cracks in the ruling coalition, in a surprise announcement during an address to the nation on Sunday said he had advised the president to 'dissolve assemblies'.
A declassified report by the United States intelligence released stated that Russia and Iran undertook campaigns to influence the 2020 Presidential election, but intelligence agencies found no evidence that foreign actors tried to alter votes or other technical aspects of the voting process.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday finally agreed to step down as Conservative Party leader, triggering a leadership election for a new Tory leader who will go on to become the new premier, according to reports from Downing Street.
A bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives to eliminate the per country cap on employment-based Green Card, a move which is likely to benefit Indian IT professionals languishing over decades of waiting for the Permanent Resident Card. The legislation was introduced by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and Congressman John Curtis. The Equal Access to green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act, 2021 needs to be passed by the Senate before it can be sent to the White House for the president to sign it into a law. A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently.
In a veiled attack on Congress and Samajwadi Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused them of continuing to practice vote-bank politics to divide society and asserted that disturbance of peace and harmony will not be tolerated.
A new Congress leader may make an electoral impact by his very presence. Congress voters who had moved away from the party, after being influenced by the BJP's 'family rule' campaign, can now return with a certain moral satisfaction, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Except for Xi, 69, all top officials including the number two leader, Premier Li Keqiang will be replaced in the massive reshuffle to follow in the days to come, which included a new foreign minister replacing the incumbent Wang Yi.
In a big blow to embattled British Prime Minister Johnson, two of his senior Cabinet colleagues, including Chancellor Rishi Sunak, resigned on Tuesday, as they expressed their loss of confidence in his leadership amidst a spate of scandals.
'The unprecedented bitterness and rancour that marked this election campaign need not spill over into government and governance,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The dissidents, led by former president Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party, would leave the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna coalition with its 14 Members of Parliament, party sources said after their meeting with the President on Monday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in India Thursday evening in the highest-level visit between the two countries after the ties came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh standoff nearly two years ago.
Singapore-based e-commerce platform Shopee - that launched in India only in December 2021 - has decided to close operations in the country. The official reason given by Shopee, which is controlled by NYSE-listed Sea Ltd, is changing global sentiments. In a statement, it said, "In view of the global market uncertainties, we have decided to close risks of our early-stage Shopee India initiative." The e-commerce platform has been hit by growing opposition from trade associations led by Praveen Khandelwal as well as homegrown social commerce start-ups.
'It is never a good idea to let the broad population determine policy that is the domain of experts and specialists,' notes Aakar Patel.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
"No lndian Prime Minister has so brazenly indulged in an unethical and undemocratic act and violated the Model Code of Conduct by indirectly campaigning for his party from foreign soil," he said.
'The voter thinks that the State is not going to impartially deliver services, provide justice, basic law and order, social insurance -- so as a voter it's very rational that I may choose a criminal who will help me navigate the State.' 'A weak State allows a criminal politician to be the person who provides that guarantee to mediate whatever problem the citizen has with the State.'
'If the Russian forces do capture Kyiv and set up some sort of provisional government, they might run into an insurgency, for which the geography is just right, it could prove costly for them.' 'In that event, the whole exercise could turn out to be counter-productive -- and costly in both foreign policy and domestic terms.'
Scores of PTI workers and policemen suffered injuries in the violent clashes. So far, no casualty has been reported.
Many of the stories, the pictures going out of India worldwide lately with these provocative processions, taunting of Muslims, bulldozers targeting mostly their properties, the sweeping 'othering' of a community of 200 million are painting the front pages and TV screens in the democratic world. That is where most of the friends we covet lie. Soon enough, these will also make our vital friends among the Muslim nations, from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, uneasy. The best time for course correction is now, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
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