India is willing to discuss proposals to replace the US\ndollar as the global reserve currency, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said on\nMonday.
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, India on Wednesday sounded positive on continuing talks but said there were some "difficult" issues still remaining and Islamabad needed to take credible action to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice.
India has said that its relations with Pakistan were under 'considerable stress' and that the prime cause for it was terror acts coming out of that country.
US Under Secretary of State William Burns held talks with India's Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on Wednesday during which the latter is understood to have conveyed India's disappointment over Pakistan's inaction against perpetrators of Mumbai terror attacks.
United States special envoy Richard Holbrooke on Wednesday met National Security Adviser M K Narayanan in New Delhi. According to reports, the two discussed how India could help Washington's strategy aimed at ending terror threats emanating from Afghanistan and Pakistan.Holbrooke, the special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was accompanied by Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.Holbrooke is also meeting Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.
In the first high-level contact with Pakistan since the Mumbai attacks, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in Colombo on Thursday and rejected his suggestion for resumption of Composite Dialogue till Islamabad took credible steps to end terrorism.
Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik today met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and discussed the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on the sidelines of the SAARC ministerial meeting in Colombo this week.
Pakistan on Friday rejected India's charge that Inter Services Intelligence was involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, alleging that it was a "manifestation of undisguised hostility" and "smear campaign" against Islamabad.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on Wednesday met with the officials of the United States administration to discuss the issues related to the terror attacks in Mumbai that had claimed around 200 lives, including foreigners.Menon called on the Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns during his two-day visit to Washington.Menon's visit was planned ahead of the terror attacks in India's financial capital.
Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan have met and held "good detailed discussions" on terrorism at Sharm el-Shiekh in Egypt ahead of Thursday's meeting between prime ministers of the two countries to review Islamabad's action on its commitment to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
India on Tuesday demanded a 'visible response' and undertaking from Pakistan on bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice, as officials and leaders of the two countries prepare to meet in Sharm-el-Sheikh to review Islamabad's actions on its promises.
Nepal on Friday sought India's co-operation in moving the peace process forward, giving indications ahead of Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon's visit that it was looking forward to closer bilateral ties.
Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon meets US Under secretary William Burns in New Delhi.
India is ready to release more than 100 Pakistanis lodged in prisons unilaterally, Pakistani human rights campaigner Ansar Burney said on Monday. He told reporters after meeting foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon that he would try to persuade Pakistan government to release Indian prisoners reciprocating New Delhi's good gesture.
India on Friday handed over to Pakistan the replies to the 30 questions, about the terror attack on Mumbai in November last year, posed by that country. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee handed over India' reply to Pakistan High Commissioner Sahid Malik. Earlier, Home Minister P Chidambaram had handed over the document along with evidence to Mukherjee. He had added that each and every question posed by Islamabad had been answered adequately.
Among key Congressional leaders, the Foreign Secretary met included Jim McDermott, co-chair of the India caucus at the Congress; Howard L Berman, Chairman of House Committee on Foreign Affairs; and Senator Richard Lugar, Ranking Member of the powerful Senate Committee on International Relations
The Taliban forces operating out of Pakistan's Swat region pose a common threat to India and the United States, besides the host country, America's special envoy Richard Holbrooke suggested in New Delhi on Monday. The envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, said he had sought the Indian leadership's assessment of the situation.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, during the discussions he had with the Sri Lankan leaders including President Mahinda Rajapaksa as part of his two-day visit to Colombo, welcomed the Island nation's commitment for a devolution package in the embattled north. Menon, who concluded his visit on Saturday, 'urged early movement towards a peacefully negotiated political settlement in the island, including in the north', an Indian High Commission release said on Sunday.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon held special briefing sessions in groups for the envoys of the countries from Arab world besides those from Latin America, Africa and Europe.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon held a special briefing for the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of over a dozen countries, including the US, UK, Israel, France, Japan, Germany, Turkey and Canada here to apprise them about the details of investigation into the Mumbai attacks.
Lobbying for the Indo-US nuclear deal, India on Friday briefed the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors and some Nuclear Suppliers Group countries on the safeguards agreement amid reports that there was no sign of opposition to the accord.
Amid threats of fresh attacks on Indian assets in Afghanistan following the deadly suicide bombing at its embassy, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon arrived in Kabul on Sunday to discuss ways to revamp security to thwart designs of the Taliban and its mentor Inter Services Intelligence.
On the eve of Foreign Ministerial talks, India on Wednesday virtually rejected China's claim over a small part of Sikkim, saying the state's boundary issue has been settled. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said the recent Chinese claim over the 'finger area' in Sikkim border would be discussed at the talks between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing on Thursday. China recently laid claim over the 'finger area'.
With the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam out of its way, Sri Lanka on Thursday assured India that it will implement a law for devolving powers to Tamil-dominated areas, as both the countries agreed on the need for a lasting political solution to the ethnic conflict. The assurance was contained in a joint statement issued after National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo.
India and China on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over the steady development of bilateral ties, with New Delhi insisting that there was no stalemate on the boundary issue and a solution cannot be found overnight. Menon, who is in Beijing to attend the G-5 meeting of India, China, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil ahead of the G-8 summit of rich nations in Japan in July, said he discussed with them "what we can do and what we have been doing on bilateral relationship."
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon is likely to travel to Islamabad to hold talks with his counterpart to wind up the fourth round of Composite Dialogue. The two sides are working out exact dates for the talks between the Foreign Secretaries. Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Parliament that India was ready to restart dialogue with Pakistan and hoped that the new leadership there will work with New Delhi in putting the past behind for collective prosperity.
India on Thursday said devolution of powers to Tamil-dominated areas in northern Sri Lanka is "really the way" to address the decades-old ethnic conflict in the island nation in a "credible fashion" without which the risk of alienation of the minorities will continue.
The new Obama Administration on Wednesday assured India that it will proceed with the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal, signed during George W Bush's tenure, and said the two countries needed to ramp up cooperation in counter-terrorism and global issues such as climate change.
Veteran diplomat and former Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon took over as National Security Adviser on Saturday. 60-year-old Menon, who will serve in the rank of Minister of State till further orders, took charge from M K Narayanan, who has been appointed as West Bengal governor.
India hopes to wrap up a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency later this month in Vienna, before approaching the Nuclear Suppliers Group, for changes to permit international nuclear commerce. India needs to reach a safeguards agreement and then get the nod of the 45-member NSG for operationalising the India-United States civil nuclear agreement.
US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, who held talks with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon soon after his arrival from Islamabad, stressed the need for tracking down individuals and organisations behind the Mumbai attacks by following leads 'as far as they go'. The US official, who has told the Pakistani leadership to take the probe into Mumbai attacks to its logical conclusion, briefed Menon on his discussions in Islamabad.
Amid growing world pressure on India over Myanmar issue, United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Monday met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon who emphasized that New Delhi favoured democracy in the neighbouring country, but opposed coercion.
Former foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon on a new book on the the rise of China and the transformation of India.
India will open two new consulates in the United States this year, in the cities of Atlanta and Seattle. The decision to this effect was taken at the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George Bush in Washington, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said while briefing newsmen about the Singh-Bush meeting.Both the size of the community and its commercial interest was the criteria taken into consideration.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon left for Washington Saturday morning after the two-day Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Vienna ended inconclusively on Friday with another round scheduled early next month for considering India's case for an exemption to do nuclear commerce with other countries.
India has cancelled its briefing on the safeguards agreement for the members of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was scheduled to be held in Vienna on July 18.The IAEA safeguards agreement is an essential step India has to take to integrate with international nuclear commerce before it secures a one-time waiver from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.
United States Ambassador-designate to India Timothy J Roemer on Friday met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon in New Delhi, hours before United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embarks on a five-day visit to India. Roemer, who met Menon at his South Block office, arrived in New Delhi on Thursday night after his confirmation by the full Senate last week for the post. On his nearly hour-long meeting, Roemer refused to make any comment and only said, "Namaste."
China on Thursday expressed its concern over the activities of the Dalai Lama and his supporters in India but thanked New Delhi for ensuring a smooth run of the Beijing Olympic torch in the Indian capital.The Tibet issue was raised by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, during his talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in Beijing.Briefing reporters after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said China 'naturally' raised the issue of Tibet.
Pakistan may raise the demand for demilitarisation in Jammu and Kashmir, but India is clear that such a step can be taken only when terrorism ends in the state.