'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.
Badla, bhoots and a barrage of detective dramas bombard the streaming platforms this week. Sukanya Verma lists everything you can see or skip.
State Bank of India, the nation's largest lender, has stopped processing transactions of Russian entities that have been sanctioned by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, sources said. To effect this, SBI has issued a circular as it fears that any transaction with entities or sectors under sanction will invite sanction on it as well, sources said. No transactions involving entities, banks, ports or vessels appearing on a US, European Union or United Nations sanctions list would be processed irrespective of the currency of the transaction, they said. Payments due to such entities have to be processed by other mechanism rather than through the banking channel, sources added.
They all spoke of their disappointment at the decisions, given the historic moment of it being held in the Middle East.
'India will want a lot of help from the US, but it's not going to want US troops.'
How long can Pakistan remain neutral in the Saudi Arabia-led Yemen conflict?
Abdollahian, who is on his first visit to India since he assumed office last year, raised the issue of the controversial remarks, made by two former Bharatiya Janata Party spokespersons, in his meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in the national capital on Wednesday.
In a reflection of growing bilateral ties between India and the US, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday held wide-ranging talks covering the situation in Afghanistan, Indo-Pacific engagements, Covid-19 response mechanism and ways to strengthen regional security.
The further expansion and upgrade of the Chinese military does not augur well for India, which continues to confront an increasingly belligerent China on its borders, notes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The Modi government finds itself in a contradiction of its own making. It has encouraged pro-Russian, Westophobic public sentiment while setting strategic policy that's exactly the opposite, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The chief of the army staff said that with one-third of the world in the Gulf region and elsewhere involved in some sort of conflict and war, "it is important that we keep the flames of fire away from our region."
'By annoying the Arabs and cozying up to Iran, Pakistan may end up losing Arab economic support, annoying the Americans and increase Shia-Sunni tensions domestically,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) points out.
'This is a good time to restructure your portfolio because the sectors and stocks that performed in the last bull market may not perform as much now.'
The only thing that might justify a response is the desperate state of Pakistan's economy and how its people are suffering. But it's better to be heartless for now, argues Shekhar Gupta.
Petrol and diesel prices, which have been on a freeze for the past four months in view of assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh, need to be increased by over Rs 12 per litre by March 16 for fuel retailers to break even. International crude oil prices shot above $120 a barrel for the first time in nine years on Thursday before retreating a little to $111 on Friday, but the gulf between cost and retail rates has only widened. With international oil prices - on which domestic fuel retails are directly benchmarked - spiking in the last two months, state-owned fuel retailers "need a massive price hike of Rs 12.1 per litre on or before March 16, 2022, just to breakeven and a price hike of Rs 15.1 is required" after including margins for oil firms, ICICI Securities said in a report.
Late Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman was awarded the prestigious prize for the year 2019 in recognition of his vision to strengthen relations with India, and his efforts to promote peace and non-violence in the Gulf region, the ministry said.
With the deepening Iraq violence, India has set up three camp offices to facilitate departure of 10,000 Indians from non-conflicting zones even as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has summoned top Indian envoys in Gulf countries for consultations on Sunday.
Over 3,500 Indians have been evacuated from conflict-hit Iraq in the last one month even as nearly 50 Indian nationals still remain in the conflict zones of the war-torn country, including 39 construction workers who are in captivity in Mosul.
An attack on the Assad regime is unlikely to bring relief to Syria's oppressed and vulnerable population or end the civil war. It will spread the area of violence and increase the stream of refugees in a region wracked by conflict, violence and instability affecting the Gulf countries as much as West Asia, says Rajendra Abhyankar
Only 75 aircraft were deployed to support the invasion, observes Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
More than 180 Indians returned early Monday from Basrah on a special flight of Iraqi Airways, taking the number of people who have come back from conflict-hit Iraq to over 3,500.
Palestinian athletes complain of a paucity of financial support at home and a lack of vital equipment and coaches that are crucial for success and to nurture talented youth, but by competing at the 2012 Olympics in London, a national dream will be realised.
'The bigger challenge and dilemma for Pakistan would be if the US and Saudi Arabia go full throttle against Iran and enforce regime change in Tehran.' 'That would be bad news for Pakistan, especially with the current instability in Balochistan,' notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
The strategic reality that confronts New Delhi in West Asia today is that India has far more significant interests to preserve in the Arab Gulf, and as tensions rise between the Sunni Arab regimes and Iran, India's larger stakes in the Arab world will continue to inhibit Indian-Iranian ties, says Harsh V Pant.
The Modi government's defeat on farm laws underlines the perils of governing an entire continent-sized, diverse and federal nation like the chief minister of a state, observes Shekhar Gupta.
In fact, the Taliban apparently collects about 10 per cent as cultivation tax from opium farmers and 15 per cent as heroin tax from laboratories and smugglers that smuggle narcotics into Pakistan. This, by itself, is a revenue stream estimated at USD 250-300 million.
If there is one thing the argumentative Indian will accept as ineluctable fact, it is this: Sachin Tendulkar is god.
'We would like to move forward to hold dialogue with whosoever comes into power in India'
'It was only after D-Day that people believed that I had actually directed Kal Ho Naa Ho.'
The terrorists now knew that I was the only one in the room, that I was injured and that I could not continue this battle for long.
'The picture only looks worse from where Bajwa sits.' 'He sees a domineering India to the east, an unravelling Afghanistan and a complex Iran to the west, an overbearing China on the north and a US which is no longer an ally,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
BWith a distracted president brooding in the White House, Pompeo seems to think his day has come. He seems to be pushing a personal agenda before a target audience in America, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The government said on Monday that a prolonged US-led war against Iraq, along with the conflict's impact on oil prices, could hurt the nation's export performance.
The submarine vanished without a trace around Janaury 2, 1943 and is believed was hit by a mine in the Gulf of Olbia.
As India's international role expands, so must our capabilities, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Its advanced Longbow radar picks up enemy armoured vehicles and then destroys them with anti-tank missiles, air-to-surface rockets or a chain gun that sends 625 rounds per minute ripping into the targets.
