Why is Xi Jinping visiting Saudi Arabia, Egypt and China this week? Former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade explains the significance of China's outreach to the Middle East.
The revelation came in response to a tweet by one Sanjeev Goyal, who said India could have got any good lawyer with much less fee than what Salve must have charged for fighting the case.
During the day, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a meeting to review preparedness for COVID-19 management, through video conference with health ministers, chief secretaries of all states and UTs, central ministers and representatives from the related organisations and stressed on the need for keeping testing and quarantine facilities, isolation wards, and labs in active readiness.
More than 30 vaccine candidates have been supported and they are in different stages of development. Three candidates are in advanced stage of Phase I, II and III trials, and more than four are in advanced pre-clinical development stage, Choubey said.
Nawaz Sharif may have permitted the trial of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists for the Pathankot attack. But this fell apart because of General Raheel Shareef's keenness to make Kulbhushan Jadhav the centerpiece of global attention. Ambassador G Parthasarthy, a former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan, reveals the Pakistan army chief's gambit against India.
Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism.
"We are committed to building a new India. We have to do this as early as possible," he said.
Pakistan desires peaceful ties with its neighbours, including India, and will work to strengthen the dialogue process that is already underway to resolve problems like the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister-elect Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Friday.
Rejecting India's stand that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran, Basit said he was caught in Balochistan and tried for 'espionage and sabotage'.
The bench also ruled that Pakistan had violated India's rights to consular visits after his arrest.
'The most unfortunate part is that after precipitating the crisis situation on Tuesday, the government ducked and took help from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to 'de-escalate' the situation.' 'Make no mistake, this fateful move has grave implications.' 'You don't take help from the wolf to guard the sheep, right?' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'While US officials understand and accept India's desire for retaliation, they still don't want to encourage steps that would likely lead to war.'
'The Trump administration is on the same page as India that Pakistan is not the solution, but the problem itself,' says Rajeev Sharma.
'The Modi government would chaff at the very idea of holding talks with Pakistan, facilitated by Washington and under close US monitoring, when the 2019 poll is sailing into view.' 'But in politics and diplomacy, there may be moments when drinking from the chalice of poison is necessary,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Journalist Syed Mohammad Kazmi Wednesday sought to dissociate from his alleged role in the Israeli diplomat attack case by claiming in a Delhi court "the international petroleum lobby and some rogue elements in the government had carried out the attack to spoil the relations between India and Iran."
At the hearing while India demanded the immediate suspension of the former navy officer's death sentence, Islamabad accused it of using the world body as a stage for "political theatre" through a "misconceived" plea.
'Trump's new discovery is that Pakistan and its army are virtually god's gift to mankind.' 'They are required to facilitate a relatively orderly American exit from Afghanistan,' points out Ambassador G Parthasarathy, who served as India's high commissioner to Pakistan.
In bilateral interfaces relations with China have also to be given due weight, opines Premvir Das
Slowdown persists in China. India's GDP estimates for 2015-16 are liable to be pared; projections for 2016-17 are lacklustre.
The mandates which Pakistan has failed include action against all United Nations-designated terrorists like Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar, Lashker-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed and the outfit's operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
The then prime minister Manmohan Singh had visited Doha in 2008.
India has been maintaining that Pakistan extends regular support to terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, whose prime target is India, and has urged FATF to take action against Islamabad.
A US president graced the Republic Day parade in the first year of the Modi regime. Will another American prez turn up in the final year of the first Modi Sarkar?
'As matters stand, Russia and Saudi Arabia, two of the world's biggest oil producers, are set for a hard landing as they didn't diversify their economies as much as they should have when the oil prices were booming.'
Ahead of his talks with the Emirati leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the Gulf region is vital for India's economic, energy and security interests.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday left for Iraq on a two-day visit aimed at deepening India's ties with the oil-rich Arab country.Khurshid, the first Indian external affairs minister to visit Iraq in last 23 years, will hold talks with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari and discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
'It will be a fine day when we can claim to have institutions in civil society as influential and as popular as ACLU, which is a strong body only because millions of Americans support its values.' 'When Indians take offence at how other Indians are treated, when we take injustice to others personally, we will begin to make India great,' says Aakar Patel.
'The danger today is that out of sheer fatigue and exasperation, the US might cut loose and exit from Afghanistan leaving it to the region to cope with the debris, which it is ill-equipped to handle,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The ISPR has claimed that Jadhav has admitted to his involvement in espionage, terrorist and subversive activities in Pakistan
Dawood Ibrahim is wanted in India to face the law of the land for carrying out serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 in which scores of people were killed and injured.
'The US appears to think that Pakistan is highly vulnerable today due to its economic crisis and one more turn of the screw may bring about desired results,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China is in no hurry to disengage at the border and the region and international community is moving on. The spectre of a long haul in Ladakh haunts India, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for China on Tuesday on the second leg of his two-nation tour after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow during which the two leaders pledged to "resolve all outstanding issues" related to the Kudankulam nuclear project.
After cautioning Indian markets about possible money laundering and terror-funding risks from Iran and North Korea, market regulator Sebi has issued a warning for funds from eight more countries, including Turkey and Ethiopia.
The Saudi-Pakistan nuclear weapons cooperation is meant to sound alarm bells in Washington, reminding the Obama administration that its overtures to Iran would have serious negative consequences in terms of its ties with its closest allies in the region, says Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad. Exclusive to Rediff.com
A wide range of bilateral and global issues, including trade and developments relating to Syria and Iran, are likely to figure in talks External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will have with top Chinese leaders during his visit here to inaugurate the new USD 10 million Indian embassy building.
'We could quibble with each other whether there were 25 terrorists killed or 250 killed.' 'The message is more that India undertook such an aerial attack and this attack has actually changed the paradigm.' 'The change in paradigm is that India has shown by the surgical strike in 2016 and the aerial strike of 2019 that we will not just sit back and tolerate terrorism which killed so many of our people.' 'We will hit back and by hitting back we will raise the costs of such activities.'
The anti-terror watchdog has decided to give respite of four months to Pakistan to help her implement remaining recommendations of the task force.
In an email to the ITF on Monday, AITA chief Hironmoy Chatterjee said India had full confidence the ITF and Pakistan Tennis Federation would organise an "excellent" Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie but said more security checks might be in order.
The FATF warned Pakistan that if it doesn't complete a full action plan by June, it could lead to consequences on its businesses
