From CEOs to RBI governors, cricket's rich imagery and strategy resonate deeply with leadership, uncertainty, and decision-making across industries and global diplomacy, points out Suveen Sinha.
The Trump administration's proposal to significantly cut the budget of international health, development and diplomacy is a "grave mistake" which will "undermine" America's world standing, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
Ahead of his much-anticipated visit to conflict-torn Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India firmly believes that no problem can be solved on the battlefield and it is ready to extend all possible cooperation for the restoration of peace and stability in the region.
Condolences have poured in from across the globe, including from the United States, Canada and Sri Lanka following the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed in the midst of bombs and bullets even as he flagged concerns over a missile strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv.
'Will President Dissanayake calibrate his foreign policy taking into account India's immediate security concerns? We need to watch.'
Alamgir said that even after the fall of the Hasina government following a people's uprising, the 'Indian establishment is yet to reach out to BNP, even though China, the US, the UK, and Pakistan have already done so.'
Shashi Tharoor, who is eyeing a fourth consecutive win from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, has declared assets of over Rs 55 crore in his nomination papers.
Ambassador Natarajan Krishnan and Ambassador Shankar Bajpai helped shape Indian foreign policy at a glorious, but difficult, time in history, recalls Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Young IFS officers today would take it for granted that they represent a major country with strengths and capabilities.' 'They will be aware that India is seen as one of the 10 significant countries in the world and therefore their voice will be heard whether on climate change or regime change,' says Ambassador B S Prakash.
'Trump will absolutely back New Delhi on its position that Pakistan must do more to crack down on terrorists that threaten India.'
This may be in line with Russia's private military company, Wagner Group, which was controlled until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Putin. The group used the infrastructure of the Russian Armed Forces.
India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
India is a great power that determines its national interests and chooses its partners, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, describing as "completely unjustified" the "enormous pressure" on New Delhi due to its energy cooperation with Moscow.
Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said Indian diplomacy needed to acquire an economic perspective to its thinking and strategic approach, for furthering the country's interests in the changing global order.
'I am not minimising either the seriousness or the complex nature of the current situation.' 'Naturally, we have to do what it takes to secure our borders.' 'We are talking to the Chinese, both through military channels and diplomatic ones.'
'In fact, they work in tandem.' 'When it comes to finding a solution, this must be predicated on honouring all agreements and understandings.' 'And not attempting to alter the status quo unilaterally.'
Reports (not denied by India) that the USA had 'for the first time provided real-time details to their Indian counterparts on the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion' into Tawang at the LAC in December 2022, helping India thwart China's expansionist designs, show how operationally effective the USA-India friendship has become on the ground. A engaging excerpt from Sreeram Chaulia's must-read new book, Friends: India's Closest Strategic Partners.
The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations Security Council that 'we have to prepare' the second peace summit to end the Russia-Ukraine war 'altogether' and he has invited India and other countries to join the peace process.
Both Putin and Zelenskyy have invited the prime minister to visit Russia and Ukraine respectively after the Lok Sabha elections, sources said, adding they see Modi as a "peacemaker".
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for trying to help find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis.
In diplomacy, a prime ministerial visit should be viewed as a rare event, not a routine one, which should be taken recourse to only when other options like ministerial visits are not available. But Modi has a different style of functioning. He wants to do everything himself, says Rajeev Sharma
Making it easier to do business is a key element of our strategy, says Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.
In retrospect, it appeared that the bitterness of the war was still strong and the Ukrainian success in occupying Russian territory just a few days ago had added to the complexity of the situation. The positive US response to the visit, however, remains a silver lining in the dark clouds, notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Calling the US "the anchor of global security," Obama in a televised address offered moral, political and strategic arguments for being ready to launch limited military strikes while trying to negotiate a diplomatic solution.
'Canada doesn't want to de-escalate and neither does India. There is war when one party wants it, but peace is won by both parties.'
Delhi's appeasement strategy may now translate as more mega arms deals with the US, generating substantial business and job creation in the American economy. Make no mistake, Americans will use it to pressure India, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
According to the Nobel Foundation, Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics.
"I complimented him for his vision, for his courage in giving diplomacy yet another chance," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told media persons in a joint media interaction with Obama inside the Oval Office of the White House, following an hour long meeting between the two leaders.
Opportunity for India to take leadership in economic diplomacy.
It seems in the geopolitics of the 21st century, we can see the subcontinent acting as one geopolitical entity to secure its economic interests. Key to this transformation is a strong India that is pre-eminent but not dominant, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Because of his proximity to Indira Gandhi, he was able to intervene directly at the level of the PMO, which he did in the days leading up to the partition of Pakistan in 1971 when he transferred crucial information about Pakistan's moves via information handed to him by an East Pakistani diplomat in Poland where he was posted.
'In today's world, it is difficult for public pressure to work against a country like India.'
The high commission of India in Dhaka and the assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Khulna have been assisting in the voluntary return of Indian nationals, he said.
Congress charged the NDA government with giving the neighbouring country an opportunity to wriggle out of a dialogue on terror.
Dialogue and diplomacy is the only way forward for peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said at a conference in Jeddah on the crisis while underlining the need for upholding sovereignty and territorial integrity by all states without 'exception'.
Shigeru Ishiba is expected to prioritise strengthening Japan's military capabilities and fostering deeper international partnerships, particularly with India, with whom Japan shares significant strategic interests, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
'If there is a push towards a Marxist oriented government it will be dangerous.' 'We have seen this in Nepal and Myanmar and it will be a concern for India if it is surrounded by countries with such political dispensations.'
Ministry of External Affairs officials summoned the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena at its office in South Block in Delhi and lodged a strong protest against a US State Department official's remarks on Kejriwal's arrest.
