Russia on Monday accused the US of "actively" exploiting the "contradictions" between India and China to its advantage and asserted Moscow and New Delhi accumulated mutual trust and confidence based on decades-old ties that would help the two sides to deal with the current geopolitical turbulence.
Foreign ministers of G20 major economies will meet in the national capital on March 1 and 2 to deliberate on pressing global challenges amid escalating confrontation between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict that entered the second year this week.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on a tour of three European nations, India on Sunday once again called for the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, noting that was an appreciation of its position on the crisis by its partner countries.
A closure of the Indian mission in Kabul will be a Himalayan blunder at this historic juncture when the wheels of diplomacy and politics are set to accelerate in Afghanistan, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
Shringla said it has definitely pointed out that "loss of human lives is not acceptable".
In his address at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Benaulim, Goa, Jaishankar said the channel of finances for terror activities must be blocked without any distinction even as Bhutto Zardari raised the issue of "violation of international law" which was seen as an apparent reference to Kashmir.
Ukrainian athletes were given a warm welcome in Beijing as the Winter Paralympics opened
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's has been trying to mollycoddle India with sweet nothings while having a very close relationship with Pakistan.
The 15-nation United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on Ukraine late Wednesday night, the second meeting this week and the fourth since January 31 as tensions escalated between Russia and Ukraine.
Prime Minister Modi also made a veiled reference to China, saying the global order is based on the respect for the principles of the UN Charter, peaceful resolution of disputes, and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Multilateral platforms are being misused to justify and protect perpetrators of terrorism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said
India as the G20 host has a 'unique role' to play in bringing about an end to the war in Ukraine due to its 'longstanding historical' ties to Russia, the United States has said, expressing hope to work closely with New Delhi to find a way to stop the conflict.
'The escalation of tension along the border of Ukraine with the Russian Federation is a matter of deep concern'
The road ahead will be long and winding and much resistance can be expected from the high-flying 'hawks' in our skies. But that should not deter the policymakers from planning a road map with the 'big picture' in mind, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor, in the race for the post of Congress president, not only possess contrasting demeanour but have had an equally disparate political journey.
Here are some of the glimpses of the celebrations.
'You broke the boundary of what it meant to be an Indian woman and the wife of a diplomat. 'You did not serve tea or sit idly by as men spoke about business matters -- a trope I have seen much too often in Indian and Indian-American households. 'You followed your dreams.'
The countries voting in favour included France, Germany, Japan, Nepal, The United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. Beijing is also involved in a maritime dispute with Japan over the East China Sea.
India on Thursday abstained in the UN General Assembly on a vote moved by the US to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over allegations that Russian soldiers killed civilians while retreating from towns near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
The United States, Blinken said, is committed to looking at everything done from day one through the present and draw lessons from it.
With the International Atomic Energy Agency weighing options to deal with Iran's nuclear programme, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the issue should be dealt with diplomatically as he discussed it with US President Barack Obama.
Eleven countries voted in favour of the resolution while three countries - India, China and the UAE abstained.
The best, wisest, and fairest next step in strengthening our own cause is to restore statehood to Jammu & Kashmir and allow the resumption of robust political activity. That's a box that remains unchecked on the Modi government's report card as we approach the fourth anniversary of Kashmir's Constitutional shift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Jaishankar on Tuesday countered criticism of India's position on Ukraine.
'No prime minister of India is averse to normalise relations with Pakistan, if it is possible to do so without altering our fundamental position on Jammu and Kashmir,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Johnson said Modi has been 'very strong' in his reaction to what happened in Bucha in Ukraine and that everyone understands and respects New Delhi's decades-old historic relationship with Moscow.
A joint statement was issued by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa after their in-person meeting in Phnom Penh on the margins of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
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.
'For the first time since I've been following Indian politics, one heard voters talking about India's role on the world stage and the fact that, due to Modi's leadership, India was once again a great power.'
Top external affairs ministry officials on Monday briefed a parliamentary panel about efforts to bring back Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine, including plans for 13 evacuation flights in the next two-three days to its neighbouring countries and subsequent increase in the number of daily flights to nine, sources said.
'In this Spy versus Soldier game,' says Rajeev Sharma, 'the two sides will size up each other like never before.'
India for the first time on Wednesday voted against Russia during a "procedural vote" at the United Nations Security Council on Ukraine, as the 15-member powerful UN body invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address a meeting through a video tele-conference.
The talks took place on the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers' meeting in the Indonesian city of Bali.
China on Thursday told Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that it will always put its "all-weather ally" as a priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy as it praised his commitment to promote the USD 60 billion CPEC initiative.
'The Modi visit will prove to be the watershed where India and the United States commenced technology trade and transfer.'
He, however, praised Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria as a good person, but criticised the Indian government's actions.
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.
Only 13 nations voted in favour of Russia's call for a secret ballot on draft resolution on Ukraine.
Russia has almost completed the delivery of major components of the second regiment of the weapon systems.
