'As far as acquisition of Russian equipment is concerned, with about 70% of Indian military equipment being of Russian origin, a sudden decision to abandon imports from Russia is not feasible,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'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.
Further deterioration of the US-Saudi relationship will have geo-economic and geopolitical effects, says Nitin Pai.
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Saudi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects and believes it could acquire atomic bombs "at will", the BBC reported on Thursday.
World leaders are reacting with caution to Donald Trump's jaw-dropping victory in the US presidential election, with some of them reminding him of the democratic values and the global responsibility he carries.
United States president-elect Donald Trump's tweet for strengthening and expansion of country's nuclear arsenal is indicating a major policy change as against the Obama Administration which had pushed for reduction and ultimately elimination of nuclear weapons.
'A bit of marketing, a bit of positioning, and a lot of strategic thinking is required, and all this should be in aid of India's strategic intent: Becoming the third pole in a global G3 and aiming for Numero Uno,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'The optimistic advice might be "fasten your seat belts" and the pessimistic one might just turn out to be "brace for impact",' says Claude Smadja.
"No leader or policymaker involved will claim to have gotten everything right in the region, Iraq especially," he said.
China is now the most significant strategic concern in Washington, as in most of the world's capitals, especially the democracies. Today, strategic autonomy has acquired a sharper definition: To ward off the Chinese challenge to India's territorial integrity, sovereignty and regional stature, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'As in the Panchatantra tale of the cat and the monkeys, it is possible for the clever swing State to play off the two competing powers.'
President Obama had no intention of risking a global conflagration on account of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, especially at a time when he was struggling to wind up the wars his predecessor had started, says T P Sreenivasan
Russia and China have a broad consensus today on almost all core issues related to global strategic stability, which is unprecedented in modern history, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
With Iran reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme, India is expected to be one of the major gainers.
In perhaps the first major conference on the United States-India strategic partnership in the aftermath of the Khobragade controversy that plunged the bilateral relationship in a downward spiral and is now in the process of being resurrected, the undeniable consensus among the panelists and participants was that much ballyhooed strategic convergence between Washington and New Delhi has dissipated.
'What Jaishankar says is simplistic.' 'The past does not matter that much.' 'If we think that it does it is because we are not good enough at running the nation competently today and are searching for excuses why,' argues Aakar Patel.
Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's India visit, the United States has said it would not impact President Barack Obama's trip to the country in January but warned now was not the right time to do business with Russia.
Like Mr Trump, says Kanika Datta, politics tempts many businessmen.
Internal strife and tribalism is endemic to Afghanistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Just how strong were the ties between the world's largest and oldest democracies that an incident involving a diplomat and a maid led to anger threatening the relationship itself? Or had the relationship been weakening in the past few years, masked by the empty symbolism of State dinners, asks Devesh Kapur.
The rupee appreciated by 37 paise to 62.12 against the dollar in early trade on Monday.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is a dangerous phenomenon, but the terrorist organisation can not be defeated by air strikes alone, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said.
The SCO is increasingly seen as a counterweight to NATO and its membership will help India have a greater say in issues relating to security and defence besides combating terrorism.
India, along with Pakistan, is set to be inducted as full members into the bloc, which mainly deals with issues relating to security and defence.
In his maiden address to the employees of the State Department, the US president said he has come to the building to send a clear message to the world: America is back. America is back. Diplomacy is back.
Ahead of the G-20 summit in Osaka this week, Xi has reasserted China's role as a global player, points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
'Given the sharp increase in oil prices, a mounting problem for the 2nd and 4th largest importers like China and India -- the Qingdao meeting is likely to push for the large energy producers (Russia and the Central Asian Republics) and energy consumers (China and India) to arrive at some understanding for mutually beneficial outcomes,' notes Srikanth Kondapalli.
Dealers expect prices to fall further, owing to an impending rate hike in the US
The terrible beauty of Doval's initiative is that it is all about a new journey rather than about a set compass pointing toward a pre-determined destination, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The surge in oil prices has also affected the rupee, which hit a 6-week low of 70.25 on Friday against the dollar.
'India should not be taken by surprise if the Biden administration seeks China's cooperation at some point,' alerts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Congress kept sheltering Quattrochi, and the BJP was more intent on shielding the Hinduja brothers. The fact is that the two roads crisscrossed, and neither the truth prevailed nor did the law take its course, says Mohan Guruswamy.
India and Russia are involved in talks to sort out the nuclear liability issues before they sign an agreement for setting up Units III and IV of the Kudankulam power plant in Tamil Nadu during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's annual summit with President Putin in Moscow next week.
No nation is fully sovereign to do what it wants to do in the face of opposition from others, points out Aakar Patel.
The summit probably fulfilled the expectations on both sides, but the bar of expectations was intentionally kept low, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'I believe one of the most critical issues is the common threat we face from Islamist radicals and the continuing and unimpaired financing of Al Qaeda, the 'D' Company, the Haqqani network, the LeT and the Jaish-e-Muhammed.'
Benchmark Brent oil futures prices more than halved between June 2014 and January 2015.
At no other time has a single meeting of the leaders of two democracies been so critical and hazardous.
