The 24-year-old man charged with the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie has denied being in contact with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and said that he acted alone when he stabbed the Mumbai-born author, whom he disliked for being 'disingenuous'.
'Her only 'crime' was being a woman in a country where women face discrimination that is entrenched in law and plays out in the most horrific ways imaginable in every area of their lives, even sports'
'It will remain hostile to Indian interests owing to its close proximity to China.'
At a joint media briefing with Lavrov, Jaishankar listed issues such as "factors of instability" such as terrorism and its cross-border manifestation and said it remains a "major concern".
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'What is being proposed today is completely draconian.' Payal Singh Mohanka on the I&B ministry's plan to amend the Cinematograph Act.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been criticised by Iranian religious and political groups after a picture from funeral for Hugo Chavez showed him getting up close and personal with the mother of the late Venezuelan president.
The Taliban have postponed the formation of a new government in Afghanistan for next week, their spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on Saturday, as the insurgent group struggles to give shape to a broad-based and inclusive administration acceptable to the international community.
The Saudi and Iraq offer to replace Iranian crude supplies comes with a catch: Higher prices for the same quality of crude. The new government will face a tough decision over fuel price hike, says Aveek Sen.
Russia has already begun delivery of the first S-400 systems, and the question of sanctions, or of a waiver to sanctions, preoccupies New Delhi.
He said the US will apply other punitive measures if Tehran does not give up its reported goal of developing nuclear weapons.
The meeting of the foreign ministers of the P5+1 nations aimed to smoothen out major bumps in reaching a nuclear deal with Iran has ended with a positive note.
'Second-class citizenship would have been meaningless to a Hindu in the Mughal empire.'
Declaring that they consider the avoidance of war between Nuclear-Weapon States and the reduction of strategic risks as their foremost responsibilities, the leaders of the five countries in a joint statement said, "we affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."
General Soleimani headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's Quds Force and also served as Iran's pointman on Iraq.
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.
Noting that Iran's statement are often based on politics rather than physics, the White House has said it does not believe in Iranian President Ahmadinejad's latest statement on Tehran's capability to produce highly enriched uranium.
'Tehran,' Foreign Minister Zarif said, 'had expected the Modi government to be "more resilient" in the face of Washington's bullying,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
PM Modi and Rouhani inked nine pacts including a lease contract for a part of Chabahar port's operation for 18 months.
Considering that Qatar is a trusted ally of Washington for decades, it is expected to be a steady influence on the Taliban leadership, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Taliban's main challenge comes on the financial and economic front and there Pakistan doesn't have the capacity to be of any meaningful help, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Indian diplomacy in West Asia under the present government has been a success story -- and with Saudi Arabia in particular,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
There has been indication that the US President may visit India in the next few months.
The Chabahar message is a reality check for China, which has made deep political and strategic inroads into Iran.
The decision to speak to the political convention in pre-recorded remarks from Jerusalem breaks with the longstanding precedent of sitting secretaries of state avoiding partisan politics and appears to violate guidance on political activities that Pompeo himself emphasised in a cable to diplomats just last month.
Iranians have begun to cast their votes in the country's closely-fought presidential election.
'Drone warfare has come to stay.' 'India should exploit the expected Reaper acquisition from the US to build an effective counter terror campaign,' argues Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
'None of these three countries -- Turkey, Iran or Malaysia -- ever made a hostile move against India to support the Pakistan-based terrorist elements,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Iran on Thursday ordered a release of an Indian tanker seized by it in Persian Gulf while carrying crude from Basrah in Iraq and taken to its Bandar Abbas Port 24 days ago.
RRR isn't the "spectacle" it is made out to be, argues Sreehari Nair.
If things work out, it will be a great leap forward in the Indian-Iranian economic ties in the new phase of Iran's reintegration with the world market following the lifting of sanctions, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The fault line between the West and Russia has widened into a deep chasm and this is likely to endure in the foreseeable future. Far from forcing its way into the European tent, Russia may be reduced to the status of an even more sullen and weakened bystander on its periphery. The US appears to have won this hand with little cost to itself, observes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as high commissioner of India in Sri Lanka.
'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.
Pakistan is making efforts at multiple levels for the Taliban government to have a soft landing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The United States has lifted most of its sanctions against Iran after a UN watchdog reported that Tehran had complied with a nuclear weapons deal.
Imran Khan knows Pakistan is holding a strong hand and doesn't have to flaunt it while claiming victory. But Pakistan has learned from the experience of the 1990s -- high risk of going out on a limb, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Internal strife and tribalism is endemic to Afghanistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Both statesmen possess a cultivated pugnacious style which they keep in reserve and can at will bring into play, and despite the mutual distrust in Russian-American relations, they are proponents of detente, quintessentially, who take their mission deadly seriously, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
UNSC condemns Ahmadinejad's anti-Israeli statement
