From early indications, the Modi government's foreign policy seems to be pragmatic and reciprocal, says K G Suresh.
Referring to their ties with China, India and Japan on Monday agreed that it was essential to engage China in a closer, more open and productive dialogue as both Tokyo and New Delhi are desirous of peace in the region. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan discussed the issue of boundary disputes with China -- while India faces border issues over land, Japan is engaged in a maritime territorial row -- in Tokyo.
Chadha got 120 votes, the highest in the Asia Pacific group
The National Investigation Agency will file a chargesheet against two Italian marines, accused of killing two Kerala fishermen, after getting sanction to prosecute them under a law which provides only death penalty.
China's desire to have India as part of its ambitious Maritime Silk Route makes strategic sense for both nations. However, it would involve substantive assurances from Beijing, says Dr Rahul Mishra
The time is ripe to extend the confrontation with the Chinese to the maritime domain, says former RA&W officer Krishan Varma.
Millions of Londoners endured a chaotic start to the week on Monday after a strike shut down most of the Underground network, including many city centre stations.
Modi and Obama surely put India-US ties in fast-forward mode. But 5 things deserve careful attention.
The boats, two from China's southern Guangdong Province, were lost on Sunday as they attempted to navigate gales near the disputed islands called Xisha by China and Paracel by Vietnam Islands about 330 km from China's island province of Hainan, Chinese officials in Hainan said.
He suggested evolving specific plans for cooperation with the 10-memeber grouping in key areas of maritime security, counter-piracy and humanitarian and disaster relief.
"The basic idea is that India would like to continue to be the most beautiful woman wooed by all men, notably the two strongest in the house, US and China," the article titled 'Indo-US strategic distrust stalls LSA signing'.
The demand for a probe comes amid reports that Pyongyang had clandestinely received nuclear enrichment technology from Pakistan when A Q Khan was at the helm of Islamabad's nuclear programme.
The Summit comes at a time when China is flexing its muscle to tighten its grip over the disputed South China Sea.
'The Chinese being focussed more seawards is definitely better for India with China being the looming threat along our land borders,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The PLA Air Force has conducted a combat air patrol in the South China Sea recently, which will become "a regular practice" in the future
Although the India-Japan relationship has its own driving forces in terms of robust economic ties and shared values, China is the elephant in the room in the strategic parleys between the two countries, says Rup Narayan Das.
Pakistan and India are close to concluding an agreement on the Sir Creek maritime boundary dispute, which has been hanging fire for decades, with all issues having been resolved, former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said. The joint map and joint survey has been done and there are no more issues to be resolved between the countries, he said.
The arrival a couple of days ago of a Chinese nuclear submarine for the first time in Karachi port, coinciding with a Chinese military delegation's visit, points to Pakistan's importance for China, says former R&AW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
The joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama's first-ever summit is high on intent and ambition. Notably missing from the statement is India's refusal to be America's partner in its war against ISIS.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey conducted a patrol within 20 kilometres of Mischeef Reef, part of the Spratly Islands.
Here is the full text of the joint statement issued by India and the US.
Indian Navy on Saturday commissioned a new base, INS Sardar Patel, in Porbandar, Gujarat.
'With the recent challenging of the notion of the Indian Ocean Region being India's strategic backyard, China is gradually upping the ante in the maritime realm around India.'
In fact, given the current tensions and massed troops on both sides, there is a danger that the LAC will become more like the Line of Control with Pakistan, a heavily fortified and strongly defended border where weapon fire exchanges regularly occur. Indeed, Stratfor Worldview research has listed a sharp increase in new Chinese facilities along the LAC in 2019-20.
The two sides exchanged maps outlining their respective claims over the marshy strip as well as maritime boundary in that area.
The US said it has strong evidence that China has deployed anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missile systems and electronic jammers to contested features in the Spratly Islands region of the South China Sea.
Asserting that "maritime muscle flexing" by some countries and other factors have made the Indo-Pacific region "more contested and more volatile," naval chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Tuesday said that the Indian Navy has its task cut out as it has been a major security provider in the region.
In anticipation of a verdict to be delivered by the International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Tuesday, China has orchestrated a worldwide campaign to defuse its findings.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, after talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid M Kasuri, told reporters on Sunday that the officials would be directed to expedite their work on Sir Creek.
PM Modi articulated five action points that would serve the common interest of promoting peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
He suggested that the new structures will emerge within one year's time.
'Our strategy should be to 'hold the line' in the north on the Sino-Indian land frontier, but maintain and, if possible, enlarge India's current edge in the maritime south.'
India is playing its South China Sea card by restarting oil exploration off Vietnam coast despite China's objections as a calculated geopolitical move to force Beijing to make "compromises" on border issue and its close ties with Pakistan, a state-run Chinese think-tank has said.
Army Chief General Bikram Singh, who is in China on a four-day official visit, on Thursday held talks with People's Liberation Army Chief of General Staff Fang Fenghui in Beijing.
The 19th edition of the Malabar naval exercise saw the Indian, US and Japanese maritime forces participated jointly in the routine.
'The worst case scenario is for China to behave like a bull in China shop, and brazenly and wantonly indulge in further encroachments, create obstacles to free navigation and convert SCS into an Air Defence Identification Zone.'
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to make its stand clear on disputes arising out of the issue of invoking anti-piracy law against two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast in 2012.
Two Italian marines, accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast, may escape death penalty with the home ministry on Tuesday agreeing not to press for the capital punishment against them.
Against the backdrop of growing Chinese assertion in the Asia-Pacific region, India on Thursday said it supports the "freedom of navigation" in international waters noting that any disputes or differences in the region must be resolved diplomatically.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter will sign a fresh 10-year defence framework agreement with India on Wednesday
