Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Lieutenant General (retd) Michael Flynn, a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, advised Trump during the campaign on national security issues and often served as an introductory speaker at campaign rallies.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Tuesday called for shunning double standards in combating terrorism and urged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to hold accountable perpetrators, organisers and financers of cross-border terrorism, seen as reference to Pakistan.
NSA Ajit Doval has indicated that dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India are being worked out during his meetings in Moscow. Discussions also covered bilateral energy and defence cooperation, amidst ongoing concerns over India's procurement of Russian crude oil.
Asim Munir will have to find a well trusted aide to fill the crucial ISI post's when Asim Malik retires soon.
"This job requires 24 hours a day, seven days a week focus and commitment to do it right. I currently could not make that commitment," the New York Times quoted Robert S Harward as saying.
He is the country's tenth NSA, but it is for the first time that a serving ISI chief has been given the task to serve concurrently in the two key positions.
Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton says President Trump's policies have damaged US-India relations, pushing New Delhi closer to Russia and China.
Experts discuss the Indus Waters Treaty, highlighting its engineering aspects and addressing criticisms of unfairness to India.
"He's a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience," said Trump of his new appointment.
Shah briefed the prime minister on the attack and discussed the measures to be taken in its aftermath.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to New Delhi on Tuesday night following a deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Modi, who held bilateral talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, skipped an official dinner hosted on Tuesday to address the crisis. He was originally scheduled to return to India on Wednesday night. The attack, claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group, prompted an urgent internal meeting at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Jeddah, attended by Modi, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and other senior officials.
New Delhi, while opting not to retaliate yet to the American tariffs, has in recent weeks sought to reinforce its friendship with Moscow, and recalibrate its ties with Beijing rather than surrender to Washington's diktats.
India and China reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and prepared for the next Special Representatives' dialogue on the boundary question.
China has called Tibet-related issues a 'thorn' in India-China bilateral relations and a 'burden' for New Delhi, ahead of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's visit to China.
A meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the SCO summit is being planned.
'Within minutes, my mobile began ringing. It was National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, asking why the Iranians were complaining.' 'I explained that we had only restated our position in the light of the conclusion reached by the IAEA, but will remain helpful to Iran to reach a consensus.' 'Then came a call from Foreign Secretary Kamal Sibal, repeating what Mishra said about the Iranian complaint.' 'I was very impressed that Iran was able to reach two top officials in India to intervene at short notice,' recalls Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
India-US relations, like Rome, were not built in a day, nor can they be demolished in a day.
All said and done, when the new global order emerges, India can only remain with the democracies, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Just as we cannot surrender the interests of our farmers and dairy industry, Trump is also looking for markets for the produce of the farmers in the Midwest, which are his support base.'
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Monday emphasised the need to counter terrorism in all its forms for overall regional peace and stability during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
US Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha, the first Indian-American Second Lady, are set to visit India early next week. Vance will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit. The visit comes amid global concerns over President Donald Trump's policy on tariffs. Vance's visit is likely to be more of a private trip though it will have official components.
India has reached out to key global powers, including members of the UN Security Council, and apprised them about the reasons behind its military strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack. New Delhi also conveyed to the countries that it will retaliate if Islamabad escalates the already tense situation.
United States President Donald Trump's special envoy for Russia-Ukraine negotiations, Keith Kellogg, has been excluded from high-level discussions aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, according to a report in NBC News.
'It could take the form of sporadic LoC violation through heavy artillery and mortar fire, focusing on border villages where the Hindu Dogra population is predominant.'
US Vice President J D Vance and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz are scheduled to visit India on April 21, reflecting Washington's focus on strengthening its relationship with India amidst global concerns over President Donald Trump's tariff policy. Vance's visit is likely to be more of a private trip, while Waltz's visit will be a business trip with discussions on security in the Indo-Pacific region, high technology, critical minerals, and export controls. Both are expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi before his trip to Saudi Arabia. The visits come in the wake of Trump's recent pause on tariffs on all countries except China, following widespread economic concerns.
When the country has been at war, the Opposition has buried its differences with the government, points out Aditi Phadnis.
'It brings precarious peace because the red lines have shifted. 'The next Pahalgam attack would mean a full scale war.'
India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held bilateral talks with US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and chaired a conclave of top global intelligence chiefs focusing on strengthening cooperation in confronting various security challenges including terrorism and threats posed by emerging technologies. The meeting also focused on security in the Indo-Pacific region, cooperation to counter terror funding and money laundering, and issues relating to extradition and immigration.
'You can be sure that the Pakistanis knew when the Indian Air Force aircraft took off, which type these were, and what their likely targets were.' 'The question was: How would they determine that the IAF wanted to fire, and when to bounce them?', notes Shekhar Gupta.
'One good outcome of Operation Sindoor -- perhaps, its best outcome -- could be that India has resumed meaningful contact directly with Pakistan at the military-to-military level,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Fears in Washington began to intensify when it was realised that subsequent Pakistani and Indian attacks on major military facilities -- which were significant in terms of geographic scope and intensity -- could rapidly take both sides to where neither actually wanted to go.' 'The US objective was to stop the fighting as soon as possible. Everything else was secondary.'
Pakistan military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry told a hurriedly called press conference in Islamabad at around 4 am that th Pakistan air force's Nur Khan (Chaklala, Rawalpindi), Murid (Chakwal) and Rafiqui (Shorkot in Jhang district) airbases were targeted.
'No retaliatory tariffs now. You can retaliate after a few months.' 'Today, there is no need to retaliate because it is a question of long term benefits.'
After more than four hours of talks in Saudi Arabia, the US and Russia agreed on four key principles, Rubio said on Tuesday. These include appointing a high-level team to help "negotiate and work through the end of the conflict in Ukraine" in a way that's "acceptable to all the parties engaged."
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
Who accompanied Prime Minister Narendra D Modi to his Thursday meeting with US President Donald J Trump in the Oval Office, and who did POTUS bring along?
India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will travel to Beijing for a two-day trip beginning Sunday, marking the second high-profile visit from India to China in less than one-and-a-half months. The visit comes amidst ongoing border tensions and follows a recent disengagement pact between the two countries in eastern Ladakh. The Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism meeting will focus on the next steps for India-China relations, including in the political, economic, and people-to-people domains. The decision to revive this bilateral mechanism was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan in October.
Confronted by outrage in Greenland, the US has scaled down a proposed visit to the island.
India has lodged a "solemn protest" with China over the establishment of two new counties in the Hotan prefecture, as parts of these regions fall within India's union territory of Ladakh. The Indian government asserted that the creation of these counties will not impact its sovereignty over the area and does not lend legitimacy to China's "illegal and forcible" occupation.
Security experts have warned that using Signal for discussions of this nature violates every established protocol for handling classified information.
