Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Joe Biden at the White House on Friday in his first bilateral meeting with the US president during which the two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of priority issues, including combating Covid-19, climate change, economic cooperation as well as Afghanistan.
National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon on Tuesday briefed senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley on the ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control.
Calling COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines as one of the most important aspects of his discussions with top officials of the Biden administration, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the endeavour is to expand production of vaccines in India with assistance from the US.
"This is what this government did. Now, if you are feeding more than two and a half times the population of the United States and you are funding more than the population of the US and you're doing this pretty much anonymously and impersonally in the sense beyond the name and the detail, the bank account of the person. We're not asking anything more. There is no criteria of discrimination," Jaishankar, also a senior leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said.
Although most of Kosovo is ethnically Albanian, many Serbs consider it their native homeland and a cradle of their culture. Some 13,000 people were killed in the 1998-1999 war, sparked by clashes between the forces of the rump Yugoslav state -- Serbia and Montenegro -- and Kosovo separatists. The conflict ended when NATO carried out an air campaign against Serbia.
According to official sources, both the leaders met with their respective delegations for about 40 minutes. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai were among those present during the delegation-level meet. Both the prime ministers also had one-to-one discussions for about 15 minutes
Visiting Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik is likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday but will not have an interaction with Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi.
China on Tuesday urged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to stop sowing discord between Beijing and countries in the region, undermining regional peace and stability, amidst his visit to India for a high-level dialogue aimed at further ramping up their overall defence and security ties, and boost strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
India and China have reached a "common understanding" on the progress made so far in their vexed border talks that will provide a framework for drawing a "fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable" boundary, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said on Tuesday.
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.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark T Esper will visit India on October 26 and 27 for the high-level dialogue aimed at further boosting defence, security and global strategic ties between the two countries.
As China's ruling CPC appointed 'fifth generation' leaders headed by Xi Jinping, high-level Sino-India contacts are set to resume this month starting with the Strategic Economic Dialogue, which would be followed by a likely visit of National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon in Beijing.
It may not be desirable in the 21st century, in the context of the emergence of human rights as a powerful emotive factor and of India's rise as an important player on the regional and global scene, to place self-imposed restrictions on the way we deem fit to vote on human rights resolutions, says Satish Chandra
Army Spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said troops from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) 'violated' the consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements on the ongoing standoff in eastern Ladakh, and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo.
Underlining that India and China are to an extent destined by geography to be 'rivals', West Bengal Governor and former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Thursday said Beijing's increasing assertiveness on its part while dealing with disputes is 'most disconcerting'.
Like China, Indian companies are adopting ruthless and corrupt practises while doing business in developing nations.
Gandhi has been repeatedly using the "chowkidaar" jibe to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Menon, who arrived in Colombo by a special flight just after midnight on Thursday night, is scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his younger brothers Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic development; and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary, officials said.
In an interview with CNN-IBN's National Editor Bhupendra Choubey, former National Security Advisor and principal secretary to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpyee, Brajesh Mishra talks about the recent crisis in National Democratic Alliance surrounding Gujarat Chuef Minister Narendra Modi and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday presenting the S K Singh Award for recognising excellence in the Indian Foreign Service, to Tanmaya Lal
Amidst the glowing tributes for National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra, who died last week, it must not be forgotten that he was pivotal to bringing about far-reaching but questionable shifts in India's security and foreign policy stances and forging a hard-line national security apparatus, says Praful Bidwai.
"Ambassador Mittal raised India's concern that Afghanistan's soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner," it added.
India's first National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra, who died in New Delhi on Friday night, was a pivotal figure in shaping foreign policy during National Democratic Alliance government and a troubleshooter of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Contentious boundary issue and ways to boost bilateral ties were among the issues which figured during discussions between National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and China's chief negotiator Dai Bingguo in New Delhi on Friday.
National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon on Thursday will represent India in the meeting of high representatives of national security of the BRICS nations in New Delhi, a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai concluded his first visit to Afghanistan for foreign office consultations after assuming office.
Saudi Arabian authorities have expressed unhappiness over the media leaks of details of the operation that led to the arrest of key Mumbai attack handler Abu Jundal, according to National Security Advisor Shivshanker Menon.
Nuclear powered India and Pakistan are constantly skirmishing in Kashmir, the outgoing US National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, said identifying some of the Russian actions, Syria along with North Korea and South Asia or a pandemic flu as some of the less probable but catastrophic scenarios globally.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement said Trump's pardoning of Michael Flynn, who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his dealings with a foreign adversary, is an act of grave corruption and brazen abuse of power.
Nuclear weapons have deterred world powers from issuing "explicit or implicit threats" to blackmail India to toe a particular line, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon on Monday held talks in Beijing with senior Chinese diplomat and his counterpart for the boundary negotiations Dai Bingguo and discussed wide-ranging bilateral issues.
In the first high-level Sino-India contact since the once-in-a-decade leadership change in the ruling Communist Party of China, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon arrived in Beijing on Sunday for wide-ranging talks on bilateral ties, including the vexed border issue.
Ahead of National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon's visit to Beijing next week, China on Friday sounded buoyant about the resolution of the border problem with India, saying the two sides shared a lot of common ground on the issue and the talks have made positive progress.
The Narendra Modi government on Monday appointed Arvind Gupta, a former Indian Foreign Service officer, of the 1979 batch, as Deputy National Security Advisor. This appointment comes within days of Nehchal Sandhu quitting as deputy NSA, citing personal reasons.
The CSG is one of the topmost bodies in the government which provides directions to the military and diplomats on the stand to be taken during talks with the Chinese and also take a stand on the points and demands raised by the Chinese side.
Cut off from the world and having to contend with an orthodox and repressive Taliban government, Afghans are facing the brunt of Pakistan's decades old policy of nurturing militant groups, note Harsh V Pant and Kriti M Shah four months after the Taliban took Kabul.
Top security czars of India, Russia, Iran and five central Asian countries on Wednesday pledged to work for ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for global terrorism and called for the formation of an open and truly inclusive government in Kabul.
'Reform of global governance in itself should not worry any but the most dyed-in-the-wool reactionary or conservative power. Surely it is in our common interest to improve the way the international community conducts its affairs, strengthening purposeful multi-lateralism and international law, says NSA Shivshankar Menon
Naga splinter groups impatient with stalled talks as well as rebel Manipuri groups who have a stake in disrupting upcoming elections to the state assembly, are believed to be regrouping in the borderlands of China's Yunnan province and Myanmar, taking advantage of the turmoil in the latter by using it as a transit corridor.
With no agenda announced for the meeting, the leaders from Jammu and Kashmir said they have come with an open mind.
