Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Japan and China starting around August 29. The visit to China would be his first after the Ladakh border standoff.
Pakistani troops continued to violate the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) by resorting to unprovoked firing in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Kupwara districts, army officials said. This was the fourth consecutive night that Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing along the LoC and came amid heightened tension between New Delhi and Islamabad following last week's terror attack in Pahalgam. Indian troops responded swiftly and effectively.
China welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit to the Tianjin Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), expressing hope that the event will be a 'gathering of solidarity, friendship and fruitful results'.
'India's letter to Pakistan on April 24 (2025; two days after the Pahalgam terrorist attack) didn't tear up the treaty -- but it did put it on ice.'
India would neither succumb to the Americans on issues of national security, such as its defence ties with Russia, nor cede ground on its domestic interests in the agriculture and dairy sectors.
The landmark India-US civil nuclear deal of 2008, brokered during Manmohan Singh's tenure as Prime Minister, is seen as a crowning achievement in his foreign policy legacy. The agreement ended India's nuclear isolation, fostered a strategic partnership with the US, and opened doors to advanced technologies and defense cooperation. This historic deal also laid the groundwork for India's engagement with the global nuclear community.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and firmed up the responses to the terror attack.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Tuesday that India's water will no longer flow outside the country but will be utilized in the nation's interest, a statement seemingly directed at Pakistan following his government's decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack. Addressing the ABP Network's 'India@2047' Summit, Modi emphasized his government's focus on interlinking rivers, noting that water used to be a source of conflict among states, before alluding to India's stance against Pakistan while discussing water. He highlighted the finalization of the India-UK free trade agreement as a historic milestone and underscored the importance of prioritizing national interest for achieving objectives and realizing the country's potential. Modi highlighted the country's growth and development under his government's rule, emphasizing its focus on welfare schemes and digitalization. He reiterated his government's commitment to 'Nation First' and pointed to the recent reforms undertaken, including the new Waqf law and the ban on triple talaq, which he said were aimed at benefiting the marginalized sections of society.
India and China should build on 'good progress' in normalising the bilateral ties to address border-related issues including de-escalation, and it is essential to avoid 'restrictive trade measures and roadblocks', External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday during talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Pakistan has warned the international community that any military moves by India shall be 'responded to assuredly and decisively... onus of any escalatory spiral and its consequences shall squarely lie with India.' Implicit in the statement is a veiled threat that even a nuclear threshold may be reached if push comes to shove, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday held talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu and is learnt to have discussed the lingering border row in eastern Ladakh.
"These developments clearly negate the argument that India's mainstreaming in the international export control regimes will further the non-proliferation objectives of these regimes," Pak's Foreign Office said.
After the 1962 War with China, there was a demand to forge greater defence cooperation between India and the West. One such voice was that of Sudhir Ghosh, a distinguished MP, to tie up strategic cooperation with the USA immediately after the Chinese attack on India, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
They also inked a pact for cultural exchanges through 2018-2020.
India has shared lists of 337 civilian prisoners and 81 fishermen in its custody, who are Pakistanis or are believed to be Pakistanis.
United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh amidst a desire by the US to step up military cooperation and see that India and Pakistan join hands to combat terrorism.
'Here in Delhi, the Modi government is supposedly looking at 'options' to hit back at Pakistan in any whichever way it can, while in Washington, the Obama administration is looking for ways to strengthen US military cooperation with Pakistan,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China does not have to give up what it took in 2020, it will never give up its claim to Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and other areas, and it has all the time now to plan its next surprise, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The agreement provides for extensive cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector including in research and development for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, they said.
China's state-run media commented that India's close relationship with the US could create geopolitical rivalries in Asia.
Saturday's Quad meeting in Delaware is taking place against the backdrop of China's assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, its sabre-rattling in the Taiwan Strait and increasing footprints in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
The two sides inked nearly two dozen pacts in key areas of defence and civil nuclear cooperation after "productive" talks between Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the nation's capital.
Russia has over the past three years provided four Mi-35M combat and cargo helicopters to Pakistan and the militaries of the two countries also held joint drills codenamed 'Friendship'.
India made the request in the context of the exchange of the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen by both the countries as part of a practice to do so on January 1 and July 1 of every calendar year under the framework of a 2008 pact.
Two top Army commanders on Saturday said the fresh ceasefire between India and Pakistan will have no bearing on the counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir and that the force will exercise 'maximum restraint' in the event of any violation by the neighbouring country.
'An authoritative source in the government tells me that India has emerged as the net security provider of the Maldives,' says Rajeev Sharma.
These fresh violations came after a gap of one month and four days along Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir.
The two PMs called upon all countries to work towards rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure.
The PM said, 'Regrettably, one of the countries of its origin and spread is in India's neighbourhood.'
The CPEC poses a clear and imminent danger to Indian security interests, says Kulbir Krishan.
Under the India-China agreement on the disengagement process in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese army will pull back its troops to east of Finger 8 areas in the northern bank of Pangong lake, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Parliament on Thursday, in what is seen as a significant step to dial down tensions in the key face-off site.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday left for home after wrapping up his eight-day whirlwind tour of five Central Asian countries and Russia during which ties with these nations were strengthened and India was accepted as a full member of the SCO.
Big ticket defence deals including purchase of missile systems, frigates and joint production of helicopters were sealed on Saturday.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold separate bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and Russia's Sergey Lavrov at a beach resort in Goa on Thursday on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) amid rapidly evolving regional security situation.
The shelling from across the border started in Nowshera sector around 12.30 pm, ending over 12-hour-long lull in the border skirmishes which intensified after India's pre-emptive strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed's terror camps at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan on Tuesday.
Modi said during their talks he and Netanyahu agreed to to do much more together to combat terrorism to protect their strategic interests.
Ahead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to United States in October, the United States is negotiating a pact on the new limits on Pakistan's nuclear weapons and delivery systems, a deal which might lead to an agreement that is similar to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, according to a media report.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will travel to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers' meeting being held in Goa on May 4 and 5, the foreign ministry in Beijing announced on Tuesday.
'We have always maintained we are committed to addressing issues, if any, in a peaceful and bilateral manner'
