Alamgir said that even after the fall of the Hasina government following a people's uprising, the 'Indian establishment is yet to reach out to BNP, even though China, the US, the UK, and Pakistan have already done so.'
Rajnath said that after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it is Modi who has raised dignity of India in front of the world.
The visit to Pakistan will be mainly to position the India brand in that country.
This may be in line with Russia's private military company, Wagner Group, which was controlled until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Putin. The group used the infrastructure of the Russian Armed Forces.
'China did not expect India to show such strategic resolve in defending its territorial integrity.'
US refrained to make any comment on India's decision to not to attend the SAARC Summit in Islamabad.
'Young IFS officers today would take it for granted that they represent a major country with strengths and capabilities.' 'They will be aware that India is seen as one of the 10 significant countries in the world and therefore their voice will be heard whether on climate change or regime change,' says Ambassador B S Prakash.
'As events at Kargil and Pakistan's continued support to terror activities in India prove, Pakistan has always felt that the break-up/destruction of India was within its capability,' notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The failure of our diplomatic offensive against Pakistan after the 26/11 attacks rests in part on our faulty tactics, says Satish Chandra.
The civilian leadership informed the military authorities that Sharif's hour-long meeting with Jindal was a part of back-channel diplomacy. And Jindal had the backing of some important Indian officials for the meeting to defuse ongoing tension between the two countries, the report said.
'There is a view that there is a Pakistan angle to this.' 'Pakistan has a large presence in Qatar and would want India to be blacklisted.'
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).
China on Thursday told Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that it will always put its "all-weather ally" as a priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy as it praised his commitment to promote the USD 60 billion CPEC initiative.
Cricket might be Greek to the Americans, but they still support cricket diplomacy between arch rivals India and Pakistan. "We are for cricket. We don't understand it, but we like it," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said while replying to a query on the resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan.
'Canada doesn't want to de-escalate and neither does India. There is war when one party wants it, but peace is won by both parties.'
India and Pakistan are once again preparing to face off on the cricket field, playing their first series since 2008, when already brittle relations were shattered by the Mumbai attacks.
'I am not minimising either the seriousness or the complex nature of the current situation.' 'Naturally, we have to do what it takes to secure our borders.' 'We are talking to the Chinese, both through military channels and diplomatic ones.'
'In fact, they work in tandem.' 'When it comes to finding a solution, this must be predicated on honouring all agreements and understandings.' 'And not attempting to alter the status quo unilaterally.'
"We are of the view that the upcoming meeting between the President and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over lunch will contribute towards achieving the President's vision to promote intra-regional peace and prosperity in this part of the world," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told a weekly news briefing.
According to the original timeline, the ships were to be delivered by 2022, they said, attributing the delays in the delivery to Russia's war in Ukraine.
The high commission of India in Dhaka and the assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Khulna have been assisting in the voluntary return of Indian nationals, he said.
The United States supports a constructive dialogue and meaningful conversation between India and Pakistan, the Biden administration said Thursday reiterating that it's for New Delhi and Islamabad to decide on the nature of that dialogue.
A bomb disposal squad will sanitise the Islamabad Sports Complex every morning, and two escort vehicles will shadow the Indian Davis Cup team during its travel as part of multi-layer security arrangement, which is usually accorded to the Head of State, to ensure the visiting tennis players' safety and security.
Talking to some 80-plus Congressmen in a closed-door meeting at Jaipur on the sidelines of the party's Chintan Shivir, Dr Singh reportedly said that India should not be sentimental in diplomacy and use wisdom.
The prime ministers of India and Pakistan will mix with Bollywood stars and thousands of fans as the two rivals square off in a World Cup cricket semi-final on Wednesday in the wake of high profile peace talks between the two nations.
The trend is expected to continue in 2007.
On his maiden visit to Beijing, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which the two leaders agreed to strengthen the all-weather friendship and the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday presented a cream-coloured south silk sari to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who in return gifted the famous Bangladeshi Jamdani sari to the visiting Indian leader.
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
'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.
'Nine missiles from India had been pointed towards Pakistan, to be launched any time that day'
Aggressive diplomacy and a well prepared case against the JuD, parent organisation of Lashkar-e-Tayiba, led to Security Council's decision to call for worldwide freezing of its assets and putting four LeT leaders on a list of terrorists subject to sanctions, including ban on foreign travel. The case prepared by India was so convincing that even China, which bailed out Pakistan and prevented ban being imposed on earlier occasions, decided to go along.
In retrospect, it appeared that the bitterness of the war was still strong and the Ukrainian success in occupying Russian territory just a few days ago had added to the complexity of the situation. The positive US response to the visit, however, remains a silver lining in the dark clouds, notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Ties with Pakistan and China which were on the centre stage of Indian diplomacy saw a "deterioration" in the year gone by, according to foreign policy experts who feel that the relationships are unlikely to see any forward movement in the new year.
The prime minister said several ideas that have a bearing on improving relations between India and Pakistan were being discussed at various levels.
Hometown diplomacy mixed with a Silk Road touch is expected be part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's reciprocal gesture when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits China before end of May.
To threaten China and Pakistan, and then to sharply cut back on military funding, bespeaks a remarkable trust in Beijing and Islamabad that is not borne out by anything they say or do, notes Ajai Shukla.
Hitting out at the government, the ruling alliance partner said, 'The prime minister was in Lahore only last week as a guest of his counterpart Nawaz Sharif. At that time, we had warned him not to trust Pakistan.' "See how we have been betrayed today. If Pakistan wants to improve relations with India, they should immediately hand over Jaish-e-Mohammed's Maulana Masood Azhar to India," it said in the Saamna.
'I don't know who is deciding Indian foreign policy today. I don't know who is deciding how India deals with Pakistan,' former Union minister Ram Jethmalani takes on the Modi government.
The external affairs minister said the SAARC is in trouble as one of its members has been supporting terrorism.
Friday's incident at Herat has dampened somewhat the spirit behind the invitation. It reminds Modi much before he officially becomes prime minister, of the challenge that awaits his government, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com