US President Donald Trump announced a finalised peace deal between the US and Iran, set for signing on June 19 in Switzerland, with key figures like J D Vance, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner from the US side, and Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf representing Iran, alongside Pakistani mediators Field Marshal Asim Munir, Shehbaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar, and Mohsin Naqvi, playing crucial roles in the diplomatic breakthrough.
Former US President Donald Trump claimed he stopped a war between India and Pakistan and expressed his desire to be remembered as a great peacemaker.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor discusses India's role in the US-Iran peace talks taking place in Islamabad, emphasising the importance of peace over competition with Pakistan and highlighting India's regional interests.
Three people were killed and four others injured in an attack by suspected militants in Manipur's Kangpokpi district. The victims were members of the Thadou Baptist Association returning from a religious gathering. The Chief Minister has condemned the violence and assured support for the injured.
Pope Leo XIV on Monday underscored his commitment to spiritual advocacy over political friction, stating that he has no desire to engage in a confrontation with the US administration.
Deputy Chairman of Russia's National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev claims military victory in Ukraine is visible and emphasizes the need to plan for the aftermath. He also comments on Donald Trump's desire to be seen as a peacemaker.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'The White House lunch that Trump hosted for Munir last year came just after Munir returned from a visit to Iran, at a moment when Israel and Iran were at war.' 'Trump said after that lunch that the Pakistanis know Iran very well. He likely views Munir as a useful interlocutor that can give helpful insights on Iran.'
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Aljubeir visited India on Thursday and held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, focusing on de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. The visit comes as ties between India and Pakistan have further deteriorated following Indian military strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also arrived in New Delhi on a scheduled visit amidst the escalating tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media, "With God's help we will bring them all home."
Trump, who had expected to receive the prize for his efforts to "end seven wars," also linked the conflict in Ukraine to his broader peacemaking claims.
Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan have already taken six of Asia's eight guaranteed spots at next year's 48-team World Cup.
Whether Trump will actually press ahead with the oil sanctions remains unclear, since keeping Russian oil out of the world market risks high oil prices which could boomerang on the US economy and be damaging politically for Trump, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Trump's new rules for how countries should treat him have led to the current breakdown in India-US relations, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Both Putin and Zelenskyy have invited the prime minister to visit Russia and Ukraine respectively after the Lok Sabha elections, sources said, adding they see Modi as a "peacemaker".
The United States said it encourages 'direct communication' between India and Pakistan and commends Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for choosing the path of peace.
'The current strain in the relationship is serious and likely to be long lasting.' 'Even if Trump suddenly changes his attitude toward India -- which he is entirely capable of doing -- it is unlikely that New Delhi will be able to pick up the pieces and respond as if nothing has happened.'
Over the weekend, one senior US official told CNN, the Israelis had an opportunity to kill Iran's supreme leader.
'As one former Indian diplomat put it to me, Delhi has access to the White House, but Islamabad has access to Mar-a-Lago.'
'No respite from economic pain is worth the loss of dignity and self-respect,' asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Trump has played throughout his career as a deal-maker who could deliver where others could not, and Ukraine represents the ultimate test of that image, notes Manish Dabhade.
Trump couldn't care less anymore about the Israeli demand for Iran's 'de-nuclearisation' and 'de-militarisation.' Trump pins hopes on a grand bargain with Iran as a partner in America First, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Geopolitically and diplomatically it's a very difficult situation for India.'
'I just tried to move him out of the way, because for him to get a red card at the end of the game would have been ridiculous.'
The post further read that "at a moment of heightened regional turbulence", President Trump "demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi," Dawn reported.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, has urged President Donald Trump to help ease tensions with India, highlighting the Kashmir issue as a "flash point" in nuclear terms. He believes that the US should take a more comprehensive and sustained approach to address the situation rather than just immediate de-escalatory measures.
He then went on to say that, however, he won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for any of his efforts.
US President Donald Trump shared a video link of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction with US-based popular podcaster and computer scientist Lex Fridman on his social media platform Truth Social. During the interaction lasting over three hours, Modi on Sunday said he and Trump connect well as both put their respective countries first and asserted that their mutual trust remained unshaken even when the Republican leader was out of office during Joe Biden's presidency. Modi recalled that during Trump's first term, he ignored security protocol and agreed to Modi's request to take a lap around the stadium hosting the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston. Modi also lauded Mahatma Gandhi's legacy and described himself as a peacemaker who has nudged both Russian and Ukrainian leaders to come to the negotiating table. In the podcast, Modi also opened up on a host of foreign affairs issues and touched on various aspects of his life journey.
With United States President Donald Trump reiterating his claims of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the Congress on Wednesday asked what do the 'typically loquacious' Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have to say about this revelation and did they 'mortgage' India's security interests in the face of US 'pressure'.
Will Russia's entry deter Trump on his warpath?, asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim that Washington got involved with India and Pakistan, saying he didn't like what was happening and that he did a good job as he convinced the two countries to let's have peace and let's go and make trade deals.
An inconclusive end to this war will pose high risk for Netanyahu of a cascading demand for a regime change in Israel, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'It brings precarious peace because the red lines have shifted. 'The next Pahalgam attack would mean a full scale war.'
Acutely conscious that he's left with less than four years to create his legacy, Trump is undoubtedly a man in a hurry, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The 'mediation' by the United States from behind the scene on the diplomatic track appears to be once again working, which calls on both Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and pull back from a military confrontation, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
As it meanders along The Mehta Boys can't decide what it wants to be -- a comedy, an emotional family drama or just a slice of life in the city, observes Deepa Gahlot.
'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.'
PM Modi went to New York this time not to engage in polemics, but to find solutions to global problems. He made some progress on several matters, even on reform of the UN Security Council, when the US made a major concession for the first time that six permanent members without veto, including India, could be considered
