In a late night development, S Jaishankar, India's Ambassador to the United States, was appointed foreign secretary on Wednesday, replacing Sujatha Singh whose tenure has been abruptly 'curtailed" by nearly 8 months.
Sources indicated defence and national security initiatives.
The soul searching on Bihar loss, backlash from party seniors are something the PM has to dwell deep upon.
Blinken is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi late on July 27. He is scheduled to attend a full slate of engagements on July 28. During his stay in the country, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
With the surge in tourist footfalls to Varanasi in 2022, it almost rivals the arrivals in Agra and puts it way ahead of Prayagraj and Ayodhya.
The Summit would begin on the second day with the prime minister interacting with Russian and Indian CEOs.
'Never, not even once, has Kamala Harris said that she is Indian American. I know why.' 'From the Indian American community she can get maybe 1% percent votes. But if she says she's African American she gains about 20% votes.'
Pakistan has formally lodged a protest with the US over its joint statement with India against the country's involvement in cross-border terrorism.
Pressure is mounting for a resolution to be moved in the assembly when it meets next week for its maiden sitting to demand 'restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A' as committed in the National Conference's election manifesto, reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
India has been rejecting China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country and assigning "invented" names does not alter this reality.
China has virtually rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to clarify positions on the Line of Actual Control and said it prefers an agreement with India on a Code of Conduct to maintain peace along the border.
What goes behind the scenes for an American President's visit?
The visit comes seven months after India cancelled foreign secretary-level talks.
Ratan Tata: A Life, the much awaited biography, reveals that after a year of 'parallel running', Tata began having second thoughts about Cyrus Mistry's 'suitability'. 'Mistry targeted Ratan, the man who had elevated him from virtual oblivion into the mainstream of the Tatas...'
The Modi government finds itself in a contradiction of its own making. It has encouraged pro-Russian, Westophobic public sentiment while setting strategic policy that's exactly the opposite, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday offered prayers at a Matua temple in Bangladesh's Orakandi, the birthplace of Hindu mystic figure and Matua community's spiritual guru Harichand Thakur.
India's mission in Kuwait is ascertaining the full details from the concerned Kuwaiti authorities on the tragic fire incident in a building in the southern city of Mangaf which killed 49 foreign workers, including around 40 Indians, and injured 50 others, even as officials started an investigation into one of the worst fires in the Gulf nation.
India has expressed concern about the movement of the Xiang Yang Hong 03 vessel in Indian Ocean waters and also prevailed on Sri Lanka to refuse permission for the ship to dock at Colombo port.
Pakistan's Foreign Office has recommended Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to accept India's invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi on May 26 in New Delhi, saying it will be a 'mistake' to let this opportunity go.
Gandhi said the govt "tried everything to stop" his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', but nothing was working against the "effect" of the foot march.
Singh visited Tawang on Thursday for the 'Maitree Diwas' celebrations to boost civil-military friendship in the region bordering China.
However, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that Modi's visit to Nepal was decided soon after K P Sharma Oli's election as the prime minister in February.
'You can presume that Modi and his party will now focus on the economy.' 'But then, there is the Jharkhand election next month, Delhi soon thereafter and so on.' 'And this isn't a political leadership that takes even a panchayat election lightly,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
"India is a global strategic partner of ours. We have a wide, broad, deep relationship with India. There will be a lot on the agenda in the bilateral relationship and in the multilateral engagements he takes part in on the margins of the G20," Ned Price, State Department Spokesperson, told reporters at his daily news conference.
This will be his first visit to India as President.
S Jaishankar took charge as foreign secretary, replacing Sujatha Singh, on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday went from Delhi to Dhaka on a new custom-made VVIP aircraft, using it for the first time on a foreign journey.
From displaying his skills as a drummer in Dar-es-Salaam with Tanzanian President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli to pensively retracing Mahatma Gandhi's train journey in South Africa, Prime Minister Modi's tour albums are one of their kind.
'If he loses Gujarat, then he has a major, major, problem coming up in 2024.'
With terror and investments high on his agenda for talks with the UAE leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday began his two-day trip to this strategic Gulf nation with a visit to the historic Sheikh Zayed Grand mosque, the world's third largest.
China criticised the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India, Australia, Japan and the United States in Tokyo, saying it is opposed to the formation of "exclusive clique" harming third party's interests.
According to some media reports, the Modi-Xi informal summit could take place from October 11-13.
A massive manhunt is underway for three foreign terrorists, possibly of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the deadly attack on pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi that resulted in the loss of nine lives, including a two-year-old, officials involved in the investigation said on Monday.
