There have been at least 1,641 cases of the virus in the Gulf region. Dubai has postponed its March boat show until November and Abu Dhabi postponed the ITU World Triathlon event this month, after earlier cancelling a cycling event in which two riders were diagnosed with the virus.
Unless the Taliban goofs up in a big way, which seems highly unlikely, we are looking at a regime that will be around for quite a long while and present a level of governance that the puppets of the richest and most advanced countries failed to provide, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It is the first visit to India by a senior minister of a member nation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation after the controversial remarks triggered anguish in the Arab world.
This comes a few days after reports emerged that Amrullah Saleh, who was residing at the Panjshir, has fled to Tajikistan.
External Affairs minister S Jaishankar in New York praised the leadership skills of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while recalling the attack on the Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan near the Indian consulate and while India was coordinating evacuations from the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday left for the Uzbek city of Samarkand to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit that will also see the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iran's Ebrahim Raisi among other top world leaders.
Imran Khan knows Pakistan is holding a strong hand and doesn't have to flaunt it while claiming victory. But Pakistan has learned from the experience of the 1990s -- high risk of going out on a limb, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A US Congress-constituted quasi-judicial body on Monday recommended to the Biden Administration to designate India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and 11 other nations as "country of particular concern" in the context of status of religious freedom.
The minister also rejected Gandhi's allegation that the Narendra Modi government brought Pakistan and China together.
People familiar with the development said on Friday that the Chinese envoy held wide-ranging talks with the external affairs ministry's point person for Afghanistan J P Singh.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan this week and discuss issues of strategic stability, the situation in the Asia Pacific region and bilateral cooperation within the UN and G20, the Kremlin has announced.
China said that it would not attend the security dialogue on Afghanistan convened by India due to "scheduling reasons".
India on Sunday brought back nearly 400 people, including 329 of its nationals and two Afghan lawmakers, in three different flights as part of its efforts to evacuate its citizens from Kabul in the backdrop of the deteriorating situation in the city after its takeover by the Taliban
The development came soon after Ghani left Afghanistan following the Taliban advance into the capital city, Sputnik reported.
Describing Central Asia as India's "extended neighbourhood", Doval said New Delhi accords "highest priority" to this region, adding Afghanistan is an important issue "concerning all of us".
The talks took place in a beach resort in Benaulim on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has pitched for an 'action plan' against Pakistan-based terror groups Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed under the framework of eight-nation grouping Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and called for expeditiously bringing the perpetrators of terror attacks to justice.
In the 57kg competition, Shubham was no match for Russia's Ramazan Bagavudinov, whose superior technical acumen was on display in the quarter-final bout.
Exporters are readying back-up routes to send their shipments to the nations belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including Russia, as the war in Ukraine continues to intensify. Three routes are being explored. The first is the China route using Qingdao port. The second is the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) route that connects Mumbai to Moscow via Iran and Azerbaijan.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his record-breaking form for Portugal as he grabbed two more goals in his country's 6-0 thrashing of Luxembourg in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Sunday.
The second batch of 146 Indian nationals who were evacuated from Afghanistan via Doha arrived in the national capital on Monday on various flights.
With Simranjit (60kg), Sakshi (54kg), and Jaismine (57kg) progressing into the last-4 stage, the women's team has confirmed India a medal in each weight category.
Tamanna (50kg) and Nivedita Karki (48kg), silver medalists in the previous edition, were among five Indian women boxers who won gold in the youth competition of the Asian Youth and Junior Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan on Monday.
Modi's emphasises on transit for trade comes amid Pakistan's reluctance to provide such a facility for two-way trade between India and Pakistan.
Mahi, Palak and 2 other Indians enter final at Asian Youth & Junior Boxing C'ships
A special Indian Air Force repatriation flight ferrying 168 evacuees from Kabul landed at the Hindon air base in Ghaziabad on Sunday.
Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit, including with Putin, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev among other leaders.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will hold its first in-person summit in Samarkand in Uzbekistan on Thursday after two years, shaking off Covid fears and providing a rare opportunity for all its eight heads of state to meet on the sidelines of the event to have face-to-face talks on pressing global and regional issues of common concern.
The people cited above said the Indians were taken away for questioning and it is not unusual under the current circumstances.
The aircraft landed at Dushanbe in Tajikistan after evacuating the Indians, they said, adding the flight is expected to arrive at the Hindon airbase near Delhi in the evening.
In a ceremony held in Amritsar, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla along with Afghan ambassador Farid Mamundzay and World Food Program Country director Bishaw Parajuli flagged off the first convoy of 50 trucks carrying the consignment.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
India on Thursday resumed its diplomatic presence in Kabul by deploying a team in its embassy in the Afghan capital, over 10 months after it pulled out its officials from the mission following the Taliban's capture of power.
Nikhat Zareen (52kg), Manisha (57kg) and Parveen (63kg) continued their stellar run at the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Monday by advancing to the semi-finals but five other Indians bowed out after suffering quarter-final losses.
Air India is leaving behind some 50 bags at the Delhi airport as it flies to the US, reducing what it carries after the closure of Afghanistan's airspace increased flight time by at least 30 minutes. Air India flies the Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft to New York, Newark, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco.
According to a United Nation Women report, most of these 34 countries were developing nations including Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Laos, Mali, Senegal, Tajikistan and Botswana.
Varinder had to pull out of his 60kg category bout due to high fever but he tested negative for COVID-19.
The need for an inclusive government in Kabul and a zero-tolerance stance on the use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups are among four aspects that Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed on Wednesday for countries in the region to focus on in the backdrop of the developments in the war-torn nation.
The epicentre of the quake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, was Afghanistan-Tajikistan border and it occurred at 4.01 pm.
Two Indian aircraft would be permitted to operate from the Kabul airport which is under the control of American security forces, government sources told ANI.