The US move to align with Russia is prompted by fear of a Sino-Russian joint threat. Russia, fully aware of its military vulnerability vis a vis China may cautiously welcome the American move, assesses Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Indian spikers continued their fine form beating Turkmenistan in straight sets in the second Asian Central Zone Championship.
Indian women stormed into the finals of the Fed Cup (Group-II) Asia-Oceania tennis tournament in Hyderabad following another one-sided 2-0 victory over Turkmenistan.
A 6-1 victory enabled the Goa team round off their AFC Cup campaign on a winning note.
Hajime Moriyasu's side, one of the favourites for the title, laboured throughout the opening 45 minutes and fell behind to a vicious long-range strike from Arslanmyrat Amanov that flew past goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda.
Close on the heels of initiating a dialogue with Iran and Myanmar on importing gas through onland pipelines, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will soon visit Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to explore the possibility of bringing natural gas from Ce
North Korea were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Turkmenistan in their opening group game of the AFC Challenge Cup in Colombo on Wednesday.
The Turkmenistan event underscores the lengths to which China's oil-and-gas companies will go to curry favour in resource-rich locales.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who inaugurated a traditional medicine and yoga centre at the Turkmenistan capital lauded the students who demonstrated yoga.
India gave a spirited fight but lost to Thailand 2-3 in a high-octane clash of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2025 Qualifiers in Chonburi on Sunday.
In a clinical display by the Indian football team, the colts got off to a winning start in the AFC U-19 Qualifiers, beating 10-man Turkmenistan 3-1 at the Takhti Stadium in Tehran, Iran on Monday.
The India U-17 boys came up with a brutal performance, hammering Brunei 13-0 in their opening Group D game of the U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Chonburi on Wednesday.
Uzbekistan lives comfortably in several centuries but is also a forward-looking nation, Deepa Gahlot discovers on a visit to this Central Asian country.
The Italian federation (FIGC) is determined to complete the season and its president Gabriele Gravina has been presenting new ideas on an almost daily basis of how that can be done. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan in Central Asia is set to resume its soccer season with spectators at the weekend, making it only the second country in the world to let fans attend matches as the new coronavirus shuts down almost all of world football.
It will have a capacity of 33 billion cubic metres
Skipper Amarjit Singh opened the scoring in the 74th minute, Abhishek Halder doubled the lead in the 80th and Edmund completed the tally with a strike in the 92nd as India dominated the proceedings for the better part of the game.
But the hosts failed to qualify for the next round of the under-23 football tournament in the Olympics.
Boxing's already uncertain Olympic future was thrown into further jeopardy after the sport's Asian governing body voted against leaving the suspended International Boxing Association (IBA) to join the rival association.
South Korea's Olympic committee has said swimmer Kim Hye-jin was kicked by a Chinese swimmer during training at the Asian Games in Jakarta on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the world sees yoga as a powerful agent for global good as it helps people live in the present without carrying the baggage of the past.
Aman Sehrawat missed out on securing a berth for the Paris Games after losing his semi-final at the Asian Olympic Qualifier.
Indian pugilists will be determined to overcome the recent setbacks both inside and outside the boxing ring when they aim for the last available tickets to the Olympic Games at the second World Qualification Tournament, starting in Bangkok on Friday.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to India next week to attend the meeting of G20 foreign ministers and meet senior Indian officials to reaffirm America's strong partnership with the country.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
In Group C, Iran's Sepahan survived a pair of red cards to defeat Air Force Club from Iraq 1-0 in Tehran and stay two points adrift of leaders Al-Ittihad from Saudi Arabia.
Indian wrestlers return with six medals
The summit will be attended by leaders of SCO member states, observer states, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests, a Ministry of External Affairs statement said.
A strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake with the epicentre in Afghanistan shook Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring nearly 250 others in both the countries, authorities said on Wednesday.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic continuing and the cases rising, this would be the second year in a row when there would be no foreign leader as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.
"Due to scheduling reasons, it is inconvenient for China to attend the meeting," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told mediapersons.
Doval's visit to Moscow comes weeks ahead of the G-20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi.
Last year's Republic Day parade took place amid the Covid pandemic and close to 25,000 people were allowed to attend it, sources mentioned.
Turkmenistan coach Rovshan Muhadov is confident of winning the 'away' tie of the pre-Olympic football match in Goa on Sunday.
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.
The minister also rejected Gandhi's allegation that the Narendra Modi government brought Pakistan and China together.
China said that it would not attend the security dialogue on Afghanistan convened by India due to "scheduling reasons".
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.
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.
Doval said it is time for closer consultations, greater cooperation and coordination among the regional countries to deal with the challenges emanating from Afghanistan.
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