On October 15, Rediff.com's Washington Editor AZIZ HANIFFA broke this story on how US officials wanted President Obama to support India as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, telling him it could make his India visit truly historic. On November 8, President Obama told Parliament that the US supported India's membership of the UN Security Council.
The United States should fully back India's pursuit of permanent membership of the powerful UN Security Council, John McCain, the top Republican leader said, days after President Barack Obama described the issue as "very difficult and complicated".
Sharif and Modi are expected to attend the UN General Assembly session next week.
The Russian-drafted resolution, which passed unanimously by all 15 member-states of the Security Council, appealed to all countries 'to criminalise piracy under their domestic law and favourably consider the prosecution of suspected, and imprisonment of convicted, pirates apprehended off the coast of Somalia, consistent with applicable international human rights law.'
The US welcomed the election of India as a non-permanent member of the powerful UN Security Council along with South Africa and Brazil and hoped these countries would play an important and constructive role in resolving key global issues together.
As external affairs minister S M Krishna travels to Beijing on Tuesday for talks till April 8 with his counterpart, Yang Jiechi, highly placed sources in the establishment confirmed that India and China have been in talks for some time to ban Masood Azhar of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Abdul Rehman Makki of the Jamaat-ud Dawa and Azam Cheema of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, under the UNSC resolutions.
"We deeply appreciate the fact that President Obama made that declaration of support for India's candidature as a Permanent Member of the Security Council and subsequently to that we have had some useful discussion with the State Department," Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told media persons at a press conference in Washington.
Gaffes in the UN create some red faces and send a few chuckles around, but do not harm anyone as each country's position is known and the situation can easily be retrieved, says T P Sreenivasan.
A United States official is set to hold talks in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Lebanon this week on sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council on Iran over its nuclear programme.
A foreign national has been arrested by Pakistani security agencies in connection with the car bomb blast outside the house of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and chief of the banned Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed in Lahore, according to media reports.
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday expressed deep concern over the declaration of the state of emergency in Myanmar by the military and called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders arbitrarily detained by the military.
Even as New Delhi consolidates its global standing this year with a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Jyoti Malhotra feels it will be the countries in its immediate neighbourhood that will be top priority for India's foreign office.
The United States has said it wants Pakistan to implement UN curbs against three key financers who raised money for the Taliban and Haqqani network, a day after slapping sanctions on the leaders of these outfits.
China is providing tacit support to Pakistan in its jihadi strategy with an aim to pin down half a million Indian troops in Kashmir, a leading European security expert has said.
Pakistan has rejected India's stance on occupied Kashmir, saying the dispute over the region was a result of New Delhi's refusal to implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The reaffirmation from the US comes in the backdrop of the maiden India US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue which was held on Tuesday.
India and China held their fourth round of strategic dialogue to discuss a host of issues such as New Delhi's concerns relating to issuance of stapled visas by Beijing for Kashmiris and its bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
In a significant development, Jammu and Kashmir has been removed from the UN list of unresolved disputes, giving a setback to Pakistan which has been asking the world body to intervene on the issue.
The court sentenced Saeed to five-and-a-half years and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 in each case. The sentences of both cases will run concurrently.
"A permanent Security Council seat in the UN for India means a major injustice, which has no moral ground. How will such a country (India) be made a permanent member, when it has not honoured the body and rejected its resolutions on Kashmir," Chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani said.
The United States on Sunday said time was running out for Iran to address the growing concerns of the international community about its nuclear programme, as the Islamic republic approved plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities in defiance of United Nations' demands.
The US does not expect any "serious response" from Iran to halt its controversial nuclear programme unless the UN Security Council slaps Tehran with additional sanctions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.
India was elected to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member with a thumping majority of votes, including that of Pakistan, in what was quickly described by New Delhi as significant.
Member of parliament from Thiruvananthapuram and former Union Minister of state for external affairs Dr Shashi Tharoor has said that getting an entry into the UN Security Council is a significant achievement for India.
The one-day event organised on Tuesday by the 2010 India-China Development Forum, which was set up with backing of China's top media houses and the Indian Embassy in Beijing, has displayed a heated debate, something that the Chinese media professionals have rarely seen and appeared to have thoroughly enjoyed.
India hit out at China for its remarks that there was no consensus over the United States' proposal to ban Pathankot attack mastermind and Jaish-e-Mohammed is chief Masood Azhar at the United Nations
India strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.
The new UN Security Council resolution on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament makes it difficult for the NPT signatory countries to withdraw from the regime and calls upon nations to enter into safeguard agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Jamaat-ud-Dawah has established an extensive network in Punjab province to collect funds and relief materials in the name of flood victims despite Pakistan government's contention that hardline groups will not be allowed to operate in garb of charitable organisations.
Johnson also reiterated his plan to visit India ahead of the G7 summit, after a scheduled visit for Republic Day this month was called off due to the coronavirus crisis.
Australia on Monday reiterated support to Indian viewpoint that world financial decision-making forums must be democratic and representative, and sought to enhance trade links between the two countries.
May told the House of Commons that the UK remained in regular contact with both countries and was working towards de-escalating tensions.
The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding "an immediate, durable and fully respected" ceasefire in the troubled Gaza Strip, leading to withdrawal of all Israeli forces.
Washington is signalling to Delhi that it can rely on American support in any great game vis-a-vis China. Delhi shouldn't fall into the trap, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The two sides are also expected to explore ways to deepen defence collaboration, including exercises, defence transfers and technologies ahead of the next edition of the 2+2 defence and foreign ministerial dialogue to be held in the US later this year, they said.
Pakistan on Friday "regretted" India's virtual rejection of its proposal for talks on Kashmir even as it briefed the ambassadors of the P-5 and European Union countries about the situation there in yet another attempt to internationalise the issue.
India has sought China's support for its bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council during a meeting between President Pratibha Patil and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Bejing. Patil, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday on a six-day visit to China, was welcomed warmly by Wen at the Purple Light Pavilion.
President Pratibha Patil discussed bilateral issues of mutual interest and situation in the region with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday.
'Xi's meeting with Modi in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Friday and Saturday is expected to focus more on the two countries' historical and present differences, and how to move beyond them to realise their cooperation potential'
"Next year we are trying for a Security Council seat (from the Asian region) and I believe that the Indians have said that they will support us there," Abdullah Hussain Haroon told PTI.