Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's decision not to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Colombo has once again put the focus on alleged cases of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.
India comes under attack over religious intolerance, human trafficking and slavery at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said letters written to British authorities on Lalit Modi case during UPA rule should be released as they will answer the former IPL Commissioner's accusations against him and Congress.
'No private citizen can be prevented from holding or propagating in India or abroad, a view contrary to that of the government of the day. The government, it seems is misreading the mandate in the Lok Sabha as being a mandate to crush dissent. In times when ruling parties have brute majorities in Parliament, the true test of safeguarding democracy is its ability to allow dissenting voices to be heard,' says Indira Jaising, the former additional solicitor general.
When Mariappan approached the Indian embassy in Kuwait to get back his passport after deciding to leave his employer, he ended up in jail.
S Jaishankar, the new Indian ambassador to the United States, on Thursday met top officials of the State Department to convey India's strong protest over the arrest of its senior diplomat in New York over visa fraud charges, even though she had diplomatic immunity.
The State Department says it informed the Indian embassy in Washington, DC in Deptember about the troubles that awaited diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was arrested on the charges of alleged fraud in New York on December 12. A media statement issued by M Sridharan, the Counsellor (Press, Information and Culture), at the embassy clarifies the sequence of events.
The International Court of Justice was last a battleground for India and Pakistan nearly 18 years ago.
There is no chance of the case against Devyani Khobaragade being dropped, but a plea deal is possible, which could avoid a jail term for the Indian diplomat, sources in the US government tell Rediff.com's George Joseph in New York.
No theory would ever justify the public humiliation of the acting head of the consulate of a friendly country. Whatever be the eventual solution, grievous damage has been done to her personally and to the relations between the two countries, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The clichd path of conducting 'uninterrupted and uninterruptable' bilateral dialogue with Pakistan to improve ties remains unimplemented and un-implementable under prevailing circumstances that are unlikely to alter in the near future, says Rahul Bedi.
The Congress on Thursday dared Narendra Modi to an open debate on his governance model in Gujarat, while rubbishing his attack on the United Progressive Alliance over the economic slowdown.
President Trump said that he has great love for young immigrants who came to America as children.
Retired senior US diplomats Teresita and Howard Schaffer believe the 'US cannot afford to continue restricting its contacts with Narendra Modi.' Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports from Washington, DC.
A Priority Foreign Country is a status reserved for those nations that are the most egregious violators of intellectual property rights and have the most negative impact on US competitiveness abroad.
Sensex may remain under pressure this week due to weak global factors.
Special 301 Report expresses concern over weak IPR laws, to conduct reviews.
'We are going to see relatively soon an executive order that deals with H-1B and other temporary visas.' 'We are also going to see an executive order on undocumented people.' 'Undocumented Indians comprise the largest population growth of all undocumented people in this country.' 'Just because India is not named in this executive order doesn't mean it won't be in the future.'
Workers' outfits staged a rally outside the Indian Consulate in New York to show support for Sangeeta Richard, whose allegations of low wages and exploitation led to the Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade. George Joseph reports
Denouncing India's attempts to get Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade full diplomatic immunity, United States law enforcement officials warn that it will set a terrible precedent. Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports from Washington, DC.
The lawyer for a domestic help employed by Devyani Khobragade on Thursday said it is frustrating and disappointing that the focus in the case has shifted from the crimes that were committed against her client to the Indian diplomat.
Calls grow for global athletics probe after widespread doping allegations.
Lalit Modi, former Indian Premiere League chief, on Tuesday night made explosive claims that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje had supported in writing his immigration plea in Britain
The US has said that it was time to get past the recent tensions with India and the two sides should move on, days after arrest of an American police officer at New Delhi airport for possessing bullets. "We've said we want to get past some of the tensions that have been there over the past several months and move on," state department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said.
'One wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts, but precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and her spouse?' The statement issued by Preet Bharara, the US Attorney, whose office is prosecuting Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat arrested in New York last week.
Two former senior United States diplomats, with more than 60 years experience in South Asia between them, have exhorted Washington to establish communication with Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi sooner than later.
Congress charged the entire BJP and the government with "aiding and abetting" Lalit Modi, a fugitive.
'Kargil was Pakistan's strategic blunder. India must remain on guard against such sinister operations being launched in future by Pakistan's vengeful and devious military leadership that continues to have a hate-India mindset and the mentality of primitive warlords,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is a fraud, a liar and a hypocrite, top Democratic leaders and speakers at the party's national convention said as they lashed out at the billionaire from New York.
The perfunctory management of external affairs has left India's foreign policy establishment largely unprepared to manage the consequences of dramatic international developments, says Nitin Pai.
The people who know Tibet will continue to fight the good fight. Long, hard, less than hopeful, but always peaceful.
A source close to FIFA said that as Blatter has not been arrested, charged or indicted, it would probably be for him to decide whether he stays in his post until February, when he is due to step down.
"As Civil Aviation minister, I apologise to all those affected (by these incidents)," Ashok Gajapathi Raju told a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday evening, in an attempt to end the controversy.
Amidst outrage expressed by members in Parliament, India on Wednesday asserted that it will intervene "effectively and specifically" to ensure the return and restoration of dignity of its Deputy Consul General in New York who has been arrested on charges of visa rules violation.
The investigations into and actions being taken by the US State Department's Diplomatic Security Service against Devyani Khobragade were not shared with Secretary of State John F Kerry, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, or Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Nisha Desai Biswal, reveals Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa from Washington, DC.
Do Modi's foreign visits actually serve India or they nothing more than expensive tools for domestic positioning and image-building, asks Shehzad Poonawalla.
'A senior US diplomat last week asked me when things will go back to normal. I had to tell her that if normalcy meant getting back these perks, it is not going to happen for a very long time, if ever at all,' says Mohan Guruswamy. 'For the Indian public now is outraged that US diplomats have enjoyed all these winking at the rulebook.'
'This is the first time that the Americans have agreed to refer to "cross-border terrorist attacks" in a joint statement.' 'No wonder Pakistan has called the joint statement "singularly unhelpful" and has blasted it, and its all-weather friend China has applauded Pakistan's frontline role in combating terrorism,' points out former foreign secretary Ambassador Kanwal Sibal.
Flaring of tempers comes atop much simmering trouble on clashing views; these stands might now get frozen.
'Crafting a coherent, transparent and consistent policy vis-a-vis our neighbours, leave alone the rest of the world, is unlikely to be high on the priority list of the new Indian government, which will be sworn in before June,' says Ramananda Sengupta.
