THE SPOKESPERSON

Saudi Arabia is set to host talks in August with up to 30 countries, including Western states, Ukraine, and major developing countries, in an effort to garner international support for peace terms favoring Ukraine. Russia, who claims to have annexed part of Ukraine, is excluded from the discussions. Saudi Arabia is set to host talks in August about Ukraine, inviting Western states, Ukraine and major developing countries including India and Brazil, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The meeting would bring senior officials from up to 30 countries, including Indonesia, Egypt, Mexico, Chile and Zambia, to Jeddah on Aug 5 and 6, the report said, citing diplomats involved in the discussion.

The PSLV-C56, according to ISRO was launched from the First Launch Pad (FLP) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. The Indian High Commission in Singapore on Sunday said the launch of 7 satellites by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) marks another milestone in the Space partnership between the two countries. “India-Singapore space partnership marks another milestone with the launch of 7 Singaporean satellites by Indian space agency ISRO today,” the Indian High Commission in Singapore tweeted on Sunday.The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday launched PSLV-C56 carrying seven satellites, including the primary satellite DS-SAR and six co-passenger satellites, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.The launch vehicle lifted off from Sriharikota at 6.30 am on Sunday. "PSLV-C56/ DS-SAR Mission: The mission is successfully accomplished. PSLV-C56 vehicle launched all seven satellites precisely into their inte...

  Naela Quadri, the Prime Minister of the Balochistan government-in-exile, has made an appeal to Indian PM Narendra Modi to extend support at the United Nations to Balochistan's quest for freedom from Pakistan's "illegal" occupation.Quadri said Modi and the BJP government to take a stand in favor of Balochistan at the UN recognising the importance of this moment. "Prime minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government have an opportunity today to rise in support of Balochistan at the UN, which they may not have tomorrow," Quadri said Friday, reported PTI news agency.  Quadri is on a world tour to garner support for Balochistan's freedom. She is reaching out to different countries to gather international support for Balochistan's freedom from Pakistan's control. Her Friday remarks seeking India's support came after she performed a puja at the VIP ghat of the Ganga in Uttarakhand, praying for her cause. Baloch exploitation   Quadr...

  Centuries ago, the sacred waters of the Ganga and the Mekong intermingled to irrigate the syncretic culture of two distant lands, connecting the two regions, though full of physical hurdles.  The two lands still remain devoid of modern and regular land connectivity, and may take another year or two to symbolically revive the land connections between the plains of Ganges and Mekong, with the opening of Kolkata-Myanmar-Bangkok trilateral highway. The project was reviewed during the July 17 foreign ministerial meetings of BIMSTEC and the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) mechanism in Bangkok.  BIMSTEC, or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, was set up in 1996, and with the inclusion of Myanmar it expanded to seven members (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) in 1997, whereas the MGC, set up in 2000, involves India and five member countries of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian N...

China’s Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, has been absent from public view for almost a month now. Qin Gang, a career diplomat, has long been regarded as a close confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping.  Chinese Foreign Minister  Qin Gang, a trusted aide of President Xi Jinping, has been absent  from public view for nearly a month now, sparking intense speculation about his whereabouts, once again highlighting China's secrecy. His last public engagement was a meeting with visiting Russian, Sri Lankan and Vietnamese officials on June 25. Then he disappeared. The last time the 57-year-old rising star of Chinese politics disappeared from public view was just for eight days over the Lunar New Year Holiday.

 India is venturing into the development of a floating sea- based radar system as part of its Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) program.  The project aims to bolster the nation's defence capabilities by establishing an advanced radar system that can detect and track ballistic missiles, differentiate between warheads and decoys, update ground- based interceptors in real time, and evaluate the effectiveness of missile intercept attempts. This strategic move comes as India completes Phase-I of its BMD system, with land-based installations currently providing security to key regions, including the National Capital New Delhi and India's Commercial Capital Mumbai. To enhance its BMD system further, India is investing in the development of Very Long Range Radars (VLRR) with unparalleled capabilities. These cutting-edge radars can scan vast distances, even up to 4,000 kilometres away, and precisely detect objects in both space and airspace. With such capabilities, the VLRRS ...

  Mother nature has been very kind to India, giving it a potential advantage in terms of economy, culture, climate, tourism, etc. although, unfortunately, this has neither been reciprocated nor has the potential been utilized. A Separate Subcontinent India is a distinct geographical unit bounded on the north by the ranges of the Himalaya and Karakoram, on the north-west by the mountains to the west of the Indus, on the north-east by the hills of Assam and Cachar, and everywhere else by the sea, forming a distinct subdivision within the continent. Its not a surprise that this area is called the Indian Subcontinent. Less Number of Invasions in the Past In ancient times, when no power attempted to assert full command of the sea, a country so largely surrounded by the ocean was inaccessible for the most part, and could be approached by land through its continental section only. The north-eastern hills and the gigantic Himalayan and Karakoram ranges present comparativel...

The former Soviet nations have already fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh enclave- the most recent in 2020. Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin corridor which connects Armenia and Karabakh have brought the region back to the brink of war.  Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan has warned that a war with Azerbaijan is “very likely.” Accusing Azerbaijan of “genocide” in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, Pashinyan told  AFP,  “So long as a peace treaty has not been signed and such a treaty has not been ratified by the parliaments of the two countries, of course, a (new) war (with Azerbaijan) is very likely.” Similar concerns have been raised earlier and it’s high time that the world takes note. Armenia and Azerbaijan have already fought two wars over the disputed enclave- the most recent in 2020, and skirmishes between the two have continued since. Talks between the two Ex-Soviet Union nations mediated by EU, US and separately by Russia have failed to achieve...

The undergoing project on the pioneering India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway is about 70 percent completed, as reported by PTI. The tie up among the three countries will enable the country to get access to Southeast Asia with the construction of a 1400 km long highway.  The coming together of India,  Myanmar  and Thailand will help in opening of the gateways in the fields of business, health, trade, education and tourism among the nations.  On the query of the latest update on the project, the Union minister replied that about 70 per cent of the project is finished, as said by PTI. The operationalisation of the trilateral highway and complete detail of the completion of the project was not provided by the minister. The undergoing work on the proposed highway will be combining Moreh in Manipur, India with Mae Sot which is in Thailand across Myanmar. Recently, as per a group of Commerce Ministers from the three nations disclosed that the trilatera...

  Tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan as well  as Armenia and Azerbaijan have been steadily ramping up in recent months, and divisive incidents have become almost a weekly occurrence. The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Friday promised “reciprocal diplomatic action” after Azerbaijan expelled four Iranian diplomats over “provocative actions” it did not name. Azerbaijan arrested six of its own nationals hours earlier, who were accused of being linked to Iranian secret services and plotting a coup in the Caspian nation. It was the latest in a series of arrests in recent months with Baku linking all suspects to Tehran. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, a close ally of Iran’s historical rival Turkey, blamed Tehran after a man stormed the Azerbaijani embassy in the capital in late January, killing its head of security and wounding others. Iran said diplomatic relations should remain unaffected as the incident was the work of a lone gunman with ...

  On the night of July 25, 1971, Pakistan Army men unleashed an orgy of violence on Sohagpur – a village in Bangladesh’s Sherpur – and killed its peace.  They massacred 164 men and raped 57 women – with the aid of local collaborators -as part of their war strategy to exterminate the Bengalis. Today, over 50 women in Sohagpur village are a living testimony to the most calculated and cruelest genocide set in motion by the occupation army of Pakistan. For the last 51 years, the village has existed as a ‘Bidhoba Polli’ (village of widows) as the husbands of the women staying there were gunned down by the Pakistan military personnel, who were ordered by their commanders to wipe out the Bengali race. Life was rolling by peacefully in Sohagpur until the Pakistan Armymen carried out their savagery – raining down bombs and bullets on the villagers on that fateful night. They not just murdered 164 men, but also raped women, whose screams of help were muted by ...

Russia supports India's commitment to becoming a permanent of United Nation  (UNSC), said Moscow's Ambassador to Delhi Denis Alipov while addressing the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA)-Russian Council Dialogue. He said that Russia sees the Indian G20 presidency in the SCO as an opportunity to efficiently promote the agenda of these crucial associations, according to the news agency ANI.  The country also appreciates the ideas on the consensus-based response to the challenges with regard to emerging energy and food crises as well as through sustainable development needs, Alipov said.  "We are working very closely on major topics such as supply chains, resilience, infrastructure financing, digital transformation, promotion of startups architecture, etc, which are supposed to significantly contribute to restoring the global economy. Together we also realized that in order to succeed, there should not be any place for artificial alienation rights which...

Chandrayaan-3, launched from Sriharikota, India, is on an ambitious mission to explore the lunar surface. The spacecraft's journey to the Moon follows a unique trajectory. In Short Chandrayaan-3, launched from Sriharikota It is on an ambitious mission to explore the lunar surface The video shows the spacecraft journey through space The Virtual Telescope Project, based in Manciano, Italy, has captured an extraordinary video of India's Chandrayaan-3 mission flying through space on its journey to the Moon. The spacecraft was observed at an altitude of 341 kilometers from Earth. The Virtual Telescope Project, renowned for its real-time coverage and sharing of significant celestial phenomena, has once again demonstrated its prowess with this latest capture.

BANGKOK: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Sunday met his Myanmar counterpart Than Swe and discussed expediting projects, especially the India-Myanmar-Thailand  trilateral highway  and underlined the importance of ensuring peace and stability in the border areas.  Jaishankar, who arrived here from Indonesia on Saturday on an official visit, also met Thai deputy prime minister and foreign minister Don Pramudwinai. “Our discussions focused on  connectivity initiatives   that have a larger regional significance. These will also be discussed at the MGC meeting this afternoon. Stressed the importance of expediting projects that have faced challenges in the recent past, especially the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway,” Jaishankar said in a tweet after his meeting with Myanmar foreign minister on the sidelines of the   Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) meeting. On Saturday, Jaishankar said that the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral high...