Devirupa Mitra

India and Canada make simultaneous announcements of appointments of high commissioners today - about 10 months since both countries expelled each other's top envoys.

India Planning Taliban FM Visit, to Seek UN Waiver Once Dates Fixed If it goes ahead, this would mark India’s first and highest-level bilateral visit at the political level since the fall of the Afghan Republic to the Taliban in August 2021.

New Delhi has not yet applied for a waiver. Officials told me dates for Muttaqi’s visit must be finalised first - “dates were not finalised, so waiver does not arise". If it goes ahead, FM Muttaqi’s trip would be India’s first bilateral visit at political level with the Taliban since Aug 2021. 2/2

India is preparing for its first ministerial-level contact with the Taliban since the 2021 takeover. A visit by Afghan FM Amir Khan Muttaqi is on the cards — but hinges on a UN waiver. 1/2

screenshot is machine translation of the Brazilian presidential press release in Portuguese (https://www.gov.br/planalto/pt-br/acompanhe-o-planalto/noticias/2025/08/telefonema-do-presidente-lula-para-o-primeiro-ministro-modi)

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2153944

While the Brazilian readout (L) of the phone call between Indian Prime Minister Modi and President Lula mentioned discussions on "unilateral tariffs" and the need to "face the challenges", the Indian readout (R) makes no explicit reference to this.

Not sure about this. Oversimplifying, but India’s top FP priority seems to be getting its language on terrorism in. Everything else after that. And diplomatic capital is zero-sum. That’s why India often goes along with BRICS lines seen as anti-West or anti-Israel. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/b...

India's MEA spox on NATO chief's warning to India, 🇨🇳 and 🇧🇷 on doing business with Russia:
"...securing energy needs..an overriding priority for us...guided by what is on offer in the markets, and by prevailing global circumstances...would particularly caution against any double standards..".

'Trade Offer Averted India-Pakistan War': Trump Administration Tells US Court US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended Trump's tariff diplomacy and cited the recent India-Pakistan flare-up to claim that Trump’s offer of trade access was instrumental in halting the conflict...

Trump has repeatedly claimed he used trade to stop India-Pakistan fighting. Now, for the first time, his administration has put that claim in a court filing before a US federal court.

India welcomes the signing of treaty between UK and Mauritius for handing over sovereignty of Chagos islands, describes it as the "culmination of the process of decolonization of Mauritius in the spirit of international law and rules-based order".

"Interestingly, even as French state media tried to undermine its own Rafale fighters used by the Indian Air Force, .... "

Senior editor of an Indian newspaper puzzled why a country's media would report anything to show their country in a bad light EVEN if it was true.

Cant remember US ever using this kind of language in recent times, even during Pulwama.
US Secretary of state Rubio "encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia."

Trump Tariffs Live Updates: Global Markets Reel From Shock of Tariffs Stocks tumbled in the U.S., Asia and Europe. Allies and adversaries alike were weighing their responses.

Breaking News: The S&P 500 plunged more than 3% as global markets reeled from President Trump’s tariffs.

Follow live updates.

CSIS official warns China ‘highly likely’ to use AI tools to meddle in election A senior intelligence official says China, India, Russia and Pakistan could attempt to meddle in the current federal election campaign.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service deputy director Vanessa Lloyd: “We have also seen that the government of India has the intent and capability to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes to assert its geopolitical influence".

Trump admin official on Pannun case at a WH bg briefing:
"I can tell you that President Trump, you've seen this in recent days, with respect to the persons we've brought home, he prioritizes nothing more than the safety of every American, & that is the continued position of this administration".

As US Targets Sanctions Waiver, India Reiterates Its Commitment to Iran's Chabahar Port India has spent millions of dollars on developing the Chabahar port.

As US Targets Sanctions Waiver, India Reiterates Its Commitment to Iran's Chabahar Port

Devirupa Mitra✍️

US President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" national security memo includes direction to Secretary of State to "modify or rescind" sanctions waiver on Chabahar port, India's strategic project in Iran. Both signed a 10-year-old long agreement in 2024 for its operations.
thewire.in/diplomacy/tr...

US Prosecutors Plan to Seek Extradition Treaty Waiver For Expanded Charges Against Nikhil Gupta The Rule of Specialty restricts the prosecution of extradited individuals to the offences for which they were extradited.

US Prosecutors plan to seek Extradition Treaty Waiver for expanded charges against Nikhil Gupta (who allegedly hired a hitman in US on behalf of a former Indian intel officer).
The Rule of Specialty restricts the prosecution of extradited individuals to the offences for which they were extradited.

A possible reason for the timing of announcement and effective concession by India that Vikas Yadav was involved in the attempted Pannun assassination, even though it is being framed by New Delhi as a rouge operation:
thewire.in/diplomacy/pl...

One sees American exceptionalism all the time as a foreign policy watcher. Yet, seeing serious Western journalists writing in-depth analyses on the pros and cons of Trump's remarks about conquering another country—or parts of it—and how it could be accomplished, is particularly educational.

YouTube video by SAMAA TV Good News for Pakistan | Indonesian President to visit Pakistan on Jan 26 | Samaa TV

Pakistan media, citing sources, reported today that Indonesian President will be travelling to Islamabad on Jan 26.
Meanwhile, India has yet to announce that Prabowo Subianto is the chief guest for Republic day (Jan 26), though everyone knows this since Nov. Wonder what's the reason for the delay. 🤔

Afghanistan foreign ministry's deputy spokesperson tweeted a readout of the main takeaways of the meeting from the Taliban.
(note:this is a machine translation)

key difference between the Indian and Taliban readouts is the mention of visas in the later.

🚨JUST IN🚨
In probably the highest level of meeting till now, India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri meets with Acting Afghan minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai today, Indian foreign ministry announces.

🔴JUST IN 🔴
US National Security Advisor JAKE SULLIVAN announces in delhi that the biden administration will steps to remove the last few lingering restrictions, which include removing entities from export control lists, to implement CIVIL NUCLEAR cooperation with India

After two weeks, India condemns the airstrikes by Pakistan in Afghanistan's Paktika province, which UN stated took the lives of over dozen women and children. 🇵🇰 claimed to have hit TTP facilities.

Officials say that verifying the identity of Myanmar nationals has been challenging, as there is no government authority in the neighbouring country to issue valid citizenship documents.

Read the full story by Karishma Hasnat here: thewire.in/government/c...

India on massive hydroelectric dam by China on Brahmaputra river: "The Chinese side has been urged to ensure that the interests of downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas. We will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests."

On its verified Facebook page, India's state broadcaster posts the screenshot of a parody handle of Indian PM to claim that Modi spoke with President-elect Trump after New Orleans terror attack
www.facebook.com/DDNews/posts...

Had to delete an earlier post, as just learnt that Indian media's reporting that Yemen's president al-Raymi had approved the death sentence of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya is totally wrong. It's head of the Houthi leadership in Sanaa, Mahdi al Mashat, so Iran actually does have leverage in this case.

Gap widening between BNP, interim govt Unresolved issues, including delays in declaring a polls roadmap and resolving politically motivated cases, are creating a distance between the BNP and the interim government.

"Unresolved issues, including delays in declaring a polls roadmap and resolving politically motivated cases, are creating a distance between the BNP and the interim government."

What a heartfelt tribute by the Malaysian prime minister for Manmohan Singh

‘We Need a Politics Which Is Inclusive, Rather Than Exclusive’: What Manmohan Singh Said in 1999 'We need a deep change in the mindsets of our people, in their thinking, at all levels. And more so in the mindsets of those who constitute our leaders,' the former prime minister had told Karan Thapa...

Manmohan Singh's interview to Karan Thapar in 1999