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NEW DELHI, Sept 10: Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit India for the first time in nearly seven years to attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday. Xi’s visit, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will also provide an opportunity for the two leaders to review the gradual improvement in India-China ties and the efforts to resolve outstanding border issues....more
GENEVA: With the Iran-US war reigniting after a brief lull, the United Nations atomic watchdog reportedly said it observed construction activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily-fortified site suspected of housing nuclear-related activities. The International Atomic Energy Agency has yet not inspected the tunnel complex but remote imagery indicates new movement at the site just south of Tehran’s main uranium-enrichment plant, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Thursday....more

By Deepak Arora
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General António Guterres is heading to New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit, where he will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and make a strong case for reshaping global institutions that still reflect the power structure of 1945. At a summit hosted by India, Guterres is expected to tell BRICS leaders that today's economic, demographic and geopolitical realities have moved far beyond the world that existed when the United Nations and other major international institutions were created after the Second World War....more
By Deepak Arora
UNITED NATIONS: The third informal UN Security Council straw poll to select the next Secretary General is expected on September 18. And the fourth straw poll is possibly on September 28 or 29, Pass Blue reported this on X quoting diplomats. Revising the schedule from September 17, Pass Blue stated that that UNSC intends to rechedule the next straw poll to Friday, September 18, per diplomats. It may be recalled that Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett had emerged as the leading candidate in the second informal UN Security Council straw poll for the next Secretary-General, edging ahead of Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan as the race begins to take a more competitive shape....more

BANGKOK: A husband-and-wife medical team with deep roots in India and professional ties to the United States has brought home another major international honor. Renowned gynec surgeons Dr. Mukesh Bavishi and Dr. Vidula Mukesh Bavishi were presented with the prestigious Global Healthcare Innovation Awards 2026 in Bangkok, in recognition of their innovative work in gynecological surgery and infertility treatment....more
Maj Abhinay Dogra
NEW DELHI: A new military understanding involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey is raising questions about the future balance of power in Asia and the Middle East. The agreement, referred to as the Mecca Pact, is being viewed by its proponents as a framework for closer military cooperation among the three countries. Critics, however, fear that it could encourage the emergence of competing regional military blocs....more

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday said there were no discussions about a military response from Islamabad under the Mecca agreement following Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, while maintaining that it would act when the “time comes”. “There is no such thing under discussion right now ... When time comes (we) will act under the agreement,” Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said at a weekly media briefing....more
NEW DELHI: India plans to buy the battle-tested Javelin anti-tank missile system from the United States, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor announced on Friday, calling the proposed procurement a major step forward in the defence partnership between the two countries and opening the door to potential co-production. “BIG news! India plans to buy the battle-tested Javelin anti-tank system,” Gor said in a post on X, adding that the move would create new opportunities for deeper defence-industrial cooperation between New Delhi and Washington....more

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump had an "extremely frank" phone call on Tuesday, after US negotiators visited Moscow over the weekend, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters. Steve Witkoff, who is Trump's business ally, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, visited the Russian and Ukrainian capitals at the weekend for talks with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky....more
WASHINGTON: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said it will announce the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) only after Washington agrees to offer India preferential tariff terms over its competitors, pointing to a key sticking point in protracted negotiations between the two countries....more

SRINAGAR: US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor has described Jammu and Kashmir as an “important part of India” after meeting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar. Ambassador Gor, who arrived in Srinagar as part of his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir since assuming office, held discussions with Omar Abdullah on India-US relations and areas where Washington could engage with the Union Territory....more
By Prof Sanjay Kaul
BOSTON: One year ago, I travelled to Kailash through the Himalayas. Standing amid those immense mountains, I was struck not only by their majesty, but by their fragility. The journey also made me acutely aware of how dependent people and infrastructure in these remote regions are on forces they can’t control. Today, as I watch the devastation unfolding in the Himalayas, the experience makes the story far more personal....more

By Deepak Arora
UNITED NATIONS: Floods and mudflows along Nepal’s BhoteKoshi–Trishuli river system have left at least 2.2 million tonnes of debris within the analysed areas, according to a preliminary estimate by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The flash flood, reportedly triggered by a glacial collapse on 26 August, swept water, mud and rocks through communities in the affected districts. Nepal has reported over 1000 dead, with over 4,000 people reported missing....more
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday took serious view of allegations of harassment of a minor girl who participated in the Cockroach Janta Party protests in July. The court said nobody can be permitted to browbeat a victim or her family for pursuing criminal proceedings. The counsel appearing for the 14-year-old girl told the court that she was harassed and her house was vandalised after she registered the FIR against right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj who claimed in a video that he had attacked her father during the CJP's protest....more
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