There is growing acceptance of the idea in the international community that engaging the Taliban government is a far better approach than ostracising it, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

'In China there is capital punishment for heritage theft. That is how they treat criminals, unlike us.' 'Here we treat them like it's a house-breaking theft.'

Imran Khan knows Pakistan is holding a strong hand and doesn't have to flaunt it while claiming victory. But Pakistan has learned from the experience of the 1990s -- high risk of going out on a limb, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

'We're clear Covishield is not a problem. The UK is open to travel and we're already seeing a lot of people going from India to the UK, be it tourists, business people or students,' Alex Ellis, British high commissioner to India, said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday is scheduled to have as many as eight meetings, including with Vice President Kamala Harris, on the first working day of his current US trip.

Special envoys of China, Russia and Pakistan have met the top officials of the Taliban's interim government as well as Afghan leaders Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and discussed the formation of an inclusive government, combating terrorism and humanitarian situation, a top Chinese official said on Wednesday.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday discussed issues relating to Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific during his bilateral meetings with global counterparts on the sidelines of the annual high-level UN General Assembly session.

Sukanya Verma quizzes you to find out just how much you know about the movies.

Attendees at the 2021 Met Gala in New York showed us how to make a bold hair statement on the red carpet.

The HOTTEST looks from the Met Gala 2021 red carpet.

'Imagine China pursuing its aims in Jammu and Kashmir by using Pakistani and now Afghan proxies.'

Images from Day 10 of the 2021 US Open in New York on Thursday.

According to the tentative plan, September 23-24 is being worked as the expected dates for Modi's US visit.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has met top Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman, and held substantive discussions with them on the strategic bilateral ties and regional and global issues like the current situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized Kabul.

IMAGES from the US Open matches played on Day 1 at the Flushing Meadows in New York on Monday.

More than 200 million Pfizer doses have been administered in the US, and hundreds of millions more worldwide, since December.

The United States is going to retain a laser focus on its counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said on Friday, and warned the Taliban of a forceful response to any attack on American forces or disruption of its operations at the Kabul airport.

'Kashmir is the main issue between the two countries.' 'We have not been able to resolve it bilaterally.' 'As the two major countries in South Asia, we have to go back to the drawing board and start engaging.'

Jatin Mehta beat Nirav Mehta and Mehul Choksi in precedent and modus operandi, reports Pavan Lall/Business Standard.

Among all the geographies where Amazon is fighting regulators, India is the only place where its lines are also tangled in a major corporate battle, this one with India's largest company by market capitalisation over the acquisition of Mumbai-based Future Group's retail chain, the country's second largest. No other corporate entity in any country offers a challenge to Amazon's hegemony in a way Reliance Industries does - and the final hearing of an arbitration case filed at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre between the two may decide at least some of these issues. This legal battle between one of the world's most powerful corporations and one of India's most powerful conglomerates could be complicated by a host of other developments.

On July 1, 2021, Britain's Princess Diana would have turned 60 and two decades after her tragic death in a car accident near the end of summer 1997, she still holds an exalted place on the altar of the most admired people in the world, her status secure as a style icon -- as is her legacy of having forever changed the British monarchy.

If Netflix and the film's producers thought they would bring younger audiences to the master's works, many who might have aversion to decades-old black and white films, they have failed with the experiment, says Aseem Chhabra.

'Every piece of content, every thought, has stemmed from reality and personal experiences.'

"Well, he never used words like escape or shared with me such a plan like this. However, he did ask me twice if I have ever been to Cuba, he also told me that the next time we may meet in Cuba. He never explained the escape plan but I'm certain that Dominica is not his final destination but if you ask my opinion, I can be more and more certain that Cuba could have been his final destination," Barbara told ANI.

"This is what this government did. Now, if you are feeding more than two and a half times the population of the United States and you are funding more than the population of the US and you're doing this pretty much anonymously and impersonally in the sense beyond the name and the detail, the bank account of the person. We're not asking anything more. There is no criteria of discrimination," Jaishankar, also a senior leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said.

'...it didn't make sense to me.' 'If the character was not adding (to the story), I wasn't interested.' 'The reason why I chose to act is because of the way it makes me feel when I'm acting, not for the fame and money.'

'I come from a small town and I never thought I would ever sing professionally or become a playback singer.' 'But I made a career here.'

Procurement of coronavirus vaccines and raw materials to boost domestic production is set to be a major focus area of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's five-day visit to the United States beginning Monday.

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates have announced the decision to end their marriage after 27 years, saying "we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives".

There is a world that Satyajit Ray created in his films that I wanted to be a part of -- as Durga bathed in the rain to Ravi Shankar's music; when Charulata sat on the swing regretting she never had a child; and Aarti stood up in defence of her colleague. Aseem Chhabra shares interesting memoris of Satyajit Ray on the latter's birth centenary on May 2.

'I could not adjust to the way they treat you.' 'They expect certain things from you, which I was not comfortable with.' 'Like, they expect you to wear a certain kind of clothes, even if you don't want to wear that.' 'They'll be like, just wear it, because it's such a male-dominated industry.'

We are all blessed that Irrfan Khan has left us a treasure trove of his remarkable films. The characters he played were real, believable. We recognised them and they have stayed with us. And so a fan I like to believe Irrfan Khan did not die, says Aseem Chhabra, the actor's biographer on Irrfan's first death anniversary.

Chef Aditi Handa, who is deeply invested in baking, makes the most delicious sourdough.

The US president is deeply grateful for the honour, courage and determination of the US' men and women who served in Afghanistan for almost two decades, as well as the sacrifices made not just by those troops, but also by their families, a senior Biden administration official told reporters during a conference call.

Aseem Chhabra introduces us to the best of Berlinale.

Courts in five countries including the US and the UK have given recognition to an arbitration award that asked India to return $1.4 billion to Cairn Energy plc - a step that now opens the possibility of the British firm seizing Indian assets in those countries if New Delhi does not pay, sources said. Cairn Energy had moved courts in nine countries to enforce its $1.4 billion arbitral award against India, which the company won after a dispute with the country's revenue authority over a retroactively applied capital gains tax. Of these, the December 21 award from a three-member tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Netherlands has been recognised and confirmed by courts in the US, the UK, Netherlands, Canada and France, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

'I didn't know exactly how to move from a world of gray back into a world of vibrant colour, but one day I figured out one simple thing I could do: I could stop hiding and re-engage with life.'

COVID-19 has emerged as an important form of diplomatic currency around the world as nations try to showcase their soft power gains. In this race, India has an edge as India is already a pharmaceutical giant having produced some 60 per cent of global vaccines and now justly seeking to strengthen ties and expand its influence in its neighbourhood and beyond, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.

In the midst of rising global concern over China's military expansionism, India and three other member nations of the Quad on Thursday vowed to uphold a rules-based international order underpinned by respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of disputes.

'When a woman gets married, she leaves her village, her friends and family.' 'In her new home, she will make friends, but they can never replace those she left behind.'