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The Maoists launched a co-ordinated assault Maoist rebels have attacked a security post in central India, killing 50 police officers, police say.The attack, one of the worst in decades of insurgency, happened in the rebel stronghold area of Dantewada, in Chhattisgarh state. The Maoists, who have fought a 30-year insurgency, say they are fighting for the rights of landless farmers and neglected tribes. Thousands have died in their campaigns in central and southern India. Co-ordinated assault The rebels attacked the security post - manned by 75 policemen - in Bijapur just before dawn on Thursday. Under cover of darkness,...

The talks are on Kashmir and security issues Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said the peace process between his country and India could "change the destiny of South Asia". He was speaking after the first of two days of talks between the two countries in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Mr Aziz said that negotiations with India could result in the resolution of all outstanding disputes. The talks come days after the regional rivals held discussions for the first time on fighting terrorism together. The nations began peace moves in 2004 but progress has been slow. 'Right direction' "The...

The role of Pakistan's judiciary is in the spotlight Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf's suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has opened a new debate on democracy, constitutionalism and the role of military in the country.The TV images of a president in military uniform chastising the country's top judge have had people in shock for the past four days. Meanwhile, a storm of protests has erupted all over the country, with the legal community boycotting the courts and opposition parties gearing up for a political conference to debate the issue. Members of the government insist the action is...

The question of Maoist weapons has become contentious The leader of Nepal's former Maoist rebels says they still have thousands of combatants not confined in camps and weapons not stored away in containers.The remarks by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who still uses his war name, Prachanda, appear to fly in the face of the registration and confinement process. The first stage of the process, being supervised by the United Nations, began in January and has just been completed Concern over public displays of weapons by the Maoists has risen recently. Under November's peace agreement, the Maoists' army moved into 28...

The rare Koran and the painting Police in the Indian city of Bangalore have seized a copy of the Koran they believe may have belonged to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb over 300 years ago.The book was discovered after a raid on a hotel in the city. Police arrested a man who was trying to sell it and an antique painting for more than $1m. The gold-embroidered Koran, written in Persian, has more than 1,000 pages. Experts are checking if a signature on the back belongs to Aurangzeb, who ruled India from 1658 to 1707. 'Fragrant' The Mughal ruler was a...

Balthazar Napolean de Bourbon, a jovial Indian lawyer and part-time farmer settled in Bhopal, has been told that he is the first in line to the lost French throne. According to media reports, "Bourbon may soon make his first trip to Paris, after he was visited by a relative of Prince Philip, who told him that he is the first in line to the lost French throne." This Indian father of three is being feted as the long-lost descendant of the Bourbon kings who ruled France from the 16th century to the French revolution. A distant cousin of Louis XVI...

Summary: Controversies over the war in Iraq and U.S. unilateralism have overshadowed a more pragmatic and multilateral component of the Bush administration's grand strategy: its attempt to reconfigure U.S. foreign policy and international institutions in order to account for shifts in the global distribution of power and the emergence of states such as China and India. This unheralded move is well intentioned and well advised, and Washington should redouble its efforts.

The foreign ministers of India, Russia and China were meeting Wednesday in the Indian capital in a bid to strengthen relations and to explore cooperation on issues such as counterterrorism and energy security, Indian officials said. The meeting between India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and their Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing is part of efforts by the three countries to forge a trilateral forum to work more closely on regional security issues, the officials said. "This will be the second stand-alone meeting of its kind," said Navtej Sarna, external affairs ministry spokesman. The foreign ministers...

The king (left) is spending five days in India India and Bhutan are due to update their friendship treaty to give the Himalayan kingdom greater control over many areas of governance. The revised 57-year-old agreement will allow Bhutan more freedom in areas of foreign policy and military purchases. The Bhutanese monarch, Jigme Khesar Namgyel, will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi to sign the treaty. In 2008 Bhutan becomes a parliamentary democracy with a new constitution. The meeting is part of a six-day visit by the Bhutanese monarch to India. After taking over from his father, King...

India could overtake Britain and have the world's fifth largest economy within a decade as the country's growth accelerates, a new report says. If trends continue, India's economy may then surpass the US and be second only to China's by mid-century, the report by investment bank Goldman Sachs says. Manufacturing has helped to drive India's economy The report says India's programme of reforms has brought increased competition and efficiency. But there will be a heavy cost as India demands more and more energy. Boom time Everywhere you turn in India's cities are signs of economic boom. The implications of...

Determined to move forward with its strategic relationship with India, a top US state department official will be visiting India in November with a large delegation to fulfil the direction given by their political leadership. 'We have a blueprint and a framework in the July 18, 2005 and March 2, 2006 joint statements of President Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,' undersecretary of state Nick Burns, told the Indian media Friday announcing his plans to visit New Delhi. Describing the India-US civilian nuclear deal as the 'symbolic centre of the new strategic relationship' he said it was Washington's 'top concern,...

Thousands of people have been attending mass ceremonies in India at which hundreds of low-caste Hindus (Dalits) converted to Buddhism and Christianity. The events in the central city of Nagpur are part of a protest against the injustices of India's caste system. By converting, Dalits - once known as Untouchables - can escape the prejudice and discrimination they normally face. The ceremonies mark the 50th anniversary of the adoption of Buddhism by the scholar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. He was the first prominent Dalit to urge low-caste Indians to embrace Buddhism. As the chief architect of India's constitution, he wrote...

Four Russian mountaineers have gone missing in Pakistan on the world's second highest mountain, K2.

slamabad, July 10 (IANS) The failure of Agni-III reflected 'incompetence' of the Indian missile designers and planners, said an eminent Pakistani scientist. They would need to go back to the drawing board and take two to three years, unless 'they borrow something from abroad,' said Samar Mubarikmund, chairman of Pakistan's National Engineering and Science Commission (Nescom). Claiming that Israel was involved in developing India's missile programme, Mubarikmund said Pakistan, which had an 'indigenous' programme of its own, retained superiority over all others in the South Asian region. Mubarikmund told The News Sunday that the circumstances narrated by the Indians for...

Pakistani authorities say they have arrested 20 people, including Afghans and Turkish nationals, on suspicion of being linked to al-Qaeda. Fifteen men said to be Afghans were arrested after raids in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Separately, four Turks and an Afghan national were arrested from the town of Zhob in Balochistan. They were detained after they were found to be travelling without proper documents, officials say. "They are all foreigners and might have links to al-Qaeda," the Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed intelligence official in Quetta as saying.

The Indian government is experimenting with new ways of fighting back against Maoist fighters, who now operate in almost half of the country's 28 states. In the past year, the Chhattisgarh state government has introduced new anti-terrorism training for the police - and is backing a civil militia called Salwa Judum. The BBC's Jill McGivering spent three days travelling with Maoist fighters in the jungles of Chhattisgarh. Villagers train to counter Maoists Villagers joined the civil militia to defend themselves from Maoists Driving through Chhattisgarh at dawn, we saw a group of villagers by the road, shouldering sticks as...

The Myanmarese news website 'Mizzima News' reported that Indian troops have moved into the Indo-Burmese border region of Moreh. India and Myanmar have had a very good military relationship with Myanmar helping India with tackling border insurgencies. About 50 Indian military trucks believed to be carrying weapons crossed the border into Burma last Thursday, according to eyewitnesses. "Five trucks full of soldiers followed the 50 trucks," a resident in Moreh said. The backs of the trucks were reportedly covered with plastic sheets. The Burmese embassy in India refused to comment on what the trucks were carrying. Security was tightened in...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - British paratroopers have pushed deeper and faster during Operation Mountain Thrust than had been anticipated, a senior British officer confirmed Monday, and Canadian and U.S. forces who are part of the same mission have met all the goals set for them so far. Responding to triumphal stories in Sunday's British media about the Parachute Regiment's "lightning push" 100 kilometres north into territory that had been "lawless" for 30 years, the officer said: "They have had a good start. They are slightly ahead of the time line, but this is an asymmetric counter-insurgency operation where everyone is not...

Asia Rising Donald Rumsfeld infamously made a distinction between Old Europe and New Europe. He has been scored ever since for his sweeping and impolitic language, but he wasn't sweeping enough: In geopolitical terms, all of Europe is old, the world's most tourist-friendly museum piece. For the future of high-stakes U.S. diplomacy and of great-power politics, look no further than Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the U.S. It is Asia that should occupy an outsized place in our strategic thinking, and it is Europe that should be the relative afterthought, not the other way around. The media and foreign-policy...

Indian Official Defends Deal With U.S. WASHINGTON (AP) -- A landmark civilian nuclear cooperation deal with the United States would not boost India's nuclear weapons arsenal, India's foreign secretary said Thursday.In often strong words, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran attacked the criticism that has surrounded a pact critics say would weaken efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. He told an audience at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, that India's record on nuclear issues has long been one of restraint and responsibility.''India cannot be a partner and a target at the same time,'' Saran said.