Charlie Brown in the White House: MEA Jaishanka

2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Turkish-made Bayraktar drone used by Azerbaijan
Pakistan eyes drones & deeper ties with Turkey, concerns in Delhi of possible triad with China

Pakistan President Arif Alvi Monday conferred the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, a military medal, on the Turkish commander Gen Umit Dundar, a move seen as further deepening of ties.

Jul 7 - Pakistan is seeking armed drones from Turkey and is looking to deepen the already strong bilateral cooperation, especially in the defence arena, even as both countries align on key issues including Kashmir and Afghanistan.

The growing ties, along with a possible axis with China, are beginning to cause concern among security experts in Delhi.

Sources in the Indian defence and security establishment said possible procurement of armed drones, especially the Bayraktar TB-2 that helped Azerbaijan defeat Armenia last year, joint defence projects, collaboration in Afghanistan and greater Turkish investments in Pakistan are some of the issues that are under discussion between the two countries.

In what is being seen by Indian agencies as the latest attempt to cement the relationship, Pakistan President Arif Alvi Monday conferred the Nishan-e-Imtiaz or Order of Excellence — a military award — on the Commander of the Turkish Land Forces, Gen Umit Dundar, who is on a visit to the country.

In April this year, the Turkish Armed Forces had awarded Gen Nadeem Raza, Pakistan’s Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the Legion of Merit for his services in promoting defence relations between the two countries.

In Pakistan, Gen Dundar also held a meeting with Pakistan Army Chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. Following the meeting, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of the Pakistani military issued a statement saying “matters of mutual and professional interest with special emphasis on defence and security collaboration between the two brotherly countries were discussed”.

The visit by the Turkish officer is part of a series of exchanges between top military officers and defence officials of both countries.

“Pakistan’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and UAE has seen a dip. Turkey is trying to project itself in the Middle East as the counterbalance to these two countries and hence Pakistan growing closer to it is part of a larger game that is being played,” a defence source told ThePrint... quoted from

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (born 9 January 1955) is an Indian diplomat and politician who is the current Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India since 31 May 2019. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha since 5 July 2019, representing Gujarat. He has previously served as the Foreign Secretary from January 2015[1][2] to January 2018.[3]

He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1977 and during his diplomatic career spanning over 38 years, he served in different capacities in India and abroad including as a High Commissioner to Singapore (2007–09) and as Ambassador to the Czech Republic (2001–04), China (2009–2013) and USA (2014–2015). Jaishankar played a key role in negotiating the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.

On retirement, Jaishankar joined Tata Sons as the President, Global Corporate Affairs.[4] In 2019, he was conferred with Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour.[5] On 30 May 2019, he was sworn in as a cabinet minister in the second Modi ministry.[6] He was made the Minister of External Affairs on 31 May 2019. He is the first former Foreign Secretary to head the Ministry of External Affairs at the Cabinet-level.[7][8]
Source from Wikipedia

Foreign minister S Jaishankar with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Jaishankar leaves for Russia via Tehran, agenda is Taliban in Afghanistan

Foreign minister S Jaishankar's visit to Moscow will also be constructive as India and Russia are both for stabilisation of Afghanistan, after the withdrawal of US-NATO forces.

Jul 7 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reshuffle his Cabinet today but it is business as usual for the government with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar leaving for a bilateral visit to Moscow via Tehran with developments in Afghanistan top of the agenda.

The EAM will be making a fuel stop in Iran on the sidelines of which there could be an official meeting with the government in Tehran... more

A general view of Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan is seen in this photo, June 7, 2021. (AA Photo)

Astana talks on Syria commence in Kazakhstan

Jul 4 - The 16th meeting of the Astana trio – made up of Turkey, Russia and Iran – on Syria started early Wednesday in Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan.

The Turkish delegation was being represented by the Foreign Ministry director general responsible for Syria, Ambassador Selçuk Ünal, while the Syrian opposition was headed by Ahmet Toma. The Russian delegation was lead by the country's special envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev and Iran by Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior adviser to the Iranian foreign minister on special political affairs.

Ahead of the meeting, Lavrentiev stated that “the political process in Syria will be handled comprehensively. We will discuss the Syrian Constitutional Committee, which came to a halt in Geneva, especially with U.N. Syria special envoy Geir Pedersen.

Because according to us, the necessary conditions to carry out the 6th council of the constitutional committee exist.”

“We want the situation in Syria to reach stability and turn toward activities to develop its economy,” he added.

High-level representatives from the United Nations, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq will also take part in the talks as observers.

The 16th meeting of the Astana peace process had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic... quoted from