Moscow: Russia expelled a US diplomat on Tuesday after saying he had been caught red-handed with disguises, special equipment and wads of cash as he tried to recruit a Russian intelligence agent to work for the CIA. Apparently detained in an incongruous-looking blond wig, with props reminiscent of a schoolboy's spy kit, US Embassy Third Secretary Ryan Fogle hardly looked like a Cold War secret agent.
But the announcement still came at an awkward time for Washington and Moscow as they try to improve relations and bring the warring sides in Syria together for an international peace conference. Nevertheless, there was little sign that either country wanted to escalate the affair beyond a minimum response.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador Michael McFaul to discuss the case on Wednesday and released a statement ordering Fogle to leave Russia. "Such provocative actions in the spirit of the Cold War will by no means promote the strengthening of mutual trust," it said.
In Washington, US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell suggested the episode was unlikely to affect broader US-Russian relations or plans for the Syria conference....
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02:46 AM, May 15, 2013
Tokyo/New Delhi: Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will visit India, probably around autumn, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, media reports said. The imperial couple has been invited by the Indian government. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made the announcement, the media reports. According to Japan's Imperial Household Agency, Akihito will be the first Japanese emperor to visit India. The emperor visited...
04:42 AM, Apr 25, 2013
When a father is accused of allegedly raping his two-month-old daughter, a mother turns Citizen Journalist to expose the brutality. ...
06:11 PM, Apr 13, 2013
London/Seoul: North Korea has asked embassies to consider moving staff out and warned it cannot guarantee the safety of diplomats after April 10, Britain said, amid high tension and a war of words on the Korean peninsula. The requests come on the heels of declarations by the government of the secretive communist state that real conflict is inevitable, because of what it terms "hostile" US troop exercises with South Korea...
10:32 PM, Apr 05, 2013
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will present an First Information Report (FIR) against the marines to a special court in New Delhi's Patiala house on Friday. The marines are accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012. Days after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) handed over the Italian marines case to the NIA, a case has finally been registered against them. The...
10:14 AM, Apr 05, 2013
Rome: An emotional Italian Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola has said that the two Italian marines who were sent back to India to face trial for the killing of Indian fishermen did so willingly. Italian marines - Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone - were sent back to India on March 22 to be tried for allegedly killing two Indian fishermen, in a U-turn after Rome had said they would not...
04:47 PM, Mar 29, 2013
Washington: Observing that Pakistanis are very much in favor of enhanced economic relationship with India, a top American diplomat stationed in Islamabad has said the country is on the cusp of granting the most favored nation status to its eastern neighbour. "I think that there's been progress in the relationship between Pakistan and India, and as you know, we're on the cusp of Pakistan granting most favored nation status to...
12:27 PM, Mar 26, 2013
New Delhi: The two Italian marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, charged with the murder of two Kerala fishermen, may be back in the country, but the drama is far from over. Italy, who agreed to send back the marines, reversing its earlier decision, still maintains they must be tried in Rome. "We maintain our position and I would like to restate it, while respecting the Supreme Court we're in...
07:27 AM, Mar 24, 2013
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said that diplomacy is at work resulting in Italy's decision to send back two marines charged in the fishermen killing case and parried questions on Italian media reports that Congress President Sonia Gandhi influenced that government's decision. ...
11:26 AM, Mar 22, 2013
Attorney General GE Vahanvati has said that the Italian marines charged with killing two Indian fishermen will not be arrested immediately on their return to India on Friday. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said that the marines will face trial as usual in India and that the law won't change. This comes even as the Italian foreign office said that they have been assured there will be no...
10:05 AM, Mar 22, 2013
It is a victory for India in the stand-off with Italy over the fate of the two Italian marines, Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone, accused of killing two Kerala fishermen. The Italian government has said that the marines will be sent back to India on Friday. ...
07:42 AM, Mar 22, 2013
India would be breaking international law if it stops Italy's ambassador from leaving the country in a dispute over two Italian marines charged with killing two Indian fishermen, the European Union said on Tuesday. ...
05:10 AM, Mar 20, 2013
Is the India-Italy rift set to get wider? M K Bhadrakumar, former diplomat and foreign policy expert shared his perspective with IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. ...
06:56 PM, Mar 19, 2013
Breaking her silence for the first time on the Italian marines case, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that no country should take India for granted. Sonia further said that the diplomatic immunity issue of Italian Ambassador Daniel Mancini must be taken up immediately. ...
11:07 AM, Mar 19, 2013
Italy said on Monday the decision by India's Supreme Court to bar the Italian ambassador from leaving the country violated diplomatic immunity law, but added it hoped to amicably resolve a dispute over the killing of two Indian fishermen by Italian marines. ...
11:03 AM, Mar 19, 2013
How can New Delhi and Rome cooperate to work out a solution which will be acceptable to both parties? CNN-IBN's international affairs editor Surya Gangadharan shared his perspective in an interaction with IBNLive readers on the matter. ...
06:10 PM, Mar 18, 2013
Coming down heavily on Italian Ambassador Daniel Mancini while hearing the case of Italian marines, the Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir not only restrained him from leaving the country till further orders, he also added that a person who comes to the court and gives an undertaking has no immunity. ...
11:34 AM, Mar 18, 2013
Days after the Italian government refused to send back the two marines charged in the killing of two Indian fishermen in Kerala, Italian ambassador Daniele Mancini is expected to respond to the Supreme Court's notice on Monday. Will the apex court act against the envoy? ...
08:18 AM, Mar 18, 2013
The European Union (EU) said it hoped Italy and India would find a "mutually acceptable" solution to the escalating dispute over Rome's decision not to return to India two marines for trial on murder charges. ...
10:17 AM, Mar 16, 2013
Airports across the country have been alerted to prevent Italian ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving the country, sources have told CNN-IBN. A message has been sent to all immigration outposts across the country in compliance with the Supreme Court order by the Ministry of Home Affairs. ...
02:17 PM, Mar 15, 2013
