Pakistan, India agree to discuss N-CBMs

Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao shakes hands with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir ahead of a meeting at thePakistan Foreign Ministry in Islamabad.

Senior diplomats from India and Pakistan have agreed to discuss new nuclear confidence building measures, after two days of talks.

The talks in Islamabad between India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, and her Pakistani counterpart, Salman Bashir, are a prelude to the Pakistani foreign minister's visit to India.

Relations plummeted after Pakistan-based militants attacked the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008, says a report by the BBC. But earlier this year, leaders vowed to resume their dialogue. India and Pakistan will work to build confidence over their nuclear and conventional weapons capability, a joint statement said. It also said that a meeting of experts would be held "to consider additional measures... to build trust and confidence and promote peace and security."

Any concrete agreements will be made when the foreign ministers meet but it is now clear what is on the agenda for that encounter. India and Pakistan have also agreed to look at ways of strengthening cooperation on counterterrorism and improving ties between the two halves of Kashmir.

Nirupama Rao to be next Indian ambassador to US

Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao hasbeen appointed as the next ambassadorto the United States, an assignment shewill take up after superannuation nextmonth-end. Sources said Rao's appointmentto succeed Meera Shankar as the US Ambassadorhas been cleared by the governmentand a formal announcement is expectedsoon.

The 1973-batch IFS officer assumed theoffice of the foreign secretary on Augustone, 2009, becoming the second woman tohead the Indian Foreign Secretary afterChokila Iyer. She was to retire in Decemberlast year at the age of 60 but was given anextension till July-end when the governmentfixed a two-year term for the post of foreignsecretary. The deal itself is mired in a hostissues stemming from liability issues. Raowas India's ambassador to Sri Lanka andChina before being appointed as the foreignsecretary. Nirupama Rao has had extensiveexperience in handling India-China relations.

She had earlier served in the East-AsiaDivision of the MEA from 1984 to 1992,and had also been the joint secretary of thesame division. She later served as India'senvoy in Beijing.

Nirupama Rao was born in Kerala on December6, 1950. After her BA(English)Honors in Mount Carmel College, in Bangalore,in 1970, when it was affiliated withthe University of Mysore, she later got herMasters degree in English Literature fromwhat was then known as Marathwada Universityin Maharashtra.

On completion of her training in India, sheserved in the Indian Embassy in Vienna(Austria) in the mid seventies. She did a stintas First Secretary in the Indian High Commissionin Sri Lanka from 1981-83. Duringher early years in the Ministry of ExternalAffairs, she specialized in India's relationswith China, and was a member of the delegationof Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi whenhe made his historic visit to Beijing in December1988.

Rao was a fellow at the Weatherhead Centerfor International Affairs at Harvard Universityin 1992-93 where she specialized onAsia-Pacific Security. She has served in theIndian Embassies in Washington andMoscow as Minister and Deputy Chief ofMission, respectively.

Saraswati House wins Desmond Elliot Prize

Anjali Joseph

Mumbai-born author Anjali Joseph has won the Desmond Elliot Prize for her debut novel Saraswati Park that created waves in the literary circles earlier by winning the Betty Trask award.

The novel is about aMumbai housing complexand the lives of itsinmates. The chair ofthe judges, broadcasterEdward Stourton,hailed the "extraordinarymaturity" ofJoseph's debut, sayingit was "hard to believethat it is a first novel."

He said the novel is"extremely accomplished,very sophisticatedand subtle. It hasthat feeling that thecharacters are completelyindependent ofthe author. They livewith you after you'vefinished reading it, andthat's the mark of a realnovelist."

Established in 2007,the Desmond Elliottprize aims to reward thebest first novels publishedin Britain across‘all fiction genres,' withjudges charged to lookfor a "novel of depthand breadth with a compellingnarrative."

Anjali Joseph, whowas born in Bombay in1978, has also writtenfor the Times of India inMumbai and was acommissioning editorfor ELLE India.

India's Ambassador to France now it's newForeign Secretary

Ranjan Mathai, appointed India'snew Foreign Secretary.

Ranjan Mathai, appointed India's new Foreign Secretary. India appointed its ambassador to France, Ranjan Mathai, as Foreign Secretary, a senior bureaucratic post that is heavily involved in trying to get relations with Pakistan back on firmer footing.

Ranjan Mathai, who has been ambassadorin Paris since 2007, will assume hisnew post on August 1, 2011. He succeedsNirupama Rao, who will become ambassadorto the U.S., reports the Wall StreetJournal.

A 1974 batch IFS officer, the 1952 bornMathai, completed his post graduation inpolitical science from the University ofPoona before joining Indian ForeignService in 1974.

Earlier, he had served in Indian Embassiesin Vienna, Colombo, Washington,Tehran and Brussels and worked as jointsecretary in the ministry of external affairsbetween January 1995 and February1998.

Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Raoshakes hands with her Pakistani counterpartSalman Bashir ahead of a meeting at thePakistan Foreign Ministry in Islamabad.

[ BY A STAFF REPORTER ]