South Asia's smallest country, the Maldives, is gearing up to host the next SAARC summit, which begins on Nov 10. It hosted previous summits in 1990 and 1997. The unique feature now is that the country's southernmost region, Addu City, will have the privilege to play host

Special Forces of India and Bangladesh will hold their first-ever joint military exercise starting Sunday in Sylhet in Bangladesh.

THE assassination of former President of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani in his own house in the high-security diplomatic district of Kabul on Tuesday, while he was reportedly engaged, in his current capacity as the Chairman of the High Peace and Reconciliation Council, in peace talks with his old foe, the Afghani Taliban, is a grim reminder of the terrible political tragedy which stalks this hapless land.

The geopolitical chess game intensifies as Chinese and Indian navies show off their flags in the Indian and Pacific oceans with greater frequency. India, for one, is wary of leaving its trade and energy supply routes in the Pacific Ocean to the goodwill of China's navy. By Mohan Malik