The joint statements between two countries are usually riveted on a particular event but in extraordinary circumstances involving great powers, it could assume an epochal character and can be viewed as diplomatic communication that reflects what the Germans call the zeitgeist — the defining spirit or mood of a particular […]
Author: M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
Russia Blasts US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy
The meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on September 11 took place at a particularly delicate juncture in regional politics. Russia is carefully ploughing a neutral line in the India-China standoff while also drawing closer to China to push back […]
An India-China Reset Is Still Possible
A joint statement wasn’t anticipated after the talks between the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Moscow on September 10. In diplomatic terms, a joint statement signals that a “critical mass” developed through the 3-hour long discussion between the top diplomats. […]
Belarus, Navalny Cast Shadows On Russia’s Ties With EU
The Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu disclosed on September 6 on the state television that there has been a thirty percent increase in aerial surveillance on the country’s borders by NATO jets in August as compared to last year. Unlike in the past when surveillance used to be undertaken by […]
What Can Russia Do To Ease Tensions In Himalayas?
The legend is that the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, during his pathbreaking visit to India in 1955, was reputed to have told the Indians that all they had to do for Russian help was to give a shout across the Himalayas. I don’t know how far this is true but […]
India Gains Nothing Out Of ‘Asian NATO’
If you are in two minds about the foreign policy orientations of Modi government, what do you do? My answer: Read the lips of the US state department officials. They will give you the authoritative account of what India’s secretive ‘Chanakyan’ foreign policy elites are up to. At any rate, […]
US-Russia Tensions Flare Up On Multiple Fronts
Amidst the escalating tensions with China, the United States should have kept the troubled relationship with Russia on an even keel. But the opposite is happening. For the first time since the presidential election in Belarus on August 9, Washington has openly sided with the protests in Minsk and dared […]
Anatomy Of Coup Attempt In Belarus
The Russian President Vladimir Putin disclosed in a TV interview on August 27 that the Americans, amongst others, had fuelled the unrest in Belarus. He explained that the controversial presence of 33 Russian nationals (with military background) in Minsk in the run-up to the presidential election in Belarus on August […]
Trump Sets The Israeli Cat Among Arab Pigeons
The US President Donald Trump’s legacy in the Middle East is going to be that he scattered the region’s Arab unity once and for all. What the successive waves of Cold War, oil, petrodollar, terrorism, political Islam or the Arab Spring couldn’t achieve, Trump managed in less than 3 years. […]
Turkey Reboots Arab Spring With Palestinian Resistance
Turkey has made its first move on the regional chessboard after the recent deal between the UAE and Israel, when on August 22, President Recep Erdogan received in Istanbul a high-level delegation of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, including its leader Ismail Haniyeh and deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri. Also present […]
US-China Decoupling Is Hard To Do
The cracking sound of ice breaking in the frozen US-China relationship is audible with the two big powers holding a high-level “virtual meeting” on Tuesday to discuss trade and related issues. In spite of everything, the US and China are finally talking. The backdrop is that in the so-called phase […]
China Sees Biden As Tough But Predictable
Joe Biden’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on August 20 has been widely acclaimed in America and it enhances the growing perception that he is likely to prevail in November’s general election as President Trump’s support continues to wane due to his perceived failings in addressing the pandemic […]
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