A major military conflict is brewing at the heart of Asia. It could come to nothing, or it could affect four countries. It all depends on how valid the actions of those involved are going to be and whether other countries are going to undertake peacekeeping efforts. On 23 May, […]
India
Why The OPEC+ Deal Is A Many-Splendoured Thing
A perfect deal is where all protagonists get something out of it. All oil-producing countries stand to gain if oil price rebounds. In bare bones, the OPEC+ group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia finalised in a nail-biting photo finish on Sunday an agreement to steeply cut oil production by […]
We Desperate Indians Also Need Ventilators, Mr. Trump
It often puzzles me what transpires during high-level visits by world leaders. The substantive content of such events laced with pomp and glory impacting inter-state relations is generally handled by sherpas, quietly and unobtrusively. (Of course, there are sherpas and sherpas — some low-flying, a few high-flying.) Is it tourism […]
India Revisits SAARC To Fight COVID-19. Scepticism Is In Order
The teleconference today at 5 pm IST between the leaderships of the SAARC countries is a rare event in regional cooperation. After an interlude of nearly six years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is once again networking with India’s neighbours in a SAARC setting. He had sprung a surprise in May […]
War-Crimes In Afghanistan Should Face Justice
CNN reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned a decision by the International Criminal Court to authorize an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan by US armed forces, the CIA, and the Taliban. “This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political […]
Post-Soleimani World And The Trial Of Civilization
All warfare, ideological, economic, or military is based on deception. The assassination of Soleimani is merely a unit of the larger game by US and Israel lobby that has been going on since 2001 in the Middle East. The reactions by the major civilizations has exposed patterns of their “real […]
Expectations And Outcome Of Alice Wells’ Visit To Pakistan
Right! It is interesting which makes friends and foes in International Relations. What were the expectations from the recent visit of Acting US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Alice Wells during 19-22 January 2020? And what was her mission? Pakistan welcomed her warmly and keeping the reciprocate protocol […]
Indian Adventures: Policing, Facial Recognition And Targeting Privacy
The chances for those seeking a world of solitude are rapidly run out. A good case can be made that this has already happened. Aldous Huxley’s Savage, made famous in Brave New World, is out of options, having lost to the Mustapha Monds of the world. State and corporate regulation […]
Afghan Peace Process Annoys Modi Govt
The Modi government’s approach to the transition in Afghanistan bears an uncanny resemblance to the situation thirty years ago, in end-1989. A great power that intervened in Afghanistan was retreating after a bloody conflict that lasted a decade and was washing its hands off its client state; the puppet regime […]
US-India: Why 2+2 May Not Always Be 4
To what extent External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s cancellation at the last minute of the scheduled meeting on Thursday with a Congressional panel in Washington, DC, was with an eye on Nagpur one doesn’t know. He is an ambitious media savvy politician with an IQ by far higher than of anyone […]
Howdy Modi Has An Enduring Legacy
The scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the recent weeks by two prominent writers in the US — the Washington Post’s Max Boot (here) and the New Yorker magazine’s Dexter Filkins (here) — is the latest indicator underscoring that the tide of American liberal opinion regarding India’s political […]
Colombo Draws The Red Line For India
Sri Lanka is a role model for the dictum of diplomacy being the extension of a country’s national policies. Sri Lanka’s performance must be commended since it also grapples with an unresolved nationality question in which its big neighbour India has historically staked claim as stakeholder, a claim that Colombo […]
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