Russian President Vladimir Putin received the US Special Representative Stephen Witkoff, Constantine Palace, St. Petersburg, October 21, 2026 The needle may not have moved on ending the Ukraine war but the joint phone call on October 27 by Finland’s President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to Russian President Vladimir Putin can …
Continue reading “There is cautious optimism about ending the Ukraine war”
My opinion piece in the New Indian Express on the predicament of the so-called ‘middle powers’ in the emerging world order — all dressed up and nowhere to go. The middling predicament of middle powers M K Bhadrakumar The New Indian Express, October 22, 2022 One must be singularly fortunate to get to witness history …
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Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman looks on during a meeting with US President Donald Trump, White House, Washington, November 18, 2025. The telephone call from the US Vice-President JD Vance to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 8 came as a surprise. Neither the American nor the Indian side …
President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting with Russian Defence Ministry leadership, Kremlin, Moscow, August 5, 2026 The Russian President Vladimir Putin fired the political equivalent of Oroshnik hypersonic missile Wednesday to scatter the recent pot shots by hawkish factions at the Russian ‘power vertical’, never a unified construct actually, over the future directions of Ukraine …
Continue reading “Trump returns to peacemaking in Ukraine but war must mature first”
The Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s characterisation of the reports suggesting the US could impose a 100 percent tariff on countries such as India that import Russian oil as speculative cannot be taken as a statement of fact. “We don’t comment on speculation,” he told the media. On closer look, it is an evasive …
Continue reading “Graham sanctions bill has bite. Trump will use it to terrorise India”
The Caspian Sea forms a strategically vital direct supply route between Russia and Iran (Source: BBC) On Friday, even as the US President Donald Trump was announcing the end of the latest round of the conflict with Iran, Pentagon unobtrusively extended the war theatre to the Caspian Sea in a hugely consequential geopolitical thrust. The …
Continue reading “US conjoins the wars in Eurasia, West Asia”
The excitement over the US-Saudi nuclear deal has proved to be short-lived. Apparently, the US President Donald Trump himself poured cold water into it by adding a caveat within 24 hours on Thursday that in order for the deal to be advanced, Saudi Arabia must first join the Abraham Accords. That is, as things stand, …
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The Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan’s choice of the New Indian Express editor Santwana Bhattacharya for his first major media interview after assuming office 50 days ago comes as no surprise. Both are quintessential intellectuals and humanists at the core with a rare ability to synthesise to form a new unified whole. Ancient Greeks coined …
Delhi’s attempt to play the Shia card to moderate the Iranian disquiet over our ‘forever honeymoon’ with the Israel-UAE-Bahrain axis failed to impress Tehran. It was a clumsy attempt but was, arguably, the best card Delhi held potentially. The best alternative would have been to send an all-party delegation to represent India at the funeral …
Continue reading “India’s Persian Gulf diplomacy is churlish”
Russia’s Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev met Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Tehran, July 3, 2026 The government made a great decision to nominate the Governor of Bihar Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd.) to represent the country at the funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is an unusual choice to …
Continue reading “Musings on the funeral ceremony in Tehran”
