From L-R: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, US President Joe Biden, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity at Izumi Garden Gallery in Tokyo on May 23, 2022 A new economic bloc comprising twelve countries of the Indo-Pacific region and the United States was unveiled on Monday …
CSTO won’t be drawn into Ukraine war
The leaders of the member states of Collective Security Treaty Organisation met in the Kremlin, Moscow, May 16, 2022 There should be no surprise that the summit meeting of the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) hosted by Russia at the Kremlin on May 16 fell short of articulating against the “collective West” over the …
In the wake of Russian victory in Mariupol
Azov fighter posing in front of Nazi posters, Mariupol, Ukraine Thank God, Russia eschews any triumphalism over the surrender of the so-called neo-Nazi Azov regiment in the Azovstal factory complex in Mariupol. The Defence Ministry in Moscow announced on Friday that a total of 2,439 “Azov Nazis” and Ukrainian servicemen had laid down their arms since …
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Biden returns to time past in the Gulf
US Vice-President Kamala Harris met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi, May 16, 2022 The extraordinary sight of the Biden administration’s entire foreign and security policy establishment representing Washington on the occasion of the passing away of the emir of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa …
Sri Lankan situation is fraught with danger
Ranil Wickremesinghe arrives at a Buddhist temple after his latest appointment as prime minister, Colombo, May 13, 2022 India finds itself between the rock and a hard place in its approach to the Sri Lankan crisis. There is no question that the government attributes primacy to Sri Lanka remaining a practising democracy. But the developing …
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Why Ukraine war has no winners
Russia expects grain harvest of 130 million tonnes of grain, including 87 million tonnes of wheat – “an all-time high in Russian history,” says President Vladimir Putin, Moscow, May 12, 2022 The war in Ukraine is quintessentially Clausewitzean. And to understand it, we need to return to Carl von Clausewitz, the doyen of modern war, who recognised that war is …
Indo-Pacific strategy adrift in an illusion
US President Joe Biden and leaders of Association of Southeast Asian Nations at a special summit, Washington, May 12, 2022 The Chinese daily Global Times featured a political cartoon marking the US-ASEAN summit meeting in Washington on May 12-13. It showed the US President Joe Biden seeking help from a bus load of ASEAN officials …
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EU stumbles over Russian oil slick
Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán (R) with President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Budapest, May 10, 2022 The European Union officials are insisting that oil sanctions against Russia are coming. On Sunday, France’s Ecological Transition Minister Barbara Pompili was certain that “we will reach (an agreement) by the end of the week.” But …
Assad renews Syria’s bonds with Iran
Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi (right) in talks with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran, May 8, 2022 The unannounced arrival of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Tehran on Sunday makes yet another wrinkle to the geopolitics of West Asia. In a short trip of a few hours, Assad had meetings with Iran’s Supreme Leader …
US’ coercive diplomacy with Saudi Arabia
Oil treatment plant in Yarakta oil field, Irkutsk, Russia. Ban on Russian oil risks sky-high prices and inflationary shock (File photo) Some three weeks after the reported meeting of the CIA chief William Burns with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Sultan, the OPEC+ ministerial held a videoconference on Thursday. The OPEC+ …