1300-km long Tajik-Afghan border runs through difficult and dangerous terrain and is a major drug crossing area (File photo) Ten months after the first meeting of the foreign ministers of China and the five Central Asian states, Beijing has followed through with a second session on May 11 at a gathering in Xi’an, China, …
Gouri Amma leaves a void hard to fill
The legendary couple of Kerala politics: KR Gouri (R) and TV Thomas (L), two iconic figures of the communist movement. The vernacular dailies and the New Indian Express almost forgot the raging Covid-19 pandemic in Kerala. Obituaries to KR Gouri — better known as “Gouri Amma” (Mother) — is their lead story. As I waded through the …
Saudi-Iran reset will take time
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (R) received Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (L), Jeddah, May 11, 2021 The Saudi-Iranian contacts that began last month in secrecy has gained gravitas. The unannounced trip to Jeddah last night by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and the exceptional courtesies he …
China on the horizon as ‘world’s pharmacy’
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus announced approval for China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, Geneva, May 7, 2021 The World Health Organisation’s approval Friday for China’s Covid-19 vaccine known as Sinopharm dramatically transforms the ecosystem of the pandemic. In immediate terms, this has potential to boost global vaccine supply, as China’s overall yearly production capacity is approaching five …
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US-Taliban acquiesce to live and let live
Handover ceremony at Camp Anthonic, from US Army to Afghan Special Forces, Helmand province, Afghanistan, May 2, 2021. As the US and NATO troop withdrawal from Afghanistan enters the second week, certain trends are appearing on the security front as well as at the diplomatic and political level. The graph of violence is rising while …
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Biden’s decision on TRIPS waiver is political theatre. India cannot pin hopes on it.
Employees work in the production of Biontech/Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine at a facility in Reinbek, Germany The Ministry of External Affairs has welcomed the statement of the US government of 5th May announcing their support for a relaxation in the norms of the agreement on TRIPS, to ensure quick and affordable access to vaccines and medicines …
India will be front-line state in Myanmar civil war
Hakha Town in Myanmar’s Chin State bordering Mizoram was the scene of attacks on the military by rebel fighters on May 5, 2021 How some animals get to sense when earthquakes are imminent remains a mystery. Just before the great Asian tsunami on December 26, 2004, elephants in Sri Lanka moved to high ground …
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Boris Johnson walks away laughing with India’s Serum Institute in tow
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson coming out of the Intensive Care Unit at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, April 9, 2020 (File photo) Three cheers for the Indian Supreme Court’s suo moto intervention on the issue of distribution of essential supplies and services during the pandemic. India, the “world pharmacy”, is entering shark-infested waters, as vaccine …
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Breakthrough in Afghan peace process!
The “extended Troika” on the Afghan problem comprising the United States, Russia, and China — and Pakistan — have announced in Doha on Friday a road map in consultation with the Ashraf Ghani government and Taliban as regards the way forward in immediate terms for reaching a peace settlement. The announcement followed consultations in Doha …
Post-American Afghanistan through looking glass
Ex-CIA officer Bruce Riedel at Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, whose familiarity with Afghanistan is never in doubt, has held a looking glass to figure out the future course of events even as the US troop withdrawal commences. History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. Riedel sees in the haziness old familiar shapes appearing — the …
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