The Uzbek grid prepares to receive gas supplies from Russia Pakistan’s acute energy crisis is the immediate backdrop against which Foreign Minister Bilawal Zardari’s forthcoming talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow today need to be understood. But then, Lavrov is a ‘Renaissance man’ in the world of international diplomacy and is sure …
Russia open to discuss arms control with US but seeks ‘understanding about the parameters and principles of coexistence’
Russian soldier keeping vigil to prevent attempts by Ukrainian military to cross Dnieper River in Kherson area Bang in the middle of the brouhaha over the decision by the US and its European allies to supply Abram and Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov messaged to Washington on Thursday that …
Ukraine war’s first anniversary and beyond
Russian T-90M Proryv (Breakthrough) main battle tank in action on the Donbass front lines recently The first anniversary of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine falls on February 24. The Russian strategy of attrition war has not yet produced the desired political outcome but has been a success nonetheless. The delusional “westernist” notions of …
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Europe has enemies within, enemies without
The internal balances of the European Union are significantly transforming as a consequence of the US’ proxy war with Russia in Ukraine. The countries that are close neighbours of the conflict zone — countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltic States — have a greater sense of involvement in the conflict in comparison with the …
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Whose game is Pakistan’s Khar playing?
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani (L) and Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at a panel discussion at World Economic Forum, Davos, January 19, 2023 Watching the video of the Hina Rabbani Khar — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar exchanges at Davos on Thursday, one was reminded of a remark by Russian …
China’s economy is on a rebound
China’s economic data for the year 2022 has been released in Beijing on Tuesday. The striking part is that China’s GDP growth slowed down to 3 percent. From an Indian perspective, it may seem momentarily that China’s economy is slowing while India’s expanded by nearly 7 percent (per World Bank predictions.) Can India catch up …
Syria’s power dynamic is shifting
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad met Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdollahian, Damascus, January 14, 2023 The process toward a Turkish-Syrian rapprochement may lose momentum as a top aide to Turkish President Recep Erdogan threatened to derail it. On Saturday, Ibrahim Kalin, presidential advisor on foreign policy, stated during a media briefing in Ankara that the …
Two old men spill America’s secrets
US president Joe Biden in his classic 1967 Corvette Stingray sports car, a wedding gift from his father, that is in the eye of the raging storm over classified documents found in his garage (File photo) The probability of the scandal over Top Secret documents dating back to the Barack Obama presidency blowing up on …
Biden stoops to conquer Brazil’s Lula
Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returns to power as left-leaning leaders are in control of six of the region’s seven largest economies The tragicomic “insurrection” in Brasilia on Sunday was destined to meet a sudden death. The universal condemnation and, in particular, the brusqueness with which the Biden Administration distanced itself from the protestors, …
Sweden hustled into military pact with US
Remote land and people of the Russian Arctic The Biden Administration’s efforts to put on fast track Sweden’s accession as a NATO member petered out as Turkiye balked, exercising its prerogative to withhold approval unless its conditions regarding Stockholm’s past dalliance with Kurdish separatist elements is fully addressed. President Biden was bullish and insisted publicly …
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