(Proposed 1600 km long Basra-Aqaba oil & gas pipeline) The US’ plan to withdraw troops from Syria has electrified the Iraqi political and diplomatic landscape. The Saudi establishment daily Asarq Al-Awsat has reported from Baghdad, quoting a prominent Iraqi analyst that the American troops who are being redeployed to Iraq from Syria will be divided …
Continue reading “With eye on Iran, US steps up presence in Iraq”
(Turkey deploys battle tanks on border with Syria.) Trump’s tweets earlier today regarding Syrian withdrawal plan came out of the blue – “Starting the long overdue pullout from Syria while hitting the little remaining ISIS territorial caliphate hard, and from many directions. Will attack again from existing nearby base if it reforms. Will devastate Turkey …
Continue reading “Trump has mixed signals for Astana partners”
Current discussions in US media regarding the US’ troop withdrawal plans in Syria are so patently directed at Trump politically. His detractors have a field day lampooning him and his top officials than about the evolving US strategy in Syria and Iraq – more appropriately, the “Syraq” strategy. Continue reading…
TEHRAN – If the ‘Newton Effect’ in physics has an equivalent in international diplomacy, we can describe what is happening to India-Iran relations as the ‘Gadkari Effect’. Like in the case of the 18th century English scientist Isaac Newton’s optical property of physics, the minister in the Indian government Nitin Gadkari… Continue reading….
The visit by Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid A Al-Falih on Saturday to Gwadar to inspect the site allocated for a multibillion oil refinery in the port city suggest that Riyadh and Islamabad are giving the final touch to reaching agreement for a Saudi Aramco Oil Refinery in Pakistan. Reports say that Saudi Arabia will be …
(Kuril Islands & Sakhalin) The expectations were high that 2019 would be a pivotal year in Russo-Japanese relations. President Vladimir Putin may visit Japan for the G20 summit in June and there has been speculation that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aims to sign a peace treaty at that time, bringing the World War II …
(External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets US Special Representative on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, New Delhi, January 10, 2019) Breaking a prolonged period of several months, the Pakistani allegation of Indian involvement in terrorist attacks has surged. This appears during the first detailed media briefing by the Pakistani authorities in Karachi on January 13 on the …
Continue reading “India baits US while Pakistan tells Trump, ‘There’s nothing like free lunch’”
(Minister of Shipping & Transport Nitin Gadkari receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, New Delhi, January 8, 2019) If the ‘Newton Effect’ in physics has an equivalent in international diplomacy, we can describe what is happening to India-Iran relations as the ‘Gadkari Effect’. Like in the case of the 18th century English scientist Isaac …
Continue reading “Gadkari sets benchmark for Modi-era diplomacy”
Nearly a year it took for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President to have a phone conversation. The last time they spoke was reportedly in February 2018. On Monday, Modi took the initiative to dial up. Two divergent accounts of the conversation have appeared. The Indian version labored to inject some verve into the …
Continue reading “Modi curries favor with Trump but it won’t work”
Such a lot of nonsense was dished out by the American lobbyists through the past year to the effect that Washington was straining at the leash to punish India for buying the S-400 ABM system. This phobia was carefully planted in the Indian discourses by American think tankers. The most celebrated instance was of the …
Continue reading “Why India should pay attention to US-Turkey spat over S-400”
