(US-China talks at Osaka led by President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, Osaka, June 29, 2019) The spotlight at the G20 summit in Osaka was undoubtedly on the meeting last Saturday between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Much of the ‘feel-good’ impression of that event was based on three things. One, …
Continue reading “Long and winding road for US-China trade talks”
(Russian President Vladimir Putin met US President Donald Trump at Osaka on June 29, 2019) Although G20 summit in Osaka achieved nothing and there were no breakthrough decisions, a pleasant feeling had appeared momentarily that in the disjointed world situation, all the participants in the event at least reconfirmed their commitment to continue efforts to improve the global trade …
Continue reading “Israeli attack on Syria is a message for Russia”
(Donald Trump signed an executive order for new sanctions against Iran on June 24, 2019) The US President Donald Trump is learning that Persian is a tricky language and does not easily yield its hidden charms to westerners. The western media attributed to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani a remark during his televised speech on June …
How amazing that the defeat of the Turkish ruling party AKP in the election for Istanbul mayor on Sunday turns out to be world class headline in the western media! At the most obvious level, it only highlights the deep antipathy toward Turkish President Recep Erdogan in the West and the US’ regional allies in …
Continue reading “Will India and Turkey jointly broker an easing of US-Iran tensions?”
When Michael Rubin at the American Enterprise Institute argued in an article in the National Interest last week that the ‘maximum pressure’ policy of the Trump administration against Iran must be maintained despite the dangerous brinkmanship at the Strait of Hormuz last week, we got an authentic version of Israel’s stance on the current US-Iran …
Continue reading “Israel is leading Trump up the garden path”
(File photo of US Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk identified by the US as the drone shot down by Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, June 20) The US President Donald Trump’s reported decision abruptly to call off military strike against Iran which he’d previously ordered, highlights the growing complexity of the US-Iranian entanglement. Indeed, it …
The Indian analysts view US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s forthcoming visit to New Delhi early next week through the looking glass of the ‘tariff war’ between the two countries and / or India’s purchase of the S-400 anti-ballistic missile system from Russia. However, this gives a tunnel vision. The point is, there is the …
Continue reading “Discords with US are more than moving parts in a transactional relationship”
(Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin with their delegations, Bishkek, June 14, 2019 on the sidelines of the SCO Summit.) The Bishkek Declaration, issued after the summit meeting (June 14-15) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation devotes one sentence praising China’s Belt and Road Initiative: “The Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the …
(Smoke billows from the Front Altair oil tanker, Gulf of Oman, June 13, 2019) What a coincidence that a leaked document from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) just exposed that the chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria in April, 2018 was most likely staged. In security parlance, it was a false …
From an Indian perspective, the much-touted speech by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the India Ideas Summit and the annual meeting of the US-India Business Council at Washington, DC turned out to be a disappointment, its boastful advertisement notwithstanding. Nonetheless, it draws attention as a the ‘curtain-raiser’ to his forthcoming visit to …
