Armenian shelling on Ganja, Azerbaijan, near Iran’s border Iran has unveiled a regional initiative to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi returned to Tehran in the weekend after a regional tour to Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia and Turkey to discuss the peace plan. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has since explained Tehran’s thinking. …
Deconstructing France’s Emmanuel Macron
The Modi government has earned the distinction as the “first non-western” voice to come out in support of French President Emmanuel Macron over the recent horrific killings in that country. This distinction apparently presents itself as too good to miss. The Rajya Sabha TV slotted a programme to castigate “Islamist terrorism” in France. Religious fundamentalism …
India’s dementia and Lankan dreams
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (R) received US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L), Colombo, October 28, 2020 Third-country cooperation is highly complex, unpredictable phenomenon. Not even the closest allies can pull it off easily. Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary, denied that oil interests influenced policy in Iraq, but archives show that the British …
Indonesia spells out terms of engagement with US
Indonesian President Joko Widodo (R) received US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L), Jakarta, October 29, 2020 On the eve of the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s arrival in Jakarta on October 28, the senior editor of the leading Indonesian daily Jakarta Post Kornelius Purba wrote a taunting op-ed dwelling on what the heavyweight …
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India’s remains of the day in Ladakh
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (R) and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) at media briefing, New Delhi, October 27, 2020 The ‘2+2’ Ministerial Dialogue with the United States has ended leaving a trail of uncertainties. In substantive terms, there has been no real outcome. Words, words — that’s all we have, words that …
A Sixth Eye to spy on Tibet, Xinjiang
Road to the disputed India-China border, Ladakh (File photo) According to media reports, India and the United States are set to sign an intelligence-sharing agreement during the ‘2+2’ security dialogue between their foreign and defence ministers in New Delhi later today on October 27. The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement [BECA] is expected to provide India …
The endgame in Belarus is in view
Massive protests in Minsk after lull of few weeks, Oct 25, 2020 After a lull of the past 3-4 weekends, the anti-government protests in Minsk, Belarus, roared back to life today. This comes in the wake of three things. One, there are some incipient signs that Moscow feels frustrated with the Belarus strongman President Alexander …
Why Israel is allowing F-35 sale to UAE
Israel has decided it won’t be the dog in the manger if US President Donald Trump is so keen to sell F-35 stealth jets to the UAE. An understanding has been reached that the US will, as quid pro quo, “significantly upgrade Israel’s military capability” and ensure Israel retains its “qualitative military edge” over Arab …
Emerging contours of the US-Indian military alliance
The mystery about the awkward timing of the so-called 2+2 US-Indian security dialogue due in New Delhi on October 27 is largely because there is a chicken and egg situation about it. It is impossible to decide which of two things caused the other one — the mushrooming US-Indian military alliance or the continuing downhill …
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China draws the analogy of Korean war to warn US
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) placing wreath at monument to martyrs of Chinese People’s Volunteer Army who fought in Korean War. Kim separately placed a floral basket at the tomb of Mao Anying, eldest son of China’s Mao Zedong, Hoechang County, DPRK, Oct 22, 2020. The ceremony at the Great Hall of the …
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