US envoy to Iran Robert Malley (third from left) at a 2015 meeting with Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (far R), Geneva Like a bolt from the blue, the news has appeared belatedly that the US special envoy to Iran Rob Malley initiated a call with Chinese vice minister Ma Zhaoxu on February …
Continue reading “Biden resumes adult conversations with Beijing, Moscow”
Iran foreign minister Javad Zarif (L) and Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani (R), Tehran. Feb. 15, 2021 With five days to go, Iran nuclear issue is tiptoeing toward a deadline on February 21 when Tehran is obliged by its domestic law to stop allowing inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency unless there …
Continue reading “Qatar on mission to break US-Iran stalemate”
Pakistan Navy is hosting largest multinational maritime exercise ‘Aman 21’ in North Arabian Sea on February 11-16, 2021. The AMAN-21 naval exercise, the biennial event hosted by Pakistani Navy since 2007, in Karachi and the Arabian Sea from February 11-16 draws special attention. As many as 45 navies are reportedly participating, which makes AMAN probably …
Continue reading “US-Indian strategic construct of Western Indian Ocean runs into headwinds”
What distinguishes the new US administration is that there has never been an American president before with anywhere near the foreign policy experience that Joe Biden possesses. Biden brings into the presidency enormous experience spanning over half a century, through his continuous stretch in the US Senate and the White House from 1973 to 2016 …
Protests in Myanmar’s central plains after the military coup. The Japanese news agency Kyodo reported from Washington Sunday quoting “a source” that the Biden Administration had proposed to New Delhi, Tokyo and Canberra the idea of holding an online summit meeting of the leaders of the “Quad”. The report added, “Whether the talks will materialise …
The Modi government made a strident call on February 1 that the “rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld” in Myanmar. The statement, following a prodding from Washington, was unabashedly intrusive, and, ironically, completely overlooking that human rights, rule of law, democratic pluralism, etc. are universal values that India also can (and …
A high-powered Taliban delegation led by Mullah Baradar arrived in Tehran for consultations on January 26, 2021 A high-level delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the senior leader of the Taliban and its chief negotiator at the Doha talks, held consultations in Tehran and Moscow this week through January 26-29 amidst growing uncertainty over …
Continue reading “Taliban risks losing international legitimacy”
Six days into the Joe Biden presidency, the first telephone conversation between POTUS and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin took place on Tuesday. Who took the initiative remains a tantalising detail, given the tense Russian-American relationship and the poor personal chemistry between the two leaders who are known to each other for a decade. But the …
The 13th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam got under way in Hanoi on January 25, 2021 The 13th national congress of Vietnam’s ruling communist party, which began in Hanoi on Monday is an event of exceptional significance for the country’s internal politics and future trajectory of development, regional politics and the …
Barack Obama (C) with advisers reviewing Afghan exit plan, vice- president Joe Biden (L), White House, Washington, DC, circa 2010 Mark Twain is credited with the saying ‘History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.’ The echoes of history resonate as the new US administration prioritises the Afghan problem for policy review. The …
Continue reading “US-Pak reset to advance Biden’s Afghan settlement”
