Launch of a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile from Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov during a test in the White Sea, Oct 7, 2020. The Russian proposal of October 20 for a simple one-year extension beyond February when the New START treaty expires, has received a curt reply from Washington within hours. Something is still better than …
India’s loss of Farzad-B is only the beginning
Petrochemical complexes in Asaluyeh, Iran (File photo) The PTI news agency has quoted ‘sources’ in New Delhi to the effect that the Farzad-B gas field project in Iran is slipping out of India’s hands. The curtain seems to have come down on the negotiations between the ONGC Videsh and Iran’s National Iranian Oil Company. The …
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Nagorno-Karabakh needs a regional solution
Turkish President Recep Erdogan (L) with Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) File photo The demonisation of Turkey and President Recep Erdogan has been carried too far in the most recent years in the western media. Turkey appears to be mired in controversies all across its neighbourhood — maritime boundary disputes with Greece and Cyprus; occupation …
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Arc of instability on Russia’s periphery
An arc of instability has appeared on Russia’s peripheral regions to the west and southwest — Belarus, Nagorno-Karabakh and Kyrgyzstan. These regions are vital to Russia’s national security and weakens its capacity to be a resurgent power on the world stage. Belarus is a de facto buffer zone for Russia vis-a-vis the West. Russia …
Ladakh standoff: Breakthrough in sight?
Indian Army convoy ferrying supplies to troops in Ladakh The remarks by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi on October 15 on the negotiations to resolve the military standoff in eastern Ladakh signal a cautiously optimistic estimation that there are serious proposals on the table and a breakthrough cannot be ruled out. Jaishankar …
Quad won’t fly. This is why.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (L) in conversation with Australian counterpart Marise Payne at Quad ministerial, Tokyo, October 6, 2020 The expectations were that the visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun would expand from a public platform in Delhi on October 12 on a theme he had audaciously expounded some six weeks ago …
Quad is East, Kabul is West, Never the Twain Shall Meet
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar (R) met the leader of erstwhile Afghan Northern Alliance Rashid Dostum (L), New Delhi, Sept 25, 2020 The first part of this analysis is here. The policy planning with respect to Afghanistan has become an excruciatingly difficult exercise for New Delhi. Even a veteran great game addict like National Security …
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India wary as Afghans discuss interim govt – Part 1
India’s NSA Ajit Doval (L) met chairman of Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah (R), New Delhi, October 5, 2020 The visit to New Delhi by Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation in Afghanistan, becomes an event of major importance for a variety of reasons, the most significant being its …
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Oman-Syria ties impact regional politics
Walid al-Muallem, Syria’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister (L) receives the credentials of Oman’s Ambassador Turki bin Mahmood al-Busaidy, Damascus, October 5, 2020 The presentation of the Letter of Credence in Damascus on October 5 by the newly appointed envoy of Oman marks a defining moment in the Syrian conflict. The regional states recognise …
Gulf Sheikhs resent subaltern role
US-Israel joint training exercise ‘Enduring Lightning’ involving F-35 ‘stealth’ aircraft, Southern Israel, March 2020 The tabling of a “bipartisan” legislation in the US Congress on October 1 reiterating American commitment to Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME) creates an extraordinary dimension to the geopolitics and military balance in the Middle East region in the downstream of …