The annual summit meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh on Sunday was particularly important for Saudi Arabia as a display of its regional leadership. But the short meeting of the GCC leaders behind closed doors, lasting for less than an hour, ended highlighting the huge erosion of Saudi prestige lately. The litmus …
India should close ‘Tibetan file’ and move on
(17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje and the Dalai Lama) At times, good things happen due to bad reasons – such as the “indefinite postponement” of the 13th Religious Conference of the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon Tradition, scheduled to take place on 29-30 November in Dharamsala. According to media reports (here and here), quoting …
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OPEC and Russia reset oil market ignoring Trump’s urgings
(Energy minister of Russia Alexander Novak and Saudi counterpart Khalid al-Falih) Belying most predictions by analysts and energy experts, OPEC and Russia and its allies have agreed on Friday on a larger than expected cut in oil production to the tune of 1.2 million barrels a day. The deal aims to mop up the oil …
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If US quits INF Treaty, Europe loses
(Mikhail Gorbachev & Ronald Reagan signing the INF Treaty, Washington, December 1987) The statement issued by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on December 4 regarding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty following the meeting of the foreign ministers of the alliance in Brussels puts the seal on the US decision to withdraw from the pact. …
Trump’s fawning over Saudi ties backfires
(Russian President Putin ‘high fives’ with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Argentina, Nov 30, 2018) The G20 is an economic club and it has traditionally stuck to that groove. And Saudi Arabia has traditionally been represented at G20 events by government ministers, usually the oil minister. But this time around, the Crown Prince Mohamed …
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US will return to Vibrant Gujarat provided Modi wins 2019 poll
(Former US Secretary of State John Kerry at Vibrant Gujarat Summit, 11-13 January 2018) Curious, isn’t it, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his five-year term with a visa ban on him by the United States and is now ending it with an American ‘boycott’? The snub publicly administered by Washington by refusing to participate …
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India-China ties moving to new level
(Spring is in the air in Argentina — Modi, Putin and Xi exchange pleasantries) The G20 in Argentina last weekend turned out to be of great significance for India-China relations. On the sidelines of the event, PM Modi and President Xi Jinping had occasion to interact thrice – one bilateral meeting and a second meeting …
India steps up the game with Saudi Arabia
The meeting between PM Modi and the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Buenos Aires earlier today on the sidelines of the G20 summit should not come as surprise. Basically, India has stuck to its stance that the internal affairs of another country are simply not its business; nor is India going to be …
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India meets the Taliban
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan unknowingly paid a compliment to the Indian leadership when he remarked last week, “A leader who does not take U-turns as per the requirements of the situation is not a real leader.” Khan was drawing an analogy from his cricketing days when he would deviate from an original strategy as …
Long passageway to peace
The terrible beauty about India-Pakistan relationship is that it is immensely popular among the peoples in both countries. Aside a clutch of perennial naysayers, the overwhelming Indian opinion feels elated about the decision to develop a pilgrim corridor to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan. Continue reading…