Pakistan extended a special invitation to Acting Interim Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi to attend the “Troika Plus” meeting in Islamabad on November 11, 2021 33. US recognition of Taliban Government will be a game changer The stunning disclosure late Tuesday in Brussels that the US is working on a “road map” for …
Oil price stalks another superpower
OPEC+ ignored Biden’s demand for oil output boost, Nov. 4, 2021 In the geopolitical folklore, Afghanistan is supposed to have caused the end of the Soviet Union but in reality, the war wouldn’t have been a “bleeding wound” by 1989 had it not been for the precipitous fall in the Soviet income from oil exports. …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-32
Bazaar in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan, scene of violent clashes between Taliban and the Islamic State 32. Taliban has a richer depth through the looking glass India’s initiative to host a regional conference on Afghanistan in New Delhi on Wednesday has received a good response. With Tehran signalling acceptance of the Indian invite, …
COP26: Wall Street rolls out climate finance
Low-carbon Energy and Environmental Protection Technology Special Exhibition Zone, 4th CIIE, Shanghai, Nov. 4, 2021 The US climate envoy John Kerry is getting down to the real business at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow after President Joe Biden has had his photo-ops, made his idiosyncratic public remarks and flew back …
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Glasgow climate summit is an elite farce
Protestors at venue of Glasgow summit on climate change The Glasgow summit on climate change has been a media extravaganza. The ruling elites from all continents cooped up in their national capitals due to the raging pandemic, finally got a break to throw away their masks and take to their private jets to fly off …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-31
The 3rd Moscow Format meeting on Afghan settlement attended by Taliban and ten regional states, Moscow, Oct 20, 2021 31. India plays Russian card The chances were slim that the Pakistani National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf would accept the invitation from his counterpart Ajit Doval to a regional meet of security tsars in New Delhi …
Blinken’s ‘Indo-Abrahamic Accords’ unravels
Pro-democracy protestors in Sudan, Khartoum, Oct, 26, 2021 The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is a man in a hurry. The president expects him to produce foreign-policy success stories. Success stories are desperately needed as post-Afghanistan, the superpower has become laughing stock universally. The trans-Atlantic alliance is seriously disoriented and Russia is on the …
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A tale of two Quads
A virtual meeting of the foreign ministers of India, Israel, UAE and the US took place on October 18, 2021 The United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has dented the credibility of the trans-Atlantic relationship and dealt a body blow to the NATO. These developments add to the already existing frustration in Washington that the …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-30
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Acting Taliban Dy Prime Minister Mullah Baradar, Doha, Oct. 255, 2021 30. Taliban Government gains traction All indications are that the regional states are preparing to accord recognition to the Taliban government. The meeting of regional states and Taliban officials in the so-called Moscow Format last …
Biden’s Taiwan gaffe meant no harm
China-Russia naval exercise Joint Sea-2021 kicked off in Russia’s Peter the Great Bay on October 14 focusing on mine countermeasures, air defence, live-fire shooting, maneuvering & anti-submarine mission The probability is that the US President Joe Biden committed yet another diplomatic gaffe at a CNN town hall last Thursday that Washington had a commitment to …