Taliban delegation led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi (C) left Kabul for talks with US team of State Department, CIA & USAID officials through the weekend at Doha, Qatar, October 8, 2021 26. Taliban back in American swing chair The US state department admitted belatedly late last night that the first face-to-face meeting between …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-25
Taliban Dy Prime Ministers Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (C) and Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi (R) met with British High Representative for Afghanistan Sir Simon Gass, Kabul, October 5, 2021 25. Taliban receives overtures from near and far The Taliban is getting many suitors lately. It is far from the “pariah” that the Biden Administration thought …
Biden-Xi Jinping summit is in the cards
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (L) held six-hour talks with Chinese Politburo member Yang Jiechi, Zurich, October 6, 2021 The big question about the meeting between the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and China’s Politburo member Yang Jiechi in Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday is whether it will open the door to the pathway …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-24
Sir Simon Gass, British Prime Minister’s representative on Afghanistan, seated second from left, with Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, Kabul, October 5, 2021. 24. UK fires the first shot in the New Great Game While India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is doing a masterly job to canvass support for the Biden Administration’s …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-23
Friendship Bridge from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan 23. With eyes on Taliban, US to reset Uzbek ties When Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman lands in Tashkent on Sunday, she will be practically carving on a tiny piece of ivory. This is not to blame Sherman who is arguably a strategic asset for the Biden Administration …
Biden makes eye contact with Saudi Crown Prince
Top White House aide Jake Sullivan met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Neom, Saudi Arabia, September 27, 2021 What is absolutely certain about the visit by the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, is that it couldn’t have …
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Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-22
Chinese ambassador Wang Yu met Acting Foreign Minister of Taliban Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi, Kabul, September 26, 2021 22. US, UK prepare to re-engage Taliban Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has written yet another opinion piece in the Washington Post, sensing a turning point lies ahead with the Biden Administration assembling a sustainable, durable …
Rise of centre-left in Germany
The big take-away of Germany’s first election of the post-Merkel era is that none of the parties has ‘won’ and each of the parties has reason to look miserable and feel disappointed with their performance. A new political landscape is struggling to be born. For the ruling Christian Democrats [CDU], this has been their worst …
What Biden told the Indians
Given the state of the Indian media today, it is difficult to cut through the Indian-American rhetoric from a distance of 10,000 kilometres and get a rounded view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States and his meeting with President Biden. So much has changed since Modi last visited America two years …
Quad is turning & turning in widening gyre
US President Joe Biden at Quad Summit, White House, Sept. 24, 2021. Seated clockwise Australian PM Scott Morrison, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga & Indian PM Narendra Modi By coincidence, perhaps, on the same day that President Biden hosted the first Quad summit, he also cleared the way for a senior …
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