US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter sails in the Bosphorus, Istanbul, on its way to the Black Sea, January 28, 2021 The terrible beauty of “frozen conflicts” is that it takes hardly any effort to turn up the heat and re-escalate them into hot violence, but pressing the “pause” button later would need consensus, which …
The China-Iran pact is a game changer – III
Part III: There is no timetable for an official launch The China-Iran joint statement of last Saturday has made waves in the international media and among regional analysts from Israel to India. Israel is anxious that there is going to be security cooperation between China and Iran. Indians are brooding over the fate of their …
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The China-Iran pact is a game changer – Part II
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani received China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Tehran, March 27, 2021 Part II: China positions itself on the right side of history Part I: China neutralises the US campaign on Muslim Uighur issue In an exclusive interview with Al-Arabiya last week, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi …
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The China-Iran pact is a game changer — Part I
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) exchange documents during the signing ceremony of a 25-year cooperation agreement, Tehran, March 27, 2021. Part I : China neutralises the US campaign on Muslim Uighur issue When China and Iran, two of the United States’ main adversaries in the contemporary …
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This is how shingles of Indian interests in Myanmar overlap Russia and China’s
Refugees fleeing the attack by separatist Karen Liberation Army on Myanmar military outpost on Thai border, March 27, 2021 India did the right thing by dissociating from other “Quad” members to join the defence attaches of Myanmar’s neighbouring countries and attend the parade on Saturday in Naypyitaw to mark the Armed Forces Day — although pro-American …
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China resents US presence in Afghanistan
Unidentified militia group shot down helicopter with laser weapons in Wardak March 18 killing Afghan military personnel. The “hidden agenda” of the war on terror in Afghanistan has been an open secret. The first inkling of its geopolitical character came when it transpired that even after installing a pro-US regime in Kabul in 2002-2003, Pentagon …
India’s agony and ecstasy over Quad
A flurry of diplomatic activities through the past fortnight starting with the first-ever summit meeting of Quad on March 12 mark a historic transition in the world order. While the western world has been the locus of international politics for the past five centuries, that is most certainly shifting toward the Asia-Pacific region. Not only …
Russia, China to resist US but engagement is preferred option
State Councilor & Foreign Minister Wang Yi (second from right) and Russian FM Sergey Lavrov (L) held talks in Guilin, March 23, 2021 The US President Joe Biden’s “killer” remark about his “soulless” Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was outrageous by any yardstick — even by his own long history of diplomatic gaffes. But Moscow won’t …
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Talks in Alaska can be transformative for US-China ties
The testiness in the United States’ relations with China surged to the surface last week. The back-and-forth at the US-China talks at Anchorage, Alaska (March 18-19) marked a defining moment. The US readout was skimpy in detail while a more detailed Chinese account has appeared on the website of the State Council of China. The US …
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Ten years on, Syria is almost destroyed. Who’s to blame?
Syria in ruins after ten years of conflict (File photo) In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, the ruling pigs led by Napoleon constantly rewrote history in order to justify and reinforce their own continuing power. The rewriting by the western powers of the history of the ongoing conflict in Syria leaps out of Orwell. The …
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