The site where a Taliban car bomb detonated in Kabul on Aug 7, 2019, killing 14 people and wounding 145. The statement issued by the Taliban on Thursday regarding the situation surrounding the state of Jammu & Kashmir merits serious attention. The statement recalls media reports on the abrogation of the special status of J&K …
Continue reading “India’s move on Article 370 came six months late”
Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, on lockdown. File photo. In the aftermath of the Modi government’s decision to remove ‘special status’ for J&K and bifurcate the state into two union territories, the most keenly awaited regional and international reaction — and a hugely consequential one — would be that of China’s, not the US’ or even …
Continue reading “China reacts to J&K, India demands reciprocity”
An undated photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 26, 2019 showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watching a missile launch. The sensational New Yorker story on August 2 by Robin Wright on the unpublicised meeting between Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and the American senator Rand Paul (who is a …
Continue reading “What if North Korea and Iran move in tandem”
The Arab Revolt (1916-1918). File photo. The Arab sheikhs who instigated the US-Iran standoff have heard the African proverb, ‘When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers’. But they chose to ignore it. The assumption in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi was that President Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ strategy would frighten Tehran and life would be …
Continue reading “Another ‘Arab Revolt’? History never repeats.”
Secretary of State John Kerry in a tightly scripted exchange with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif specifically timed to the release of several American prisoners held in Iran, Vienna, Jan. 16, 2016 At a time when the Trump administration has no problem negotiating with the secretary of the Russian national security council Nikolai Patrushev, who is …
Kerala Chief Minister EMS Nambooripad (L) received Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (C) at Thiruvananthapuram Airport, Circa 1958. Today marks the 60th anniversary of the dismissal of the communist government in Kerala. It is a poignant occasion to do some reality check on the democratic foundations of the Indian state. Clearly, it is apparent to the …
Turkish naval fleet accompanying drill ship, July 2019 in East Mediterranean. The cold war brewing in the East Mediterranean over the vast hydrocarbon reserves in the region is already ‘multipolar’. Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, the United States and Turkey figure as the main protagonists. Then, in mid-July, the European Union grew out of its observer …
Continue reading “Russia wades into oily waters of East Mediterranean”
President Donald Trump (R) speaks during a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Washington, July 22, 2019 The US State Department chose Friday to announce the decision to approve a $125 million aid package providing technical support to Pakistan’s fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft. Ironically, the news reached Delhi on the 20th anniversary of …
Continue reading “US, Pakistan move in tandem to end Afghan war”
Russian Tu-95 MS (above) & Chinese Xian H-6 strategic bombers. File photo An exciting new template has appeared in the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific last week when Russia’s Aerospace Force and China’s Air Force carried out their first-ever joint air patrol in the region. Steadily and imperceptibly but profoundly, the regional alignments are transforming. Russia …
Continue reading “Russia and China display strategic coordination in Asia-Pacific”
Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky celebrated his party’s big victory in the parliamentary election, Kiev, July 21, 2019 The thumping victory by the Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, securing an absolute majority of 253 seats in the 450 member parliament, can be viewed as a tectonic shift in the geopolitical landscape of …
