India-Russia ties take a quantum leap in the fog of Ukraine war

President Vladimir Putin (R) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) took a walk in the woods at the presidential estate in Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region, July 8, 2024  The lodestar of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on July 8-9, it must be the disclosure by the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration …

India-Iran makeover dovetails into Iran’s ties with Russia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and Iran’s president late Ibrahim Raisi at the BRICS Summit, Johannesburg, August 18, 2023   TEHRAN — There is enormous appreciation among Iranian intellectuals, diplomats and politicians regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stellar support for their country’s membership of the BRICS grouping. Modi played a key role to navigate Iran’s …

South Africa tiptoes towards coalition politics

Voters waiting patiently in hours-long queues in South Africa’s parliamentary election, May 29, 2024 The results of the election to the South African parliament on Friday confirmed the widely-held belief that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) which  spearheaded the country’s liberation from apartheid in 1993 and since dominated the political landscape like a banyan tree …

India-Russia ties get a makeover

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and President Vladimir Putin (R) in Moscow during a five-day visit to Russia (Dec 24-29, 2023) The visit by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Russia on December 24-29 presented an extraordinary spectacle reminiscent of the halcyon days of Indo-Soviet relations. There …

G20 is in need of genuine reform

G20 leaders at Rajghat paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi, New Delhi, September 10, 2023    India being the host country, the triumphalist tom-toming that G20 summit on September 9-10 was a “success” is both understandable and probably justifiable. Certainly, Indian diplomacy was in full cry. The negotiation of the G20 Declaration is no mean achievement in a highly …