Tailors busy stitching Russian flags to meet rising demand in Bamako, the capital of Mali, December 26, 2021 On Friday, Mali’s transitional government has clarified that it is engaged with Russian military trainers even as French troops are drawing down. So, it is official that Russian security personnel are deployed to Mali. Mali, a …
Russia-China alliance at the tipping point
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping after their talks, Kremlin, Moscow, June 5, 2019. The initiative by Beijing to propose a virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday radically transforms the geopolitics of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s relentless eastward expansion and the Western military …
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India-Bangladesh ties at inflection point
Prime Minister Modi and Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina In the life of a nation, perhaps, the first fifty years ought to be regarded as marking the rites of passage through adolescence. India can congratulate itself for helping navigate Bangladesh through a difficult childhood. Parentage of a precocious child isn’t easy and Bangladesh can be opinionated, …
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COP26: India ends up as fall guy
A coal mine in Dhanbad, India Greta Thurnberg, the famous Swedish climate change activist, summed up that the deal reached at COP26 at Glasgow on Saturday was “very, very vague” with several loopholes. She told the media in Glasgow that the pact only “succeeded in watering down the blah, blah, blah”. “There is still no …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-34
The new railway bridge across Amur River connecting Nizhneleninskoye (Russia) with Tongjiang (China) commissioned in August, is a technology demonstrator for so-called dual-track system. 34. Central Asia hooking up to CPEC The information war is so intense nowadays that unsung melodies are often more alluring that the sung ones. The lines from English poet Shelley’s …
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, …
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 …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-29
Taliban government’s deputy prime minister Abdul Salam Hanafi (C) and Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi (R) arrive in Moscow to attend international talks on Afghanistan, Oct. 20, 2021 29. Taliban is the winner at Moscow conference The Moscow meeting of ten regional states and the Taliban officials on Wednesday has produced an outcome that by …
Biden gets predictability in Russia ties
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin (L) and Georgian Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze signed a pact on Georgia Defense and Deterrence Enhancement Initiative, Tbilisi, Oct. 18, 2021 Moscow has butted the grand old transatlantic alliance in the chest on Monday with the foreign ministry announcing that it will suspend the NATO military liaison mission with …