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 …
Ice cracking sounds on frozen lake of US-Russia relations
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar (L) met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Jakarta, September 6, 2023 Any longtime observer of Russian politics would know that the state of play in the Russian-American tango is best assessed from subplots, often obscure and unnoticed, away from its amphitheatre where gladiators cross swords. Therefore, two alleys on …
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G20: Last waltz in a world torn apart
Chinese President Xi Jinping (standing) with foreign minister Wang Yi (C) and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (R) at the recent BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa The Modi government is not perplexed by the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the G20 Summit on September 9-10. Its intuitive …
India, the reluctant BRICS traveller
( L to R) Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at BRICS Summit, Johannesburg, Aug 23, 2023 India became a beacon of hope for the Western media for a short while in the run-up to the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg — a …
AUKUS, QUAD transforming alliance-like
US President Joe Biden, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and Indian PM Narendra Modi held a QUAD meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, 20 May 2023 This week augurs an acceleration of strategic realignments among the big powers amidst growing signs of a new cold war globally with particular focus on the United States’ …
Foreign devils on the road to Afghanistan
UN Security Council held a meeting on women and peace and security at UN Headquarters, New York, March 7, 2023 On March 7, the western powers huddled together in Paris for a restricted meeting on Taliban and the Afghanistan situation. It was an exclusive meeting of the Special Representatives and Envoys for Afghanistan of Australia, …
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US is recalibrating the power dynamic in East Mediterranean. Can South Asia be far behind?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) met Turkiye President Recep Erdogan at Samarkand, Uzbekistan, September 16, 2022 A mild flutter ensued after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s recent meeting with his Turkiye counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York on September 21 when it came to be …
100 years of Russian gas for India
Yamal LNG Project in Siberia, Russia (File photo) India is taking baby steps toward green energy. Two of India’s biggest business houses are spearheading it — Adani and Ambani groups. India has made several ambitious commitments at the Glasgow climate summit and two key pledges were that India’s non-fossil energy capacity will reach 500 GW …
Shinzo Abe: A controversial visionary
‘Sayonara’ – Japan’s controversial statesman Shinzo Abe departs When politicians die, especially an untimely death in tragic circumstances, obituaries tend to go overboard. A sense of perspectives is lost when obituaries become eulogies. But you can’t falsify history. And in the final analysis, it is the forces of history that write the course of politics …
G7: Cracks in Western unity on Russia
A show of unity, as G7 and European Union leaders met, Schloss Elmau, Bavaria, Germany, June 27, 2022 Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid spared no expense to build the sumptuous Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul during 1843 and 1856, which was constructed to impress the world. It had the largest Bohemian crystal chandelier ever installed and fourteen tonnes …