Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (R) received US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L), Colombo, October 28, 2020 Third-country cooperation is highly complex, unpredictable phenomenon. Not even the closest allies can pull it off easily. Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary, denied that oil interests influenced policy in Iraq, but archives show that the British …
Europe marks distance from Indo-Pacific strategy
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for the special meeting of the European Council, Brussels, October 1, 2020 The European Council special meeting in Brussels on 1st October had Turkey, Belarus, Russia and China on its agenda. The foreign-policy decisions of the summit — comprising the heads of state or government of all EU countries, the …
Continue reading “Europe marks distance from Indo-Pacific strategy”
Geopolitics of Sri Lankan Tamil Problem
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa (L) held a virtual summit on September 26, 2020 The virtual summit between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa turned out to be somewhat surreal. The summit was the first of its kind Modi has had …
The Sino-Russian Alliance Comes of Age — Part 3
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) signed the statements on the “comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era” and on “strengthening contemporary global strategic stability”, Moscow, June 5, 2019 The first part of the three-part essay is here. The second part is here. Discourse of shared legacies The …
Continue reading “The Sino-Russian Alliance Comes of Age — Part 3”
Australia ‘decouples’ from US China policy
“Shared values but independent thinking”: Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne (L) & US State Secretary Pompeo, Washington, Jul 29, 2020 The Asian chancelleries have a great deal to mull over after the extraordinary joint press conference by the US and Australia following the AUSMIN meeting of their foreign and defence ministers in Washington, DC, on …
Continue reading “Australia ‘decouples’ from US China policy”
US rolls out new Central Asia strategy
Every five to six years, roughly, the United States comes out with a ‘new’ Central Asia strategy. The Indian automobile industry might call it “facelift” — cosmetic changes to create an air of novelty, such as a new radiator grill, a tweak in the rear bumper, exciting colour options and so on. The document titled …
Rajapaksa’s ‘nyet’ on Mattala is a bitter pill to swallow
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) with newly-elected Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (L), New Delhi, 29 Nov. 2019 Since the setback in Nepal three years ago when the Indian diktat on the contents of a new constitution for that country was brusquely dismissed by that country’s communist leadership, Modi government faces a similar rebuff from …
Continue reading “Rajapaksa’s ‘nyet’ on Mattala is a bitter pill to swallow”
The fine print of US-China trade deal
The US-China trade deal is harbinger of even harder talks, but apparent pragmatism on both sides is a positive sign. The agreement on the terms of the first phase of a trade deal between the US and China broadly envisages that Washington would reduce some tariffs on Chinese goods while Beijing would boost purchases of American farm, energy and manufactured …
Howdy Modi has an enduring legacy
Prime Minister Modi (R) and President Donald Trump (L) on stage for Howdy Modi event, Houston, September 22, 2019 The scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the recent weeks by two prominent writers in the US — the Washington Post’s Max Boot (here) and the New Yorker magazine’s Dexter Filkins (here) — is …
India prepares to shed legacy of protectionism
India has invited officials of the member countries of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to a meeting in New Delhi on September 14-15 for “discussing ideas.” This is happening only a week after the 7th RCEP Ministerial Meeting at Bangkok on September 8 in Bangkok and a week before the next negotiating round scheduled to be …
Continue reading “India prepares to shed legacy of protectionism”