Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) sees Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a decisive leader, Riyadh, Dec. 9, 2022 The pomp and ceremony of the recent visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia has drawn comparison with the banality and frigid atmosphere surrounding the US President Joe Biden’s trip to the kingdom …
Russia-Turkey reset eases regional tensions
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) met Turkish President Recep Erdogan at Sochi, Russia, on August 5, 2022 The 4-hour meeting on Friday at Sochi between President Vladimir Putin and President Recep Erdogan promises to be a defining moment in regional politics. The single biggest takeaway from the Sochi meet is, of course, the “win-win” economic partnership …
Continue reading “Russia-Turkey reset eases regional tensions”
Moscow prioritises ties with Myanmar
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) met Chairman of State Administrative Council & Prime Minister of Myanmar’s Provisional Government, Min Aung Hlaing, Naypyidaw, August 3, 2022 The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Myanmar on August 3 shows that the relationship is assuming a strategic character. The Foreign Ministry in a press release on August …
Biden’s I2U2 summit diminishes India
US forms a West Asian Quad with Israel, India and UAE, which held its first summit meeting in virtual setting on July 14, 2022 coinciding with President Biden’s first regional tour of West Asia. India’s involvement with US President Joe Biden’s quixotic venture called “I2-U2 Summit” is bizarre, to put it mildly. India’s excellent relations …
Why India must decouple from I2U2
Foreign Ministers of India, Israel, UAE, US (clockwise) held a videoconference in October 2021 to launch a ‘Quad’ for West Asia Indian diplomacy is descending from the sublime to the absurd. Such wild swings signal rank opportunism. These are extraordinary times when to be smart is equated as being opportunistic. Hardly a week passed since …
An appalling slur on the civilisation state that is India
Prime Minister Modi (R) and Jordan’s King Abdullah addressed the conference ‘Islamic Heritage: Promoting Understanding and Moderation’ in New Delhi on February 28, 2018 The outrage in the Muslim world over the transgression of the red line in anti-Muslim politics in India is understandable, although the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party acted swiftly for damage control. …
Continue reading “An appalling slur on the civilisation state that is India”
Assad renews Syria’s bonds with Iran
Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi (right) in talks with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran, May 8, 2022 The unannounced arrival of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Tehran on Sunday makes yet another wrinkle to the geopolitics of West Asia. In a short trip of a few hours, Assad had meetings with Iran’s Supreme Leader …
US’ coercive diplomacy with Saudi Arabia
Oil treatment plant in Yarakta oil field, Irkutsk, Russia. Ban on Russian oil risks sky-high prices and inflationary shock (File photo) Some three weeks after the reported meeting of the CIA chief William Burns with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Sultan, the OPEC+ ministerial held a videoconference on Thursday. The OPEC+ …
US recruits Israel against Russia
Israel’s Iron Dome missile shield (File photo) For more than one reason, the US President Joe Biden’s call with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday is hugely consequential. This has been Biden’s second phone conversation with Bennett in four weeks. On March 30 Biden called to express his “deepest condolences” following the terrorist attacks …
Iran-backed Houthi is the winner in Yemen
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) received Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council , Riyadh, April 7, 2022 These are early days and Yemen has witnessed many a ceasefire in its tortuous civil war that began in September 2014 when Houthi forces took over the capital city Sanaa, which was followed by a rapid Houthi takeover of …
Continue reading “Iran-backed Houthi is the winner in Yemen”