(Handout picture of US officials at peace talks with Taliban, Doha, Qatar) The Press Trust of India has reported on the discussions regarding Afghanistan in Washington last week between the visiting Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and the US special representative Zalmay Khalilzad. The report carries New Delhi dateline and is attributed to ‘official sources’. According …
Continue reading “India shouldn’t undermine Afghan peace talks”
(The United Nations Security Council in session in New York) The Chinese reservation about placing a technical hold on the listing of the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed Masood Azhar as a ‘global terrorist’ by the United Nations Security Council does not come as surprise. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in the recent days had made it …
(Samjhauta Express carrying some 150 passengers left Lahore railway station for New Delhi on March 4, 2019) There were three key elements in the remarks at the press briefing in Washington on Tuesday by Robert Palladino, deputy spokesperson of the US State Department, regarding India-Pakistan tensions, while flagging that “there’s a lot of private diplomacy …
Continue reading “US, China and root cause of terrorism in South Asia”
The government should welcome Islamabad’s move to ban militant outfits designated by the UN Security Council as a step in the right direction. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain by making a gesture. But a leap of faith is needed. Pakistan is crossing the Rubicon. Even if it is only acting under …
Continue reading “Modi’s war rhetoric may boomerang on India”
(Indian soldiers patrol along the fence at the India-Pakistan border) With the India-Pakistan standoff somewhat waning, the time is ripe to put under the scanner the stance taken by the Trump administration through the crisis situation developing since the February 14 terrorist attack in Pulwama. On the face of it, Washington was strongly supportive of …
Continue reading “US kept ‘cool’ during India-Pak crisis. This is why”
(Foreign ministers of Russia, India and China on the sidelines of the RIC meet at Zhejiang, China, on Feb. 27, 2019) Saudi Arabia is pushing forward as mediator between India and Pakistan with a messianic zeal that patently enjoys US backing. The Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir is arriving in Delhi …
Continue reading “Russia and China offer the SCO platform for India-Pak de-escalation”
There has been an avalanche of reports in the international media quoting western diplomats and security officials to the effect that India’s “intelligence-led… non-military preemptive strike” on a big terrorist camp in Pakistan on February 26 was all baloney. Apparently, these reports say, there was so such terrorist camp in existence in Balakot. Incredibly enough, …
Continue reading “Do not barter away national security interests”
(Prime Minister Modi receiving Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Delhi airport, February 20, 2019) Looking back at the one-day — actually, a little over half a day — first state visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Delhi on February 20 at the invitation of Prime Minister …
Continue reading “India gets veggie burger from Saudi Arabia”
(President Trump told reporters that it would be ‘wonderful’ if India & Pakistan ‘get along’) The US president Donald Trump told the media at the White House on February 19 while replying to a question on the terrorist strike in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir, and the ensuing India-Pakistan tensions: “I have watched. I have got …
(Worshippers at the famous Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang) Turkey has broken its silence on the controversial topic of the human rights situation in Xinjiang, China, with the Foreign Ministry issuing an exceptionally strongly worded statement on February 9. The statement alleges that the violation of the fundamental human rights of “Uighur Turks and …
