China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed an intergovernmental agreement to begin construction of a railway link connecting Xinjiang with Fergana Valley, Beijing, June 6, 2024 The report of the death of China’s Belt and Road Initiative [BRI] was an exaggeration, after all. Within days of the US President Joe Biden’s acerbic remark during an interview last …
China, Russia pip US to the Taliban hearth
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) receiving the credentials of Taliban government’s ambassador to China, Asadullah Bilal Karimi in a formal ceremony, Great Hall of the People, Beijing, Jan. 30, 2024 The diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan on January 31, 2024 by China must be bracketed with two other far-reaching regional policy moves …
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Decoding Iran’s missile, drone strikes
The building described as ‘Mossad Headquarters’ in Iraqi Kurdistan with underground facilities for conducting covert operations hit by Iranian missile attack, Erbil, Northern Iraq, January 15, 2024 The stunning missile and drone strikes on three countries — Syria, Iraq and Pakistan — over a period of 24 hours and Tehran taking the extraordinary step of …
India’s BRICS quandary deepens
Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar (L) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 3rd Belt and Road Forum, Beijing, October 18, 2023. The inevitable is finally, inexorably, happening as the government’s 9-year old strategy to isolate, demonise and brand Pakistan as a state sponsoring terrorism collapses in front of the global …
Whose game is Pakistan’s Khar playing?
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani (L) and Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at a panel discussion at World Economic Forum, Davos, January 19, 2023 Watching the video of the Hina Rabbani Khar — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar exchanges at Davos on Thursday, one was reminded of a remark by Russian …
US commits a perfect murder in Kabul
Eleven days after the US President Joe Biden’s dramatic announcement of August 1 regarding the killing of the emir of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Moscow has broken its silence. Ten days back, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had replied to a query that Moscow was yet to “get the details” on what had happened on July …
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+ …
Afghanistan braces for new war
The sun sets on Kabul, Afghanistan (File photo) There is media buzz lately about an anti-Taliban insurgency struggling to be born in Afghanistan. A former Afghan army general, Sami Sadat, is returning home as the West’s favourite to don the mantle of leadership of a pan-Afghan “resistance” movement against repressive Taliban rule. There is a …
India Should Quit Quad Now!
Prime Minister Modi chaired a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security and top officials, New Delhi, March 13, 2022 Hedging between superpowers — United States, Russia and China — was never the smart thing to do. India should have known that the contradictions are simply irreconcilable. This is a moment of truth, therefore, as …
US pips regional states at race for Kabul
UN SG António Guterres: “Afghanistan is hanging by a thread.” In a hugely consequential advisory, the US Treasury Department quietly signalled on Wednesday that it was “tweaking” the sanctions against the Haqqani Network. The international banks can transfer money to Taliban, including Haqqani Network without fear of breaching sanctions. Washington simply issued clarifications dilating on the …
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