Quiet flows the Dnieper: Water runs through a breach in the Nova Kakhovka hydro-electric dam, Kherson, Ukraine, June 6, 2023 The breach in the Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River in war-ravaged Ukraine on Tuesday is no doubt a catastrophe of colossal proportions, a veritable ecological and human disaster that may outlive the war itself. …
Erdogan’s mediatory role on Ukraine cannot be wished away
Jubilant crowds outside the Presidential Complex to celebrate President Recep Erdogan’s election victory, Ankara, May 28, 2023 Among the host of implications for international security stemming out of Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s election victory in the runoff on Sunday — be it in the Black Sea, Eastern Mediterranean, Transcaucasus, West Asia or Eurasian integration — …
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Modi at Hiroshima — optics, politics, reality
Family photo of Prime Minister Modi (4th from left) & special invitees to G7 Leaders’ Summit, Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits abroad are carefully choreographed events, given their optics domestically. Perhaps, this is even more so today as general elections loom ahead and in Hiroshima, Modi was taking the stage …
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Indian diplomacy in overstretch
G7 Summit leaders at “working lunch” session, Japan, 19 May, 2023 The Foreign Secretary’s special briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Asia-Pacific tour (May 19-24) dovetailed skilfully into three summit meetings, and brings to mind an institution of the Middle Ages known as the “wandering minstrels”. Wealthy people used to employ minstrels to entertain them …
George Soros poses no danger to India
George Soros, Hungarian-American businessman (File photo) The Indian Express newspaper featured today two reports relating to India’s indirect partnership with George Soros in a worldwide democracy project under the UN umbrella. The main report is behind paywall while the second report titled “UN Democracy Fund launched in 2005 on sidelines of India-US N-deal” is accessible. …
US sees in Finland’s NATO accession encirclement of Russia
Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (L) hands over Finland’s NATO accession document to US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, as secretary-general Stoltenberg looks on, Brussels, 4 Apr 2023 The national flag of Finland was raised for the first time at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in Brussels on Tuesday, which also marked the …
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A reality check for Modi Govt’s G20 ambitions
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a ‘virtual message’ to the G20 foreign ministers, New Delhi, March 2, 2023 Two key milestones have been crossed on the road leading to the G20 summit scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 9-10. Some vital conclusions can be drawn out of the two controversial …
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Blinken gets Bibi to bend on Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky (L} with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Kiev, Feb. 16, 2023 The United States and Israel make quite a pair. They tango, they align, they scratch each other’s back, they can be bitchy toward each other, and have a Faustian deal but are also lone rangers — and Israel lets the …
China-Iran ties on the right side of history
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) held a welcoming ceremony for Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi prior to their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, February 14, 2023 The three-day state visit by Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi to China on February 14-16 is a landmark event affecting regional politics and international security. The …
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Britain rebuilds ties with France
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a historic meeting during the COP27 summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, 7 November, 2022 A Bloomberg report cited unnamed British ministers, diplomats and officials to the effect that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has tasked senior ministers and officials to draw up plans …