The overnight visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to New Delhi has been an eye-opener in many ways. It highlighted how much India has changed through the searing pain and suffering it underwent in the past one-year period and how that tumultuous period also led to a reset in the government’s calculus. A …
Continue reading “Blinken’s single-point agenda in Delhi – China”
India-Iran Joint Commission meeting co-chaired by Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif (L) and Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar (R), Tehran, December 22, 2019 Sometimes a crisis is needed to judge the efficacy of a country’s regional policies. The US-Iran confrontation is one such moment for Delhi. In retrospect, the India-US meeting of foreign and defence ministers …
BJP workers at Delhi Airport to receive PM Narendra Modi as he arrived from New York on September 28, 2019 In the South Block folklore, if a high-level visit by a foreign dignitary lacks substance, simply hype up protocol and make it look larger-than-life. The euphoric welcome accorded to PM Modi at Delhi airport by …
The US President John F. Kennedy (R) received India’s Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (L) at the airport in Rhode Island, Washington, November 1961. The art of flattery, contrary to what one might think, is a complicated affair. If it is too straightforward, it runs the risk of appearing artificial, especially when the flatterer contrives to combine …
Continue reading “Howdy Modi had nothing of enduring value for India”
President Vladimir Putin (L) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) met in Vladivostok for the jubilee 20th Annual Russian-Indian Summit, Vladivostok, September 4, 2019. PM Modi’s visit to Vladivostok on Sept. 3-5 has turned out to be anti-climatic. The main outcome of the event could be, arguably, that Modi can now add Vladivostok to …
Continue reading “Kashmir casts shadows on India-Russia ties”
The Kashmir Triangle: US President Donald Trump (L), Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan (C) & Indian Prime Minister Modi (R) The US President Donald Trump’s extraordinary remarks to the media at the Oval Office in the White House on August 20 regarding the Kashmir issue come just a day after his telephone conversations with the Indian …
From an Indian perspective, the much-touted speech by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the India Ideas Summit and the annual meeting of the US-India Business Council at Washington, DC turned out to be a disappointment, its boastful advertisement notwithstanding. Nonetheless, it draws attention as a the ‘curtain-raiser’ to his forthcoming visit to …
