Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free ration for 800 million Indians for the coming 5-month period “to empower the poor, downtrodden and deprived sections of society”, New Delhi, June 30, 2020 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation today evening has been a remarkable event from several perspectives. For a start, he dedicated his …
Spies return to reset US-Russia ties
FILE PHOTO: US troops patrol in Logar province, Afghanistan. The sensational disclosure by the New York Times on June 26 that Russia’s military intelligence agency paid bounties to Afghan militants to kill American and NATO troops in Afghanistan, opens a can of worms. It pollutes the air of US-Russian relations with a powerful stench. The …
US-China trade deal unravels. What next?
US-China standoff hots up as White House compares Chinese President Xi Jinping with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin The world community can heave a sigh of relief that there isn’t going to be a new cold war between the United States and China. A Cold War needs two blocs: while Washington is unable to cobble together a …
China warns Trump not to risk trade deal
The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry operates with the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the Philippine Sea on May 30, 2020. If there is one template on which the Carnegie Endowment of Peace for International Peace, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post can agree with China’s Xinhua news agency and the CGTN in the present-day …
Stars and stripes rise over Vistula River
US President Donald Trump (R) & Polish President Andrzej Duda (L) at a press conference, White House, Washington, June 24, 2020 The visit by Polish President Andrzej Duda to the White House on June 24 marks an important milestone in the United States’ transatlantic strategies. It comes at a time when a growing number of …
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Japan-US alliance gets less intimate
Land-based missile defense system, Aegis Ashore, at the US Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. File photo. Regional security in Northeast Asia underwent a jolt on Thursday with the announcement in Tokyo by Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono that Japan would cancel the purchase of a multi-billion dollar ballistic missile defense system made …
India awakens to hidden charms of RIC
Vladimir Putin (L), Narendra Modi (C) and Xi Jinping (R) met at an informal trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20, Osaka, June 18, 2019 There is a curious hype among Indian analysts over the Russia-India-China videoconference of foreign ministers taking place today. Even the compulsive detractors of processes such as RCI, BRICS and SCO …
Modi only can reach a border settlement with China
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) & Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) at informal summit, Mamallapuram, India, October 12, 2019 The controversy over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks at the All-Party Conference in New Delhi on June 18 regarding the border clashes with China will have limited shelf life only. All this brouhaha becomes quintessentially an …
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1962 India-China war redeux?
Indian & Chinese patrols challenge each other, typically, in Ladakh. File photo The Indian analysts have been comparing the military build-up in the India-China border in eastern Ladakh to the Doklam standoff in 2017. This was only to be expected since the leitmotif was once again a road construction in disputed border regions. In Doklam, …
Have Gun, Will Travel in Afghanistan
US war crime allegations cast shadow over Afghanistan’s future Britain has joined France and Germany to break with the United States over President Trump’s Executive Order on June 11 authorising economic sanctions against International Criminal Court [ICC] officials directly engaged in investigation over possible war crimes committed by American troops and intelligence personnel during the …