President Vladimir Putin addressing the expanded meeting of the Russian Foreign Ministry Board, Moscow, November 18, 2021 Wouldn’t that be a delicious irony — the British defence secretary Ben Wallace rushing to Warsaw on Thursday to work up detailed plans to strengthen Poland’s border fence with Belarus? Britain had partnered the US in the invasion of …
US, China commence ‘responsible competition’
The only breakthrough that can be ascribed to the virtual meeting between the US and Chinese presidents, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, on Monday / Tuesday is that there has been an easing of visa restrictions on the accredited journalists of the two countries. But here too, a caveat must be added, namely, that “a …
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COP26: India ends up as fall guy
A coal mine in Dhanbad, India Greta Thurnberg, the famous Swedish climate change activist, summed up that the deal reached at COP26 at Glasgow on Saturday was “very, very vague” with several loopholes. She told the media in Glasgow that the pact only “succeeded in watering down the blah, blah, blah”. “There is still no …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-34
The new railway bridge across Amur River connecting Nizhneleninskoye (Russia) with Tongjiang (China) commissioned in August, is a technology demonstrator for so-called dual-track system. 34. Central Asia hooking up to CPEC The information war is so intense nowadays that unsung melodies are often more alluring that the sung ones. The lines from English poet Shelley’s …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-33
Pakistan extended a special invitation to Acting Interim Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi to attend the “Troika Plus” meeting in Islamabad on November 11, 2021 33. US recognition of Taliban Government will be a game changer The stunning disclosure late Tuesday in Brussels that the US is working on a “road map” for …
Oil price stalks another superpower
OPEC+ ignored Biden’s demand for oil output boost, Nov. 4, 2021 In the geopolitical folklore, Afghanistan is supposed to have caused the end of the Soviet Union but in reality, the war wouldn’t have been a “bleeding wound” by 1989 had it not been for the precipitous fall in the Soviet income from oil exports. …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-32
Bazaar in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan, scene of violent clashes between Taliban and the Islamic State 32. Taliban has a richer depth through the looking glass India’s initiative to host a regional conference on Afghanistan in New Delhi on Wednesday has received a good response. With Tehran signalling acceptance of the Indian invite, …
COP26: Wall Street rolls out climate finance
Low-carbon Energy and Environmental Protection Technology Special Exhibition Zone, 4th CIIE, Shanghai, Nov. 4, 2021 The US climate envoy John Kerry is getting down to the real business at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow after President Joe Biden has had his photo-ops, made his idiosyncratic public remarks and flew back …
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Glasgow climate summit is an elite farce
Protestors at venue of Glasgow summit on climate change The Glasgow summit on climate change has been a media extravaganza. The ruling elites from all continents cooped up in their national capitals due to the raging pandemic, finally got a break to throw away their masks and take to their private jets to fly off …
Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-31
The 3rd Moscow Format meeting on Afghan settlement attended by Taliban and ten regional states, Moscow, Oct 20, 2021 31. India plays Russian card The chances were slim that the Pakistani National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf would accept the invitation from his counterpart Ajit Doval to a regional meet of security tsars in New Delhi …