Foreign Ministers of India, Israel, UAE, US (clockwise) held a videoconference in October 2021 to launch a ‘Quad’ for West Asia Indian diplomacy is descending from the sublime to the absurd. Such wild swings signal rank opportunism. These are extraordinary times when to be smart is equated as being opportunistic. Hardly a week passed since …
China doubles down on vision with Russia
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Beijing, February 4, 2022 The most animating template of the West’s “information war” lately against Russia is, perhaps, its distorted projection of the China-Russia relationship in the context of the Ukraine crisis. This dubious enterprise has practical implications for the “endgame” in Ukraine, the …
NATO runs into multipolar world order
Germans say the moment of truth for most children comes at the end of Grade 4 when primary education ends in Grundschule. By that reckoning, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) at 73 is in “second childishness and mere oblivion / Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” — to borrow from Jaques’ famous soliloquy …
Next 100 Days of Ukraine War
Ukrainian casualties in the conflict are running at a rate of somewhere between 600 and 1,000 a day, according to Guardian. The New York-based Council on Foreign Relations held a videoconference on May 31 titled Russia’s War in Ukraine: How does it end? The president of the think tank Richard Haas chaired the panel of …
Creating cold war conditions in Asia isn’t easy
Military equipment given by Japan to Ukraine being loaded in an aircraft at Yokota US Air Force Base, Japan (File photo) Only three weeks remain for the summit meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Madrid, which is expected to unveil a new Strategic Concept aimed at redefining “the security challenges facing the …
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An appalling slur on the civilisation state that is India
Prime Minister Modi (R) and Jordan’s King Abdullah addressed the conference ‘Islamic Heritage: Promoting Understanding and Moderation’ in New Delhi on February 28, 2018 The outrage in the Muslim world over the transgression of the red line in anti-Muslim politics in India is understandable, although the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party acted swiftly for damage control. …
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USCIRF report is a writing on the wall
Tapestry of India’s rich religious diversity Factually speaking, one must be a cynic to be dismissive about the findings of the annual 2022 report on India in the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). In particular, the report recommends that India be designated as a Country of Particular Concern, a country that engages in …
Reports of OPEC+ death are greatly exaggerated
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud (R) met visiting Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Riyadh, May 31, 2022 The fact that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states held a joint ministerial meeting with their Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Saudi capital of Riyadh at this point in time in global …
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Biden tweaks Ukraine narrative
Yars ICBM launchers participated in drills of Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, Ivanovo region, northeast of Moscow, June 1, 2022 The US President Joe Biden’s op-Ed in the New York Times on Tuesday on the Ukraine war starts with a bluff. He says President Vladimir Putin had thought Russia’s special operation would only last days. How Biden …
Ukraine is a millstone around Europe’s neck
“Brotherly friends”: Ukrainian President Zelensky (R) and visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda, Kiev, May 22, 2022 The fallout of the war in Ukraine over Europe is largely seen in terms of the uncertainties over the continent’s heavy dependence on Russian energy and the impact of it on the economies of the 27 EU member countries. Imposing …
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