The troika leading the far-right coalition that won Italy’s election: Giorgia Meloni (R), Silvio Berlusconi (C) and Matteo Salvini (L) The stunning victory of a far-right coalition in Italy’s parliamentary election on Sunday is largely seen from the distinct prospect of Giorgia Meloni becoming the country’s next prime minister, whose hardline views on immigration and …
Why Ukraine referendum is a big deal
The referendum on September 23-27 in the Donbass and southern Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine on their accession to Russian Federation is, prima facie, an exercise of the right of self-determination by the native population who reject the western-backed regime change in Kiev in 2014 and the ascendancy of extreme nationalist forces with neo-Nazi …
India’s gaffe at Samarkand
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Samarkand, Uzbekistan, September 16, 2022 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Samarkand on September 16 after the SCO Summit turned into a media scandal. The Western media zeroed in on six words culled out of context in the …
Russia won’t congratulate CIA on its diamond jubilee
A US Senate commission in 1975 counted eight assassination attempts by CIA agents on Fidel Castro during 1960-1965 In the Russian journal Natsionalnaya Oborona (National Defence), the chief of Russia’s foreign intelligence Sergey Naryshkin has written a riveting essay on the 75th anniversary of the Central Intelligence Agency, which falls on Sunday. It is an unusual …
Continue reading “Russia won’t congratulate CIA on its diamond jubilee”
Ukraine sliding into a real war
Bakhmut’s desolate streets where intense fighting is expected A recurring feature of the Cold War was that the United States almost always placed great store on the optics of a Soviet-American affair while Moscow chose to concentrate on the end result. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the best known example where the denouement was about …
Russian regrouping in Kharkov will speed up Battle of Donbass
The New York Times has disclosed that the US shared vital intelligence with the Ukrainian military and took part in the preparation of the latter’s current “counteroffensive” near Kharkov. No matter the Biden Administration’s motivations in publicising its role in what western media is celebrating as a success story — presumably, with an eye on …
Continue reading “Russian regrouping in Kharkov will speed up Battle of Donbass”
Big picture of disengagement in Ladakh
The Ministry of External Affairs has done the right thing by explaining its taciturn press release on Thursday in a single sentence regarding the disengagement of troops in the area of Gogra-Hotsprings along the LAC in the Western Sector of India-China border areas. The Official Spokesman Arindam Bagchi shared on Friday more details. Broadly, a …
Timely assertion of India’s strategic autonomy
Russian President Vladimir Putin (3rd from right) greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) at Vladivostok, September 5, 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at the plenary sessions of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) at Vladivostok has been a regular feature of the annual event since 2019. But this year’s address …
Continue reading “Timely assertion of India’s strategic autonomy”
India’s energy diplomacy blossoms, finally
Indian Oil Corporation’s Numaligarh Refinery, Assam (File photo) To be sure, energy security has surged as the key to a country’s strategic autonomy and independence, as world events testify, currently within the matrix of “food-fertiliser-fuel” sufficiency where the global supply chains are disrupted. Europe’s missteps on this front, upon the advice of the US to …
Continue reading “India’s energy diplomacy blossoms, finally”
OPEC+ agrees on oil output cut
Sun sets behind an idle pump jack near Karnes City, US The OPEC+ meeting at Vienna on Monday came amidst two events affecting the oil market — the G7 finance ministers decision to endorse the US proposal regarding price cap on Russia’s oil exports with effect from December 5 and secondly, Gazprom’s announcement on cutting …