President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, joined by President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan (L) on a tour of the Forbidden City in Beijing, November 8, 2017 (File photo) The United States used to be an ardent supporter of the rechristening of the Asia-Pacific region as the Indo-Pacific, and in all …
Manipur escalation draws attention to Myanmar
Arakan Army troops pose in front of the Central Navy Seal Training Center after seizing it, Rakhine, Myanmar, Sept 5, 2024 The sharp escalation by the Kuki militants in Manipur has shaken up the Indian establishment but the ensuing jingoistic outcry in sections of the media demands a muscular approach to addressing the problem of …
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Modi’s trip to Jakarta is a geopolitical event
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (5th from left) and leaders of Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Jakarta, sept 7, 2023 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s daylong visit to Jakarta for the ASEAN-India Summit on Thursday despite the countdown having begun for the G20 summit he’s hosting in New Delhi, stands out as a sign of Indian diplomacy …
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Wheel has come full circle in Myanmar
Guerrilla fighters, trained, equipped and financed by Western intelligence to overthrow military rule in Myanmar (File photo) Aung San Suu Kyi, the iconic figure of Myanmarese politics, has been moved from prison to house arrest. This may seem a baby step, but make no mistake, the journey of a thousand steps begins with one step, as …
Politics of hedging in the Indo-Pacific
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (C) with Director of Foreign Affairs Commission of Communist Party of China Central Committee Wang Yi (L) and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) at trilateral meeting, Jakarta, July 12, 2023 On Monday, while delivering the keynote address at the annual China Business Summit held in Auckland, New Zealand Prime …
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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Indo-Pacific strategy adrift in an illusion
US President Joe Biden and leaders of Association of Southeast Asian Nations at a special summit, Washington, May 12, 2022 The Chinese daily Global Times featured a political cartoon marking the US-ASEAN summit meeting in Washington on May 12-13. It showed the US President Joe Biden seeking help from a bus load of ASEAN officials …
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Asian fault lines of Biden’s war on Russia
As relations with Tokyo sour, Moscow beefs up the coastal defence systems on the Kuril Islands that Japan claims as its own The tremors of the United States’ tensions with Russia playing out in Europe are being felt in different ways already in Asia. The hypothesis of Ukraine being in Europe and the conflict being …
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Blinken blinks on human rights
Protesters wearing helmets, gloves stand behind makeshift shields during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, March 1, 2021 On March 3, the US State Department has put on its website a hilarious statement titled The United States Opposes the ICC Investigation into the Palestinian Investigation. In a nutshell, the statement exposes that the Joe Biden Administration …
India’s farewell to ASEAN as it boards RCEP train
A container ship at Shenzhen Port, China (File photo) Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks at the 17th ASEAN-India Summit on November 12 makes sad reading. It comes in the specific context of the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership [RCEP] on Sunday — the mega free trade agreement centred on the ASEAN plus China, …
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