Chinese President Xi Jinping (standing) with foreign minister Wang Yi (C) and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (R) at the recent BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa The Modi government is not perplexed by the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the G20 Summit on September 9-10. Its intuitive …
India, the reluctant BRICS traveller
( L to R) Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at BRICS Summit, Johannesburg, Aug 23, 2023 India became a beacon of hope for the Western media for a short while in the run-up to the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg — a …
Who’s afraid of Prigozhin and Wagner?
Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks to camera in an image taken from video released on Wagner-linked Telegram channels on Aug. 21, 2023 There has been an avalanche of western media reports within minutes or hours of the ghastly death on Wednesday of the head of the Wagner organisation of Russian military contractors, Yevgeny Prigozhin, which pointed the …
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 …
China steps up, a new era has dawned in world politics
Under Chinese mediation, Saudi Arabia and Iran have reached an agreement to resume diplomatic relations, Beijing, March 10, 2023 The agreement announced on Friday in Beijing regarding the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the reopening of their embassies is a historic event. It goes way beyond an issue of Saudi-Iranian …
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Biden stoops to conquer Brazil’s Lula
Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returns to power as left-leaning leaders are in control of six of the region’s seven largest economies The tragicomic “insurrection” in Brasilia on Sunday was destined to meet a sudden death. The universal condemnation and, in particular, the brusqueness with which the Biden Administration distanced itself from the protestors, …
India’s got the BRICS blues
Lula da Silva’s supporters cheer as he arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Brazil’s new president, Brasilia, Jan. 1, 2023 The Brazilian news agency reported that Lula da Silva’s inauguration as the new president on January 1 for a historic third term amidst a carnival-like backdrop was attended by over five dozen foreign delegations, composed …
Historic significance of Xi’s Saudi visit
Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly planning to visit Saudi Arabia in the second week of December 2020 The report that Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning his first overseas trip after the Party Congress and it may be to Saudi Arabia drips with enormous symbolism. According to the Wall Street Journal, the visit …
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Lula never left Brazil’s centre stage
Lula, the fiery trade union leader, berating free-market reforms of President Cardoso, Brasilia, circa 1999 (File photo) The former president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, popularly known as Lula, has won the country’s presidential election by an incredibly narrow margin of 50.90% of the vote against his right-wing rival and incumbent president Jair …
India, BRICS in cold war conditions
The phone conversation on Friday between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Putin conveyed a big signal, coming on the morrow of the release of the new Strategic Concept by NATO which called Russia the alliance’s “most significant and direct threat.” The readouts from Moscow and New Delhi both highlighted the two leaderships’ determination to …