The morning after a Russian-American summit is most critical to know whether the previous day’s bonhomie was real, surreal or unreal. Surveying the Geneva Summit (June 16) between presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, I cautiously assessed the next day, “Does Biden have the political capital to press ahead with a project to create “stability and …
NATO declares China as global security challenge
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in Brussels on Monday reminds us once again of what a hoax the United States had perpetrated on the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 by assuring him that the western alliance would expand “not one inch eastward” once Moscow allowed German Unification and disbanded the Warsaw …
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US accent is on bilateral track to China
The G7 leaders celebrated that the tumultuous Donald Trump presidency is over. French President Emmanuel Macron (L) sharing happy moment with President Biden, Cornwall, UK, June 12, 2021 (The first part of this essay titled G7 and China: Fault lines in the world order is here.) The European countries have their own plans, while welcoming the …
Biden wants to remain engaged with Russia, China
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (L) and USTR Katherine Tai held their first call after the latter’s Senate confirmation, May 26, 2021 Anyone who tried to divine the Russia policy of the Biden presidency out of the corpus of statements by current and prospective officials in the new administration would know by now that the …
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Afghan nationalism faces existential challenge — Part 2
Afghan children walk past a Taliban Red Unit, an elite force, Alingar district, Laghman province in eastern Afghanistan (File photo) Apocalyptic scenario is unwarranted The Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on May 13, “We will not allow boots on the ground or military bases on our territory.” He was referring to the future …
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Biden-Putin summit is on
On March 17, on the eve of the first scheduled meeting in Alaska of senior Chinese and American diplomats since President took office, the United States sanctioned twenty-four Chinese officials for undermining Hong Kong’s democratic freedoms, including a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo, Wang Chen. In diplomatic terms, the timing of the action was pointed …
China blocks US bases in Central Asia
1300-km long Tajik-Afghan border runs through difficult and dangerous terrain and is a major drug crossing area (File photo) Ten months after the first meeting of the foreign ministers of China and the five Central Asian states, Beijing has followed through with a second session on May 11 at a gathering in Xi’an, China, …
Modi Govt’s vaccine diplomacy unravels—within India and abroad
The viral picture that defines India’s Covid distress — an exhausted Chandrakala Singh, sitting stone-faced in an electric rickshaw with the body of her son Vineet Singh (cropped out) by her feet on a busy street in the city of Varanasi in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, emblematic of the plight of Indians trapped …
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US’ China policy at inflection point
China-France-Germany climate summit, Beijing, April 16, 2021 Considering the US media build-up as President Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry set out for China, the 4-day visit turned out to be an uneventful affair. Perhaps, the chances of President Xi Jinping participating in the signature event in Washington — the Leaders Summit on Climate on …
US expects Russia to submit. Will it?
US President Joe Biden departs after delivering remarks on Russia in the East Room at White House, Washington, DC, April 15, 2021 In his landmark foreign policy speech delivered from the US state department on February 4, President Joe Biden had proclaimed that “America is back. Diplomacy is back at the centre of our foreign …