India-Russia ties get a makeover

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and President Vladimir Putin (R) in Moscow during a five-day visit to Russia (Dec 24-29, 2023) The visit by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Russia on December 24-29 presented an extraordinary spectacle reminiscent of the halcyon days of Indo-Soviet relations. There …

Maldives explores life outside Indo-Pacific

Maldives’ President-elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu (C) addressing supporters, Malé, October 2, 2023  A massive western media barrage was to be expected caricaturing the election result of the runoff in the Maldives presidential poll in binary terms as China’s “gain” being India’s “loss”.  It further laments that democracy is in peril in Maldives under the incoming …

Russia, China take holistic view of the Pamirs and Hindu Kush

A trilateral foreign minister level meeting agreed to extend China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, Islamabad, May 5, 2023 The Xi’an Declaration, issued after the First China-Central Asia Summit at Xi’an on May 18-19, takes a direct hit at the West’s interference in the region, scattering the notion in Washington and Brussels that Russia and China’s …

A Sino-Russian military alliance is gratuitous (as of now)

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin via video link on December 15, 2001 The New York Times got the story correct when its Moscow bureau watched the outcome of the videoconference between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday and assessed that the US’ two main adversaries …

Biden proposes a Quad summit. This is why

Quad Upgrade: US President Joe Biden plans the first-ever summit meeting with Quad counterparts from India, Japan, Australia The Axios reported Friday that President Joe Biden plans to meet his counterparts from the so-called Quad — Japan, Australia and India — later this month. Biden’s plan can potentially transform the regional alignments in Asia-Pacific. Its …

China-EU deal is a reality check for India

After seven long years of negotiations, China and the European Union announced on December 30 that they have reached a Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). It is a hugely consequential event for the world economy and international politics.  The agreement is destined to rebalance the trade and investment relationship between two of the top three …