Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar (L) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 3rd Belt and Road Forum, Beijing, October 18, 2023. The inevitable is finally, inexorably, happening as the government’s 9-year old strategy to isolate, demonise and brand Pakistan as a state sponsoring terrorism collapses in front of the global …
Don’t plan yet for Ukraine reconstruction
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed members of the federal and regional civic chambers, Moscow, November 3, 2023 Having successfully accomplished the destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States is estimating that in Ukraine too, destruction is nearly complete. At the recent meeting of the foreign and defence ministers of the US and India in …
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India, US are on pathway to contain China
The meeting of foreign and defence ministers of India and the US in the ‘2+2’ format took place in New Delhi, November 10, 2023 If the United States is a declining power and China’s rise inevitable in the Indo-Pacific; if Russia regards itself as a global power and is determined to bury the US-dominated rules-based …
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Neocon regime change in Gaza will complicate ‘two-state solution’
President of Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak (L) at Cairo, October 20, 2023 The world-wide condemnation of Israel’s horrific violation of international humanitarian law is not deterring its military operations in Gaza. In remarks on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the calls for ceasefire, saying these “are calls for …
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US diplomacy lost traction in Middle East. Isolating Iran no longer possible.
Russia’s Dy Foreign Minister & Special Envoy Mikhail Bogdanov (C) held talks with Iran’s Dy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and Hamas’ head of International Relations Mousa Marzouk, Moscow, Oct. 26, 2023 The US President Joe Biden is convinced that one of the reasons why Hamas launched the attack on Israel was because of the …
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No takers for a West Asian war but war seems inevitable
For the first time since Gaza crisis began, Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Gen. Mohammad Baqeri engaged with Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on October 19, 2023. There is no question that smart power enhances foreign policy. Since the notion of “smart power” entered international diplomacy some two decades ago, a major regional power, …
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Ouster of the populist-nationalist government in Poland is highly consequential
Massive Polish opposition rally ahead of Sunday’s election, Warsaw, October 1, 2023 There is no question that Sunday’s surprising vote in Poland is going to be the most consequential election in Europe this year. It is a game changer for Poland’s democracy and a tipping point geopolitically for the European Union, the Ukraine war and …
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Netanyahu is an albatross around India’s neck
Palestinian children and a rare white dove with an uncertain future amidst the ruins of Gaza City following horrific Israeli air strikes. One week has passed since an explosive situation erupted in West Asia around Israel. India’s famously loquacious External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is maintaining deafening silence. That is not befitting the Vishwaguru (world …
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The Caucasus and West Asia are joined at the hips
Azerbaijan’s military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh led to a mass exodus of entire region’s population of ethnic Armenians Frozen conflicts can only be understood through history. That is why the ‘erasure’ of Nagorno-Karabakh from the map by Azerbaijan is an incredibly tumultuous development for Transcaucasia and its surrounding regions. The backdrop is the breakup of the Soviet …
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Russia scrambles as EU surges in Caucasus
Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan (above) is turning to the West Armenia no longer disputes that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan. The prospect of peaceful resolution of a regional conflict ought to be good news, but this is an incredibly complex situation with an external environment where a brutal war is raging with no end in sight, …
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