Are forces moving in the right direction The Statesman 01 Aug 2023 The Kargil war, whose anniversary was held last week with the defence minister and all service chiefs honouring those who sacrificed their lives at the war memorial in Drass, had brought to fore serious shortcomings in India’s management of defence. On 24th Jul 1999, even before the […]
TTP terror in Pakistan: How Islamabad is only reaping what it sowed First Post 28 Jul 2023 Post two terrorist strikes by the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) in Baluchistan, including the Zhob cantonment, resulting in the death of 12 soldiers, Pak officials have begun throwing tantrums at Afghanistan for sponsoring this group. Pakistan’s military media office, DGISPR, released a statement […]
BRICS at the crossroads The Excelsior 28 Jul 2023 It has been officially announced that President Putin of Russia will not attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders’ summit scheduled from 22-24 Aug in Johannesburg. He will be represented by his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. A statement released by the spokesperson of the South African […]
India is in a sweet spot The Statesman 25 Jul 2023 Successful visits by PM Modi to the US, Egypt, France and UAE, countries spread across four continents, displayed India’s growing global status. Defence deals, which largely come with multiple riders and restrictions, as also technology which is shared with close allies, were cleared by both, France and the […]
Cluster bombs for Ukraine The Excelsior 19 Jul 2023 A recent announcement from the White House mentioned that the US is despatching cluster bombs to Ukraine. In an interview to CNN television, President Biden stated that it had taken him ‘a while to be convinced,’ adding, ‘the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.’ A Cluster bomb, on exploding, releases […]
As India and US move closer to each other, China is caught in Catch 22 trap First Post 18 Jul 2022 The Indian foreign minister, S Jaishankar met top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) ministerial meet in Jakarta, last week. As per Jaishankar, they discussed outstanding issues related to peace and […]
Boosting ties with France The Statesman 18 Jul 2023 France was recovering from riots which lashed the nation following the killing of Nahel Merzouk a 17-year-old youth of Moroccan and Algerian descent by the police at a traffic stop. India refused to comment stating it was an internal matter of France. Simultaneously the European parliament discussed Manipur riots. Christian groups […]
How Khalistan movement is hollow, absurd, and just an irritant Firstpost 17 Jul 2023 We have recently been witnessing interesting scenes being played out in UK, Canada, Australia and the US. Sikhs, permanent residents of these countries, with almost no affinity or links to India, except religion, standing in protest outside Indian embassies and consulates, demanding the creation of […]
The SCO summit: Much ado about nothing The Excelsior 15 Jul 2023 The recently concluded SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) summit displayed existing differences between nations of the organization, rather than unity. India, moving the summit to an on-line mode from an in-person event, had multiple intentions. Apart from avoiding the embarrassment of PM Modi interacting with Shehbaz Sharif, in […]
Riots in France have lessons for Europe The Statesman 11 Jul 2023 In 2005, two French youth of Malian and Tunisian descent were electrocuted as they fled the police in a suburb of Paris. Their deaths sparked riots in France and neighbouring countries, lasting three weeks. The rioters, mostly youngsters and unemployed youth from suburban housing projects (referred as […]