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 […]
How the Army is building confidence and healing wounds in Manipur TOI blog 10 Jul 2023 Images of women (Meira Paibis) gheraoing an army column to prevent them from arresting members of a known militant group, KYKL, display the complexity of the situation in Manipur as do images of thousands of innocents, internally displaced, living in army established relief camps, […]
SCO Summit: Anti-terrorism stance dominates the show India vs disinformation 05 Jul 2023 Addressing the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) heads of state forum, Indian PM Narendra Modi spoke out against terrorism in all its forms, an aspect which has impacted India for a prolonged duration. In the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif, Modi […]
Remodelling the medical corps The Statesman 04 Jul 2023 Theaterization is well on its way. Recent announcements indicate that to some extent the services have compromised on their demands, right or wrong, is a separate issue. Agniveers are now the order of the day as also is manpower reduction, all intended to push cost cutting. One service which has […]