South Asia and the Israel-Hamas war The Excelsior 24 Jan 2025Islamist nations in the Middle East, less Iran, either maintained silence throughout the Israel-Hamas conflict, or commented only on the subject of civilian casualties. For them, ties with the US are more important. None displayed direct support for Hamas. Qatar, which funded Hamas for years, hosted its leadership on its […]
Ceasefire agreement marks new chapter in Israel-Hamas conflict E TV Bharat 21 Jan 2025Israel and Hamas have accepted a ceasefire deal which kicked in on Sunday. The deal, pushed through detailed negotiations spread over months, comes into effect just as Biden finishes his tenure as US President. Both, Biden and Trump, have taken credit for the ceasefire, with Trump claiming […]
Battlefield tourism is a small step The Statesman 21 Jan 2024On Army Day the MoD launched a portal on battlefields. The portal, released by the defence minister, has details of how to visit various well-known battlefields and war memorials in their vicinity, where tourists can pay homage to those who laid down their lives. The regions being opened include Kibithoo […]
The embattled ICC The Excelsior 17th Jan 2025Last weekend, the US House of Representatives passed a bill termed as the ‘Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act’ which seeks to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC). The bill proposes to freeze property assets and deny visas to any foreigners who materially or financially contributed to the court’s efforts to ‘investigate, arrest, detain or […]
The Changing Face of South Asia: India’s Neighbourhood Concerns Amid Pakistan’s Growing Ties with Bangladesh ETv Bharat 15 Jan 2024The recent meeting between the Indian foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, and the Afghanistan Acting Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Dubai, is the latest in the changing scenario in South Asia. The landscape began to change with the overthrowing of […]
American role in targeting India The Statesman 14 Jan 2025Two recent reports emerging in The Washington Post have intentionally been published, without checking facts, intending to lower India’s image at a time when there is a government change in the US. The first was an article stating that India was scheming with politicians of Maldives to have the current pro-China […]
2025 year of reforms in defence sector The Excelsior 09 Jan 2025The defence ministry released a statement at the commencement of 2025 mentioning that the year would be declared as that of reforms. It listed a total of 10 avenues for ‘focussed interventions.’ These include establishment of integrated theatre commands, focus on new domains such as Cyber and Space, and […]
The Pak Taliban fiasco- a lesson for Pakistan The Statesman 07 Jan 2025The Centre for Research and Security Studies states that in 2024 Pakistan had a total of 1166 incidents of terrorist attacks and counter terrorism operations which resulted in 2546 fatalities and 2267 injuries. Among them 685 fatalities were of military personnel. As per Pakistan’s DG Inter Services Public […]
India-Bangladesh ties in the coming days The Excelsior 01 Jan 2025The Indian foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, recently visited Bangladesh and apart from meeting his counterpart, Mohammad Touhid Hossain, also met the head of the interim government, Mohammad Yunus. As per the MEA readout, he highlighted India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh. In addition, he conveyed […]
Trust deficit remains in India-China ties The Statesman 31 Dec 2024An agreement on resolving the standoff in Ladakh was reached on 21st Oct, just prior to the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, paving the way for a PM Modi-Xi Jinping dialogue at the venue. The Chinese readout of the meeting mentioned, ‘President Xi stressed that China-India relations are essentially a […]