SAARC has been a failure mainly because it was dominated by Indo-Pak rivalry. Anything which one nation proposed, the other had reservations. It was an organization which never proceeded beyond being a coffee shop. While India claimed that its reasons for rejecting attending the SAARC conference in Islamabad since 2016 was Pak’s continued supported to terrorist groups operating from its […]
The US has been in Afghanistan since 2001, all through seeking a way out. Its entry was an act of retaliation to 9/11 and justified, but since then, it has been at the losing end. It was an open secret that Pak was blaming a double game, supporting the Taliban with the money it received from the US. Thus rightly, […]
The Seychelles President, Danny Faure, has commenced his five-day state visit to India. The visit comes as India has slowly begun losing its grip on the country and seeks re-establishing its image. India had signed an agreement in 2015 to develop a naval facility on Assumption Island on a twenty-year lease. The agreement was subsequently modified early this year. It […]
The Indian government’s refusal to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Pak in 2016 had pushed the organization almost into a state of oblivion. With India leading the charge, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan had turned down a desire to attend the summit in Pak. As per rules of SAARC, even if one nation turns down […]
Bangladesh goes to the polls later this year. In Asia, this election will be closely watched. It will be of special interest to India and China. Politics in Bangladesh is run by two major political parties, both led by dynastic rulers. The present ruling party, the Awami League is headed by Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of the founding father of […]
The much-touted China Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) is unlikely to either be a part of the Belt Road Initiative (BRI), nor benefit either nation to the extent it was supposed to. It would only add to financial difficulties of Pak in the long term. The CPEC moves through the Karakoram Pass, which remains closed for six months in a year, […]
In recent times, especially since President Abdulla Yameen assumed power, there has been a stream of anti-India actions. It has moved closer to China, imposed emergency and jailed political leaders while turning down Indian requests for participation in the Indian naval exercise, Milan. It also refused to send any delegation to the Indian defence expo and asked India to retake […]
President Ashraf Ghani recently gave a call for talks with the Taliban, while addressing an international conference in Kabul. In his call, he offered to allow the Taliban to establish itself as a political party as also work to removing sanctions against them in addition to other incentives. There have been mixed reports following the President’s call. One report stated […]
Maldives is back on the boil. The Maldives Supreme Court in a judgement ordered the release of political prisoners and demanded their retrial. The release order included that of former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb Ghafoor, former Prime Minister Mohamed Nasheed (presently in exile) and reinstating 12 members of parliament, thus giving the opposition a majority in the country’s assembly. Post […]
As per Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reports, the US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, and the Defence Secretary, James Mattis, are expected to visit them shortly, seeking cooperation from them in their war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The visit comes after the US announced completion of deployment of an additional three thousand troops in the country and […]