Blinken’s real mission was without doubt to stop India from drifting away from the US-led anti-China coalition. The Biden Administration is worried that without India, the QUAD would unravel and the containment strategy against China wouldn’t gain traction in Asia. Blinken also avoided making any assurances to give India full access to the raw materials for vaccine production. Did Blinken[Read More…]
What we are talking about is a variant of cybercrime. Would the Israeli government have been in the dark about what was happening right under their nose? Impossible. Indeed, was the US in the dark about what Israel was up to all this while? Again, impossible. The CIA and Mossad are joined at the hips. Shouldn’t India call for a[Read More…]
As often in modern history, Britain provides the plot for Washington to act. Russia, China, Iran are in the US crosshairs and Washington’s future agenda is principally oriented to blocking China’s Belt & Road, promoting regime change in Central Asia, using militant Islam as geopolitical tool, and consolidating a long-term presence in Afghanistan as a template of its Indo-Pacific strategy. [Read More…]
Nine Chinese citizens were killed after a bus carrying them plunged into a ravine following an explosion in Pakistan’s far north Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, July 14, 2021… When the whole world is lamenting that the US is quitting Afghanistan in ignominy, the Biden Administration is snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. What an audacity of hope! The new QUAD will[Read More…]
She was making it clear that China cannot be branded in one-dimensional terms as an adversary. Merkel is “convinced of our needing to be technological leaders… in many, many areas” but then, “Obviously, it’s legitimate for China wishing to do this as well. *** The ‘official working visit’ by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House on July 15[Read More…]
Contrary to the paranoia in the western (and Indian) media, Wang prioritised China’s security concerns in the prevailing situation in 3 main directions – namely, prevent the present conflict from morphing into a full-fledged civil war; restart the peace talks quickly; and, eliminate the risk of Afghanistan becoming again a revolving door of international terrorist groups. China’s commitment to the[Read More…]
The British newspaper Daily Telegraph did some kite-flying in the weekend that London is considering open-ended deployment of a contingent of elite special forces to Afghanistan “ to provide training to Afghan units and deploy with them on the ground as advisers.” At the same time, the New York Times reported that White House approves Gen. Austin S. Miller, the[Read More…]
The CPC’s centennial marks a historic breakthrough for China by far exceeding the predictions of most foreign observers. In a nutshell, the CPC has achieved the twin collective goals of getting rid of poverty and standing up to bullying by foreigners. The CPC is omnipotent in China and has become synonymous with the nation, the society and its politics. ***[Read More…]
But the bottom line is that the German-French initiative has caused a divide within the EU, with East European and Baltic countries that are closer geographically to Russia being wary of any loosening of the EU’s approach to Moscow. Equally, the German-French initiative will alarm Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in Russia’s ‘near abroad’. *** A thoughtful, far-sighted proposal by German[Read More…]
Iran’s president-elect Ebrahim Raisi addresses his first press conference in Tehran, June 21, 2021 Raisi said: “European countries and the US should look at what they have done towards the nuclear deal; the US violated the nuclear deal and the Europeans did not fulfil their undertakings. We tell the US that it is duty-bound to lift all sanctions and that[Read More…]
Putin’s Russia is a highly toxic subject in the US’ foreign-policy discourses. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in a carefully choreographed interview, announced June 20 Sunday, “we are preparing another package of sanctions to apply” on the Kremlin…The Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov promptly noted, “This is not a signal we all expected after the summit. I[Read More…]
This may seem a paradox but the truth is that the United States does not realise that Iran’s presidential election result — the resounding victory of the conservative head of the judiciary Ebrahim Raisi — can be an optimal outcome. Raisi has impeccable credentials as a hardliner who belongs to the powerful religious establishment and happens to be a genuinely popular public[Read More…]
Putin said, “..We can see attempts at destroying the relationship between Russia and China. We can see that those attempts are being made in practical policies. And your questions, too, have to do with it. This is, perhaps, the salience of the Geneva summit…” Russia and China have congruent interest in lending support to each other to create space for[Read More…]
Family Portrait of NATO Allies, Brussels, Belgium, June 14, 2021 The NATO brings to mind the classic paradigm of someone all dressed up and nowhere to go. It has to constantly reinvent a reason for its existence. The NATO is a lucrative hunting ground for the American arms industry. The bigger the NATO’s threat perceptions, the greater the scope for[Read More…]
The US is aware that if it crosses China’s red line on the Taiwan question, there is going to be a heavy a price to pay at the cost of US own interests… All this only underlines that the US has realised the importance and necessity of bringing the China-US economic trade ties back on track… *** The European countries[Read More…]
Surely, the friendly ambience has helped Biden to inject a certain Cold War overtone to the G7 proceedings…But without doubt, the G7 has brought to the fore that there is sharp disagreement among the United States and its allies about how to respond to China’s rising power. Europe — especially, the two major European powers Germany and France — does[Read More…]
The US President Joe Biden’s op-ed in Washington Post My trip to Europe is about America rallying the world’s democracies will draw wide attention in world capitals from Brussels to Beijing. He says right at the outset that this weeklong trip to Europe, the first overseas trip of his presidency, is “about realising America’s renewed commitment to our allies and[Read More…]
Sputnik V has already been soft launched in India on May 14 as part of a pilot study with a top official of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories receiving the first jab in India. ..Single-dose Sputnik Light could be first single-dose vaccine launched in India. The biggest commercial consignment of Sputnik-V vaccines arrived in Hyderabad on june 1, at 3:40 am with[Read More…]
Russophobia and Sinophobia are so widely prevalent among the US foreign policy elite… Despite US statements against Kremlin or Beijing…highlighted by Indian media… Neither China nor Russia regards that the US is qualified to speak to them from a position of strength. Biden has outlined that his foreign policy vision will be domestically driven and linked to the American middle[Read More…]
India is hardly in a position to assert on the Afghan chessboard… The bottom line is that New Delhi is highly unlikely to do anything that may undermine the US strategy in Afghanistan, which, incidentally, also has an “Indo-Pacific” dimension to it… New Delhi selectively intensifies its engagement with those world capitals that share its concerns over China’s rise and[Read More…]
Afghan conundrum is mutating The commencement of the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has got off to a flying start. So far there has been no hiccup. One significant landmark has been the vacation of the big American base at Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. There is some poignancy here. A recent despatch[Read More…]
“The public opinion in the US has also been steadily becoming favourable to the Palestinians…But although Americans are warming to the Palestinians, they still favour Israel by wide margins…Western politicians obviously believe that the Palestinians should accept apartheid quietly, and should have the good grace silently to wither away… “Even if the Israeli military objective is realised, it can only[Read More…]
“India gets booted out, by Iran, of Farzad-B gas field in Persian Gulf… India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd had discovered it way back in 2008.” India began to identify itself with the countries of the anti-Iran regional front that the former US President Donald Trump was sponsoring, involving Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE…and with Washington’s so-called Indo-Pacific strategy against China.[Read More…]
One major outcome of the current conflict in Gaza, West Bank and Jerusalem will be the emergence of Hamas as the charioteer of the Palestinian resistance movement against Israel. The Hamas’ ascendance poses a predicament for a number of countries who would have a sense of involvement with the Palestinian cause. India falls in that category. A policy adjustment becomes necessary.[Read More…]
Photo taken on May 9, 2021 shows the books of students who were killed in a car bomb attack in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua). Over 80 people were killed in successive explosions outside a girls’ high school in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, most of the victims were girl students. US withdrawal from Afghanistan must be[Read More…]
The Saudi-Iranian contacts that began last month in secrecy have gained gravitas. Significantly, this is an exclusively regional initiative. The Saudi-Iranian drive to normalise ties is motivated primarily by the two sides’ deep distrust of American intentions. Blinken sounded unhappy and somewhat irritated. His words reflect the reality that the US is a mere passive bystander while the two Gulf[Read More…]
Jospeh Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate, in an essay last week , with a startling title Will Corporate Greed Prolong the Pandemic? , wrote: “…Their goal is simple: to maintain as much market power as they can for as long as possible in order to maximise profits..” Now China has gatecrashed the aggressively-guarded orchard of powerful western pharmaceutical companies… The WHO approved[Read More…]
But the US withdrawal is no longer conditions-based, which means the Taliban have achieved their number one objective without bending on any of the key issues such as their continuing links with the al-Qaeda or their agenda to reestablish the Islamic Emirate… Apparently, all that the US extracted out of the Taliban is a tacit understanding that the western troops[Read More…]
The turmoil in Myanmar had all the hallmarks of a “colour revolution”… The chorus – BBC, Radio Free Asia, western NGOs promoting democracy and human rights… But the operative part hidden from view concentrated on the creation of a “government-in-exile” (a National Unity Government.) The parallels with Syria are striking — “Arab Spring” protests… India is a plausible sanctuary for[Read More…]
Without doubt, Johnson has stolen a march over PM Modi just when the Indian foreign policy establishment is daydreaming about the possible induction of the UK into the Quad to contain China. Clearly, Johnson’s priorities are different — transfuse lifeblood from the former colony, the jewel in the Crown, into his “Global Britain” project. *** Three cheers for the[Read More…]
The “extended Troika” on the Afghan problem comprising the United States, Russia, and China — and Pakistan — have announced in Doha on April 30 Friday a road map in consultation with the Ashraf Ghani government and Taliban as regards the way forward in immediate terms for reaching a peace settlement. The announcement followed consultations in Doha with the involvement[Read More…]
The big question is whether the US is relenting on the vaccine front with a view to cut a deal with India on Afghanistan. But if past experience is any guide, Washington has shown savviness to exploit India’s travails. However, Afghanistan is a ‘graveyard of empires.’ The calculus of fratricidal wars keeps changing and India is best advised to[Read More…]
What is foreign policy worth if it stands disconnected from domestic realities? The limelight falls instead on the US’ point blank refusal to lift the ban on supply of ingredients for manufacture of vaccines… As for China, this isn’t quite the occasion to write about it, but truth be told. Suffice to say, the Indian narrative on Sino-Indian tensions is[Read More…]
“The symbolism is stunning”: China-France-Germany climate summit, Beijing, April 16, 2021. The three met without US…It is against the backdrop of the Biden administration’s containment strategy against China. The discussions spilled over from climate change to the entire spectrum of world politics. Considering the US media build-up as President Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry set out for China, the 4-day visit turned[Read More…]
The occupation of Afghanistan became an end in itself, with war profiteering turning into a roaring business with money, women, drug trafficking, foreign bank accounts, contractors — all thrown into it…thus a limited punitive mission by two dozen special forces personnel morphed into a Sisyphean exercise that lasted nineteen years. *** One missing part in US President Joe Biden’s remarks[Read More…]
A Taliban unit in Laghman, Afghanistan, Dec. 2020 (File photo) To be sure, the “forever war” in Afghanistan is ending on a sombre note. The US has barely managed to avoid a humiliating defeat. The final legacy will be that there are limits to American power. India will do well to bear this mind as it consorts with the Quad. [Read More…]
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones prepares to pull alongside aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (File photo) The “defining partnership of the 21st century” with India will not inhibit Washington from pursuit of American interests. The bottom line is that in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), India should not punch above its weight… reflect sadly where all the heady[Read More…]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) at press conference with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar (R), Delhi, April 6, 2021 That is why today, any signalling that Modi has lost interest looks a cowardly behaviour and can be lethal to the India-Russia relationship… India has already given up its fascination for Russian energy and has settled for US shale oil;[Read More…]
This is Sixth and the last in the series on the flux in the global scene by the seasoned diplomat, an expert on Middle East, Eurasia, Central Asia, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific… Part III: There is no timetable for an official launch Yuan as the clearing currency?A non-dollar payment mechanism, between China and Iran is under discussion. It remains[Read More…]
Part II: China positions itself on the right side of history See Part I: China neutralises the US campaign on Muslim Uighur issue https://www.indianpunchline.com/the-china-iran-pact-is-a-game-changer-part-i/ In an exclusive interview with Al-Arabiya last week, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi outlined Beijing’s approach to the West Asian region with particular reference to the tensions in the Persian Gulf. Wang lamented[Read More…]
This is Fourth in the series on the flux in the global scene by the seasoned diplomat, an expert on Middle East, Eurasia, Central Asia, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific… Fifth will follow. Part I : China neutralises the US campaign on Muslim Uighur issue Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L)[Read More…]
This is third in the series on the flux in the global scene by the seasoned diplomat, an expert on Middle East, Eurasia, Central Asia, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific…Fourth will follow. “To be sure, Myanmar saga is far from a binary of democracy vs. autocracy….Beware of “colour revolution” that the Western intelligence , US and UK in lead role[Read More…]
This is second in the series on the flux in the global scene by the seasoned diplomat, an expert on Middle East, Eurasia, Central Asia, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific…Third on Myanmar will follow. The “hidden agenda” of the war on terror in Afghanistan has been an open secret. The first inkling of its geopolitical character came when it transpired[Read More…]
Aren’t the lotus-eaters in India in a state of blissful forgetfulness or foolish ecstasy that Blinken raised Ladakh at the Alaska talks? The NATO statement after the Ministerial didn’t contain a word on China…European allies are reluctant to be pushed into an American-led confrontation with China… *** A flurry of diplomatic activities through the past fortnight starting with the first-ever[Read More…]
India has had a closed mind, and influential sections of national opinion cling to the notion that bellicosity is the signature element of China’s approach to India. The unfortunate coincidence is that many who indulge in such seasonal tirades against China also happen to be passionate advocates of a US-Indian strategic embrace. Their hysteria dovetails into an ulterior agenda. [Read More…]
The reduction of military tensions in Pangong Tso has become a matter of heartburn for sections of the media and the fraternity of India’s ‘China hands’ — and possibly, hawkish elements within the establishment — who scoff at the very notion of peaceful resolution of territorial differences with China now or ever. What we see is a calibrated attempt to[Read More…]
India also has a powerful pro-American lobby clamouring for “forever wars”. Sinophobia feeds into it seamlessly. This lobby will only gain ascendancy, as India develops a defence industry and the corporate interests and their eventual nexus with the defence establishment come into full play, inevitably, in the domain of foreign and security policies. *** The Washington-based Quincy Institute, arguably the[Read More…]
By a fortuitous happening, the top South Block official heading the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran Division in India’s External Affairs Ministry, J.P. Singh was in Iran in the weekend, hot on the heels of the senior Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. It is improbable they met. It is equally improbable that the Indian diplomat failed to take note of the Taliban co-founder’s[Read More…]
According to media reports, the US President Joe Biden has picked as many as 20 Indian-Americans for senior positions in his government, and the common thread running through them is that none of them had anything to do with the RSS or the BJP even remotely. What a curious yardstick to apply — avoid like plague India’s high-flying cultural organisation[Read More…]
The 13th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam got under way in Hanoi on January 25, 2021. It will go on for nine days. Succinctly put, another profound test of socialist democracy is unfolding in Asia, second only to China’s. The 13th national congress of Vietnam’s ruling communist party, which began in Hanoi on Jan 25 Monday[Read More…]
In his first media interview, the incoming US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has given a preview of Joe Biden administration’s foreign policy directions in regard of Russia, Iran and China. Major shifts can be expected in the policies toward both China and Iran while selective engagement of Russia is on cards. First, Russia. Sullivan noted that it was “most[Read More…]
The route India took has been bullying and it ultimately isolated India. By treating Nepali politicians as shabby buffoons to be pampered one day and collared another day, India badly exposed itself. A belief got entrenched in the Nepalese mind that we are a dangerous neighbour with evil intentions, undependable and far too self-centred and cynical. Tragically, this was despite[Read More…]
No doubt, it was a Himalayan blunder to have staged the Howdy Modi (Houston) and Namaste Trump (Ahmedabad) spectacles… Therefore, it is just as well Modi decided to mark a certain distance from Trump’s agenda, even if belatedly. Apropos of the dramatic happenings in Washington, DC, — with President Donald Trump’s ardent supporters and acolytes ransacking the Capitol Hill on[Read More…]
As Progressives Call for End to Blockade, Biden Announces More Sanctions Against Cuba 
How to manage urbanization 
A Missed Opportunity: Rights of Nature Removed From New Draft of Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework 
Review: “Cruelty Or Humanity” By Stuart Rees – For Humanity, Banish Cruelty 
The Crofting System 
Witness to Turbulent American Democracy: The Paradox for Soul Searching of American Acclaimed Values 
A bouquet of novel compounds: New treatment options for HIV 
Blinken’s Single-Point Agenda In Delhi – China 
Blinken comes riding the Pegasus 
Return to Lifta Is Not A Wish; It’s A Promise, Israel! 
“The Clash of Two Americas, the Unfinished Symphony”, a book by Matthew Ehret 
In rural Rajasthan, Dalit and Adivasi girls fight child marriages 
Forest Food — Important Source of Nutrition, Income and Joy for the Poor 
From Systems Theory to Action 
On Degrowth 
Impact and Challenges on Lawyers during Covid-19 
Sherni and the ‘Hunting Tale’ 
John Woodcock One Of The Greatest Cricket Writers Passes On 
The Crisis in Tunisia 
‘New Form’ of Ice Cream ‘Terrorism’: How Ben & Jerry’s has Exposed Israel’s anti-BDS Strategy 
Julian Assange’s Ecuadorian citizenship revoked 
Planet’s Vital Signs Are Reaching Dangerous ‘Tipping Points’ Amid Climate Crisis, Scientists Warn 
Pivoting to America 
How Himalayan Highways Are Bringing More Risks Than Benefits to People 
In Nobody’s Backyard: Rejecting Geo-Political and Historical Fatalism 
The Political in ‘Political Prisoner’ 
Pandemic pushes transgender community in rural Bengal to brink of starvation 
UK scripts new Afghan plot for US 
Remove unconstitutional sections from statute 
Appointment of R K Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner- Does it comply with the norms set by the apex court? 
Gary Sobers: Immortal Cricketer 
Pegasus: On the Trail of a Flying Horse 
The Past Reveals the Climate Breakdown We Are Headed Towards 
Need for a Change of the dominant Narrative in An Asian Century 
COVID-19 Pandemic Of The Unvaccinated, Vaccine Hesitancy, Manufactured Dissent & Lying By Omission 
Papers Instead of Human Lives: The Sentencing of Daniel Hale 
Record-smashing heat extremes may become much more likely with climate change, finds study 
Clouds May Speed Up Global Warming 
Modi government’s economic policies pose an existential threat to backward communities that must be resisted 
Nationhood Undefined 
Dear Authors and Readers of Countercurrents, You may all know Sheshu Babu an author for CC for long time. Most of our old authors may have received at least one thoughtful comment from him. In the early days, he used to read all CC articles and post a thoughtful comment for each article. Then one day, another CC author Emily[Read More…]
