NEW DELHI: As summits go, Narendra Modi’s virtual hook-up with 27 leaders of the European Union over the weekend appeared to tick all the right boxes. This is only the second time that the EU has “summitted” with one country (the other being the US). Also, the summit included the 17 Central and East European […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the virtual summit between India and the 27-member European Union (EU) on Saturday, both sides exuded optimism about the larger relationship although carefully skirting any expectations about a breakthrough in talks on a free trade area (FTA). In a jointly-penned editorial in the online magazine Politico, Narendra Modi and his Portuguese […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Declaring that the “welfare of India is critically important to the United States” Vice President Kamala Harris was quick to rebuff charges from her critics that both she and the administration had been slow to respond to India during its moment of crisis. “The surge of Covid-19 outbreaks and deaths in India is […]Read More
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took the Covid bull by the horns during an interview in London, describing as “unprecedented” the second wave of coronavirus sweeping the country. “People who say this don’t seem to understand the severity of the problem that we are dealing with. We have a demand for medical oxygen […]Read More
Deeper economic co-operation between India and the UK was already on the agenda before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Prime Minister Boris Johnson held their virtual summit but the takeaways were still impressive. The first step was the adoption of ‘Roadmap 2030’ which will provide a framework for UK-India relations across health, […]Read More
Arab potentates are known to favour being interviewed by Western TV channels, so when Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave an interview to Arabic channel Al Arabiya, something was in the air. On Wednesday, the Crown Prince appeared to draw a line in the sand. Saudi Arabia was “in agreement with the Biden […]Read More
It was hardly surprising that the focus of this year’s Raisina Dialogue would be on dealing with the fallout of Covid-19 and how nation states could better work together to realise this aim. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for global systems to reinvent themselves to face “common challenges that threaten humanity”. In this way, he […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Europe continues to view the Indo-Pacific region with a degree of ambivalence. Despite member countries (and the UK) outlining their visions of how they view a region that contributes the largest share of global GDP in the world, the 27-member union has not been able to hammer out a common strategy how to […]Read More
NEW DELHI: The global pandemic has caused nation states to re-examine the way they look at and deal with one another. From earlier age-old alliances that were more fixed in nature countries are now increasingly exploring bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral alliances that work for the greater good rather than simply coming together for ideological or […]Read More
NEW DELHI: The idea of India as a close and strategic partner of Nato is something the trans-Atlantic organization appears to have been mulling over for some time. Concerns over the rise of China and its threat to the “rules-based order” has prompted what Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg believes are serious challenges to the […]Read More
NEW DELHI: On the second day of his four-day visit to India, America’s climate czar John Kerry described India as a major player on a global stage. “Decisive action now in partnership with the rest of the world will determine what this transformation will mean for all generations to come.” The praise came with a […]Read More
NEW DELHI: “The talks were constructive,” on that cryptic but positive note from Iran, the first round of discussions in Vienna to break the stalemate on the Iran nuclear deal adjourned late on Tuesday but with the promise to resume on Friday. The U.S. and Iranian delegations are staying in different hotels in the city—with […]Read More
NEW DELHI: The unveiling of a draft policy on the Arctic by the Indian government in January this year was welcomed with a sigh of relief by the strategic community. For far too long New Delhi had been viewed as a silent observer as power games for control by Russia, China and the US over […]Read More
The British government has successfully countered the Covid second wave, but the crisis over Liberty Steel could deal a body blow to the economic recovery slowly getting underway. Liberty Steel owned by billionaire Sanjeev Gupta, is in deep crisis after its major source of funds Greensill Capital, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. Gupta has […]Read More
NEW DELHI: For the Indian (and possibly Pakistani) media, their presence in Dushanbe, Tajikistan was to report and record every word spoken when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, only to be disappointed. Jaishankar had other more pressing concerns to put forward at the 9th Heart of Asia Conference. […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Beijing has no reason to be anxious about the Quad. Such sentiments voiced by former foreign secretary and China expert Vijay Gokhale, on the day the virtual Quad summit at the head-of-state level is being held, is welcome news for those who believe that apart from the Galwan clashes, Chinese apprehensions about the […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Cracks in the Democratic Party over Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are increasingly apparent. Representatives Ilhan Omar and Tom Malinowksi have proposed two bills to punish MBS for his many transgressions including the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Kashoggi. While Omar’s bill called for direct sanctions on the Crown Prince, Malinowski has […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Recent moves at disengagement may lead to some “semblance of normalcy” in the India-China relationship, foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said at a webinar recently. But as he pointed out, “We have always made the point with our Chinese interlocutors that a normal bilateral relationship is contingent upon peace and tranquility in the border […]Read More
NEW DELHI: India is willing to “shoulder greater responsibility” in the neighbourhood, Vijay Gokhale, former foreign secretary, underscored at a recent webinar in Pune, but in the light of China’s sustained inroads into the region, he acknowledged there were “other options”. “We have begun to accept that as a large economy we need to shoulder […]Read More
NEW DELHI: The game of brinkmanship between Tehran and the West continues as Iranian lawmakers overturned the recent agreement with the IAEA to continue inspections for a further three months at selected sites. If sanctions are not lifted by then, the inspections would be ended. The collapse of this agreement suggests that Tehran’s politicians are […]Read More