NEW DELHI: India’s Adani Group has been invited by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to discuss the terms of a proposed agreement to develop the East Container Terminal of Colombo Port. Sri Lankan sources have told StratNews Global that in keeping with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s assurances to port trade unions, the terminal will remain […]Read More
NEW DELHI: India came in for some praise from Bangladesh and also got a reality check from its junior foreign minister Shahriar Alam. At a webinar on Thursday, Alam, speaking from Dhaka, said the two countries are “witnessing a golden chapter in bilateral relations” with ties having matured but he also indulged in some plainspeak, […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has underscored India’s role as a net security provider, saying “We have sought security and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific by becoming a net security provider–for instance in peacekeeping efforts or anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Sharing what we can, in terms of equipment, training […]Read More
NEW DELHI: In keeping with its ‘Neighbourhood First” policy, Bhutan and Maldives will become the first two countries in India’s immediate neighbourhood to receive the Covid19 vaccine on Wednesday. India also announced on Tuesday that it will begin supplying the vaccines to Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles from tomorrow. Vaccines to all these countries will […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Nepal has once again urged India to make changes in the 1950 India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, with its foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali saying that it “needs to reflect current realities” and to “mirror the changed context of the 21st century”. He also drew attention to the report of the Eminent […]Read More
NEW DELHI: India bluntly told Nepal that any discussion on its so-called claims to Kalapani can only take place under a separate mechanism for settling boundary disputes. Nevertheless, Nepal’s foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali raised the boundary dispute when the two sides met here on Friday for the sixth Joint Commission meeting. There was no […]Read More
NEW DELHI: India faces a delicate task in ‘vaccine diplomacy’, of balancing domestic requirement for Coronavirus vaccine with growing demand worldwide for the same. The chorus, especially from neighbours, is particularly sensitive and in keeping with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, Delhi has promised to prioritise vaccine availability for them. A case in point is Nepal. […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Against the backdrop of political turmoil in Nepal, a former Indian ambassador to Kathmandu has offered a grim prognosis of India’s eastern neighbour. Ranjit Rae, in an exclusive conversation with StratNews Global’s Parul Chandra, noted that Prime Minister Oli had dissolved Parliament simply because he had lost support within his own party and […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Strategic dialogues between nations are by their very nature confidential but Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic advisor to French President Macron, acknowledged that Thursday’s talks with India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval covered “strategic opportunities and our defence and security relationship”. He elaborated at a webinar organised by the Vivekananda Foundation in Delhi the same […]Read More
NEW DELHI: India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conveyed two messages to his Sri Lankan hosts at the end of his three-day visit to Colombo. The first was on the 13th amendment devolving power to the provinces, which is seen as guaranteeing the rights of the Tamil minority. But some ruling party ministers and the […]Read More
NEW DELHI: China may have failed to keep the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) united despite a last-ditch attempt in dispatching a four-member delegation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to Kathmandu late last month. But for all intents and purposes, the Chinese are in Nepal for the long haul. A worried India knows this […]Read More
NEW DELHI: India began its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on New Year’s Day. It hopes to give renewed thrust to the long-standing demand for reform of this key UN agency even though negotiations have stagnated for a decade. StratNews Global learns that during its tenure, India will […]Read More
NEW DELHI: The shock dissolution of Nepal’s House of Representatives with elections scheduled for April-May 2021 has underscored the bitter struggle for power between Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Prachanda. The view in Kathmandu is one of foreboding with warnings of prolonged instability. “It’s an unpopular move. After three decades of instability, the Nepalese […]Read More
NEW DELHI: Australia does not support the Quad becoming a Nato-style military alliance! That’s the word from Barry O’Farrell, Australia’s high commissioner to India. In a wide ranging and exclusive conversation with StratNews Global’s Parul Chandra, he gave reasons why his government felt that way. He also offered an insight into why the Australian authorities […]Read More
NEW DELHI: On March 26th early in the new year, Prime Minister Modi will grace celebrations in Dhaka marking 50 years since the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan’s yoke. Ahead of those celebrations Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina inked seven documents during a virtual summit on Thursday. They also jointly inaugurated the newly […]Read More
NEW DELHI: A mix of nostalgia and realism will mark the virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Thursday. Nostalgia, since this is the 100th birth anniversary of Bangladesh’s founder and Sheikh Hasina’s father, Mujibur Rehman. Also, next year will be 50 years of Bangladesh’s independence. The realism […]Read More
NEW DELHI: India has been pushing for the use of the Iranian port of Chabahar port, being developed with its assistance, to the five ‘stans’ of Central Asia for long. Now, Uzbekistan has become the first one to seek a trilateral meeting on Chabahar. The first trilateral working group meeting between India, Iran and Uzbekistan […]Read More
NEW DELHI: In the next few days, Pakistan’s National Assembly will pass an Act setting up the CPEC (China Pak Economic Corridor) Authority. The Act formalises the Army’s already existing hold over CPEC since its head will be the current chairman and former ISI chief Lt-General (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa. The controversial ‘The China Pakistan […]Read More
NEW DELHI: After the diplomatic and military outreach to Nepal has come the political outreach. On Thursday, Vijay Chauthaiwale who heads the foreign affairs department of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called on Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and the newly minted finance minister Bishnu Poudel in Kathmandu. This outreach is significant not merely […]Read More
NEW DELHI: “The 13,000 acres island has all modern amenities, year-round fresh water, beautiful lake and proper infrastructure and enhanced facilities. These include uninterrupted supply of electricity and water, agricultural plots, cyclone shelters, two hospitals, four community clinics, mosques, warehouses, telecommunication services, police station, recreation and learning centers, playgrounds, etc.”– These words are not from […]Read More