NEW DELHI: As India walks the tight-rope between Dhaka and Nay Pyi Taw on the Rohingya crisis, it’s unlikely that Myanmar will take these displaced people back. Dr Avinash Paliwal who is a lecturer in Diplomacy and Public Policy at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London and is currently focusing on India-Myanmar ties, told […]Read More

NEW DELHI: Maldives Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi, in conversation with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi, says she hopes the resumption of NSA-level trilateral talks will take place soon in Malé. She also was positive on the possibility of re-including Mauritius and the Seychelles as observers in the trilaterals. The India-Maldives-Sri Lanka NSA-level […]Read More

COLOMBO: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed relevant officials to launch an investigation into an alleged Airbus-SriLankan bribery deal. International reports revealed on Saturday that Airbus had bribed the wife of an executive of SriLankan Airlines to secure an aircraft deal. The scam is a part of Airbus’s massive scheme to offer and pay bribes to secure […]Read More

NEW DELHI: Killing two birds with one stone: On Sunday, India lent a not so modest $1.3 million support line to the Maldives. The aid will help in the area of climate change by funding a water bottling plant. In a subtle dig at China, the grant also underscores how New Delhi’s transparent policy making can […]Read More

NEW DELHI: The suspension of the SAARC process owing to hurdles placed by Pakistan has had an unintended consequence. It cut off Afghanistan’s physical access to other SAARC members. The push for BIMSTEC and sub-regional cooperation has also accentuated Kabul’s sense of isolation within the South Asian fraternity, argues Nazir Kabiri of the Biruni Institute, a […]Read More

NEW DELHI: There is an anti-Indian perception in Bangladesh which flows from the view that India has benefited more from the relationship than Dhaka. Key Bangladeshi concerns remain unaddressed including its share of Teesta waters. The Citizenship Amendment Act is another issue with Bangladeshi civil society taking exception to comments by senior Indian leaders. StratNews […]Read More

Nearly 30 months after the border standoff at Dolam (popularly known as Doklam) was resolved, China is far from giving up attempts to whittle down India’s influence over Bhutan, the third and most important angle of the triangular mess in the strategically important Himalayan frontier. Throughout 2019, Beijing sought to increase the pressure on the […]Read More

KABUL: Afghan male and female youths modelled on Thursday in the first street fashion show in Kabul, and another show is planned for Herat province in the upcoming month to promote Afghan culture. Previous fashion shows were held indoors, not with public access. Ajmal Haqiqi, who headed up the show, said that they will hold […]Read More

NEW DELHI: India and Nepal may share strong historical, cultural and religious links but India needs to look beyond these if it wants to be in sync with a new Nepal. This advice comes from Nepal’s Sujeev Shakya who describes himself as a thought leader and speaker. Shakya is also an author, having written two books—‘Unleashing […]Read More

NEW DELHI: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar last week has left more questions than answers. StratNews Global learns that only two agreements were signed and these were about shoring up the existing agreement on Kyuakhphyu deep-sea port in Rakhine state and the feasibility study of a railway line from Yunnan to Mandalay (feasibility […]Read More