The BJP is threatening to abolish reservations in jobs and educational institutions for Muslims if voted to power in the 2023-24 elections. With elections due for State Assemblies and parliament in 2023-2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has put into operation its time-tested tactic of sharpening the communal divide to reap electoral rewards. The idea is to further marginalize the […]

It’s high-wire diplomacy. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen kicked off a consequential foreign trip in New York on Thursday, to be followed by visits to Guatemala and Belize, then a final stop in Los Angeles for a highly anticipated potential meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The visit comes as tensions between the United States and China are nearing a […]

As the dust settles on three years of economic disasters, China’s leaders are grappling with a deep loss of public confidence that is affecting companies and consumers and casting a shadow over the country’s future growth trajectory. Even as Beijing claims a larger diplomatic and economic role on the world stage, Chinese businesses and foreign investors are becoming increasingly wary […]

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s whirlwind diplomatic offensive has returned to national soil. After putting Russia’s new status as a vassal state on display during his trip to Moscow, Xi gathered experts and representatives from around the world at the “Second International Forum on Democracy: Shared Human Values” in Beijing—a spurious imitation of US President Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy—the China […]

Emboldened by the victory of its ideological counterparts in Afghanistan, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has resurged in a deadly fashion. In January, the banned group carried out its deadliest attack on a mosque in Peshawar since the Army Public School (APS) attack in 2014. TTP, an ally of the Afghan Taliban, takes its inspiration of imposing Sharia Law in Pakistan’s tribal […]

Speaking at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee Tuesday, the US Navy’s operations chief said the United States Navy is currently building 56 new warships and has contracted the building of 76 more, as part of a massive military buildup in preparation for conflict with China. “We have 56 ships under construction and another 76 that are under […]

Much has been written about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent three-day state visit to Russia from 20th to 22nd of March. Globally, the high-profile visit was interpreted as China’s drive for a new global order, as well as Russia’s willingness to play the “second fiddle” or “junior partner” in its relations with Beijing. Indian strategists too expressed their concern over […]

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has wasted little time since touching down in New York on Wednesday, delivering one speech shortly after her arrival with a second set for Thursday night. But it’s been hard to nail down the details. The controversial “transit” through America’s biggest city – en route, apparently, to official visits in Taiwanese allies Guatemala and Belize – […]

Responding to concerns voiced by the national security advisors of some regional countries at this week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in India, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) on Thursday reiterated promises that Afghanistan’s soil would not be used against any country. The spokesman for the Islamic Emirate Bilal Karimi said all of Afghanistan was secure and well managed […]

The Islamic Emirate’s ministry of defense says it plans to increase the number of the country’s national army soldiers from 150,000 to between 170,000 and 200,000 in the current solar year. Qari Fasihuddin Fetrat, the army chief of staff, said in an interview that the IEA has all the military equipment from the previous government and that the army is […]