On September 13, China’s newly appointed ambassador to Afghanistan, Zhao Xing, arrived at the presidential palace in Kabul to present his credentials to the acting prime minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Mohammad Hassan Akhund. Uniformed Taliban members welcomed him to the palace in a grand theatrical ceremony. While the Chinese foreign ministry deemed the appointment a ‘normal rotation’, […]

The embassy of Afghanistan in India’s capital New Delhi will cease operations from Oct. 1, due to a lack of support from India and a reduction in personnel and resources, the embassy said in a statement on social media platform X. The embassy also said a failure to meet expectations in serving Afghanistan’s interests is another key factor in shutting […]

The sombre mood at the Council on Foreign Affairs in New York during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s talk on Tuesday was only to be expected against the backdrop of the India-Canada diplomatic spat over the killing of a Sikh secessionist in Vancouver in June, which, reportedly, was “coordinated” on the Canadian side with Washington based on intelligence inputs from […]

It was the promise of creating a ‘Naya [new] Pakistan’ on the lines of ‘Riyasat-e-Madina’ [a model Islamic welfare state] plus a discreet ‘push’ from Pakistan’s powerful army that saw Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf [PTI] chief Imran Khan becoming the ‘selected’ prime minister of Pakistan in August 2018. Unfortunately, despite Khan’s grandiose assurance of ushering-in winds of change by bringing about all-around […]

On September 24, 2023, a woman Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre, Hire Sapna, who was injured in the encounter on September 20 (below), and subsequently arrested by the Security Forces (SFs), in Dantewada District of Chhattisgarh, succumbed to her injuries. Sapna was a member of the CPI-Maoist’s ‘Keralapal Area Committee’. On September 20, 2023, two women Maoists, Kumari Lakkhe […]

Pakistan believed that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be their “Alladin’s Lamp and the Genie will full fill all their wishes.” CPEC was to be believed to be a ‘Game Changer’ for Pakistan.Initially valued at $47 billion, the value of CPEC projects was worth $62 billion as of 2021. Since 2018 onwards, however, it has not been smooth sailing and […]

For a long time, leaders and media from the West have given Prime Minister Modi’s India a pass or an easy time preferring to focus attention on the threat and deficiencies of China while lauding India as a bastion of democracy and model for the developing world. Thus the glaring reality and inconvenient facts of Modi’s governance since accession to […]

Says China is benign and accommodative while its adversaries are notChina’s State Council Information Office has released the country’s blueprint for a better world entitled “Global Community of Shared Future: China’s Proposals and Actions”. Presented on September 26, the document projects a benign, accommodative and progressive image of China, contrasting it with its adversary countries which are dubbed hegemonic and […]

A bold move by the Philippine coast guard this week to publicly cut loose a floating barrier installed by China near a disputed South China Sea lagoon highlights how Beijing’s actions are fueling forceful responses, analysts say. It also could help rally other countries in the region to stand up to Beijing. “The current [Philippine] government understands the need to […]

The ethnoreligious violence in the Indian state of Manipur between Meiteis and Kukis has been ongoing since May, but it was only in July 2023 when a video went viral in India showing two women being paraded naked that the world began to pay attention to the situation in earnest. One of the women was reportedly sexually assaulted after the […]