Recently, both the US and Vietnam have raised concerns about Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal project, a water route connecting the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port to its coastal province of Kep. Besides environmental worries, there is apprehension about the canal locks being used to adjust water levels for the benefit of accommodating a “Chinese military presence in Cambodian territory” next to […]

Almost two months after ties between the two neighbours plummeted to a new low, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, was in Pakistan for a three-day trip. From 22-24 April, he met his Pakistani counterpart along with meeting the Prime Minister, the Chief of Army Staff, and Pakistan’s provincial leadership. The timing of this visit is […]

First it was the Ream Naval Base. Now it’s the Techo Funan Canal. Could the planned $1.7-billion waterway that will cut through eastern Cambodia – which will be built, funded and owned by a Chinese state firm – be used by Beijing to attack or threaten Vietnam? Phnom Penh denies this and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet reportedly had to […]

Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha was in China from 24 March to 1 April 2024 on an official trip upon the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. Since becoming foreign minister after the change in coalition and formation of a new government in Nepal less than a month ago, this was Shrestha’s first foreign […]

On April 28, 2024, two cadres of the Kuki-Chin National Front (KCNF) were killed during a raid by Army personnel in the remote Baklai Para area in the Ruma Upazila (Sub-District) of the Bandarban District of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Three firearms, ammunition, and a walkie-talkie used by the armed group were recovered. On April 22, 2024, a KCNF operative […]

On April 29, 2024, Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP) terrorists attacked the Shia Imam Zaman Mosque in the Andisheh town of Guzra District in Herat Province, killing seven worshippers, including the prayer leader of the mosque, two women and a child. The attack took place during the evening (between Maghrib and Isha) prayers. Iran’s Embassy in Kabul strongly condemned the attack. […]

The war in Gaza, now well past the half-year mark with few signs of a long-term resolution, has been an interesting case study to follow from the point of view of the Taliban’s ‘acting’ Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA). The Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, almost four years ago, and has since managed to develop a patchwork of […]

Pakistan has paid a huge price of the US-led war on terror that saw over 80,000 Pakistanis martyred After the US withdrawal, Afghanistan has become a hub of terrorist organisations capable of attacking Europe, Asia and the US, thereby threating regional and international peace. Afghanistan has a history of creating problems for Pakistan since 1947 by raising the so-called issue […]

In future crises or conflicts in U.S.-Chinese relations, the economic dimension will be critical. Yet Beijing currently has good reason to doubt the credibility of Washington’s sanctions threats. This is because the United States’s response has been muted in the face of recent Chinese provocations, including Beijing’s efforts to erode democracy in Hong Kong, the dispatching of a spy balloon […]

Over the last two years, Tehran has sought to increase its influence in Central Asia, convinced that changes in the region and more broadly make that an important goal; and it views Tajikistan, a country with which it shares some but far from all cultural characteristics, as a key player who can help it to do so, Yevgeny Troitsky says. […]