CONFLICT DIARIES

CONFLICT DIARIES

Tied to US apron strings, India is losing out in Iran


While China continues to buy Iranian oil, defying U.S. sanctions and challenging U.S. unilateralism, India has capitulated to the US and is losing out on opportunities in Iran, a “hard rock friend” till recently. The change in India’s... More

India falls in line with others on Afghanistan


After swinging its Iran policy from ‘no dictate from the U.S.’ and compliance only with the U.N sanctions to completely ditching their purchase of oil from Iran and principally following the U.S. policy of isolating and crippling... More

Complying with sanctions on Iran, India moves into US orbit


With India completely stopping purchase of Iranian oil, there is little doubt that India has jumped on to the US bandwagon of coercive politics. Washington has ratcheted up economic sanctions on Iran and is trying to push the... More

Navigating the complex Pak-Iran maze


Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Iran in the third week of April 2019 marked a series of high-profile official visits that Pakistan and Iran have been exchanging for last two years or so. Extremely important... More

Consensus on Afghanistan: More than just a ‘Great Game’


The April 26, 2019 meeting between Special Representatives of the US, China and Russia in Moscow has turned out to be a true watershed event. It is a big leap towards ending the almost 18 year-old US... More

The US’s ‘moral dilemma’ in Afghanistan


While the talks between the US and the Taliban indicate a possible ‘end’ of the 18-year long war in Afghanistan, other aspects of the war remain largely neglected and are even being systematically snubbed, aspects that very... More

Afghan war moves from negotiations to offensives


Just when the negotiations were reportedly heading towards a withdrawal deal, the Afghan war has gone into a hardly unexpected spiral of fighting between the government troops and the Taliban. After the Afghan Govt.’s announcement of “Khalid... More

The ‘constitutional puzzle’ of Afghan peace process


The US president Donald Trump recently said in a joint press conference with NATO Secretary that significant “strides” have been made towards peace in Afghanistan. Indeed, in a major development, the Taliban have agreed to ‘see’ Kabul... More

The real reasons why Afghanistan might see chaos


While there have been too many reports in the mainstream western media about possible “chaos” in Afghanistan following a deal between the US and the Taliban and the latter’s return to institutional politics from the battlefield, these... More

Is Chabahar becoming India’s ‘Achilles heel’?


Notwithstanding the potential and the role that Iran sees the Chabahar port will play in somewhat helping her escape the US sanctions, the port’s business potential continues to remain under-utilised and under-productive, causing Iran to worry about... More

The real reason why elections have been delayed in Afghanistan again


Afghan presidential have been postponed for a second time due to what the officials in Kabul describe as ‘lack of preparation’ and ‘enough resources.’ Surely, not only does this claim cast serious doubts on the Ghani government’s... More

Despite controversy, Afghanistan Peace Process makes major strides


Despite Kabul’s publicly made allegations on the US about ‘selling Afghanistan to the Taliban’ in the peace talks, there is little gainsaying that the Afghan-US war has never been so close to ending through settlement than it... More

How China might undo Saudi plans for Iran?


The recent Saudi bid to increase its economic and political influence in South Asia (Pakistan and India) is, as I pointed out in my previous stories for SAM, largely informed not just by the imperative of a... More

How post-Pulwama is India’s moment of not-so-pride


Almost no country in the world has bought Indian claims of having eliminated a JeM training camp in Balakot, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KpK) province. If this wasn’t enough, Pakistan’s retaliation emphatically stamped that its ability to... More

Modi’s dangerous play with fire backfires


In a flurry of events, India and Pakistan have exchanged air attacks, resulting in India loosing two of its attacking fighter jets and two pilots. There is no gainsaying that this is a dangerous escalation, but this... More

How Saudi Arabia is reshaping South Asian geo-politics


The billion-dollar Saudi investments in Asia—particularly in Pakistan and India—appear to be just investment besides a practical implementation of the vision 2030 plan according to which the Saudis are changing the nature of their economy to avoid... More

Saudi Arabia seeking to be active in South Asia by deepening economic...


While many political pundits in Pakistan are trying to tie the up-coming billion-dollar Saudi investment in Pakistan with Riyadh’s need to have Islamabad as an ally in its wars in Yemen and Syria, there has been little... More

Amid peace talks, India and Ghani flog the dead-horse of elections in...


Last week, Moscow hosted delegations from the Taliban and Afghanistan’s political opposition in a bid to establish sound political contacts between the two actors. The delegation of the opposition parties included Afghanistan’s former president, Hamid Karzai, and... More

The US-Taliban deal: What it entails and what not?


It is difficult to argue against the fact that the recently announced draft-deal between the US and Taliban is a major breakthrough in the 17 years long US-Afghanistan war. While not in itself a peace deal, it... More

RAND Corporation’s negative speculations on Afghanistan and justifications for continuing US presence


The report, ‘Consequence of Precipitous US Withdrawal from Afghanistan’ may be described as negative speculation about a possible withdrawal that hasn’t yet taken place and isn’t likely to occur for quite some time even if some sort... More

By reaching out to Taliban, Iran makes presence felt in Afghanistan apart...


The very nature of the conflict in Afghanistan has made it almost impossible for the neighbouring countries to remain aloof from it or maintain some distance, even a calculated one. For one thing, the conflict is no... More

COLUMN

Mamata determined to rid West Bengal of the toxin of Hindutva

Anti-saffron intellectuals are planning to launch a citizens’ movement to curb the “poison of divisive religious politics” in West Bengal in the backdrop of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s description of “Hindutva” as being “alien to Bengali culture.” Analysts say that the BJP's threat to wrest Bengal in the forthcoming State Assembly... More

Tied to US apron strings, India is losing out in Iran

While China continues to buy Iranian oil, defying U.S. sanctions and challenging U.S. unilateralism, India has capitulated to the US and is losing out on opportunities in Iran, a “hard rock friend” till recently. The change in India’s attitude to Iran was seen clearly when Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohmmad Javad... More

Shame and defame: Using hybrid warfare against Chairman NAB

The major reason for the dismal economic situation of the country is corruption and the feudal-type nepotism that sustained it over decades has infested the state and its institutions. Making money from kickbacks by bureaucrats and politicians who are in a position of power, selling jobs and stealing public... More

Yangon’s smart metres: A step towards creating a smart city

Yangon city is introducing state of the art smart metres to control the electricity supply, monitor its usage and bill costumers in parts of the city – in one automated system. “It’s a step towards making Yangon a smart city and improving and extending e-government throughout Myanmar,” Myo Aung... More

India falls in line with others on Afghanistan

After swinging its Iran policy from ‘no dictate from the U.S.’ and compliance only with the U.N sanctions to completely ditching their purchase of oil from Iran and principally following the U.S. policy of isolating and crippling Iran’s economy, India has now also made a major change in its... More

VIDEO-INTERVIEW

video

Exclusive Interview with Bhutan’s Prime Minister


“I will request PM Sheikh Hasina to support us with some (medical) specialists that will be an immediate help for Bhutan” Dr.Lotay Tshering Prime Minister of Bhutan Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Dr. Lotay Tshering, is set to visit Bangladesh on 12th... More

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