Pakistan has raised the Kashmir issue with UN Security Council President, saying the situation in the valley and the "escalation" of tension along the Line of Control (LoC) pose a threat to international peace and security. Pakistan's envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi on Friday in a tweet said that she raised the issue of... More
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had instructed the UNP backbench parliamentarians to withdraw the No-Confidence motions submitted to the Speaker against six ministers and the deputy speaker, Department of Information Director General Sudharshana Gunawardana said Saturday. Quoting the Premier, Gunawardana said that any decision regarding a No-Confidence motion must be taken at a UNP parliamentary group... More
India on rejected reports alluding a possible cooperation with China on Beijing's mega 'One Belt One Road' (OBOR) venture, asserting that no country can accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar also noted that India's position on OBOR/BRI was "clear and there... More
Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli met a delegation of Congress leaders in New Delhi on Friday (Apr 6). Oli, who is on a three-day visit to India, having arrived earlier on Friday, met Congress President Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and former Union Minister Anand Sharma. Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted... More
Pakistan’s defence minister Khurram Dastgir Khan Thursday met his Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu on the sidelines of Moscow Security Conference currently taking place in the Russian capital. Both the dignitaries noted the increasing convergence of views between Pakistan and Russia on international issues, particularly on sustainable peace in Afghanistan, establishment of energy corridors, and... More
A Bhutanese delegation led by foreign secretary Sonam Tshong is attending the 18th mid-term ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Baku, Azerbaijan from April 5-6. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, inaugurated the meeting. According to a press release from the foreign ministry, the secretary in his address, reiterated Bhutan’s strong... More
Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz has invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend the concluding ceremony of the 23-country joint military exercise to be held in Dammam on April 16.Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah HM Al Mutairi handed over a letter of the Saudi King to the prime minister when he made... More
A senior official from UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) currently in Myanmar for a weeklong visit is scheduled to fly to Maungdaw township in northern Rakhine State on Thursday to inspect the area, which is one of the centres of violence last year.UN Deputy Humanitarian Chief Ursula Mueller arrived on Tuesday... More
Maldives has declined an invitation by India to send a ministerial-level delegation to the Defence Expo, a biennial exhibition of weapons and military hardware, which will be held in Chennai next week, official sources said. The decision by Maldives is seen as an apparent snub to New Delhi which was critical of the Abdulla Yameen... More
Three days after the drama of the No Confidence Motion (NCM) against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, President Maithripala Sirisena who almost wanted his PM’s head on a platter called resignation is... More
What will the newly appointed National Security Adviser (NSA) John Bolton, the well-known hawk, would advise the US president Trumpon matters related to the US national security? This is the question that has been raised almost everywhere since the appointment—and rightly so; for, the appointment doesn’t merely mean a... More
The pulsating cheering crowd in the National Stadium Karachi for the PSL Final, and subsequently for the three international T20s, underscored the return of peace to a city (and country) torn by internal strife. Bereft of any sports spectacle and living in cold fear for life and limb of... More
To be honest, almost everyone in Bangladesh thinks that almost all rich people are dishonest. Of course, not all are dishonest but they are considered extreme exceptions. Since almost all rich people are also linked to political parties, to either guard present gains or ensure future ones, the general... More
When Win Myint was sworn in as Myanmar’s new president last Friday, he outlined the government’s priorities for the future. While the overall policy direction did not different, his approach marks a more activist intent. “Policy won’t change, but his election promises a new era of accelerated economic and... More
The rise of China in Asia has meant different things to different countries in the region and beyond. For its competitors, this rise means political and economic hegemony with ‘Chinese characteristics’; for its supporters, such as Pakistan,this rise is the primary alternative to the US and Western aid and... More
The long political transition in Nepal has come to an end with the successful completion of local, provincial and federal elections. A new phase of history beckons Nepal as it has adopted federalism under the new constitution promulgated in 2015. The achievement of economic prosperity has now been prioritized... More
There is a new Cold War in the world. It is not between the United States and Russia; that is a diplomatic war between a presumptuous ‘sole super power’ and a chastened but proud country that has lost its pole position. It is not between the United States and... More
On the night of February 22, four drunken Muslim youths traveling on a three-wheeler in Sri Lanka’s Kandy district beat up a Sinhala Buddhist truck driver because he had not allowed them to overtake his truck. The police arrested the assailants but released them on bail. Although intelligence officers had... More
President Donald J Trump has been the first President since the Atlantic era ended towards the close of the 1990s to acknowledge that it is no longer the Atlantic ocean but the confluence of the Pacific and Indian oceans (the Indo-Pacific) that is at the core of global geopolitics.... More