India
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Indian Workers Defend Their Steel with Their Lives: The Thirty-Fourth Newsletter (2022)
The long and distant epoch of pre-history, dated to the time before the start of the Common Era, is conventionally divided into three periods: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. Subsequently, in the era of written history, we generally have not relied upon specific metals or minerals to define our periods.… Continue reading
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When People Want Housing in India, They Build It: The Thirty-Third Newsletter (2022)
It all started with a survey. In April 2022, members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), went door to door in the town of Warangal in Telangana state. The party was already aware of challenges in the community but wanted to collect data before working on a plan of action. Thirty-five teams… Continue reading
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US-NATO Intent upon Boycotting Russia-India Relations
The US seems once again interested in boycotting good relations between Russia and India. Congressmen in Washington are proposing that New Delhi be included in the NATO-Plus group, guaranteeing a series of privileges in military cooperation. Obviously, the military ties between both countries are not recent, but this type of maneuver precisely at the current… Continue reading
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Biden’s I2U2 summit diminishes India
India’s involvement with US President Joe Biden’s quixotic venture called “I2-U2 Summit” is bizarre, to put it mildly. India’s excellent relations with Israel and the UAE are best pursued on the highly successful bilateral tracks instead of complicating them with the Abraham Accords or the US’ big power rivalry with Russia and China for regional… Continue reading
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India to boost Sakhalin-1 oil output
After Sakhalin-2, Moscow also plans to nationalise Sakhalin-1 oil and gas development project by ousting US and Japanese shareholders. But Moscow will make an exception for India so that OVL which holds 20% stake will remain & continue to work. Moscow grapevine is that while Rosneft will continue to hold controlling share, more Indian companies… Continue reading
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India, BRICS in cold war conditions
The phone conversation on Friday between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Putin conveyed a big signal, coming on the morrow of the release of the new Strategic Concept by NATO which called Russia the alliance’s “most significant and direct threat.” The readouts from Moscow and New Delhi both highlighted the two leaderships’ determination to carry forward… Continue reading
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St. Petersburg sets the stage for the War of Economic Corridors
In St. Petersburg, the world’s new powers gather to upend the US-concocted “rules-based order” and reconnect the globe their way Continue reading
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Why India must decouple from I2U2
Indian diplomacy is descending from the sublime to the absurd. Such wild swings signal rank opportunism. These are extraordinary times when to be smart is equated as being opportunistic. Continue reading
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IPEF will be a hard sell in Indo-Pacific
A new economic bloc comprising twelve countries of the Indo-Pacific region and the United States was unveiled on Monday in Tokyo on the sidelines of President Joe Biden’s visit. Christened as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), it is conceived as the economic correlative of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy. Continue reading
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India, Germany cogitate on Ukraine
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s short visit to Germany pegged on the Indian-German Intergovernmental Commission meeting in Berlin on Monday inevitably came to focus on the Ukraine crisis. The western media would have loved to grill Modi on India’s reluctance to criticise Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. But German hosts thoughtfully skipped the customary Q&A… Continue reading
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India’s dilemma over West vs. Russia
There is a notion among some mainstream Indian strategic analysts, including some who held top positions in the security establishment in past regimes that what is unfolding in Ukraine is quintessentially “a war between Europeans over the European security order.” Continue reading
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India, US have different priorities
An extraordinary week has passed for the Modi government’s dalliance with the Quad. Call it a defining moment, a turning point or even an inflection point — it has elements of all three. Continue reading
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From Jai Ram to – Hai Ram
The OverSeas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party, or; OF-BJP, is fairly big in the United Kingdom, and more so in the United States of America. It surprisingly even has a huge number of followers in the United Arab Emirates. Continue reading
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India Should Quit Quad Now!
Hedging between superpowers — United States, Russia and China — was never the smart thing to do. India should have known that the contradictions are simply irreconcilable. This is a moment of truth, therefore, as the US unsheathes the sword to bleed and dismember Russia, and gives an ultimatum to China to stay out of… Continue reading
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India shouldn’t miss world war pointer
The transition of India’s foreign-policy mindset during the post-cold war period from an international outlook to a national one, and then its colossal drop to a ‘mofussil’ thinking, is a tragic phenomenon. One outcome of it has been the tendency to reduce foreign policy to a single theme — India’s relations with the United States… Continue reading
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India and the Donbass republics
India’s dilemma over humanitarian intervention is revisiting it, with Russia’s recognition of the two self-proclaimed Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states. India is certainly not going to follow the Russian footfalls. The heart of the matter is that India has adopted a consistent position on issues involving genocide, human rights and self-determination. Continue reading
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India, China in Europe’s crisis
The bottom line is: This is Russia’s showdown with the US and it is existential for Russia, and is the culmination of a history of American betrayal of promises made to Russia since 1990, much as Washington would twist it out of context and dub it today as a matter of ‘imminent’ Russian invasion of… Continue reading
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US plays QUAD card during Beijing Olympics
The appalling decision by the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to huddle together with his QUAD colleagues bang in the middle of the Beijing Winter Olympics may have unpleasant consequences. China sees QUAD as a US-led clique working to “contain” it. Continue reading
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US reminds India it’s showtime
The Biden-Harris Administration is sensing that Modi Govt, a perceived ally, is not to be seen as its war machine revs up in anticipation of a horrific war. Typically, if a country is not with the US, then, it must be against it. But India falls in a category by itself. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 