The Indian invitation to leaders of the BIMSTEC grouping to attend the second swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a number of significant implications. For one, it is a sign that the current Indian establishment thinks that the SAARC framework continues to underperform and is simply not enough to facilitate India’s ambitions. For […]
It has now been over a decade since the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008 (26/11) undertaken by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tohiba (LeT) group. Since then, considerable efforts have been made to streamline India’s coastal security, including fostering functional synergy among the various agencies involved. However, recent reports indicate that the coastal security architecture is undergoing […]
Iran has threatened to close down the Strait of Hormuz. This is in response to the US decision to end waivers for eight major oil importing countries for buying oil from Iran, starting from 01 May 2019. Similar threats have emanated from Teheran in the past. However, the continuing US efforts to strangulate the Iranian […]
The decision of the US government to end waivers to eight countries for import of Iranian oil will come into effect on 01 May, 2019. Although some of these countries may well defy the unilateral American sanctions, most, including India are likely to comply. This will reduce India’s Iranian oil imports substantially, squeezing the money […]
Despite being a relatively new entrant in the Middle East, China, with its ambitious leadership and ever-expanding range of interests, (not least amongst which remains the security of its energy supplies from the region), has now begun to pay consistent attention to this transcontinental area. This attention is currently being represented through the Belt and […]
The decision of the Trump administration to end waivers for the import of Iranian oil to India has ended the almost 12 year-long diplomatic tightrope that India has been walking since sanctions were first imposed on Iran through UN resolution 1737, in December 2006. The ‘on again off again’ nature of the sanctions had provided […]
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, comprising both the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt (launched in August 2013) and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (introduced in September 2013). The initiative was showcased in a manner that was too appealing to be ignored by the countries of […]