It is time that Pakistan and India take each other into confidence on their roles in Afghanistan. Their roles need not be mutually exclusive. India is the fifth largest donor to Afghan reconstruction. Any objection by Islamabad to India’s role in Afghanistan causes the most severe resentment in Kabul. Pakistan has the right to demand that Afghan soil […]
The emerging world—lower and middle income countries alike—found China’s insatiable appetite for commodities in recent years a godsend. For the new middle class a commodity supercycle was the simplest route to plenty. If a country had commodities it benefited either from direct trade, or though persistently higher prices of nearly all industrial commodities. By meeting […]
It does seem noteworthy that the two leaders get along far better when abroad than when back home. Perhaps this is because they are removed from the context and don’t have to prove anything to the more reactionary parts of their bases. Then again, perhaps they’re like all of us. I’ve often noticed (and I […]
There is a lot of political activity around the crisis produced by the Madhesi agitation in Nepal. But it is far from clear this is adding up to an enduring solution to a crisis that now goes to the heart of Nepal’s constitutional future. Nepal can have a vibrant and prosperous future but, as is […]
President Barack Obama wanted to show he was so serious about the threat posed by ISIL that he gave a speech from the Oval Office about it—standing up. But afterwards, America knows just about as much what he’s doing and what’s going on as it did before he scrambled Sunday’s prime time schedule with the ultimate […]
The failure of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to reach any meaningful agreement at their meeting in Vienna on Friday confirmed that the historic storm besetting the oil market has markedly reduced this once-powerful group’s effectiveness and influence. Read Here – Bloomberg
But for the colossal and almost forgotten Indian contribution, World War I (1914-18) could have ended differently with all kinds of dastardly implications for the trajectory of the 20th century. The centenary of that long and bloody ‘Great’ war has rekindled considerable interest into various facets of those tragic years and many books have been […]
President Xi Jinping has announced assistance and loans totalling $60 billion for Africa to help the continent address its top three difficulties: infrastructure, talent and funding. At the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit, Xi said the funding plan was announced to ensure that China rolls out 10 concrete plans for cooperation in […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday announced that the Chinese currency, Renminbi, is eligible for joining its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) currency basket. With the announcement, the Chinese currency, or the yuan, is to become one of the five reserve currencies fully endorsed by the 188-member multilateral organization. Read Here – Xinhua
President Barack Obama urged the world to consider the climate talks that kicked off Monday as potentially the last chance to make a meaningful impact on combating climate change. What the world needs to agree on, Obama told the 150-odd other world leaders gathered in Paris for the two-week conference, is “not a stopgap solution, but […]
looking beyond borders 