India celebrates Army Day on January 15 every year with great fervour. This has historical significance as it was on this day, in 1949, that the Indian Army divested itself of British control with General (later Field Marshal) K.M. Cariappa taking over as first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from Sir Francis Butcher. The parades, memorial lectures, eq...
The ongoing catastrophe that would typically be referred to as the US “military presence” in Afghanistan has lasted for almost two decades, yet Washington has so far failed to demonstrate to the rest of the world its “humanitarian intentions” in this country. At the same time, we’ve seen no shortage of bold statements made by US officials on all levels that ...
For most, the Kingdom of Thailand is nothing but a resort zone, a place of fun and relaxation. However, the country has many problems that international media rarely touch upon, all of their attention focused on the West, China, Russia and the Middle East as of late. One of these problems is separatism in the southern regions of Thailand, in the provinces of...
Few would have missed the videos of children (under 10 years old) chanting “azadi” and abusing the Prime Minister and Home Minister for alleged animosity and evil intent towards one community. Since one cannot expect children of such tender age to have knowledge or understanding of the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Population Register (also called...
Disclosures of taped phone calls between embattled former prime minister Najib Razak and a person believed to be United Arab Emirate crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed go a long way to explain Malaysian efforts to counter UAE and Saudi influence in the Muslim world. The disclosures are the latest incident in what have been complex, if not strained relations wit...
(On the thirtieth anniversary of the painful exodus of the tiny Kashmiri Hindu community from the then State of Jammu and Kashmir, we publish (as an exception to our norm) a poem of wounded yearning by one of the victims. The poet has dedicated it to all those who have suffered the agony and pain of living in forced exile from a much loved homeland,...
For many years, the Middle East has been a turbulent region, where military clashes and terrorist attacks occur regularly. The Middle Eastern governments pay therefore special attention to security issues and the development of military technologies. It is especially valuable for them to cooperate with Russia in these areas, as Moscow is an established autho...
An Iran hawk who advocated killing general Qassim Soleimani, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has ordered his diplomats to limit contacts with militant Iranian exile and opposition groups that support either regime change or greater rights for ethnic groups like Kurds and Arabs. Coming on the back of the Soleimani killing, Mr. Pompeo’s directive appears to...
Trump was panting heavily, like Darth Vader on the Death Star. The mike was too close to his mouth. His laboured speech and strange look did not match the comforting words as he spoke to the American people. But the meaning was clear: the world sheriff had received a ringing slap in the face. First time ever, a regional power brazenly shelled a...
The romance of ‘The Great Game” lingers. Abandoned as a pointless draw a century ago, its power to evoke stirring images endures. The fabled lands of Central Asia long have been the stuff of dreams – Samarkand, Balkh, Hotan, Chitral, Ladakh, Timur, the Khans, the Khyber Rifles, mysterious Tibet concealed behind the Himalayas. Kipling and Kim engraved it on...
Information has come to light that indicts the United States not just for the Soleimani killing but also for the over 300 killings during the Iraqi protests in late 2019. In fact, it can be proven that the United States not only organized the protests but also is responsible for killing protestors as well, hundreds of them, something we have seen before,...
There have been a series of events that have shaped the overall political landscape in East Asia, and all of the events which have been more or less significant are worth reflecting on. After all, this is the first place where we see the interests of the world’s two most powerful countries collide - the United States and China. Japan’s return to the “Great G...
They say he came from a humble background, and worked himself up the ranks, becoming, as many believe, the second most powerful man in Iran. They say he had the chance to become the next Supreme Leader of the country. Whenever I visit Iran, I am told how much he is loved by his people. He became the symbol of resistance against the West; the symbol of the st...
While General Qassim Soleimani’s death in a US air strike may apparently seem not big enough a development to start an all-out war, or even World War 3, there is no gainsaying that this deliberate attempt to escalate tensions in the region will have severe consequences. For one thing, Soleimani was no ordinary Iranian soldier, for another, his death is a US ...
The US killing of Iranian general Qassim Soleimani has further opened the door to a potential restructuring of the Gulf’s security architecture. In line with an Iranian plan launched at last year’s United Nations General Assembly by president Hassan Rouhani that calls for a security architecture that would exclude external forces, cooler heads in Tehran argu...
Interestingly, after the US attack on Iraqi Militia fighters on 31 December 2019, and the assassination of General Qassem Suleimani, the first thing President Trump could come up with was bragging that it was him who gave the order to murder the popular military leader. General Qassem Suleimani was the commander of the Iranian special Quds Force. The Quds Fo...
It does not matter where the green light came from for the US targeted assassination of Quds Force commander Major General Qassim Soleimani and the Hashd al-Shaabi second in command Abu Madhi al-Muhandis. This is an act of war. Unilateral, unprovoked and illegal. President Trump may have issued the order. Or the US Deep State may have ordered him to issue...
The paroxysms of religious intolerance increasingly engulfing Pakistan and sections of its civil society, not to mention the frenzied anti-India exhortations of its favourite militant outfits, are inexorably pushing the nation towards political incoherence and religious apoplexy, from which return to sanity seems unlikely. Two recent events best exemplify...
The incident of mob violence at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan on Friday, January 3, has raised deep concern worldwide, especially amidst the Sikh community. Reports suggest that, post the afternoon Friday prayers, a mob comprising of hundreds of Muslims laid siege on the gurdwara. The holy premises were pelted with stones and Sikhs offering prayers in...
The killing of Iranian military leader Qassim Soleimani proves the point: The United States has perfected the art of strengthening Iranian hardliners fuelled by an apparently ingrained misreading of Iranian politics and strategy sustained over decades. It also suggests that the Trump administration has walked into a trap in which spiralling tension between...