politicodiary

The country has probably refrained from using the same neutral stance in the case of Ukraine as it decided to vote for an open ballot India might have probably taken sides after all, when it comes to siding with Russia over the secret ballot at the recent UN General Assembly meeting on a resolution to denounce its annexation of four regions of Ukraine . The world’s second largest democracy has put its foot down and did not side with Moscow. The vote was on a bill put forward by Albania to denounce Russia’s ‘illegal so-called ‘referendums’ and ‘attempted illegal annexation’ of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. India chose for an open recorded ballot as 106 of its other partnering member countries of the U, with just 13 nations really backing Moscow’s crazy idea. Some 39 countries have abstained from voting including Russia and China. Although Security Council votes are binding, permanent members have a veto. While votes at the General Assembly ar...

Boeing has broken the ice with Beijing again and has been allowed to fly its infamous Jetliner with proper protocols in place It is after a hiatus that the Boeing is going to take flight from and into China . It’s been hour since the Boeing company even entered China. It was the famous and unfamous crash incidents that surrounded the Boeing Max is what led to China deciding to ground the use of the American flight company made planes in the first place. It first grounded the Max in March 2019 and held off approving its return long after US regulators lifted a ban in late 2020. Europe and other places followed in subsequent months. This has been seen as a breakthrough for Boeing that went into pilot training discussions with Beijing last month. Boeing officials also met China’s aviation regulator to review specific pilot training criteria for its Max jetliners, in a sign the plane maker is getting closer to securing all the necessary approvals to get the Max back up and flying in China ...

 The Indian man being eyed for the PM’s position has a strong selling proposition- a strong stance on China from UK. But there is a controversy brewing over this as well. Truss however seems to have gotten the majority. Skin is the winning bet along with her solid thinking and purpose to bring well needed transformation. Opinion polls have already given their verdict- putting her well ahead in the crucial hunt for votes from the 200,000 grassroots Tory members . Results are to be declared by September 06. Sunak seems to be trying hard to make an impression. China is the new bet for that. He promises to take a strong stand if elected against Beijing and Kremlin both. Blame it on Liz Truss attack on Sunak’s weak stance over the powerful nations of the world. Johnson has held a soft stance throughout for China- that is something Sunak would want to encash on. In his defense, he has said, that he intends to close of all 30 Confucius Institutes in Britain, preventing the soft-powe...

In a strange occurrence, North Korea has suddenly stopped import of Covid-19 prevention and control products from China. It still isn’t out of the woods, but it decided to do the same. While this is the case, Covid-19, according to the local media has been contained within the country. Earlier North Korea was sourcing face masks, thermometers, rubber gloves, ventilators or vaccines  from China. Meanwhile the US and South Korea had offered to provide help, including vaccines, but Pyongyang has not responded. Earlier on, North Korea had imported more than 10.6 million masks, nearly 95,000 thermometers and 1,000 non-invasive ventilators from China. This was between January-April of 2022. As the country refuses to share any statistics on this with the world, the WHO has a feeling the cases of infection are much higher in the real sense of the word. It is also worth noting that the exports from China to North Korea has slumped a lot since May. Overall, China’s exports to North Kor...

NATO has made it clear to China that there is just no need to support Russia in its war with Ukraine. This has been suggested by the head of the Western military alliance, adding that the 30 member nations has plans to discuss Beijing's role in the war Moscow is waging on its neighbour. The discussion has happened in Brussels.   As world leaders meet today in Brussels, the G7, NATO and European Union participants are expected to approve major increases in its forces in Eastern Europe at an emergency move as Ukrainian President seeks support. This has been confirmed by NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. It is also confirmed that as of now, four new battlegroups will be sent to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. US President Joe Biden is already in Brussels for the special NATO summit today. It is now been said that indeed Russia is responsible for carrying out war crimes in Ukraine. Ahead of the summits, Ukraine President Volodymr Zelensky has warned Western leader...

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) might not be a conflict zone anymore. As India and China have agreed to come on mutually acceptable conditions, the tension on the Indo-China border might be a thing of the past, after all. In order to maintain stability on ground, both the countries will maintain military and diplomatic channels to discuss a way forward. This will also help them reach a conclusion on the remaining issues amongst themselves. This has been marked as the 15th round of diplomatic talks between the nations. The Corps Commander-level meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border on the Indian side, nearly two months after the last round of talks took place. While both the countries will hold further talks to resolve the row in eastern Ladakh, it was decided to maintain the stable position in the western sector. The two sides "agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the western sector in the interim. They agreed to maintain dialogue via military and dip...

The EU African Summit has some major targets to achieve. The event is to take place today in Brussels. Everyone is vying for the African pie now; more so as China eyes making this continent also grateful and indebted to it. But plans to organize a more conducive summit have been firming for the last two years between Europe and Africa. There are plans to unveil six initiatives at the Summit, including three investment packages, as part of what EU calls a ‘Prosperous and Sustainable Partnership’.   There is obviously sense of power at play, but not as stark and bad as China’s mind over sovereignty control. In a public statement, EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen has confirmed that investments will be the ‘heart’ of the summit. Africa should be feeling happy and elated. But it needs to move ahead with caution as well.   The promising Global Gateway is said to be comprised of an investment plan worth more than €150 billion for Africa. France is playing its own...

  America is going all out to discourage Equatorial Guinea in order the country does not tie up with China to build military base in the country’s Atlantic Coast. Beijing a launchpad in waters is a dangerous deal for all those around the Atlantic; and US isn’t going to let that happen. Earlier on, China had been trying to dock itself in Sri Lanka, an effort that was thwart by India too.   A top American delegation is planning to visit the Central African country next week. The delegation will comprise senior U.S. diplomatic and military personnel that plan to visit the small, according to government officials, and is expected to discuss American counter-piracy assistance and other inducements intended to convince Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to spurn Beijing’s advances. The Sino interference is becoming a matter of concern for everyone. Meanwhile other countries are making their big contributions to thaw the Chinese efforts to expand themsel...

India now seems to be in a position of handing off loans as it helps Sri Lanka in its darkest hour (literally). With reeling power cuts and shortage of oil, the country has been troubled over scarce electricity. The island has now secured a $500 million loan from India to save its sinking economy. Indeed, the island is looking cash strapped.   No wonder, this has left their thermal power generators dry, with the country finding it difficult to keep the lights on, disrupting transport networks as well. Even traders are seen running desperately low on foreign currency to fund imports. The country still uses fossil fuels to fire its thermal power plants. There have been frequent breakdowns at a huge coal power plant too. Blame it on lack of coal supply as well. So, the unannounced electricity power cuts and understandable. Even cooking gas and kerosene is not easily available to households. Officials said a formal agreement was being signed after two weeks of talks, in addition ...

Life amidst the Pandemic is not easy for anyone, everyone from rich to poor face  the trails of Pandemic in their own way. The current wave of Pandemic has shown  wide affects to the Australian Open tennis courts, the French President and the US Supreme Court. Though the Omicron is milder than its predecessors, still the speed of its transmission is keeping the hospital beds occupied and a major work-force out of job. With the third consecutive year, the overall feeling in world is shifting towards to a new way of living, especially in the democratic countries. Whereas China is moving in a different direction with lockdown of its cities and millions of people in order to prevent the Winter Olympics. It is believed that this move of China is another showcase of its proof of super-power, though this would be another epic centre of infection to the world. Beijing is put on high alert and clusters with high number of Omicron cases have ...

On Monday, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s requested to China for its assistance in mitigating the debt amidst deepening forex crisis. The request by Sri Lankan PM was made during a meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Colombo on Sunday, saying that this will help Colombo immensely at this time, and the assistance from Beijing will be really appreciated. The request from Rajapaksa is mainly about restructuring the debt payments to resolve the current economic crisis arises due to Covid 19 pandemic. As per estimates, payment of USD 1.5 to 2 billion are due this year. As per the experts from international rating agencies, Sri Lanka does not have the ability to pay USD 1500 million. As per the initial agreement Sri Lanka has to pay USD 500 million next week. President Rajapaksa has made a request for a concessional trade credit scheme for imports from China, as per him, this will enable industries to run smoothly. The visit of Chinese Foreign Minis...

During the turmoil in Afghanistan, China was one of the few countries to support Taliban rule. Now, even China is getting doubtful about the support offered. Finally, China has realised their mistake of supporting Afghanistan and now they are losing their confidence on their decision. Taliban is known for their support of terrorism and laws to suppress women in the country. Just four months ago, in August 2021, China has supported the Afghanistan and now they seem to lose confidence in the Taliban due to rampant terrorist activities and ill treatment to women. As per a report, they have made clear about their views on the current condition in Afghanistan. The prevalent terrorist condition in Afghanistan and wide presence of terrorist groups ISIS and Al-Qaeda, makes China aware of their mistake on the decision to support Taliban in Afghanistan. Now, China is asking for a collaborative approach to fight terrorism. As per a comment by Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao, th...

Friendships are becoming thick on the wrong sides- Russia and China, who are now calling each other strong friends in arms. This becomes more apparent as both leaders of the powerful nations engaged in a long video call that lasted 1hour and 30 minutes, local media has reported. Russia is looking for security guarantees from the West and China is backing it in its attempts to do so. In their virtual summit, they have vowed to stand up against the West. So, the two very powerful nations of the world are ganging up against the rest of the world. One of their key points of discussion was the escalating war like situation between Russia and Ukraine and the former’s desire to claim ownership of the latter. Russia wants the United States and NATO to guarantee the military alliance will not expand further eastward or deploy weapons systems in Ukraine and other countries on Russia's border. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have interacted on many occasions in the last two years discussing key...

Taiwan is taking on things head on, despite its growing tension with China. With the chip market compromised over pandemic and closures of the production facilities, the US and Taiwan have decided to support each other in semiconductor space. It is worth noting that this partnership comes amid escalating tensions between China and independently governed Taiwan. China has been forcing itself on Taiwanese government and wishes to make it a part of its sovereignty. Currently, Beijing continues to view Taiwan as a breakaway province. China's air force has been  entering  Taiwanese airspace frequently in recent months and staging military exercises near the island, prompting fears of a military conflict. The United States on the other hand has been trying to support Taiwan, a country which has had to fight a lot harder for its trade relations to be taken seriously worldwide, under constant pressure from China. The Technology Trade and Investment Collaboration (TTIC) framewo...

  As African countries have repeatedly encountered their economic crises, they have turned to rich nations for help. The only one that has come to their rescue and then played their cards well is China. This is also because China made it easy for the African countries. Nigeria was no exception. The need for help came from IMF and the World Bank but with a lot of conditions like Structural Adjustment Programs , spurred endless controversies and gained eternal infamy. Nigeria also grew dependent on the Western world support as well as lending institutions like these. In 1956, when it discovered oil, its dependency on oil exports also grew. But with that came price fluctuations and then other kinds of dependencies as well. This dangerous dependence on a single commodity for fiscal and monetary stability meant sudden or prolonged drop in oil prices automatically triggered an economic crisis in the country. This made Nigeria a regular client of the IMF and World Bank. And with the...

China is making good use of Cambodia in every which way. Earlier it was bringing down the US build facilities without notifying or discussing the same with Washington. Then it was constructing Chinese facilities on the same structures. It seems China is expanding its reach and the Cambodian PM had nothing to say but that they had a right to protect their own turf without having to give an explanation to Washington.   Now, it seems, Cambodia is being used as a vaccine storage facility by China too. Strangely, almost all of the vaccines used to date in Cambodia are Chinese (Sinovac and Sinopharm). Political analysts believe there are political, diplomatic and financial reasons behind this decision.Indeed, it isn’t wrong to say that vaccine diplomacy has been aptly given free rein in the kingdom of Cambodia. Washington has had an eye on Cambodia ever since it razed the US facility at its Ream Naval Base. There are reasons that it feels that Prime Minister Hun Sen has sought to posit...

Construction at Ream Naval Base at Cambodia’s Gulf of Thailand coast is in full swing, satellite imagery shows. As a part of a China-backed redevelopment plan, this is China’s strategic move into expanding its military prowess at sea. Over August and September 2021, three new buildings have been constructed, while several areas have been cleared off foliage. A road has also been put under development. Surprisingly, the activity comes amid concern by the United States over China’s growing activity at the base. It is worth noting that a US-built facility was razed in 2019-2020.   While this happened, simultaneously, there were indications of changes at the Ream in 2019 itself. A detailed report by an American media house had revealed this with a fact that indeed China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy had signed a secret deal with Cambodia granting it future access to the base. However, Cambodia refuted the report. In October 2020 it then emerged that a building constru...

While China has been gaining control over its naval prowess with the help of Pakistan, India will need to double its power to match to enemies. The new battle ground is right in our backyard- the Indian Ocean. India has preparedness to handle Pakistan but China might be another ball game, all together. In a private commissioning ceremony, China delivered the PNS Tughril to Pakistan one of its most advanced state-of-the-art warships. Islamabad is definitely ecstatic to get support from the world’s most powerful economy. The focus point is in the Indian Ocean as India has solidified its position on its land forces. China is hell bent to break the fortress through water force now. Obviously, the Pakistani ambassador to China had reasons to say that adding the frigate to its collection of eight submarines that China will give to Pakistan in 2028, Pakistan’s stands to strengthen its service’s ability to respond to maritime challenges, ensure seaward defence, and maintain peace, stability an...

The growing closeness between China and Pakistan is a double whammy for India In a double-handed strategy, China has delivered the PNS Tughril to Pakistan in a commissioning ceremony in Shanghai , confirmed reports have said.   Said to be one of the largest and most advanced warships to be delivered to Pakistan, China has done so keeping its focus clearly on its biggest arch enemy at the moment, India. The dual strategy is to strengthen its naval presence with Pakistan on its side in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, all put together. The one-of-a-kind ship has been designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC) . Taking the delivery of the frigate, the Pakistani Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque said that this only creates a good balance in the Indian Ocean. He further added that the Tughril-class frigates will strengthen Pakistan Navy's capabilities to respond to maritime challenges to ensure seaward defence, maintain peace, stability and balance...

Blue fuel or Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) that is quickly being seen as the new hope of the world, dominates energy needs world over. Europe has been making use of the largest reserves (tapped and untapped) in the Western Siberia region. A new gas pipeline with the name Siberian Force (2) is being pulled along the Western Siberia region crossing Mongolia coming into China. Its Russia’s offering to the China. This new project, with 50 Bcm/y capacity, would deliver Russian gas to China to locations much closer to gas-consuming regions in eastern China. Also, it gives the advantage of utilizing gas resources from the prolific West Siberian Basin. Total distance in Russia and Mongolia are estimated at 2,600 km and 980 km, respectively. The pipeline distance within China is estimated at only 560 km to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) demand center. Everyone is wondering why the developer Gazprom is investing into a new line? The writing might not be on the wall, but while the existi...