Comment & Briefs

Chinese reaction to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Agriculture’s decision to cancel an organic fertiliser deal has demonstrated that China is not hesitant to take punitive action against Sri Lanka, if its interests are not fulfilled.

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio gave a resolute call for pursuing “realism diplomacy for a new era” in his Diet deliberations. How strategically innovative and politically effective will it prove in pursuing Tokyo’s national interests in the US–China–Japan calculus?

As the emerging Cold War theatrics and veto politics threaten to further paralyse the functioning of UNSC, the Ukraine crisis is unlikely to abate any time soon.

Xi Jinping’s New Year address implicitly underlined his intent of directing China to look inward. While this strategy to turn inward may have been triggered more by domestic exigencies than by external systemic pressure, the implications will be felt both domestically and internationally.

The Srijan defence indigenisation portal is a limited but concrete example of the implications of India’s defence indigenisation efforts for key strategic partners like Israel.

China’s growing military presence in Central Asia through military exercises, trainings, extending arms assistance and building military infrastructure, has an impact not only on the region but also its neighbours, especially Russia and India.

The debate and discussion about the AFSPA should attempt to find what led to the employment of the army in the first place. The answers might offer solutions to the entire problem.

The recent Houthi attacks on the UAE have widened the ambit of the ongoing war in Yemen, and are likely to prolong the instability in and around Yemen and hinder the regional and international efforts towards establishing peace in the country.

The recent eruption of the submarine volcano and the resultant shutdown of Tonga’s telecommunication, has cast light on the impact of natural disasters on the global communication systems, especially in the tiny and distant islands.

The recently issued joint statement by P-5 countries on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms race, does not seem to go beyond the routine statements made in the past. The NPT member countries demanding concrete steps on nuclear disarmament will have to wait for more time.