It’s been eleven days since three men stood in Islam’s holiest city and signed something that’s quietly rewriting the Middle East’s security map. On August 7, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif put their names to the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. The core promise fits in one line: an attack on any one of the three is an attack on all three.
It took 36 days, tear gas, pellet attacks, hunger strikes for days and lots of police lathis’ on the protesting youth for the head of the Education Minister of an Orwellian government to roll, not with mythical armoury but with satirical jibes, memes, posters and slogans, underpinned with angst. The nation is awakening. The resignation […]
It was the first briefing by MEA of the year 2026. The hall was full with reporters of all hues, print, electronic & digital, foreign correspondents too. It wasn’t full because it was the first Press Conference of the new year. But because the heat that was generated by Trump globally with his hyperbolic statements and speeches in the last few weeks put the world on a roller coaster ride. Clarity on issues and answer to some pertinent questions were sought by the information hungry inquisitive patriotic minds.
The intervention also fits within a broader U.S. strategy aimed at rolling back governments viewed as hostile and ideologically aligned with strategic rivals. In recent years, tensions between Washington and Caracas intensified amid Venezuelan elections widely denounced as corrupt, crushing economic decline, and an increasing Venezuelan military partnership with Russia, China, and Iran
The year 2025 dawned with New Delhi gazing lovingly into the mirror of its own expectations. After a domestically exhausting year that slipped by, heavy on elections and self-congratulation, Indian foreign policy was meant to return to its natural habitat: airport tarmacs, choreographed hugs and summit photographs captioned as “historic”.
What stands out in the 2025 summit is not merely deepening ties but expanding horizons. Logistic links such as the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Chennai–Vladivostok Maritime Corridor (CVMC) and interest in the Northern Sea Route promise to rewire India–Russia trade routes — shortening transit times, reducing dependence on traditional chokepoints, and tying together Arctic, Central Asian and South Asian geographies.
Beneath the veneer of friendly overtures lies deep suspicion. India cannot ignore that Beijing continues to back Pakistan militarily and diplomatically, most recently during ‘Operation Sindoor,’ where China was accused of providing strategic support to Pakistan at a time when India was actively engaged in defending its security interests. India’s approach in Tianjin, therefore, is seen by many analysts as pragmatic diplomacy rather than genuine trust-building. India is well aware that China has repeatedly blocked its efforts to designate Pakistan-based terrorists at the UN, expanded military infrastructure near the LAC, and pushed forward with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), parts of which undermine India’s sovereignty in Jammu and Kashmir.
The issue of deportation of Indian migrants staying illegally in the US took an emotionally charged turn when a C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force landed at the Amritsar International Airport at around 10pm on February 5, 2025. The first military flight carrying 104 immigrants landed with handcuffs and chained. Of the total deportees, 31 were from Punjab, 44 from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, two from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. When questioned by the Opposition in Parliament, EAM Jaishankar informed that the govt is in talks with the US for considering being ‘Humane’ while returning our people. But surely nothing seemed to have made Trump budge.
With the historic 200 Executive Orders signed on day 1 in office, the ‘Master Disruptor’ Trump and his times could herald both dazzling opportunities and thorny challenges for India, molded by his administration’s audacious policies on trade, defense, foreign relations, and immigration. While Trump’s unflinching “America First” ethos and deal-driven worldview might unlock new corridors of cooperation, they also harbor the seeds of potential discord, making it a double-edged sword for India’s strategic ambitions.
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s efforts to reset ties with India, despite his earlier China-leaning rhetoric, reflects a change of heart or seems to be so. While Muizzu’s electoral campaign emphasized reducing India’s influence, his latest decision to engage closely with India as president highlights the geopolitical and economic realities facing the Maldives validating that in […]
