While efforts are being made to ensure freedom of navigation, the hotspots in the region, including in Gaza and Yemen and the civilian and humanitarian strife which can spiral out of control, need to be addressed on global priority. The Red Sea, with its strategic maritime routes, is an important artery for trade and sea borne traffic as well as for the choke points in the Bab-El Mandab which needs to be kept open.
India’s defense export revenue touched a record high of Rupees 15,920 crore for FY23. This was more than 10 times New Delhi’s defence export revenue of Rupees 1,521 crore during 2016-17. What makes this export record even more astonishing is that, only a decade ago, India was exporting arms worth a marginal Rupees 686 crore.
As the US and the West are stuck in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars, apart from the ongoing energy crisis and cuts, President Putin (on December 6) dashed to Abu Dhabi and Riyadh to meet and deliberate with UAE President Sheikh Zayed al-Nahyan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), then quickly back to Moscow to meet Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi (on December 7) overtly to discuss the deteriorating situation in Gaza. Putin is not too fond of travelling abroad let alone the current ICC warrant against him. Hence this visit acquires a special strategic significance in terms of symbolism and substance. A grand welcome also awaited him.
BIMSTEC or “Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation” was set up in 1997 to foster economic and social development among member countries, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Its significance lies in the fact that it serves as the direct linkage between South Asian and South East Asian countries through intra-regional collaboration between the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Two months of Israel-Hamas war — It appears that after the ongoing war is over, when the objective of Hamas being destroyed or decimated achieved by the IDF, Netanyahu might agree to convert Gaza into a ‘Zone D’. With this, IDF could exercise the ‘overriding , overarching military envelope ‘ as part of politico-security arrangement with the Palestinian Authority, writes former diplomat and a keen observer of international affairs, Amb. Anil Trigunayat.
In 1910, China’s warlord Zhao Erfeng dreamt of controlling the five Himalayan states of Tibet, Bhutan, Ladakh, Nepal and Sikkim. China’s current leadership has stepped up efforts to fulfil that dream, with the latest inroads being made in Bhutan.
If recent diplomatic activities are to be believed, China is bouncing back from the wilderness as more and more major actors on the world stage try to reset their engagement with Beijing. It has been a disastrous few years for Chinese diplomacy and most of it has been of its own making. The arrogance displayed at the strategic level, coupled with its ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy of recent times, almost destroyed the narrative of China’s peaceful rise. As Chinese President Xi Jinping centralized power and shunned the sagacity of his predecessors on playing it lightly on the global stage, he emerged in much of the world as a global villain, even beating his close follower, the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un.