Pakistan is traversing minefields as it concludes agreements on investment, balance of payments support and delayed payment oil deliveries with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates worth USD$13 billion that are likely to fawn growing distrust in its relations with neighbouring Iran. Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan expects to next month sign a memorandum…
A heavy soup made of pulled noodles, meat, and vegetables symbolizes Central Asia’s close cultural and/or ethnic ties with China’s repressed Turkic and Hui Muslims. It also explains growing Central Asian unease with China’s re-education campaign in its north-western province of Xinjiang and its signature infrastructure and energy driven-Belt and Road initiative. Named Ashlan Fu…
Asian players are proving to be conceptually and bureaucratically better positioned in the 21st century’s Great Game that involves tectonic geopolitical shifts with the emergence of what former Portuguese Europe minister Bruno Macaes terms the fusion of Europe and Asia into a “supercontinent.” Yet, in contrast to the United States, Asian players despite approaching Europe…
India has plans to expand the eastern branch of the North-South Transport Corridor to Kazakhstan and the rest of Central Asia. This possibility was discussed in mid-November during the bilateral Investment Forum and signifies the natural outgrowth of India’s connectivity investments in Iran. Reaching the Russian marketplace is the prime reason why India’s investing in…
In the “graveyard of empires,” Afghanistan never ceases to deliver geopolitical and historical twists. Last week in Moscow, another crucial chapter in this epic story was written when Russia pledged to use its diplomatic muscle to spur peace efforts in the war-torn country. Flanked by Afghan representatives and their Taliban rivals, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov talked…
The power generating sector plays a crucial role in re-establishing peace and stability in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. No modern nation can hope for rapid and stable development when facing energy shortages. And this is especially true for war-torn Afghanistan. International armed forces are waging a war against terrorists who occupy…
