Russia and China: Rise of the East

Although Russia and China, the two largest countries of the non-Western bloc, have been moving closer for more than a decade, the visit of President Xi Jinping to Moscow (March 20-22, 2023) has been widely perceived as heralding the end of the US-led Western domination of the world and the … Read More

Khalistan propaganda spreads in West

The so-called referendum for an independent Khalistan spread to a third Western nation after Canada and the United Kingdom, and led to clashes with nationalist Indians waving the Tricolour at Federation Square in Melbourne, venue of the event, on Sunday, January 29, 2023. While the “referendum” has no legal or … Read More

Biden seeks to revive US-China ties

The US warming up to China was long expected in view of wintry ties with Russia over NATO’s expansion to its doorstep in Ukraine By walking the length of a long hall to greet President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, on November 14, US President Joe … Read More

Geography and spirituality: Adivasi paradigm

The British theory of an Aryan Invasion to which India owned its culture and religious traditions was doubted by Indian scholars in the colonial era itself. Sukumar Dutt observed that the conception of India as a distinct entity existed in the minds of the people from primordial times (Problem of … Read More

Putin: Western hegemony collapsing

Accepting the accession of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, President Vladimir Putin made a frontal attack on the West and the threat it poses to the rest of the world, mentioning the Opium Wars (against China) and India’s attempt to shake off British rule … Read More

Taliban under pressure in Afghanistan

One year after it seized power in Kabul, the Taliban leadership has failed to stabilise its rule and is grappling with various jihadi groups that have found shelter in Afghanistan. The September 5, 2022, suicide attack on the Russian embassy in Darul Aman area, Kabul, that killed six persons including … Read More

Taliban murder Hazara commander

The Shia-Sunni divide amongst the Taliban intensified sharply with the killing of Maulavi Mahdi, a rebel Hazara commander. The Shia-Sunni divide amongst the Taliban intensified sharply with the killing of Maulavi Mahdi, a rebel Hazara commander, who was captured at the Herat border in the morning of August 17, 2022, … Read More

Ulema perpetuate Afghanistan stalemate

Barely five weeks short of its first anniversary in power, the Taliban regime failed to address or resolve any of the serious issues facing Afghanistan, with the three-day “Great Conference of Ulema” held in Kabul (June 30-July 2, 2022) proving a damp squib. The regime took care not to designate … Read More

Shinzo Abe: Fall of a Titan

Abe had the foresight to appreciate the need for keeping India on the high table of world powers. The tallest leader in Japan’s post-World War II history, who raised the nation out of the guilt of its colonial past, was assassinated this morning by a lone gunman, who’s motive remains … Read More

Ayurveda and Yoga spearhead India’s medical diplomacy

India’s Traditional Medicine systems (Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and Sowa Rigpa of the Himalayan ranges) and other world traditions will now be studied and preserved at the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) India’s medical tourism sector, largely confined to allopathic treatment (barring Kerala), received a major fillip with the World … Read More