TAPI gas pipeline a bulwark against ISIS

The TAPI pipeline from the world’s second largest natural gas field of Galkynysh will integrate the economies of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India  .

ASEAN Summit Live:We'll join fight against 'evil' IS,says Malaysian PM

Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak , in the opening of Asean summit on Saturday,  condemned the Islamic State  as an "evil" terrorist group that have shaken the world in recent weeks and said his Muslim-majority country is ready to join others to defeat it.

Paris terror attacks :War between ISIS and US led coalition

After witnessing worst bloodshed in France since World War II,the French prime minister Manuel Valls announced in front of parliament of a country “at war” as authorities in France and Belgium  conducted extensive raids to search for more leads  and took people into custody.

Great Power game in Syria and South China Sea

Great power game  has already begun. The world  is mainly focused  on two significant areas namely Syria  with adjoining Iraq and other neighbours and South China Sea  where US is challenging a sort of sovereign being imposed by China by building large artificial structures resembling islands.

Growing fears of a third Palestinian uprising?

Fearing of a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising, like in1987-93 and 2000-2005 after a wave of  stabbing attacks by Palestinians that has killed more than 30 people on both sides, Israel has set up checkpoints in occupied East Jerusalem and mobilised hundreds of soldiers to stop attacks.

PM Modi silent on Dadri lynching but attacks Lalu on beef remarks

Sensing that Yadavs and Kurmis vote bank is shifting  to Grand alliance ,Prime Minister Narendra Modi  tried to divide them by targetting Lalu Prasad Yadav  on beef remarks but remained silent on the lynching of a Muslim in Dadri over rumours of eating beef .

PM Narendra Modi’s diplomacy fails to lift him in dire straits

Already engaged in tensions with neighbouring Nepal and Pakistan,Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing image crisis at home  and is failing considerably in his foreign trips  including his recent 5-day trip in US.

Pakistan desires to have military confrontation with India over Kashmir

With the continued ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and the international Border in Jammu and Kashmir and the invitation extended to Kashmiri separatist leaders  Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Abbas Ansari for talks with Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz in Delhi during his stay for scheduled NSA talks  clearly shows that Pakistan is ready for full confrontation.But ,it is needless  to say that Pakistan is facing  disintegration over Shia-Sunni  conflict.

Iran to play a prominent role in Middle East peace process

Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif, the world's top most diplomat  who succeeded in resolving the decades old contentious Nuclear issues and bringing US Iranian relations on an even

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's flawed approach

While the regional countries are grappling  hard to stabilize Afghanistan, President t Ashraf Ghani chooses to obediently toe the Pakistani line and even walks  all out to soothe Pakistani concerns unmindful of the realities in his own country.

Modigate:Modi may be well advised to tread cautiously

Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj indulged in gross impropriety as she facilitated the clearance of travel documents for former IPL chief Lalit Modi,who is an economic offender and a fugitive as per Indian law and his passport has been revoked.

US threatens military confrontation with China in South China Sea amid Modi's Beijing visit

 China who is being considered as the next superpower after United States ,is  being reborn as the world’s largest economy but is  facing many

Chabahar:Indo-Iranian economic reply to China's Gwadar

As the geopolitics is picking up in Afghanistan in the post US troop withdrawal India has taken a renewed position  to develop Iran's Chabahar port which can provide Afghanistan an alternate access  to the sea.

Know all about new ISIS chief:Abu Alaa al-Afri

Abu Alaa al-Afri is set to be the new  chief of Islamic State (ISIS) after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, remains incapacitated due to suspected spinal damage .

Obama-Netanyahu rift widens over Iran and Palestinian statehood

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stunning victory in Tuesday's Israeli election is a major setback for peace process  as he assured his electorate on the day of elections that  there would be no Palestinian state if he secures a third consecutive win.

With this outcome,a new chapter of rift has opened between U.S. and Israeli leaders over Palestinian statehood and Netanyahu's stiff opposition to Iran-US nuclear deal.

Actually Israel is concerned over increased Iranian role in  the fighting to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria  with the support of US led coalition bombarding on key ISIS strategic bases.Even  Tehran managed  to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power throughout the country’s four-year civil war. While Israel also believed that Iranian-backed Hezbollah supported  Houthi rebels-a Zaidi Shia group to control Yemen .

On the contrary,the White House said the United States will re-evaluate the best way to bring about a two- state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's election victory. 

White House further stressed that Netanyahu's election pledge to block the creation of a Palestinian state runs against US policy.

World leaders like UK Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted his congrats to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his victory and  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who said “ Israel has no greater friend than Canada but US President Barack Obama had not yet called Netanyahu rather avoided to congratulate the new Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest assured that "The president in the coming days will also call Prime Minister Netanyahu."

Israel is the America’s strongest and most stable ally but Netanyahu early this month  infuriated the White House when he delivered an explosive speech to the U.S. Congress criticizing nuclear deal with Iran.Consequently,47 Republican senators wrote to the Iranian leadership to tell them that Congress will need to approve any deal Obama may make with Tehran over its nuclear program.

The US State Department clearly said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's victory in the Israeli election will not hamper US efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran.

   "We've been long familiar with the views of the prime minister on Iran. We don't think that his win has impacted the Iran negotiations, or will," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

 US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Lausanne for talks with his Iranian counterpart  to reach a framework accord to rein in Iran's suspect nuclear program before a March 31 deadline.

The Israel vote also reflected the Israelis skepticism over any efforts to find peace with the Palestinians.

With the massive support of ultra-hawkish, Netanyahu is set to  become  the country's longest -serving premier.  Likud said in a statement that Netanyahu intended to form a new government within weeks and negotiations were alreadyunderway with leaders of smaller parties he saw as likely coalition partners.The Joint List of Arab parties emerged as the third- largest party with 14 mandates in the election in which 65.7  per cent of the nearly 5.89 million eligible voters participated.

"Against all odds, we achieved a great victory for the Likud," Netanyahu told supporters while declaring victory for his Likud party.

 "I am proud of the people of Israel, who in the moment of truth knew how to distinguish between what is important and what is peripheral, and to insist on what is important," the 65-year-old premier, known for his hawkish views, said.

 According to final results, Netanyahu's ruling Likud party won 30 seats in the 120-member Parliament -- the Knesset, comfortably defeating the Zionist Union led by Isaac Herzog on 24 seats in a mandate considered a clear victory in the fractured Israeli polity.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini has congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his election victory but stressed the need  for the  peaceful resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict 

 "The EU is ready to work with both sides and the  international community, including partners in the Middle East region, to see the State of Israel and an independent,democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine, living side by side in peace and security and mutual recognition," it added.

Netanyahu and the changing Mid East landscape

Close US-Israel relations have suddenly precipitated to a low ebb due to shift in US Mid East policy necessitated to deal with the changing landscape.

Sri Lanka to ban Chinese submarines from docking in its waters

Sri Lanka who was having a close relations with China is no longer a friend as the new Government in declared it would not allow Chinese submarines to dock in its ports, a move apparently aimed at allaying its sea neighbor India's concerns.

Colombo acknowledged that such a docking did take place coinciding with the Japanese Prime Minister's visited Colombo on September 7 last year when then president Mahinda Rajapaksa was in power..

But now with the change in government of Sri Lanka,changes in foreign and military policies  are bound to happen.

China has built a seaport and airport in the south of the country, raising fears it is seeking influence in the country while Sri lanka is not in favour of becoming a colony of China or military base for China.
Sri Lanka is concerned with the roughly $5 billion in Chinese loans including the US $1.5 billion for the Colombo Port City project it has and will send its finance minister to Beijing to discuss the issue, the foreign minister said on Saturday, as he also ruled out future Chinese submarine visits to the country.

"I really do not know what circumstances led to some submarines coming to the port of Colombo on the very day the Japanese Prime Minister (Shinzo Abe) was visiting Sri Lanka," Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told , disclosing for the first time that the docking coincided with Abe's Colombo visit.

"But we will ensure that such incidents from whatever quarters does not happen during our tenure," said Samaraweera, who held extensive talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
China’s growing naval presence in the Indian Ocean region has opened a new area of rivalry for the two Asian countries.

With an aim of expanding its area of influence in Asia, China docked submarine Changzheng-2 and warship Chang Xing Dao at Colombo harbor for five days and is  already in conflict with Japan especially over the disputed islands in the South China Sea

China had stated that docking was "nothing unusual" as it is common international practice for warships to stop for refuelling at ports abroad. It had said the submarines were part of the fleet of warships deployed in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.

Samaraweera, who visited India first after taking charge followed by the new President Maithripala Sirisena, said his government's foreign policy is to bring Sri Lanka "back to the centre".

Elaborating further Sri lanka's new policy barring hosting of foreign submarines,Samaraweera said "Back to centre meant I don't think it has any bearing on Sri Lanka-China relations. It will remain as ever. We will strengthen relations further with China as we are doing with the rest of the world. Back to the centre I meant a more balanced foreign policy."

Asked whether there would be any Chinese submarine visits in the near future, Samaraweera said: “I don’t see any”.

Recently,Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) voiced concern over Beijing's land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea.

To counter China in South China Sea, Philippines and Vietnam are forging closer ties while
Beijing has put the construction work  on six reefs it occupies in the Spratlys  on fast track to expand the territories, building ports, an airfield and communications and surveillance facilities.

PM Modi to decide on India's leadership role in Asia

Expansionist designs of   Russia in Ukraine, China’s in South China Sea extending to the Middle East  and the imminent threat  from ultra jihadists  of Islamic State  across the world  have prompted  US President Barack Obama to designate  some countries  to re-balance Asia  in which India  occupies a strategic position.

Obama in India to give boost to his 'pivot to Asia' policy

On the invitation of prime minister Narendra Modi, President Obama arrives in India for a three day visit  with many objectives in mind.

Boko Haram's 'deadliest massacre' in Nigeria

Boko Haram militants opened fire on villagers in Baga in the northeastern Nigerian state leaving bodies scattered everywhere and as many as 2,000 people feared dead.