Author: kusum.rana

Myanmar’s military regime (also known as the Tatmadaw) has extended the state of emergency for another six months as the armed revolt against the regime deepens. Members of the military-controlled National Defense and Security Council unanimously decided to extend the state of emergency, blaming terrorist acts by its opponents for the failure to hold elections. They have stated the extension of emergency will allow them more time to gather population data and voter lists ahead of a promised election next year. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military council on Monday July 22, 2024 also took the position…

Dr. S. Jaishankar attends the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting in Japan. He asserted that only Quad can ensure freedom, stability, and security in the Indo-Pacific region amid China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region including the South China Sea.  Dr. S. Jaishankar’s crucial statements External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that our meeting should send a clear message that Quad is here to stay, here to do, and here to grow. He highlighted the importance of political understanding, expanding economic partnerships, increasing  technology collaborations and deepening people-to-people connections among the Quad nations.He also talked about the…

Maldivian President Muizzu addressing at the official ceremony held at the 59th anniversary of independence expressed his sincere gratitude to India and China for their support to strengthen his country’s fragile economy and ease its debt crisis. He affirmed to forge stronger ties with India and hopes to sign a free trade agreement. He even stated that India continues to remain Maldives’ closest ally.President Mohamed Muizzu took a reconciliatory tone after ties between both the states deteriorated early this year leading to a diplomatic rift.  Previously Maldivian President Muizzu displayed anti-India rhetoric President Muizzu ran the electoral campaign on the…

Republican  Senator Marco Rubio tabled a landmark bill that could enhance US-India partnership, which is vital to counter China in the Indo-Pacific. The bill proposed that India be given status the same as other allies like Japan, Israel, South Korea, and NATO partners in terms of technology transfers. This bill also aims to block security assistance to Pakistan, if found to sponsor terrorism against India.Rubio said while introducing the US-India Defense Cooperation Act in the Senate, that China continues to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, impeding on the sovereignty and autonomy of our regional partners. It is necessary…

The Syrian civil war enters its 14th year, a permanent political resolution remains difficult to imagine when the war is still raging. 14 years after demonstrators first started a regime change movement against the four-decade rule of the Assad family, killing thousands of Syrians and nearly 13 million, more than half of the population have been displaced. How did the Syrian civil war start? The Arab Spring was a series of pro-democracy uprisings that started from Tunisia to several other largely Muslim countries in the Middle East, including Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain. These uprisings began in the spring…

Defense budget of India needs to soar amid war and rising tensions. Global military expenditure has reached at an all time high, indicating that the world is preparing for war. That doesn’t mean there is an upcoming third world war. But timely preparation is needed for a well-built defense force. Conflicts in Europe, middle-east and Asia have led to an increase in almost 7% of global military spending. Although India is the 4th largest military spender after the USA, China and Russia but there isn’t any substantial increase in India’s defense budget, the gap remains stark. Budget allocation to defense in…

Arms companies make a huge margin of profit from these wars, but their close relationship with political leadership is not discussed. Political elites often created their enemy to ensure that only a small number of private players make profit from creating weapons which in turn will support them to hold onto their power. We only talk about political leaders who wage wars against each other but what about the so-called defense industries who lobby these endless wars and conflicts. Today, one fourth of humanity lives in conflict zones. Even after humans have made so much progress, wars like Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas…

The war between Russia-Ukraine has been going on for almost 30 months. The frontlines have hardly moved since the last few months. The prospects for an end of the war remains negligible since the          preconditions set by Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin are non-negotiable for both the states. Why does the Russia-Ukraine war have an implication on the global order? The outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war has the potential to shift the international order. Because it directly involves a nuclear power like Russia, also a key player in International affairs.The outcome of the war hangs, survival…

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget in the Parliament today. Today’s budget will be the first under the Modi 3.0 government. Breaking the record set by Morarji Desai’s six budget presentations, Sitharaman will become the first Finance Minister to present seven straight budgets with the release of this year’s budget. Similar to the last few complete Union budgets, Budget 2024 will be distributed electronically. Usually the annual union budget is presented on the last working days of the financial year and came into effect on April 1. But this time we were about to hold general…

Israel’s parliament passed a resolution rejecting Palestinian statehood. The lawmakers believe that the creation of a Palestinian state will be an existential threat to Israel. Further adding that supporting a Palestinian state would only encourage Hamas and its supporters. The resolution was passed with an overwhelming majority of 68 votes to 9 in the 120 member Knesset. This vote came days ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned address in the US Congress.The decision has been criticized by Palestinian authority and international community too. The resolution was in contradiction with many UN Security Council resolutions as well as a complete…