South East Asia

Iran has been upgraded to permanent member status in the Eurasian alliance, of which Turkey is also a partner. Iran officially joined a Chinese-based alliance of Eurasian states on Friday. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization admitted the Islamic Republic of Iran as a permanent member at the organization’s summit in Tajikistan, …

The Taliban has announced that its government aims to establish ties and diplomatic relations with all countries of the world, except for Israel. According to the group’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen, who spoke to the Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik, the group will even allow relations to develop with the United …

One of the clauses of the February 2020 agreement between the Taliban and the United States (U.S.) made it obligatory on the insurgents to prevent the soil of Afghanistan from being used by global terror groups like the al Qaeda against the U.S. and its allies. Just like the Trump …

Countries bordering the South China Sea who are wary of great power rivalries are reacting slowly and cautiously to the announcement of a trilateral defense pact between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The AUKUS pact, hailed by leaders from the three powers as “historic,” is thought to …

Beijing. Chinese hardliners just had their stance justified by the erratic, verging on unhinged, behavior in the United States and by its military. First the storming of the capitol on Jan 6. Seen from Beijing it looked like a failed coup, a botched but serious attempt to upend US politics. …

Members of the Islamic Emirate were seen on Monday touring the Mes Aynak copper mine, which two Chinese companies had been developing. China’s Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd said that it and the Metallurgical Corp of China (MCC) were monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and would push forward with the development …

China on Wednesday announced a $31 million aid package for Afghanistan, in what appears to be one of the first new foreign aid pledges for the Taliban-ruled country. The aid will include food, winter weather supplies and COVID-19 vaccines. “China has decided to urgently provide $30.96 million (200 million yuan) …

China’s growing demand for natural gas has been driving closer engagement with Turkmenistan, renewing questions about Russia’s role in Central Asia, once regarded as Moscow’s backyard. Soaring gas prices appear to be the main motivator behind China’s agreement to restart an unfinished and technically challenging project to drill three new …

Many incidents in Afghanistan have been rocking the world for several days. The horrific scenes of Afghans rushing out of Kabul Airport, crowding on the same plane to depart the country, many young Afghans being dropped off a plane are being widely reported in the international media. Besides, IS’s suicide …

The dramatic siege of Afghanistan by the Taliban has posed serious questions about the stability, security, geostrategy, and geopolitics of the Central Asia Republics (CARs). A recent UN report highlights the presence of over 10,000 foreign fighters from the neighbouring countries of Central Asia, Pakistan, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous …