South East Asia

Escalating U.S.-Iran tensions mean Afghanistan, which shares a border with Iran, could be the next proxy battleground between Washington and Tehran, a clash that threatens to undermine the Trump administration’s pursuit of a peace deal with the Taliban and eventual drawdown of American troops.

China reportedly launched an additional Type 055 destroyer and a Type 052D destroyer right before the year draws to an end, a move Chinese experts called on Sunday an astounding achievement in shipbuilding, as they expect the ships to enter military service in two years.

The most striking similarity is that both are being investigated for actions that their legislatures have not explicitly made criminal.

The statement comes days after Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh highlighted the requirement of three aircraft carriers for the Navy to overcome critical capability voids during a naval commanders’ conference in New Delhi.

U.S. lawmakers and experts have renewed calls for sanctions against China over rights abuses in its Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), in a swift response to the leak of hundreds of pages of documents detailing a crackdown on ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities ordered by President Xi Jinping.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, leading an official delegation which includes over 50 businessmen, is expected to hold discussions with his Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, on all areas of bilateral military and military-technical cooperation.

The U.S. chief peace negotiator for Afghanistan met leaders in Kabul Sunday after arriving in the country on an unannounced visit, his first since President Donald Trump halted talks with Taliban insurgents on ending the Afghan war.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan held talks Sunday with leaders in Iran to formally begin a diplomatic offensive he said was aimed at defusing the neighboring country’s escalating tensions with Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The Israeli and British fighter jets conducted military exercise together over the eastern Mediterranean several months ago, and the drills also involved the US Air Force at the time.

On September 14, just a few days after former National Security Advisor Ambassador John R. Bolton was comfortably disappeared from the administration, Iran inflicted major damage on a massive oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia.