South East Asia

Mohammad Hossein Velayati, an Iranian photojournalist working for the Tasnim News Agency, was arrested by the Taliban in Kabul. Iran was determined “to pursue securing the release of a photojournalist in Afghanistan,” Iranian President’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Affairs Hassan Kazemi Qomi said earlier this week. Reports state that Mohammad …

Pakistan’s recent US$3 billion Stand-By Arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provided much-needed financial relief alongside the financial aid and investment from several strategic partners, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China. These arrangements could play a significant role in addressing pressing economic crises. While these …

The geopolitical competition between Beijing and Ankara challenges their mutually harmonious Silk Road initiatives. As western pressure on China and its Asian periphery increases, will NATO-member Turkiye choose growth and development over a hegemonic clash? In the highest-level meeting between Chinese and Turkish officials since 2011, Turkish President Recep Tayyip …

Three Years Ago While press conferences conducted by Pakistan’s Foreign Office [FO] are a routine affair, the one held on November 14, 2020 was different. Instead of being conducted by a FO spokesperson, it was addressed by Pakistan’s then Foreign Minister [FM] Shah Mehmood Qureshi and co-chaired by the Director …

Saudi Arabia’s cooperation with China on technological and scientific innovation is on the rise—and it is Saudi priorities that are steering the relationship. CHINA LOCAL/GLOBAL China has become a global power, but there is too little debate about how this has happened and what it means. Many argue that China …

There has been a gradual rise in isolated militant activity in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021. The number of terrorist attacks increased by 27% in 2022 compared to 2021, and have been observed to be deadly in impact on few occasions, as seen during …

The rise of China as a major power has engendered a new set of initiatives from Beijing that challenge the Western-led international order. The Global Security Initiative (GSI) is one such initiative, which has been met with mixed reactions from the West. It has renewed the discussion of whether it …

Germany’s China policy is often lamented as one “at sea, drifting without an anchor”. This may finally change after the recent release of Germany’s China strategy, which attempts to recalibrate relations with its top trading partner. The 64-page document follows Germany’s National Security Strategy released in June, outlining a revamp …

Putin is nothing if not an opportunist, and the images of American forces and their British allies struggling to contain the surging crowds at Kabul airport who were desperately trying to flee the country will have confirmed the Russian leader’s view that, so long as Biden remained in power, he …

Geopolitical rivalries having intensified in recent years between China and India was logically bound to affect the cohesive continuance of the five-member BRICS grouping with no ideological bindings and different strategic perspectives, but only an initial show of economic resurgence as a binding adhesive.. BRICS Summit 2023 held at Johannesburg …