'Washington must retain control over any peace process until the Taliban gets worn out,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'What has India got out of Howdy India in substantive terms?' asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It is not every day that one of the planet's richest men is arrested by his government.
'The scheduling of Imran Khan's visit to Beijing and its focus on the J&K situation underscores that Beijing shares the Pakistani concern that tensions with India are only going to escalate further in the period ahead,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Two years into power, there is very little to show for the Modi government by way of 'achievements' on the foreign policy front, and his China, Pakistan policies are gasping for breath, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Even as the United States snuggles closer to India with the thinly veiled objective of containing China, the Indian strategy is to avoid alienating either nation.
'The Vladivostok visit marks a subtle reversal of trend discernible in the revival of India-Russia relations pioneered by Modi during the past couple of years,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The leadership needs to put all other government business aside, control the pandemic and save human lives. Searchlights are going to be held by the world community in the weeks and months ahead as the fatality rates start shooting up and Indians die like flies, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Any 'de-escalation' that brings down tensions will deprive the BJP of a plank with seamless possibilities to project PM Modi as the 'Iron prime minister' and hype up jingoism in the upcoming election campaign,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'An ardent advocate of nuclear disarmament, Obama may even be secretly heaving a sigh of relief that the NSG is unlikely to reach unanimity of opinion on India's candidature,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Tehran,' Foreign Minister Zarif said, 'had expected the Modi government to be "more resilient" in the face of Washington's bullying,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Chinese companies have acquired stakes in 13 ports in Europe, including in Greece, Spain and, most recently, Belgium.' 'Those ports handle about 10 percent of Europe's shipping container capacity,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Saudis are in the driving seat in navigating the relations with India; they set its compass and calibrate its pace,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Delhi finds itself between the rock and hard place in the coming Sri Lankan election, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The muscularity of the last three years didn't bring any dividends and if anything, Chinese attitudes only hardened,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'If the series of instances in the recent past are taken into account -- guns falling silent on the border; vastly reduced cross-border infiltration into J&K; positive approach to meeting Indian demands on the Kartarpur Sahib pilgrimage; resumption of overflight for Indian aircraft; visible disinterest in rhetoric and so on -- Commander Jadhav may see better days in a conceivable future,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Isn't it in India's long-term interests that Tibet-related issues do not remain a point of discord in Sino-Indian relations?' asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Of course, Maldives is chicken feed for the Indian armed forces. And an intervention in the Maldives may serve the purpose of creating jingoism in an election year.' 'But from the foreign policy perspective, any such move will be a flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter,' warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'If push comes to shove, Pakistan does have the capability to make it difficult for the US and NATO forces to make even a withdrawal of troops out of Afghanistan in orderly fashion,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Tehran senses that the Modi government is inexorably gravitating toward the US-Israeli-Saudi axis, jettisoning India's traditional independent Gulf policies,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'We began foolishly bragging about Saudi-Emirati investment plans as indicative of the sheikhs 'distancing' from Pakistan, including on Kashmir,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Rajapaksa's victory poses a serious foreign policy challenge for the Modi government,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Pakistani move to ban militant outfits and placate international opinion and Islamabad's openness to a UN security council resolution on Azhar -- instead of beseeching China to cast yet another veto -- enables Islamabad to occupy the high ground,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'India, which climbed the escalation ladder first, has climbed down.'
'It remains unclear what Indian objectives have been realised in precipitating the crisis in the first instance last Tuesday,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Pakistan has stolen from the Indian diplomatic toolbox a potent rope trick -- bypassing the ruling elite in Delhi (and the Indian establishment) to reach out to Indian Sikhs directly and fostering people-to-people contacts,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Pakistan's trump card is that it is the only credible guarantor on the horizon who can reasonably assure the Western world that Afghanistan will not again become the revolving door for international terrorism.' 'Trust Pakistan to play this card optimally,' explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The deepening of China-Nepal relations need not cause heartburn in India,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Clearly, the warming of ties can be a 'win-win' for India and China,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'That is important for Modi politically when he launches a do-or-die campaign seeking a renewed mandate in the 2019 poll,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Only he, with his tremendous political capital and personal stature, can pull it off, observes B S Raghavan, the veteran civil servant.
'We are witnessing a spectacle of breathtakingly creative diplomacy at work, riveted on the firm foundations of the country's strategic autonomy,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Without doubt, General Bajwa has deliberately snubbed India.' 'But why did he do that?' 'The Male leadership is simply fed up with Indian interference,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The US appears to think that Pakistan is highly vulnerable today due to its economic crisis and one more turn of the screw may bring about desired results,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'It must be rendering Modi, Amit Shah and Adityanath speechless that the Indian diplomat who lifted the Azhar trophy at the UN in New York is also a Muslim. 'Yes, this is the wonder that was India,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'India will come increasingly in the US crosshairs if it insists on maintaining its strategic autonomy, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Misplaced national priorities have brought the economy to a cul-de-sac,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'It was a 20-minute boat ride journey of about 500 metres, but it must have been a giant leap together for the two staunchly secular leaders, Modi and Macron,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Chabahar port, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, 'can be the first significant footfall in an Indian variant of the 'Belt and Road' initiative.'
'The Kerala saga also requires a reappraisal of Nehru himself. 'The real Nehru is to be found somewhere between the syrupy panegyrics on him and the demonisation of him that is currently happening,' says Ambassador MK Bhadrakumar.
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