'He has a splendid opportunity to capitalise on the CPEC and turn the economy around decisively, putting Pakistan firmly on a higher growth trajectory.' 'Indeed, under the Imran-Bajwa dispensation, there has been a noticeable whittling down of support to militant groups,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Who put the fear of god into Imran Khan and how it happened we do not know, but the great cricketer panicked and called Mahathir to regret that he cannot attend the KL Summit,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'What Kamala Harris' rise and rise underscores is that our old ways of identifying the Indian-American Diaspora need to change...' 'None of this detracts from her Indian-American identity, which makes us feel as if we are Americans too,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The sooner Pakistan and India face these geopolitical realities, the better it will be for their own security and prosperity,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India has fleshed out its approach toward the peace talks with the Taliban taking into account the inputs from John Kerry's visit as well as the consultations in Delhi the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins, says M K Bhadrakumar.
'Like everyone else addicted to Kremlin politics, I too have a thesis.' 'Foreign policy is known to be Putin's forte -- and Russia's stability his obsession.' 'As we enter the 2020s, it is clear that an extraordinary turbulent decade lies ahead in world politics and it casts dark shadows on Russia's future,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Gotabaya will expect India to observe the red line.' 'He even dispensed with any gesture welcoming India as an interlocutor on the Tamil issue.' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The heart of the matter is that India is not Israel.'
An opinion is steadily gaining ground in Muslim countries in India's 'extended neighbourhood' that the Modi government is adopting State policies that are decidedly 'anti-Muslim', warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'This is a critical story that Modi seems to grasp far better -- almost instinctively -- in comparison with most of his predecessors as prime ministers,' notes M K Bhadrakumar.
'Washington is well aware that the Haqqani group was responsible for terrorist attacks on the Indian diplomatic establishments in Afghanistan.' 'But today US self-interest dictates that Sirajuddin Haqqani's mainstreaming in Afghan political life and a potential elevation eventually to a leadership role at the national level is useful and necessary, since he can deliver peace,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
M K Bhadrakumar analyses the reason why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is brimming with confidence since his trip to South African capital Durban.
In another 2-3 weeks, coronavirus will chariot India to overtake the United States. In March, Modi had exhorted the nation to celebrate India's impending success over the virus by clanging metal plates. Make no mistake, India is losing this momentous war under his captaincy, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The downhill slide in the India-Pakistan relationship will suit one party eminently -- the Pakistani military, says M K Bhadrakumar
The profound significance of the events of the past week lies in that the struggle for civilian supremacy has truly begun in Pakistan and its consequences are going to be far-reaching for India-Pakistan relations, says M K Bhadrakumar.
As the US readies to withdraw from the Afghan battlefield, it is moving closer to Pakistan to manage the post-withdrawal scenario. For India, it is a dangerous development fraught with serious security implications. Delhi needs to draw up contingency plans to deal with the situation, says retired Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
How does India take to the mellowed Dr Kissinger? India's elites may have dropped their earlier allergy toward him, but they are on guard still, feels Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It is a fallacy, which many of our pundits are prone to, to exaggerate the potential for confrontation and conflict between the US and China and to conceive fanciful notions of advantage for India in the downstream, says M K Bhadrakumar.
Pakistan's decision to reopen transit routes for Nato convoys holds big implications for the future trajectory of the US-Pakistan relationship and regional security -- and for Pakistan's domestic politics, says MK Bhadrakumar
Evidently, something has gone awry in India's regional strategies. Yet, one feels tempted to call this India's "BRICS moment". The Durban summit will show how far India is prepared to go in a new direction. MK Bhadrakumar examines
A course correction is urgently needed to arrest and reverse the free fall of the Indian-Russian relationship through the past decade, says MK Bhadrakumar
'Indian diplomacy should be allowed a free hand and politicians should step aside. It is difficult to see that happening, but it can happen -- and it should in the spirit of a mature democracy,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Why not simply make some more ventilators and find some more beds? How much would it cost?' asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Make no mistake, the Bangladeshi and Afghan missions in Chanakyapuri would report verbatim to their capitals the abrasive remarks attributed to the Indian leadership, casting a slur on their countries' political culture and national honour, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'While high-level interventions may help smoothen inter-State relationships, they cannot fundamentally change the alchemy of such relationships, which are firmly rooted in mutual benefits and mutual interests,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Former diplomat and columnist M K Bhadrakumar appeared on the Rediff Chat to take questions on how India should steer the ship of foreign policy between two giants -- the United States and China.
'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Obama is signalling much more than a new leadership style of using more carrots than sticks, more ideas and persuasion than threats and sanctions. The bottom line is that now that he won't be running again, Obama wants to really test a values-based foreign policy approach that relies on negotiations, says M K Bhadrakumar.
It's intriguing why Pakistani security establishment sent 26/11 handler Abu Jundal to Saudi despite being aware that he would be highly vulnerable. M K Bhadrakumar analyses
This is an opportune moment in the geopolitics of the region for India to think along the medium and long-term direction of creating underpinnings of a cooperative relationship with Pakistan, says MK Bhadrakumar
The fact that 200 million people have shown the willpower and 'national identity' to hand down -- on two successive occasions in the past five years -- such cohesive mandates to two regional parties to lead their government in Lucknow shows the powerful yearning for federalism in our country, notes M K Bhadrakumar.
Former diplomat MK Bhadrakumar delivered a keynote address -- The Arab spring: The region and India -- at an international seminar held in Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. Here's the complete text
'The Dalai Lama is in a tearing hurry.' 'The 'reincarnation' card remains unplayed, and time is running out.' 'Is something big being planned for the event of Tibetan Buddhist leaders in Leh in November?' asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India should have abstained from voting for the draft resolution backing an Arab League peace plan for Syria at the United Nations Security Council, opines former diplomat M K Bhadrakumar
Pakistan will not cooperate with the US in Afghanistan unless and until the latter accepts its central role in the search for a settlement and accommodates its 'legitimate interests'. This is the crux of the matter, says MK Bhadrakumar.
Indian commentators are inclined to view the country's relations with its neighbours almost exclusively through the prism of the ascendancy of China's diplomacy in South Asia, says M K Bhadrakumar.
Pious pre-summit homilies cannot hide the ugly truth that cooperation in energy security is going at snail's pace despite it being a strategic area for India. The high hopes raised 3 years ago during the visit by Vladimir Putin to Delhi remain unfulfilled, says M K Bhadrakumar.
Big-power rivalries in the Central Asian region have catapulted Pakistan into a key role in the US's regional strategy more than at any time, says M K Bhadrakumar.
The Afghan endgame is moving into a crucial phase. Much will depend on regional politics involving Pakistan, Iran, India and China. How far the US's 'divide-and-rule' strategy succeeds remains to be seen, says M K Bhadrakumar.
As Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai begins his two-day visit to India on Tuesday, policymakers face the challenge to get the Afghan plot straight, says former diplomat M K Bhadrakumar
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