...reopen for up to six months. Until then, the Strait stays nearly closed. The world pays. And no one, including the man who started this, can say when it ends, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
By all available indications, the White House drafted a face-saving note and handed it, ready-made, to Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was supposed to then post it in the guise of a plea urging Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks 'to allow diplomacy to run its course'. Trump would then graciously accept Pakistan's 'request' and declare a ceasefire. Sharif dutifully posted the message on X. Except that he, or whoever was handling the account, forgot to delete the tell-tale first line visible in the edit history: 'Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X'. Prem Panicker's must read blog on the Iran War.
'Within minutes, my mobile began ringing. It was National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, asking why the Iranians were complaining.' 'I explained that we had only restated our position in the light of the conclusion reached by the IAEA, but will remain helpful to Iran to reach a consensus.' 'Then came a call from Foreign Secretary Kamal Sibal, repeating what Mishra said about the Iranian complaint.' 'I was very impressed that Iran was able to reach two top officials in India to intervene at short notice,' recalls Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
US President Donald Trump announced a new global levy on imported items, resulting in a lower tariff rate for India, following a Supreme Court verdict against his previous sweeping tariffs.
The UN Security Council, with India's support, has adopted a resolution condemning Iran's attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Jordan, demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities and denouncing threats to the Strait of Hormuz.
'American stature has been reduced because they have not been able to achieve their aims.'
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday opposed 'artificial restrictions' on the peaceful use of nuclear technology
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The India-US nuclear deal was aimed at ending India's nuclear isolation and nuclear apartheid, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
Iran on Tuesday said it will not succumb to the western pressures to compromise its 'inalienable right' to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The deal would allow Japan to export nuclear technology to India.
In a Truth Social Post, Trump said, "This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days."
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
The threat of wars hovers over the negotiations in Oman, but the good part is that Trump called the talks to be 'very good' and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian responded that they 'constitute a step forward', points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
"We are considering setting up of a nuclear security Centre of Excellence in China through cooperation with relevant countries in order to play a bigger role in regional nuclear security cooperation," Hu said in his remarks at the Nuclear Security Summit.
India and Argentina on Wednesday signed an agreement in civil nuclear cooperation and nine other pacts with a desire to establish strategic partnership.
Crossing a significant milestone, the Indo-French civil nuclear agreement was unanimously adopted by the French Parliament, paving the way for companies to build nuclear power plants in India. The French National Assembly on Tuesday adopted a law authorising the ratification of the Cooperation Agreement between India and France on the Development of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, a French Embassy statement said. The French Senate had adopted the law on October 15.
The crises of the 21st century, 9/11, the economic meltdown, COVID-19, Russia-Iran war and the Hamas-Israel war seem to be never ending. In this situation, Iran might be contemplating a nuclear deterrent to defend itself, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the distinguished long-time Rediff contributor who turns 80 on June 17..
Both countries have always supported the peaceful use of civil nuclear energy and an agreement in this connection is expected to be signed during the President's visit to China which began Tuesday, Ambassador Masood Khan said. The two countries will ink several agreements in the fields of technology, agriculture and minerals. They will also sign an investment protocol to their existing free trade agreement to boost investments in Pakistan, he told Geo News channel.
During the talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Francois Hollande reassured reliable, uninterrupted and continued access to nuclear fuel supply throughout the entire lifetime of the plants while acknowledging India's need for the same.
The Russians have termed Putin's visit to India, his first to this country since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, as 'Druzhba Dosti', which means 'friendship' in Russian and Hindi respectively.
Some Chinese scholars wondered why India is not taking any initiative to join NPT and which will open up more options for the nation on the nuclear front.
With the fight now having been taken to the seizure of nuclear plants, it is one more warning to Europe that this prolonged war could end up with disastrous consequences, observes Rashme Sehgal
The leaders also noted the "negative impacts" of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, especially for developing and least-developed countries.
Emphasising the importance of sustaining food and energy security, the G20 leaders called for the "cessation of military destruction or other attacks on relevant infrastructure".
The manner in which India and Pakistan have pursued atomic weapons has 'upset the balance of nuclear deterrence', United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday, asserting that the US is working hard with both countries to try to limit their number of nuclear stockpiles.
China is ready to "explore cooperation with all countries for the peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with the rules of the IAEA," said Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
China and Russia on Sunday strongly condemned the United States air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, with China calling it a serious violation of the United Nations Charter that heightens tensions in West Asia, and Russia terming the strikes 'irresponsible' and asserting that they grossly violate international law, the UN Charter, and UN Security Council resolutions.
US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W Patterson has said it was not possible for the United States to extend any cooperation to the latter in nuclear energy sector as the issue involved a lot of legislation.
India on Wednesday said Iran should fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency with a view to restoring confidence of the international community that its nuclear programme is peaceful in nature.
Despite four disarmament section talks and six strategic dialogues between the two foreign ministries, China's intransigence on recognising Indian nuclear status resulted in no confidence building measures in the nuclear field between the two, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
