Canada has expelled a top Indian intelligence official, accusing him of involvement in the murder of a Canadian citizen of Indian-origin, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was an activist with the Sikh separatist movement Sikhs for Justice. In response to Canada’s actions, India then halted the issue of visas to Canadian citizens, and, as a reciprocal measure, expelled a senior diplomat from New Delhi. These developments occurred just two weeks after the G20 summit in the Indian capital. Ottawa had claimed that it has credible evidence that agents of the Indian government were involved in the incident. Naturally, no one has provided any specific proof, nor are they likely to…

Indonesia played host to many ASEAN political and military events in July and August of this year, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), a meeting of the defense ministers, a meeting of the Association’s defense and foreign ministers, and a maritime forum. The Western-led confrontation in the region required the leaders of the ASEAN states to declare a firm, consolidated position on the inadmissibility of military adventures threatening the peace and security of the region’s countries being launched by the West in the Association’s traditional responsibility zone…

At the end of July this year, US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of another package of military assistance to Taiwan in the amount of up to $345 million. Unlike previous deliveries, this tranche will become special – free of charge, through a special mechanism of the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). Previously, the PDA format, which allows weapons to be shipped directly from the Pentagon’s warehouses without unnecessary approval from Congress and bureaucratic procedures, was used only for military…

The current neocolonial policies developed by the West in Africa have allowed the EU to strip African nations of their mineral resources, exploit their agricultural land, dominate their economies and exercise control over their healthcare systems. Europe treats the African nations solely as sources of raw materials, and considers them as obliged to grant unchecked access to their resources. The European nations’ “global access” initiative, under which Brussels commits to invest 150 billion euros in African infrastructure projects by 2027, demonstrates how serious they are about their African plans…

The next Russia-Africa summit provides a unique opportunity for countries outside the US-centered world to establish their subjectivity and recall that global development goals are not restricted to ensuring the interests of the “golden billion” as they are framed in Western capitals. To declare the existence of a “global South,” with great resources, demographic, and cultural potential but disproportionately underrepresented in global politics and finance. The motto of the Russia-Africa summit, “For Peace, Security, and Development” which will take place in St. Petersburg on July 27 and 28, and the attendance of which has already…

On July 5, the ASEAN Working Group on Chemicals and Waste held a meeting in Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In addition to the ASEAN member states, other countries in the Asia-Pacific region also participated in the meeting. The agenda included the issue of the proper treatment and disposal of hazardous chemicals and their by-products in compliance with the provisions of the Basel and Rotterdam Conventions, which have been ratified…

One of the main current trends in U.S. foreign policy is to force its partners, including India, by hook or by crook, to join the U.S. initiative to form a unified coalition to contain China’s growing power. But does New Delhi need to sign on to such alliances? Not long ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a state visit to the United States, where he was warmly welcomed by President Joe Biden, who hosted a reception at the White House for the occasion. In general, Biden has been very generous lately in his attempts to drag his partners into an anti-Chinese alliance. In April of this year, a posh reception was held in honor of South Korean President…

In November 2022, on the margins of the G20 Summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with his British counterpart Rishi Sunak. There was unprecedented interest in the meeting on the part of the media and the expert community. They singled out the Indian origin of the British prime minister, with whom the Indians associated high hopes for strengthening bilateral cooperation and the bright prospects for the development of relations between the two countries. Particular attention was drawn to Modi’s phone conversation with Sunak shortly before the G20 meeting, during which the latter described himself as “the embodiment of the historic ties between India and Great Britain.” The bottom line may be quite different. In May 2023, there was another meeting between the two prime ministers…

During the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference taking place in Singapore from June 2-4, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that the United States is not trying to form a new Western defense-oriented NATO-like bloc in the Asia-Pacific region. The Pentagon chief ascertained those present that the interests of European powers in the region are not only military-related, and therefore, of course, Europe “is present here” because it wants to guarantee the preservation of “good relations with the countries of the region.” Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles echoed his American…

Cooperation of Philippines with the USA and its closest Asia-Pacific region allies is rapidly growing. And just as the international community barely got used to the March news about the number of bases in the Philippines which the USA has access to increasing to nine, as well as about the possibility of Japan and Australia fully joining the military cooperation with the Philippines, on May 31 the Japanese media reported that the defense ministers of Japan, the USA, Australia and the Philippines will hold four-party negotiations at the international forum on security…

Beijing rejected Washington’s offer to conduct negotiations between Ministers of Defense on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue Summit against the background of mutual misunderstanding. The Singapore Security Summit for many years has served as a neutral forum for discussing controversies in the Asia-Pacific region, where even outspoken opponents can meet and clarify their mutual grievances without sacrificing credibility. This is why the PRC’s refusal to hold a meeting between Li Shangfu and Lloyd Austin has attracted increased global attention. The formal reason for rejecting the request was that the Chinese Ministers of Defense was under US sanctions. Li Shangfu previously…

The upcoming session of the Council of the SCO Leaders in July will include discussions on boosting the usage of national currencies in trade between member nations. This topic was previously addressed, and a plan was established during the organization’s summit in Samarkand in September 2022. The SCO is currently one of the most extensive regional associations worldwide, providing unparalleled potential for collaboration between its participants on political, economic, security, humanitarian, and cultural matters. The organization is consistently evolving into a completely autonomous and self-sufficient structure, emerging…