South East Asia

On July 4, Iran officially became a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) during a virtual summit hosted by India for the SCO Heads of State Council (Shargh Daily, July 4). Iran initially joined as an “observer member without voting rights” at the July 2005 summit in Astana …

Germany released its first China strategy this week, which calls Beijing a “systemic rival” and stresses the need for Europe’s largest economy to reduce economic dependence on its largest trading partner. Analysts tell VOA the policy shift outlined in the 64-page report that notes “China has changed” highlights Germany’s attempt …

Beijing has nothing to offer Moscow in terms of ideology, but will gladly share its ideas for the economy and political control.The world’s first center for studying the ideas of Chinese leader Xi Jinping has opened in Moscow within Russia’s Institute of China and Modern Asia, part of the Academy …

Due to the deteriorating political and security situation in the country, many speculate that Pakistan’s nuclear program could fall victim to intrusion by terror or fanatic groups. While the subject has been raised on the international forum numerous times and countered effectively as many times, it is important to take …

India is one of the world’s largest armaments importers and continues to expand the scope and range of its defence and strategic cooperation with countries like the U.S., France, Israel, and Russia. In 2016, the U.S. recognised India as a “Major Defence Partner”, a title that consents on India buying …

Imran Rehman, a 32-year-old Catholic Christian man, has been unjustly detained in Camp Jail Lahore for the past ten months on charges of blasphemy and terrorism. Imran, a devoted father of two daughters, was working at the Lahore Metro Bus ticket office when he was taken into custody by the …

Even as the whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg of the Pentagon Papers passed away, his second secret remains hushed. On June 16, the 92-year-old Daniel Ellsberg passed away. At RAND, he contributed to a top-secret 47-volume study of classified documents on the Vietnam War. Even though the war had been acknowledged to …

Change is upon us“Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years and we are driving this change together.” These were the words of Xi Jinping, China’s leader and the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, when bidding farewell to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow in March …

Moscow and Beijing should “lead the correct direction of global governance reform,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi underlined that the development of the bilateral ties between China and Russia has become “a strategic choice made by both countries based on their own national and people’s fundamental interests.” Xi added …

China may have the opportunity to turn Russia into its vassal, but it has no compelling reason to do so.Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia-China cooperation has grown in all directions. Moscow makes no bones about the fact that it is betting on China in the …