LARRY JAGAN The Myanmar military has air-dropped hundreds of troops into the country’s strife-torn western Rakhine state in preparation for a surgical operation intended to route out accused Muslim rebels and insurgents, according to military sources. The deployment of the 33rd Light Infantry Division commenced last Thursday. They were helicoptered into the regional capital Sittwe,…
Read moreWith a cream shawl draped around her head, renowned human rights activist from Manipur Irom Sharmila walked into the registrar office in Kodaikanal to get married to her British partner Desmond Coutinho. Standing beside the bride was CPI(ML) activist and documentary filmmaker Divya Bharathi, who held a small bouquet of roses. In a crowded room…
Read moreIndian Junior Home Minister Kiren Rijiju said the UNHCR registration of Rohingya Muslims was irrelevant. All of an estimated 40K Rohingya Muslims living in India are illegal immigrants, even those registered with the UN refugee agency, and the government aims to deport them, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju has told news agency Reuters in New Delhi….
Read moreKRISHNA N. DAS Modi administration are in touch with Bangladesh and Myanmar about its plan to deport around 40K Rohingya Muslims it says are living in the country illegally, a government spokesman said in Delhi, with state governments told to form task forces for the purpose. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled persecution in…
Read moreLOOKEAST REPORT Indian External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj held her first high-level meeting after the Doklam standoff, with Bhutanese counterpart Damcho Dorji in BIMSTEC sideline in Kathmandu, and expressing hope that the situation is resolved peacefully. The two ministers met on sidelines of the BIMSTEC foreign ministers’ meeting. The meeting was focused mainly on the…
Read moreBRAHMA CHELLANEY The more power China has accumulated, the more it has attempted to achieve its foreign-policy objectives with bluff, bluster, and bullying. But, as its Himalayan border standoff with India’s military continues, the limits of this approach are becoming increasingly apparent. The current standoff began in mid-June, when Bhutan, a close ally of India,…
Read moreFRANZ–STEFAN GADY Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems successfully completed integration of the I-Derby beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile on the Indian Air Force’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) with test firing of the missile scheduled for the end of this year. According to a Rafael representative, the new missile is slated to become the…
Read moreSUBIR BHAUMIK The Indian government has refused to clear West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s proposed trip to China in June. She was destined to visit provinces like Shandong, which have a thick concentration of manufacturing industries, to attract investment for West Bengal. The Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi has told Banerjee in response…
Read moreSUBIR BHAUMIK Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has turned to the right to placate hard-line Islamists after facing flak for her recent visit to neighboring India, a trip her opponents have claimed sold out national interests to its giant western neighbor. Hasina’s concessions to hard-line Islamists have upset her own party supporters who value Bangladesh’s…
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