Courtesy: WTOP
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s siblings last week accused him of putting self-interest before good governance. Yet, his personal popularity remains untarnished. The Singaporean economy may no longer be the powerhouse it was and the country’s cost competitiveness may have declined, but the government has been working to regain its edge
Courtesy: Gateway House
A conference of the BRICS 2017 Think Tank Forum, held in Beijing recently, showed that the grouping had progressed in influencing global governance despite some persistent intra-member differences
Courtesy: Lockheed Martin
Has a turning point been achieved in the establishment of a strong defence industrial base for India? The new strategic partnership policy outlines the process for private sector participation in defence manufacturing
Courtesy: Sova News
Provisional data on India’s GDP for the fourth quarter of 2016-17, released at the end of last month, suggests that the economy is not shining, a condition that has been in the making much prior to the government’s demonetisation exercise: it’s private capital formation that is absent. This must rouse the policy makers to action.
Courtesy: Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Arabia and its allies have broken off diplomatic ties with Qatar, but Iran may be their real target, a possibility reinforced by some recently leaked emails from a UAE diplomat
Courtesy: Igor Peraza
Speakers at the ‘1st BRICS Think Tank Forum on Pragmatic Cooperation’, held in Shanghai last month, discussed ways to tackle new challenges as globalisation moves into the next phase where the BRICS countries will take the lead
Courtesy: MEA/Flickr
The 17th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is being held in Astana this week at which Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif will be present. But no meeting is likely to take place between them--and even if it does, it will not advance peace between the two countries
Courtesy: MEA/ Flickr
This regional grouping, which was envisioned as a potential bridge between SAARC and ASEAN, turns 20 on June 6. It achieved very little until last year, when efforts to revive its original mission began quite by accident. It has the potential to make greater strides if member states adhere to their commitments.
Courtesy: GLOBSEC
An annual important networking occasion for security experts, the GLOBSEC 2017 Bratislava Forum, had surprisingly little representation from major European countries, such as Germany and France. Russia’s misuse of cyberspace was loudly censured, but Chinese activity in the South China Sea, and the recently concluded Belt and Road Forum received little attention
Courtesy: The White House/Flickr
Trump’s first foreign visit to West Asia and Europe brought home what the president means by “America First” even as he stands accused of committing two major foreign policy transgressions