Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

The Parliamentary elections in Ethiopia held on 21 June 2021 come at a very important time for the future of Ethiopia, and the Horn of Africa. With 120 million people, Ethiopia is the second most populous African country. It was economically growing

June 29, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, Africa, Article, Ethiopia, Eritrea, elections, Abiy Ahmed, Tigray, TPLF, Oromo

Xi Jinping is Taking Steps to Avoid any Surprise by the Opposition

Jayadeva Ranade

It would be unwise today to discount reports of opposition to Chinese President Xi Jinping. This especially since opposition to him burst into the open first in 2017-2018 when Xi Jinping abolished term limits for the top Party posts at the 18th Party

June 29, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, China, Article, Xi Jinping, Politburo, CCP, PLA, 20th Party Congress, Colour Revolution, political security, princelings

Iran’s Presidential Elections

Amb D P Srivastava, Distinguished Fellow, VIF

The Presidential election in Iran has resulted in Mr. Ebrahim Raisi’s victory by 62 percent of the votes. The election coincided with the talks in Vienna to revive the nuclear deal. Both the events came at a time when the situation in Afghanistan

June 28, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, Commentary, Chabahar Port, Taliban, Nuclear Deal, Hazaras, Ebrahim Raisi, Iran elections

US and Russia Engage Again

Amb P S Raghavan, Distinguished Fellow, VIF

The publicly-stated “outcomes” from the US-Russia summit meeting in Geneva on June 16 are well-known: return of their Ambassadors to their respective stations; foreign office discussions on restoration of diplomatic properties and staff strengths

June 28, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, US, Russia, Commentary, Putin, NATO, Cyber Security, Biden, Post Cold War, Strategic stability

गाजा संघर्ष 2021: अभी क्यों, किसे मिला फायदा?

Col Rajeev Agarwal

बंदूकें खामोश हो गई हैं, लड़ाकू विमान अपने ठिकानों पर वापस आ गए हैं। 21 मई 2021 को गाजा पट्टी में इजरा

June 25, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, Hindi, Article, गाजा, हमास, इजरायल, फिलिस्तीनी

The 8th ADMM Plus Meeting: Major Takeaways

Prof Rajaram Panda

Introduction

The 15th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) and the 8th ASEAN Plus Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM+) was hosted by this year’s ASEAN Chair Brunei Darussalam from 15-16 June, wherein a number of conceptual documents

June 25, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, Article, Rajnath Singh, ASEAN, South China Sea, FATF, Maritime Security, UNCLOS, Senkaku Islands, Yoshihide Suga, EEZ, ADMM+, “full acess”, freedom of navigation and over-flight

Policy issues in the Indian Shipping Sector

Anil Devli

Merchant shipping forms one of the core components of a nation’s seapower. As Indian trade and security interests now span across the Indo-Pacific, it is necessary to draw policy focus to Indian merchant shipping and see it as a strategic asset. In

June 23, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, Indo-Pacific, indopacific, Podcast, Indian Shipping Sector, Indian trade, Shipowners Association, Merchant shipping

Takeaways from the Biden-Putin Summit

Dr Himani Pant

The downturn in the trajectory of US-Russia ties has become more pronounced since 2014. The differences over Ukraine, Middle East and others have been further exacerbated by charges of election meddling, cyber attacks levelled against Russia. At pres

June 21, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, US, Russia, Commentary, US Foreign Policy, Cyber Security, Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, US-Russia ties, Biden-Putin Summit, Geneva Summit, Russian Foreign policy

Fears of Colour Revolution in People’s Liberation Army

Jayadeva Ranade

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the sword arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its recruits swear an oath of loyalty to the Party. The evening that Xi Jinping took over China’s top three positions of General Secretary of the CCP Cen

June 17, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, China, Article, Xi Jinping, CMC, CCP, PLA, political commissar, Colour Revolution, young soldiers

From Cornwall with Love¹

Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF

Dear non-G7 Citizens,

You would have seen the cute pictures of the G-7 happy family gathering of democracies at Cornwall on 12th-13th June 2021. The weather held up. Sunbathed beaches were wonderful. We were relieved that Trump who had sp

June 15, 2021 International Relations and Diplomacy, Article, China, Russia, Climate Change, G7 Summit, BRI, Cyber attacks, Vaccines, corporate tax