The Central Asia Sweepstakes
Now that the world is paying attention to Asia, what is Asia paying attention to? Central Asia. Specifically, Central Asian energy, according to this post over at 2point6billion.com. China and India are both making big pushes not only to secure oil and gas supplies, but also to establish military bases and defense agreements, and the scramble for a toehold in the region has broader strategic implications: “The global order is re-dividing into roughly two de facto blocs — one has the US at its core and the other has Russia-China at its core. Energy is the major dividing line between [...]
India’s Opposition & the 123 Agreement
For anyone interested in the state of play of Indian politics regarding the U.S.-India nuclear deal, this interview with the main opposition (BJP) party leader L.K. Advani from The Hindu is worth a read. Unlike the Left Party, which until this week was part of the government majority and opposes any strategic relationship with the U.S. on principle, Advani expressed his party’s desire in the post-Cold War era to develop a more solid relationship with the U.S.: I said several times that India and the USA are the two major democracies of the world — one the strongest, the other [...]
Ain’t Over til the Fat Lady Singhs
According to this WaPo article, the clock will most likely run out on the U.S.-India deal before Congress has a chance to approve it. But if you think that means that Indian PM Manmohan Singh has jeopardized his government coalition for nothing, think again. Because once the deal has been approved by the IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, India will pretty much have a clean bill of health to pursue nuclear deals with third parties, like France and Russia. Indian public opinion will probably be easier to win over, a third party deal would put fewer constraints on Indian [...]
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