Author

M. K. Bhadrakumar

M.K. Bhadrakumar served as a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service for over 29 years, with postings including India’s ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001). He writes the “Indian Punchline” blog and has written regularly for the Asia Times since 2001.

Don’t Expect A US-Iran War Before 2021

by M. K. BhadrakumarApril 10, 2019

There is no reason to disbelieve the boast by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming credit personally for US President Donald Trump’s decision to designate Iran’s elite...

China’s PLA Troops In Venezuela: A Watershed Moment In World Politics

by M. K. BhadrakumarApril 2, 2019

The reported arrival of Chinese military personnel in Venezuela last weekend is undoubtedly a major event in world politics. Unlike Russia, which has a history...

Erdogan Wins Election, Continues To Be A Thorn In The Flesh For The US And Israel

by M. K. BhadrakumarApril 1, 2019

“Turkey is a global “swing state.” It has a large and growing economy, a strategic location, a democratic government, and mixed views about prevailing international...

Escalation? Russia Throws Down The Gauntlet To US On Venezuela

by M. K. BhadrakumarMarch 27, 2019

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova acknowledged in Moscow on Tuesday that Russian “specialists” are indeed in Venezuela within the ambit of a 2001 military-technical cooperation agreement...

Trump’s Golan Is A Megalomaniac’s Own Goal

by M. K. BhadrakumarMarch 26, 2019

The US President Donald Trump’s decree on March 26 granting official US recognition to Israel’s illegal annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights does not create any new fact...

Trump Unleashed. This Is How It Matters.

by M. K. BhadrakumarMarch 25, 2019

The big news from Washington is that special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into President Donald Trump’s ‘Russia collusion’ is unfounded. Attorney General William Barr’s communication...

Trump’s Golan Move Shows US Contempt For International Law And Rules-Based Order

by M. K. BhadrakumarMarch 22, 2019

The US President Donald Trump’s tweet on Thursday that the United States should back Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in 1967, didn’t quite...

With Eye On US, Iran Revs Up ‘Resistance Front’

by M. K. BhadrakumarMarch 19, 2019

A new phase is beginning in Iran’s approach to the situation since last May when the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran had...

The West Broke Syria And Should Own It

by M. K. BhadrakumarMarch 16, 2019

As Syria’s war enters its ninth year on March 15, many questions arise as to how it began and what it morphed into, but the...

Iran Trusts Imran Khan But Will Verify The Promise

by M. K. BhadrakumarMarch 10, 2019

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani received a phone call from Pakistan PM Imran Khan late in the evening on March 9, which was their first contact...

India Should Resist Saudi And UAE Efforts To Manipulate National Security Interests

by M. K. BhadrakumarMarch 1, 2019

There has been an avalanche of reports in the international media quoting western diplomats and security officials to the effect that India’s “intelligence-led… non-military preemptive strike”...

Saudi Arabia Inserting Itself Into Pakistan’s Discord With Both Iran And India

by M. K. BhadrakumarFebruary 24, 2019

By deputing the Sindhi-speaking Hindu MP belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani to India, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan signalled a desire for de-escalation of tension...

Iran Accuses Pakistan’s Intelligence Agency Of Cross-Border Terrorism

by M. K. BhadrakumarFebruary 17, 2019

In a devastating condemnation of Islamabad that has no precedent, the Military Aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi has squarely blamed...

Forty Years That Changed Iran’s History

by M. K. BhadrakumarFebruary 3, 2019

The annual event known as the Ten Days of Dawn marking the political celebration of the Islamic Revolution in Iran on February 11 has begun....

US Erodes Russia-Turkey Axis In Syria

by M. K. BhadrakumarJanuary 19, 2019

Through the past month since US President Donald Trump tweeted his fateful decision to withdraw troops from Syria, a familiar pattern began appearing – no...

With Eye On Iran, US Steps Up Presence In Iraq

by M. K. BhadrakumarJanuary 15, 2019

The US’ plan to withdraw troops from Syria has electrified the Iraqi political and diplomatic landscape. The Saudi establishment daily Asarq Al-Awsat has reported from...

Zarif And Gadkari Signal That Iran And India Have A ‘Big Picture’ In Mind

by M. K. BhadrakumarJanuary 10, 2019

If the ‘Newton Effect’ in physics has an equivalent in international diplomacy, we can describe what is happening to India-Iran relations as the ‘Gadkari Effect’....

India Sequesters Iran Ties From US Predatory Strike

by M. K. BhadrakumarJanuary 3, 2019

India has done well to put in place the nuts and bolts of a payment mechanism for its trade and investment transactions with Iran against...

Iran Challenges Saudi Role In The Afghan Endgame

by M. K. BhadrakumarJanuary 1, 2019

As surely as night follows day, in the wake of Saudi Arabia assuming the lead role in the Afghan peace talks, Tehran has unveiled an...

Syrian Kurds Throw Americans Under The Bus

by M. K. BhadrakumarDecember 28, 2018

The Syrian government forces have entered the northern town of Manbij on the Turkish border earlier today. The Syrian military command announced in Damascus that the operation...

Why Mattis’ Exit Is A Defining Moment In US Foreign Policy

by M. K. BhadrakumarDecember 24, 2018

Within the week, President Trump’s sudden announcement of “total” troop withdrawal from Syria has ripped apart the American political system and exposed its fault lines. Trump’s decision...

Trump’s Syrian Pullout Is A Game Changer

by M. K. BhadrakumarDecember 21, 2018

The US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday regarding the withdrawal of American military from Syria has predictably run into strong headwinds in the Washington Beltway. A...

Turkey Threatens To Pull The Plug On US

by M. K. BhadrakumarDecember 14, 2018

The simmering US-Turkish tensions in northern Syria over the Pentagon’s alliance with Syrian Kurdish groups have surged. [dropcap]A[/dropcap]n impression has been gaining ground lately that...

US-Saudi Relations Enter Unchartered Waters

by M. K. BhadrakumarOctober 9, 2018

The disappearance of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in mysterious circumstances while on a visit to his country’s consulate in Istanbul last Tuesday still remains...

India, Russia And The Post-American Century

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 5, 2018

India’s impending purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system has come to be the leitmotif of the “2+2” dialogue of the foreign and defence ministers...

Russia, China Nearing Alliance Conditions

by M. K. BhadrakumarAugust 12, 2018

The Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi is visiting Moscow on August 14-17 at the invitation of the secretary of the Russian national security council, Nikolai...

Business, Politics,

Trump’s Art Of The Deal And Iran Sanctions

by M. K. BhadrakumarAugust 5, 2018

An amicable formula seems to be emerging between the Trump administration on the one hand and China and India on the other hand as regards...

The Ball Is In Trump’s Court To Engage Iran

by M. K. BhadrakumarAugust 2, 2018

As I had written last week, a conversation of sorts has been under way between Washington and Tehran. The megaphone is no longer in use, the...

Khamenei Resets Foreign Policy Compass

by M. K. BhadrakumarJuly 28, 2018

The address by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the annual gathering in Tehran of top foreign ministry officials and envoys in foreign capitals...

Russia Swats Away Israeli Bluster On Syria

by M. K. BhadrakumarJuly 28, 2018

The Russian version of the visit by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chief of Staff General Valery Gerasimov to West Jerusalem on July 23 became...

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