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.

Who Stands To Gain From Unrest In Iran?

by M. K. BhadrakumarNovember 22, 2019

I once had an animated conversation with the Middle East correspondent of a leading Indian newspaper regarding the resilience of the Iranian political system. The...

With Eye On India, Pakistan Strengthens Military Ties With Iran

by M. K. BhadrakumarNovember 20, 2019

The low-key coverage by the Pakistani media on the 2-day visit of the army chief General Qamar Bajwa to Iran notwithstanding, the event signifies a...

Tehran Loses Patience With Modi Government’s Hide And Seek

by M. K. BhadrakumarNovember 18, 2019

Historically speaking, India-Iran relationship had its ups and downs during the decades under Shah’s rule. The Lowest point was reached when during the 1965 and...

Tehran Taunts US With Fordow; Pokes At Trump With Agent Levinson

by M. K. BhadrakumarNovember 12, 2019

Tehran announced on November 7 that it has begun refining uranium at Fordow, a secretive site built inside a mountain to the north of the holy city...

The Endgame Begins In Yemen’s War

by M. K. BhadrakumarNovember 6, 2019

The power-sharing agreement signed in Riyadh on November 5 between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government headed by Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and UAE-backed southern separatist group known...

US Intensifies Geopolitical Struggle Over Syria

by M. K. BhadrakumarOctober 30, 2019

No one would have thought that out of the US president Donald Trump’s decision three weeks ago to withdraw all American troops from Syria, a US military...

Deconstructing Putin-Erdogan MOU On Syria; This Is How It Looks

by M. K. BhadrakumarOctober 24, 2019

The talks between the presidents of Russia and Turkey — Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan — at Sochi on October 22 relating to the Syrian...

US Stokes The Fires Of Turkish Revanchism

by M. K. BhadrakumarOctober 20, 2019

The extraordinary US overture to Turkey regarding northern Syria resulted in a joint statement on Thursday, whose ramifications can be rated only in the fulness of time,...

It’s Curtains For US In Syria. Russia, Iran Owe Big Thanks To Erdogan

by M. K. BhadrakumarOctober 16, 2019

The scenario agreed on behind the curtains through months of confidential exchanges, often one-on-one, between the Russian and Turkish leaders regarding north-eastern Syria is entering...

Trump Orders Troop Withdrawal In Syria. It Could Be For Real.

by M. K. BhadrakumarOctober 7, 2019

The US president Donald Trump is not known to practise judo. A few judo techniques he may have got to know from his Russian counterpart...

Iran Nuclear Issue At Inflection Point

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 30, 2019

The unexpected move by the Pentagon to shift the Combined Air and Space Operations Center (CAOC) at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar to the Shaw Air Force...

Modi-Rouhani Meeting Is A Morality Play

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 27, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his 6-day long visit to the US with a bang — a stunning stage appearance with President Trump at the Howdy...

Iran’s Tango With Europe Is Rooted In Its Traditions And Culture

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 24, 2019

The joint statement issued by the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom on September 23 indicting Iran for the attacks on the Saudi Aramco plants...

Aramco Attack A Defining Moment In US-Saudi Alliance

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 21, 2019

A series of interviews of Democratic presidential candidates opposing President Trump in the 2020 election by the Council of Foreign Relations in New York reveal that the...

Winners And Losers From Saudi Aramco’s Travails

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 16, 2019

The US President Donald Trump’s tweet Sunday regarding the attack on two Saudi Aramco plants says as follows: “Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There...

Houthis Strike At Saudi Arabia’s Throbbing Heart

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 15, 2019

A terrible beauty is born on the Middle East’s strategic landscape with the massive drone attacks Saturday on two Saudi Aramco refineries. Saudi Arabia, which has a...

Iran Laments Indian Apathy To Cooperation

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 13, 2019

The frank remarks to the media this week by Iran’s ambassador to India Ali Chegeni on the dismal state of his country’s relations with India betray frustration...

Bolton’s Exit Impacts US Foreign Policy. This Is How

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 12, 2019

At a press briefing Tuesday afternoon in Washington, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned against any rushed estimation that the exit of National Security...

Moratorium On US Oil Sanctions To Open Talks With Iran

by M. K. BhadrakumarSeptember 2, 2019

The diplomatic manoeuvrings over the situation around Iran are entering a crucial phase with an Iranian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi leaving...

Offer From Biarritz Not Good Enough For Iran

by M. K. BhadrakumarAugust 29, 2019

From all accounts, Tehran is struggling to cope with the startling news in the weekend from the G7 summit at Biarritz that a meeting between the presidents...

What If North Korea And Iran Move In Tandem?

by M. K. BhadrakumarAugust 7, 2019

The sensational New Yorker story on August 2 by Robin Wright on the unpublicised meeting between Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and the American senator Rand...

Iran’s Zarif Drives Trump To Insanity

by M. K. BhadrakumarAugust 1, 2019

At a time when the Trump administration has no problem negotiating with the secretary of the Russian national security council Nikolai Patrushev, who is technically...

Counter-Escalation: Iran Taunting Britain, Making It Look Foolish

by M. K. BhadrakumarJuly 21, 2019

The seizure of a British oil tanker by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on July 20 in the Strait of Hormuz has all the hallmarks...

Turkey Undeterred By US Sanctions Threat

by M. K. BhadrakumarJuly 17, 2019

The loss of Istanbul to an opposition candidate in Turkey’s recent local elections was hyped up by many American commentators, especially pro-Israeli analysts, as marking the...

As US Pours Oil Into Fire In Persian Gulf, Mum’s The Word For India

by M. K. BhadrakumarJuly 13, 2019

The illegal seizure of an Iranian oil tanker off Gibralter by the British Navy last Friday is fast acquiring farcical character. Britain acted at the...

Iran’s Shock Therapy Breaks JCPOA Stalemate

by M. K. BhadrakumarJuly 9, 2019

A series of announcements in Tehran through the past week took the situation around the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (known as the JCPOA) — and...

Will India And Turkey Jointly Broker An Easing Of US-Iran Tensions?

by M. K. BhadrakumarJune 25, 2019

How amazing that the defeat of the Turkish ruling party AKP in the election for Istanbul mayor on Sunday turns out to be world class headline in...

Israel Is Leading Trump Up The Garden Path

by M. K. BhadrakumarJune 24, 2019

When Michael Rubin at the American Enterprise Institute argued in an article in the National Interest last week that the ‘maximum pressure’ policy of the Trump administration...

US Credibility Dented In Iran Standoff

by M. K. BhadrakumarJune 21, 2019

The US President Donald Trump’s reported decision abruptly to call off military strike against Iran which he’d previously ordered, highlights the growing complexity of the US-Iranian entanglement. ...

Iran Can Be Trump’s Nemesis

by M. K. BhadrakumarJune 17, 2019

What a coincidence that a leaked document from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) just exposed that the chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria...

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