I received a couple of cartoons on a social media platform last week.
One shows a guy hopping from the bunch of grass and two flowers (the symbol of the Trinamul Congress, the ruling party in India’s West Bengal state) to a lotus (the symbol of India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party).
The other is a tad more direct it shows a woman’s white-and-blue flip-flops (the ones worn by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee) getting torn by someone stepping on them from behind. The shoe and the leg resemble the typical attire of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Legion of Merit is one of the the US s highest military decorations which is given to American troops as well as political figures of foreign governments. President @realDonaldTrump awarded the Legion of Merit to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his leadership in addressing global challenges and promoting collective security. Ambassador @A Sinodinos accepted the medal on behalf of PM Morrison, Mr O Brien tweeted.
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Mr Morrison enjoyed one of the closest relationships with Mr Trump of any world leader.
The Australian Prime Minister was last year treated to a state dinner at the White House. Mr Morrison was just the second world leader to be given a state dinner by Mr Trump after French President Emmanuel Macron.
Sri Lanka coughing up a container terminal
Public disillusionment with the incumbent government is palpable. Among its bitterest critics are many of those who ardently supported the SLPP and worked tirelessly to ensure its electoral victories; they include a number of prominent Buddhist monks. The consternation of the disillusioned laymen critical of the government reminds us of Nanda Malini’s popular song Pem lovadi dutu ohumada me, ohutada ma anda une; it is about a rueful retrospection by a hapless woman who has become disenchanted with her spouse, having loved him madly during their passionate courtship. The SLPP backers also naively expected their government to be truthful and faithful to them only to be disillusioned.
Jeff Smith specializes in South Asia as a research fellow in Heritage s Asian Studies Center. Leaders pose for a picture before a Quad Indo-Pacific meeting on October 6, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Getty Images
Key Takeaways
If the U.S. is indeed planning to abandon the Indo-Pacific without a compelling strategic rationale, it would represent a strategic blunder.
The intellectual architect of the contemporary Indo-Pacific concept was Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
A reversion back to the Asia-Pacific with no compelling strategic rationale would represent a grave miscalculation.
Among the Democratic front-runners for president, Joe Biden was seen as boasting arguably the longest foreign policy resume and most centrist disposition. Just over a month after the election, however, a matter of nomenclature has some in the community of experts watching the Indo-Pacific sounding the alarm bells.
Tuesday 22nd December, 2020
Those involved in the constitution-making process have reportedly expressed their concern over the government’s decision to hold the Provincial Council (PC) poll before a consensus is reached on constitutional proposals, etc. Some pro-government civil society activists are also of the view that the PC elections must wait. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has questioned the government’s wisdom of rushing to hold the PC elections while the country is facing a grave health crisis. He says the SLPP is all out to consolidate its power in the PCs at the expense of the public.
The Opposition politicians need to be reminded that the issue of another election amidst a national health emergency would not have arisen if their