View: 2020 is the year the scales fell from our eyes, enduring challenges became visible
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View: 2020 is the year the scales fell from our eyes, enduring challenges became visibleBy Harsh Pant, TOI Contributor
Last Updated: Dec 24, 2020, 10:00 AM IST
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Synopsis
While the Covid-19 pandemic may have exacerbated a number of challenges which have been building over the decade, it has also made us all aware of the unsustainability of the extant order. And so as we end the year, we can be reasonably assured that the century’s innocence is now irrevocably dead.
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As the 21st century ends its adolescence and enters a new decade, the year 2020 has powerfully underscored what transition from adolescence to adulthood often looks like. The turbulence of 2020 is not merely a turbulence of a difficult year but a culmination of certain trend lines, the contours of which were being shaped over the last ten years.
Why are former Indian diplomats really unhappy with Russia?
These anti-Russian statements come just two weeks after Russia agreed to join Pakistan’s AMAN-2021 naval exercises
The unprecedented surprise postponement of the annual Russia-India Summit for the first time since this yearly tradition began two decades ago has elicited very strong reactions from current and former Indian diplomats that threaten to worsen relations between these two strategic partners. Popular Indian media outlet
ThePrint published an article about this on Wednesday titled “
” which quotes some unnamed sources, former diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar who was posted in Russia in the early 2000s, and former Indian Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal.
Congo Strips Aussie Miners of Iron Ore Projects as Beijing Trade Dispute Widens
Amid the ongoing trade disputes that Beijing has instigated against Australian exporters, the Republic of Congo (ROC) which is heavily indebted to China has stripped three Australian mining firms of major iron ore projects under alleged “unlawful and arbitrary” circumstances.
The move comes as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to wield considerable influence via debt-trap diplomacy on the African continent.
Two Australian miners, Perth-based Sundance Resources and Equatorial Resources have triggered dispute resolution mechanisms after the ROC government withdrew their mining licenses in violation of its mining laws, handing the projects to a mysterious entity called Sangha Mining.
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Australia will host a one-of-kind summit on emerging, critical and cyber technologies next year, a December 23 statement from the country’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne noted. “The Australian Government is supporting the establishment of the Sydney Dialogue, which will be held for the first time virtually in the second half of 2021. While significant international conferences and dialogues exist for traditional areas of security and economics, there is currently a gap for political leaders, industry experts, academics and civil society representatives to meet and discuss the most pressing issues around cyber and critical technology. This annual, high-level dialogue will fill that gap,” Payne’s statement said.
Red Flag In India As Russia Getting Dangerously Close To Pakistan After Arch-Rival China
The growing proximity between Pakistan and Russia, India’s traditional ally, has raised concerns in New Delhi.
However, Russia says India should not be worried and
emphasizes that Moscow’s ties with the two Asian neighbors are “independent” of each other.
“Russia is very cautious when it comes to respecting the sensitivities. But at the same time, we regard our relationship with Pakistan as independent in nature and we also have bilateral trade and economic agenda.
We are quite committed to developing this relationship further including from the point of view of Pakistan being a partner country in the framework of the SCO,” deputy Russian ambassador to India Roman Babushkin said.