2017 – Indian Punchline

Kurdish nationalism raises war clouds
Indian Punchline | By M K Bhadrakumar – September 26, 2017
▻http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2017/09/26/kurdish-nationalism-raises-war-clouds

The result of the Kurdish independence referendum in northern Iraq will be known in the next 48 hours or so, but no surprises need be expected. A big majority will say ‘yes’ to an independent Kurdistan, the longstanding dream of the Kurdish people. The real clincher was the decision by the leader of the Iraqi Kurds, Massoud Barzani, to press ahead with the referendum on Monday despite the dire warnings by Ankara, Baghdad and Tehran.
Barzani’s ‘strategic defiance’ can only be attributed to the tacit support he has enjoyed from the international community – principally, the US, and Israel. The Americans and Israelis have deep ties with the Iraqi Kurdish elite. Barzani is confident that the international community might make proforma protests about the referendum but will sooner or later recognize an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq.(...)

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Afghanistan is ripe for proxy war | Indian Punchline

by M.K. Bhadrakumar August 20, 2017 Russia has hinted in the past that the United States is covertly sponsoring the Islamic State in Afghanistan. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson raised the bar by alleging that “foreign fighters” who were transferred by “unknown helicopters” have perpetrated a massacre of Hazara Shias in the Sar-e-Pol province in northern Afghanistan. The spokesperson said:

We can see attempts to stir up ethnic conflict in the country… Cases of unidentified helicopter flights to territory controlled by extremists in other northern provinces of Afghanistan are also recorded. For example, there is evidence that on August 8, four helicopters made flights from the airbase of the Afghan National Army’s 209th (...)

Indian Punchline - Reflections on foreign affairs
By M K Bhadrakuma – July 23, 2017
▻http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2017/07/23/a-new-normal-in-russia-china-military-cooperation

No sooner than the annual Malabar 2017 exercise (July 14-17) ended in Bay of Bengal, another naval exercise has begun with equally profound geopolitical implications for India – Joint Sea 2017, Russia’s week-long joint drills with China (July 21-26) in the Baltic Sea. Each highlights in its own way the realignments under way in the Asia-Pacific and Eurasia. India is a participant in one, more than a curious observer in the other.
The four-day Malabar-2017 (US, India and Japan) had a distinct anti-China flavor. India downplayed that aspect, while Japan hyped it up and the US embellished the optic. The Japanese ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu penned a rare opinion piece, euphorically hailing Malabar-17 as the harbinger of an Asian security alliance.
On the other hand, Joint Sea 2017 is being watched closely by Western powers and reportedly “raised alarm in Washington” (Telegraph). Interestingly, it comes in two parts. The Baltic exercise will be followed by a second Russia-China naval exercise in September in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. Indeed, the Baltics is to Russia’s defence line vis-à-vis NATO what the Sea of Japan is to China’s vis-a-vis the US-Japanese alliance.