Month: June 2019

Why Teheran should negotiate with Donald Trump

Washington is aiming to cut Iran’s oil sales to zero, accompanying these actions with the escalation of US threats to Tehran in the event of any attack on U.S. forces or America’s allies in the Middle East. But Trump has also opened the door to Iran to return to negotiations with his administration

24 billion tons of fertile land lost every year

In a video message released in advance of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, marked on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world loses 24 billion tons of fertile land every year, and that the degradation in land quality is responsible for a reduction in the national domestic product of up to eight per cent every year.

Photo: Safalta

How A Free Press Has Strengthened Democracy in Afghanistan

Free media have directly contributed to the rapid development of a still growing civil society and have empowered such vulnerable groups as women, youth, and the poor—a clear majority in Afghanistan—to increasingly exercise their rights under the country’s progressive constitution.

Photo: Afghanistan Government Media and Information Centre

Why did Modi choose Maldives, Sri Lanka as destinations for his first overseas visits?

It is in this backdrop that Modi’s visits to Maldives and Sri Lanka – his first official overseas destinations in his second term as Prime Minister – is expected to herald the second chapter for Modi’s Neighbourhood First policy. Its second edition is expected to mark a shift from India’s immediate to extended neighbourhood and from disputed land borders to maritime expanse making Modi an Indo-Pacific Prime Minister.