No joint base access in India-Australia pact, but bigger shift in Asian geopolitics 

A recent agreement between the two countries eyes “more sophisticated” military cooperation.

By Joseph Hammond

July 29 , 2020

While it’s been widely reported that a new defense agreement between India and Australia will allow military forces joint access to bases, Zenger News has learned the deal includes no such provisions, though it does expand cooperation in other areas.

Interesting non-pandemic developments do occur during difficult Covid times. Such developments can span from miseries of individuals and institutions to states and the globe. While the states do confront such challenges, as part of regular considerations in aspects of governance, most appropriately on pandemic management, they may also face challenges of addressing issues that they may not have liked in these times, although such problems are an inherent part of national governance.

In some ways, the cycle is the vehicle of the lockdown. There are countless tales of stranded migrant workers cycling hundreds of kilometres back home in the absence of public transport. It’s everyone’s favourite way of getting fit. And for those who can’t afford a car or a motorcycle, it is a great way to get around a city that still doesn’t see as much traffic as it used to.

As the United States begins to draw down its forces in Afghanistan in accordance with the so-called peace agreement with the Taliban, the move could help bring attention to an oft-ignored branch of Islam — that is, the branch of Deoband Islam. Deoband is actually a city in north central India. In the 1860s, it was realized that the Deobandis had a very similar interpretation and approach to Islam as the Saudi Wahhabis.

A counter-terrorism and armed conflict specialist provides some insight to the U.S.-Taliban peace negotiations, as President Trump attempts to bring the country one step closer to a historic agreement that has been proposed to end America's longest war.

One of India’s flagship biennial military exhibitions – DEF EXPO 2020 (the other being Aero India) – was concluded recently in Lucknow.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union budget for FY2020-21 on the floor of the Parliament on February 1, 2020. While the budget is still undergoing autopsy by policy analysts and opinionmakers, the most disappointing of the sectors, that were allocated resources, has been 'national defence'.

In Chennai in southern India, an efficient solution is already being used to end India's water crisis. However, it is better to invest in questionable large-scale projects while the wastewater rivers and sewage lakes are spreading

Dense green grass in front of me as far as the eye wants to see. A sign from the Tamil Nadu nature conservation authority advises that no plastic should be thrown into the Pallikanarai wetlands here. But the nose already says that something stinks here.

In late November 2019, the US representative Thomas DiNanno raised Myanmar's non-compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in a statement to the 24th CSP (Conference of State Parties) at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague (Netherlands).

On August 22, an opportunity to provide highest protection to endangered Saiga Antelope was lost due to opposition from Russia, China and Kazakhstan.