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INDIA: ‘No Reason For Unease at Obama Presidency’

As much of the world jubilates in the swearing in of Barack Hussein Obama as the President of the United States of America, Indian diplomats are uneasy about what his presidency would entail for relations between the two countries.

Obama addressed a crowd numbering in the millions after being sworn in as the 44th U.S. president. Credit: Jim Lobe/IPS

U.S.: Obama Offers Internationalist Vision

By Jim Lobe

Speaking before a record crowd estimated at between two and three million people at his inauguration here Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama promised a foreign policy of "humility and restraint" and "greater cooperation and understanding between nations".

CHINA/US: Wealth of Nations Redefined

By Antoaneta Bezlova

Chinese and United States leaders have hailed the 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries as one of the most defining bilateral ties of the 20th century, but Beijing and Washington are celebrating the anniversary in subdued mood.

INDIA: Seeking China's Support in Dealing With Pakistan

By IPS Correspondents

As the Pakistani government digs its heels in against India’s demands for action on the suspected masterminds of the November terrorist strikes in Mumbai, the Indian foreign policy establishment is looking to China and other regional powers, besides the United States, for support.

ENVIRONMENT-AUSTRALIA: Emissions Reduction Target ‘Weak’

By Stephen de Tarczynski

The gap between the Rudd government’s rhetoric and practice in addressing climate change, albeit with one eye on the worsening global financial conditions, has led to a palpable feeling of betrayal among Australians.

CHILE: Best Christmas Gift – a New House, Built by New Friends

By Daniela Estrada

Before the volunteers showed up at her house, Pamela Peña was nervous. She was embarrassed for others to see the poverty that her family lived in. But once the work started, she relaxed and enjoyed the unexpected Christmas present.

CHINA/US: Rivals, Partners in Asia

By IPS Correspondents

With the Six Party Talks to denuclearise North Korea once again on the ropes and the world reeling from a deepening financial crisis, the United States is looking to China for help.

ENVIRONMENT-AUSTRALIA: Anti-Whalers Take Campaign to Japan

By Stephen de Tarczynski

As Japan’s whaling fleet sails south for the annual hunting season, Greenpeace and the Australian government are concentrating their anti-whaling actions on diplomacy and public opinion in Japan.

NORTH KOREA: Defying Inspection of Nuclear Assets

By IPS Correspondents

China has failed to coax its old communist ally North Korea into signing an agreement to verify the state’s secretive nuclear activities.

NORTH KOREA: Japan Off-Key at Six-Party Talks

By IPS Correspondents

While the six-party talks currently underway in Beijing to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme seem to be making slow progress, Japan, one of the parties, is not unduly worried.

ECONOMY-CHINA: Yuan’s Slide No Power Game

By IPS Correspondents

Recent downward movements of the Chinese yuan have been interpreted here as political statements aimed at the incoming administration of United States president-elect Barack Obama to respect China’s sovereignty rights on the currency issue.

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Kashmiri Leaders Aghast at Mumbai Massacre

By Athar Parvaiz

Political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, a bone of contention between India and Pakistan for more than 60 years, are aghast at last week's carnage in the Indian port city of Mumbai, carried out by armed men who apparently sailed in from the Pakistani port of Karachi.

POLITICS-THAILAND: King’s Poor Health Adds to Gloom

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

During his over 60 year reign, Thailand’s revered monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, has won the hearts of his subjects for being an all-wise, all-knowing father-figure. It is to Bhumibol that Thais turn when the country is in trouble.

INDIA: Mulling Tough Options Against Pakistan

By IPS Correspondents

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in the Indian capital Wednesday to try and soothe nerves frayed by last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, but is likely to face an uphill task in defusing mounting suspicion and tension between India and Pakistan.

POLITICS-THAILAND: Gov’t Falls As Court Bans Ruling Party

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

A legacy of Thailand’s last military regime prevailed in a superior court’s judgement Tuesday to dissolve the ruling party, which was elected at a December 2007 poll to succeed that very junta that had come to power following the country’s 18th coup.

DEVELOPMENT-LATAM: The Greater the Solidarity, the Lower the Cost

By Dario Montero

Football in Belize does not aim for international achievements, but that does not matter to the environmental group that uses the sport to recruit children and young people to fight for the protection of local biodiversity under threat.

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Pleas For Sanity as Sabres Rattle Over Mumbai Mayhem

By Beena Sarwar

The pattern is all too familiar. Every time India and Pakistan head towards dialogue and detente, something explosive happens that pushes peace to the backburner and drags them back to the familiar old tense relationship, worsened by sabre-rattling war cries from both sides.