Indian power projection and influence will greatly depend on the choices of small powers — or partner countries — that exercise great agency despite power asymmetries.
Ayni’s origins lie in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when the United States invaded Afghanistan and the international order briefly seemed open to new alignments.
Tajikistan did not want to extend the lease because of apparent pressure from Russia & China over non-regional military personnel at the air base, it is learnt.
The GMA or the Ayni airbase is just west of the Tajik capital Dushanbe. It has been administered by India along with Tajikistan for nearly two decades.
The significance of visit lay precisely in the combination— limited time, expansive representation, substantive outcomes. Such visits do not occur when pressing issues are absent.
Premier David Eby, the leader of the minerals- and gas-rich province of British Columbia, spoke with executives at Tata Steel and Reliance Industries on a trade mission to India.
Overall, President Droupadi Murmu has approved Gallantry awards to 70 armed forces personnel, including six posthumous, on the eve of 77th Republic Day.
No nation other than China can negotiate one-on-one with Trump on an equal footing. That’s why the middle powers who so far formed the core of multilateral bodies now feel orphaned.
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