Colombo, March 5 (IANS) China’s systematic undermining of Buddhist values in Sri Lanka reflects a calculated strategy aimed at embedding the Chinese Communist Party’s agenda into the spiritual and political life of the island nation. What seems like cultural diplomacy is actually ideological infiltration and Sri Lanka must navigate carefully to avoid trading its centuries-old Buddhist heritage at the expense of economic dependency, a report said on Thursday.“Sri Lanka, long celebrated as the c…
Latest Belt and Road Initiative News & Updates
Kathmandu, March 4 (IANS) A day before Nepal goes to polls on Thursday, there is an air of anticipation that the mandate will give a clear majority to one party, that the government will be inclusive and democratic and work for the country’s progress, voicing a need for “change”. From sitting rooms to the streets of Kathmandu, the word echoes, though speakers attribute various reasons for seeking it. “Earlier, a lot of youngsters would not vote out of frustration that there were n…
Jhapa (Nepal), March 2 (IANS) Nepal’s Jhapa-5 constituency, lying close to the India border, is bustling with activity this Monday, but if elections are about blaring loudspeakers, street corner meetings, and aggressive street marches, the hullabaloo is comparatively less hours before campaign ends officially. Significantly, on March 5, Nepal’s former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli takes on formidable Gen Z icon Balendra Shah.Yet, in Damak, said to be among the oldest municipalities in Nepal…
New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) A multi-billion rupee Nepal project, a part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been dropped from election pledges by former Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, who is contesting against former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli in the latter’s bastion of Jhapa-5 constituency, reports said. Parliamentary election is scheduled in Nepal on March 5 under an interim government, which was constituted after the resignation of the Oli government facing widespread Gen Z …
New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Nepal, where parliamentary election is scheduled for March 5, witnessed the beginning of formal campaign activities on February 16 that included public meetings, rallies, use of loudspeakers, among other related exercises, which will end three days before the date of the poll. This election can be described as among the most consequential elections since the abolition of the monarchy in the country in 2008. It comes in the wake of the youth-led Gen Z anti-corruption prot…
Washington, Feb 6 (IANS) China has lost its influence over two strategic ports in Panama this year, a report stated while highlighting what it said appears like a bad start to the year for the Chinese Communist Party in Latin America. “What’s more, the Cuban dictatorship began to crumble, and Latin America is generally slamming the door on buying military equipment from Beijing,” Arturo McFields, an exiled journalist and former Nicaraguan Ambassador to the Organisation of American States, wrot…
New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) Adaptive and more country-specific, India’s neighbourhood policy is no longer limited to historical goodwill as it responds to diverse political realities while safeguarding the regional stability, opined top policymakers, industry leaders, and domain experts at an insightful discussion. At the high-level dialogue organised by the Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) and titled ‘Perspectives From and Within India and Its Neighbourhood’, analysts deliberated on the evolution …
Washington, Jan 29 (IANS) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told lawmakers that Venezuela under Nicolas Maduro had become a strategic base for China, Russia, and Iran in the Western Hemisphere, warning that Beijing had been receiving Venezuelan oil at deep discounts while expanding its influence close to the United States.“We had in our hemisphere a regime operated by an indicted narcotrafficker that became a base of operation for virtually every competitor, adversary, and enemy in the wor…
Bangkok, Jan 19 (IANS) India’s Act East Policy, pursued under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, has enabled a more focused engagement with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This approach signalled a major shift reflecting the growing recognition of the Indo-Pacific, rather than the Asia-Pacific, as the defining framework in diplomatic parlance, a report said on Monday. “The India-ASEAN narrative has evolved from a position of optimism in 2017 as the dialogue…
New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) Driven by Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investments and deepening bilateral security cooperation, the Nepali government’s increasing adoption of Chinese surveillance infrastructure, has created conditions in which Tibetan refugees in the country now face unprecedented levels of monitoring and control, a report has warned.Researcher Tenzin Dalha writes in online magazine Bitterwinter.org that the “surveillance cameras monitoring Tibetan communities in Kathmandu do no…