AFTER years of protracted negotiations, India and Japan finally inked a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement in November last year, during the course of the State visit by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi. The deal will now allow Japan to supply India with nuclear fuel, equipment and technology for nuclear power production. India and Japan had started negotiations soon after the signing of the India-US nuclear deal in 2006. Formal negotiations started six years ago.

THE election of Rodrigo Duterte to the Philippine presidency could mean the realisation of America's worst nightmare in the region coming true. The Philippines is the lynchpin of the Obama administration's military “pivot to the East”, aimed at militarily encircling China. Now within a few months after being sworn in as president, Duterte is threatening to upset the American applecart by not only cosying up to China but also threatening political and military “separation” from the United States. Philippines is America's oldest military ally in the region.

A SCANDAL of humongous proportions has hit the South Korean president Park Gyeun-hye and plunged domestic politics into turmoil. The calls for the resignation of the South Korean president are getting louder by the day. Public support for her is now in single digits. The South Korean capital, Seoul has been witnessing huge protests since the scandal erupted in full force at the end of October. One of the biggest protest rallies the country has seen was held on November 12. People from all over the country congregated in Seoul demanding that the president immediately tender her resignation.

THIS year marks the 15th anniversary of the American invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. A decade and a half ago, America had invaded the country overthrowing the Taliban government in Kabul. It did not take much time for the American military to drive out the Taliban from the capital and other major Afghan cities with the help of the Northern Alliance and an assorted set of warlords. The Bush administration was quick to declare victory and wasted no time in preparing for the next invasion – that of Iraq in 2003.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury addressed a joint meeting of the Association of Indian Communists (AIC) and Indian Workers’ Association (IWA) in Leicester, the UK, on December 18. In his opening remarks, Yechury covered a whole range of international political developments, with emphasis on the prevailing situation in India and Britain.