Hiroshima at 80: Remembering the Day That Shaped a World Order
The tragedy of Hiroshima is a cause for celebration recent reflections have revealed a different aspect of the Japan atomic bombing: it was an important geopolitical signal for the Soviet Union as it was an act of military force. U.S. strategists feared German nuclear development, even when Germany had surrendered a couple of months earlier. They believed that the bomb was an alarm in the rapidly changing Cold War environment.
Today, at the commemoration of the survivors of the war, or "hibakusha", many now older than 86 were gathered in Peace Memorial Park to observe the moment of silence, exactly at 8.15 a.m. Doves formed a circle high above the cenotaph in symbolic gestures amid speeches that urged nuclear disarmament. Mayor Kazumi Matsui as well as world leaders reiterated their warnings, drawing attention to the escalating tensions in the military in Ukraine and in the Middle East and denouncing the concept of nuclear deterrence being moral smugness.
Despite Japan's commitment towards peace, Japan is yet to sign to the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Many survivors in Hiroshima historical events expressed discontent with the world's leaders who believe that nuclear arsenals are an essential element of geopolitics.
The event this year is not just a celebration that was the Hiroshima bombing history and admonishes us to acknowledge its long-lasting Hiroshima legacy--a history of human loss that has caused geopolitical tension as well as the urgent need for a peaceful nuclear future.
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New Indian Express
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- New Indian Express
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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
After busy first 100 days, Germany's Friedrich Merz faces discord at home
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" Germany is back," Merz said, vowing to revive the economy, the military and Berlin's international standing after what he labelled three lacklustre years under his centre-left predecessor Olaf Scholz. Even before taking office, Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and their governing partners from Scholz's Social Democratic party (SPD) loosened debt rules and unlocked hundreds of billions of euros for Germany's armed forces and its crumbling infrastructure. Live Events Merz vowed to build "Europe's largest conventional army" in the face of a hostile Russia and keep up strong support for Ukraine in lockstep with Paris and London. A promise to ramp up NATO spending endeared Merz to Trump, who greeted him warmly at a White House meeting in June, only weeks after a jarring Oval Office showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. When Israel bombed Iranian targets, Merz, with a penchant for strong and often controversial one-liners, praised it for doing the "dirty work" -- but last Friday he took the bold step of freezing arms exports to Israel over its Gaza campaign. Migration crackdown On the home front, Merz has pressed a crackdown on irregular migration, a sharp departure from the centrist course of his long-time party rival Angela Merkel. He has said he must address voter concerns about immigration to stem the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which won a record 20 percent in February's election. Merz's heavy focus on global events has earned him the moniker of "foreign chancellor" -- but trouble looms at home, where his SPD allies have often felt overshadowed or sidelined. To many of them, Merz's right-wing positions have been hard to swallow in the marriage of convenience they entered following the SPD's dismal election outcome of 16 percent. German voters have not yet fallen in love with Merz either. His personal approval rating slipped 10 points to just 32 percent in the latest poll by public broadcaster ARD. Judge row In an early sign of trouble, Merz's inauguration on May 6 turned into a white-knuckle ride when rebel MPs opposed him in the first round of the secret ballot. He was confirmed in the second round, but the debacle pointed to simmering resentment in the left-right coalition. Many have chafed at his hard line on immigration, his vow to slash social welfare and his limited enthusiasm for climate protection. Merz also sparked controversy when he dismissed plans to hoist an LGBTQ rainbow flag on the parliament building by saying the Reichstag was "not a circus tent". The biggest coalition crisis came last month, sparked by what should have been routine parliamentary business -- the nomination of three new judges to Germany's highest court. Right-wing online media had strongly campaigned against one of them, SPD nominee Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, calling her a left-wing activist on abortion and other issues. The CDU/CSU withdrew support for her and postponed the vote, sparking SPD fury. The issue looked set to fester until Brosius-Gersdorf withdrew her candidature on Thursday. 'Too many arguments' Other trouble came when the CDU's Bavarian sister party demanded sharp cuts to social benefits for Ukrainian refugees, a position the SPD opposes. Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil of the SPD warned the conservatives to refrain from further provocations, telling Welt TV that "we already have far too many arguments in this government". Both coalition partners know that open squabbling will turn off voters after discord brought down Scholz's three-party coalition, and play into the hands of the AfD, their common foe. For now Merz and most other politicians are on summer holidays, leaving unresolved issues lingering. 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Mint
2 hours ago
- Mint
Why India can't afford to jettison its relationship with Russia
US President Donald Trump is using the threat of stiff tariffs to try to peel India away from Russia, as he attempts to boost pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. But decades of close economic, political and military relations between New Delhi and Moscow mean Trump faces a challenge in persuading Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drop a partnership that has survived great geopolitical turmoil. In recent days, Trump has blasted India for its heavy reliance on Russian oil imports, as well as its longstanding purchases of Russian military equipment. On Wednesday, the president slapped India with an additional tariff of 25% on its exports to the U.S.—doubling the existing 25% duty that went into effect earlier this month—as punishment for its continued purchasing of Russian oil. Despite tariffs that could inflict real damage on the Indian economy, Modi has stood firm in the face of rising American pressure—a sign of how important relations with Russia are for the South Asian giant. India's foreign ministry called the penalty 'unfair, unjustified and unreasonable" and promised that India will 'take all actions necessary to protect its national interest." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the week that 'sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own trading partners." On Friday, Modi wrote on X that he had a 'good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin." 'I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine," the prime minister wrote, adding that the leaders had 'reaffirmed our commitment to further deepen the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership." He said he expected Putin to visit India later this year. Since the Cold War, Russia has been one of India's most constant partners in a relationship anchored by arms deals, economic cooperation and diplomatic support for New Delhi as it faces off with regional rivals China and Pakistan. For its part, Moscow drew close to India after tensions grew in the 1960s between the Soviet Union and Beijing. In the decades that followed, Russia extended more than a billion dollars' worth of loans for the purchase of Russian military and nonmilitary goods. The charm offensive was further sweetened by Russian crude, which Moscow sold to New Delhi in the 1960s at a 10% to 20% discount to prevailing world prices. 'This was all part of the Soviet 'oil offensive,'" said historian Sergey Radchenko, Cold War expert and professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Moscow even sent geologists to India to search for oil and, when little was found, the Soviet Union allowed India to purchase Siberian crude with shipments of tea so that New Delhi could conserve its cash reserves, he said. The bonds grew closer after the U.S. backed Pakistan—a bitter rival of India—and imposed a slew of sanctions on New Delhi in 1974 after its first nuclear test and in 1998 when India again tested its nuclear weapons. 'Many Indians still find Russia today, because of the history, a reliable partner," said Harsh V. Pant, head of strategic studies at the Observer Research Foundation, a think tank in New Delhi. 'Many in India believe that America has always been more favorably disposed towards Pakistan." Even Russia's invasion of Ukraine hasn't pushed Modi to repudiate Moscow. India—which has long pursued a strategy of avoiding alignments with other major powers—has stayed neutral on the Ukraine war, abstaining from United Nations votes to condemn the invasion and declining to join successive waves of Western sanctions. Meanwhile, India—a net energy importer with a voracious and growing appetite for energy—benefited from a shift by Western countries away from Russian oil, as well as a price cap that the U.S. and its allies have imposed on the country's crude. Sanctions targeting Russia's oil industry have increased Moscow's reliance on friendly nations such as India. Over the past several years, India has begun buying massive amounts of Russian oil. Last year, India accounted for more than one-third of Russia's oil exports, second only to China at nearly 50%, according to the Observer Research Foundation. Steep discounts have saved Indian refineries $17 billion over the past three years, according to credit-rating firm ICRA. Indeed, India isn't the only Asian country to benefit from Russia's increasing economic isolation. Rival China has likewise bought crude and scooped up assets inside Russia. But a creeping wariness in Moscow of overdependence on Beijing makes Russia's relationship with India all the more important. The cheap oil is critical for a country of 1.4 billion that is growing rapidly. The South Asian nation is the world's fastest-growing consumer of oil, behind only the U.S. and China in total consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Its vast energy needs are met by importing 90% of its crude oil from overseas. Over the past three years, trade between the two countries skyrocketed to $69 billion, a record figure pushed higher by India's purchases of Russian crude. Those imports have allowed New Delhi to sell gasoline at a cheaper rate domestically and resell its oil products abroad at a fatter margin. 'It's not going to be shutting off the Russian tap in the immediate future," said Syed Akbaruddin, former Indian permanent representative to the U.N. and dean of the Kautilya School of Public Policy in Hyderabad. 'There is no way, given the cost differential and the impact on the budget." To be sure, Indian refineries have already started hedging their bets by curbing their purchases in recent weeks, according to data and analytics firm Kpler. Imports of Russian crude oil fell about 500,000 barrels a day in July to a five-month low of 1.6 million. According to the company's analysis, India's private refiners, which process over 50% of imported Russian crude, are expected to boost their imports from other sources including the Middle East and West Africa—but can't cut off Russian oil completely. 'Replacing Russian barrels is no easy feat—logistically daunting, economically painful and geopolitically fraught," Sumit Ritolia, Kpler's lead research analyst in refining and modeling, wrote in a research note. Meanwhile, Trump has also taken aim at India's historic reliance on Russia for military equipment. Although New Delhi has been trying to diversify its suppliers in recent decades, Russian and Soviet-made equipment still makes up over 50% of India's arsenal. New Delhi continues to be a loyal customer of Russian arms. Part of the appeal is Moscow's willingness to share technology and help India manufacture arms domestically. In contrast, under former President Joe Biden, the U.S. signaled its openness to technology transfers, but Washington has dragged its feet on some projects. Last month, the Indian navy commissioned a new stealth frigate purchased from Russia. Two more frigates are being built in India with technical assistance from Russia's Yantar shipyards. In 2018, during Trump's first term, India bucked threats of sanctions from the U.S. to agree to buy five squadrons of Russia's top shelf S-400 air-defense system. Three of those squadrons so far have been delivered—and stationed along India's borders with China and Pakistan. 'It will be many decades before India can actually replace the Russian kit in their inventory, if they can replace it at all," said Ashley J. Tellis, an expert on geopolitics at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
