Is there a plan to bring the last Mughal Emperor back to India?

At Mehrauli’s crumbling Summer Palace, a once opulent building established by India’s Moghul rulers on the southern edge of Delhi, lie four grave plots.
Three of the plots are occupied by the tombs of Mughul emperors – Akbar Shah II, Bahadur Shah I and Shah Alam II. But the fourth remains empty. On a recent walk around [...]

By Andrew Buncombe | The Foreign Desk | Monday, 7 May 2012 at 12:09 pm

Khalil Dale – His life was one of love, not hatred.

Khalil ‘Ken’ Dale was a British aid worker kidnapped in Pakistan earlier this year and then subsequently killed by his captors. They attached a note to his body, discovered by police in Quetta on Sunday, saying he had been killed because no ransom had been paid.

By Andrew Buncombe | The Foreign Desk | Tuesday, 1 May 2012 at 2:27 pm

Charles Taylor verdict: World leaders can no longer hide behind secret deals and handshakes

The conviction of former Liberian president Charles Taylor for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in neighboring Sierra Leone finds both West African countries and the region grappling with his terrible legacy.

By Paul Seils | Notebook, Opinion, The Foreign Desk | Thursday, 26 April 2012 at 6:00 pm

India’s slide leads to an international down-grade

It had to happen. India’s slide in the past two or three years from a self-perceived emerging economic super-power to its current crisis of appalling government performance, sliding economic statistics, and almost daily political crises has today led to a damning international verdict with ratings agency Standard & Poor’s deciding [...]

By John Elliott | The Foreign Desk | Wednesday, 25 April 2012 at 4:43 pm

With the Eurovision approaching, it’s time to draw attention to the lack of human rights in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani journalist Idrak Abbasov was brutally assaulted last week.

“Where I have come from, telling the truth can cost a journalist their life”, he said. “In countries such as Azerbaijan we journalists have to make a choice, and we choose the right to tell the truth.”

By Laura Davis | Notebook, Opinion, The Foreign Desk | Monday, 23 April 2012 at 11:45 am

Ousted leader of Maldives says international community has let down democracy

Mohamed Nasheed, the former president of the Maldives who was forced out in what he says was a coup earlier this year, is trying to drum up support from the international community to pressure the new regime to hold early elections.
Currently in Delhi with a small delegation of MPs from his party, he said he [...]

By Andrew Buncombe | The Foreign Desk | Thursday, 19 April 2012 at 3:47 pm

Manmohan Singh’s friends warn him your ‘legacy is at risk’

Two events in the past few days underline the decline both in the popularity of  the Congress Party that leads India’s coalition government and the success of prime minister Manmohan Singh as an economic reformer. People ranging from the voters of New Delhi to loyal economists and other policy allies have in effect warned that, [...]

By John Elliott | The Foreign Desk | Thursday, 19 April 2012 at 2:43 pm

Obama’s foreign policy woes

When you are the most powerful leader in the world, you want to be seen to be manipulating events, not the other way round.
   Unfortunately for President Barack Obama, he’s in trouble on the foreign policy front, seven months from a presidential election. At best the situation is unpredictable, at worst, it’s a disaster.
   The [...]

By Anne Penketh | The Foreign Desk | Sunday, 15 April 2012 at 5:37 pm

Fried rat and palm toddy: a post-election rally snack in Burma.

It was hot and dusty and the motorcycle journey back from Aung San Suu Kyi’s campaign rally in the town of Kawmhu had already taken more than an hour. Would you like something to drink, asked my Burmese journalist colleague. Before I knew what was in store, I’d agreed.

By Andrew Buncombe | The Foreign Desk | Thursday, 12 April 2012 at 2:19 pm

Unexpected troop movements near Delhi in January cause alarm

 Army intrigue and graft hits India’s defences
Concern about worsening relations between India’s army and government is graphically illustrated by a story that takes up the entire front page of The The Indian Express this morning about two key mechanised military units moving unexpectedly towards Delhi at night in mid-January. The government did not have the usual [...]

By John Elliott | The Foreign Desk | Wednesday, 4 April 2012 at 9:01 am