Where debating everything under the sun is only the beginning

Orange is just Red, mixed with Yellow!

assure Belfrager that the USSR is long ago history....... 

China is likely to further press upon India to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to connect the east Asian country with Eurasia through a network of infrastructure projects, with Bangladesh apparently keen to be a part of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious initiative.
Xi is reaching Goa on Saturday morning fairly fresh from a day in Dhaka where he is said to have pledged some $24 billion in various projects in the densely populated country.
The Chinese president will surely take the opportunity of his interactions during the BRICS summit to impress upon India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that by not joining the BRI, New Delhi is missing out an opportunity for economic development.
And, especially because most of India’s neighbours in south Asia are falling in line with the BRI – Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Minority and lost all their seats in the Scottish parliament ages ago

but there are again being a Brexit man I am not too bothered!

The normalization of the relationship between China and Norway last week brought an abrupt end to the freeze of political ties imposed by China after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010. Donald Trump’s impending presidency, and signs of considerable change in U.S. China policy, are likely to have been contributing geopolitical factors prompting Beijing to seek a solution. However, as both Chinese and Norwegian officials, including Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, noted, the normalization was mainly the result of years of painstaking diplomatic negotiations, in the form of a series of low-level meetings.

During the years after 2010, not only were bilateral government contacts suspended, but many business ties and joint research and academic relationships also suffered, and a free trade agreement which was being negotiated starting in 2008 was also placed on hold. All of this changed when Norwegian Foreign Minister Børge Brende quietly met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to finalize a four-point agreement this month, resulting in the restoration of full relations. Very shortly after the deal was announced, it was reported that restarting the FTA talks would be a priority, and that a Norwegian government delegation would return to Beijing this spring.

As lawmakers from the ruling AK Party declared victory, legislators from opposition parties CHP and HDP warned that the attempt to transform Turkey’s government has polarized the nation. Erdogan’s supporters say it’s needed to overcome deepening security and economic challenges, while critics warn the overhaul would concentrate a dangerous amount of power in a single authority who has already embarked on a crackdown on political opponents, journalists, academics and activists.

“Turkey’s drift toward authoritarianism will accelerate in 2017 and the odds that President Erdogan will be able to achieve a formal, full executive presidency through a referendum on a new constitution are favorable,” Anthony Skinner, a director with U.K.-based forecasting company Verisk Maplecroft, said in a report published earlier this week. “This is partly a by-product of the nationalist fervor Erdogan has drummed up in the aftermath of a failed coup to unseat him in July 2016.”

While the AK Party lacks enough seats to carry parliament alone, the package was approved with backing from the nationalist MHP. Yildirim said Jan. 17 that his party was making the changes together with MHP. “We have no hesitation about the referendum,” the prime minister said.

What is the purpose of NATO, again? Just the outlines, please.