Nikhil T

JNUite |
PhD Candidate 🇹🇼🇨🇳
Centre for East Asian Studies, JNU

[The SAIS Review of International Affairs @SAISReview]

China doesn’t need to copy Caracas. It’s got a quieter way in.

@Sk_Nikhil13 argues in The SAIS Review that Beijing’s real playbook for Taiwan is gradual pressure, and that Taipei’s best defense is to stop relying on a single patron.

🔗: https://t.co/Yy0N8eYJA7

[United Nations Geneva @UNGeneva]

20+ independent human rights experts call on Indian 🇮🇳 authorities to respect, protect and fulfil the right to peacefully protest, and ensure justice for human rights violations reported during these and earlier protests.

"This crackdown reflects a broader, troubling pattern.”

[Nikhil T @Sk_Nikhil13]

@UberIN_Support @Uber_India @UberIN_Support If I have no way of getting relief, let me know, I'll escalate elsewhere. Then escalation should be more than retrieving extra amount paid. You have no redressal mechanism if the user is being scammed by driver, focus should be on that too

[Nikhil T @Sk_Nikhil13]

@UberIN_Support I have sent message and waiting for response

[Nikhil T @Sk_Nikhil13]

@pranveerbharti Really ??

[Nikhil T @Sk_Nikhil13]

@AmazonHelp @amazonIN Product shown on the box, and the actual product is different. No charger etc provided. Seller claim to be selling one plus seven product but if you further into details, its some other brand.

[Nikhil T @Sk_Nikhil13]

@AmazonHelp @amazonIN the product I have received doesn't match the description on the box. Also No accessories provide. Delivery guy refused to take it saying the product is not matching with the description and pictures on the bo

[Glenn Diesen @Glenn_Diesen]

We are told that security in the Middle East requires defeating Iran, security in East Asia requires defeating China, and security in Europe requires defeating Russia. We never discuss security in terms of how to learn to live together by harmonising interests and managing competition. This is by design. This is hegemonic peace, in which security depends on defeating rivals rather than managing a balance of power.

Subsequently, security relies solely on deterrence rather than reassurance; diplomacy is dismissed as appeasement; peace agreements are temporary and deceptive; and war is peace. Our rivals do not have legitimate security concerns, as their policies are allegedly always motivated by aggressive, irrational, or expansionist behaviour.

We have convinced ourselves that our liberal hegemony is a force for good, and that our opponents oppose our dominance because they reject our benign values of freedom. Discussing the security concerns of adversaries is believed to “legitimise” their policies, which is treasonous. The world is divided into good guys (liberal democracies) and bad guys (autocracies). We should not ask how defeating Russia, as the world's largest nuclear power, is a rational security strategy, or why our governments refuse to even speak with Moscow to discuss the European security architecture and end the war. Our governments have relabelled nuclear deterrence as nuclear blackmail to signal that there can be no more constraints.

All empires can become irrational during decline. Leaders take greater risks to avoid decline, legitimacy crises at home must be distracted with enemies abroad, outdated strategies from a bygone era of strength are still embraced, and there is a tendency to double down on narratives of being indispensable, representing universal values, and dismissing all opposition as illegitimate and dangerous. Are we the fanatics?

[The Hindu @the_hindu]

JUST IN | From the funds donated by Indian people Iranian embassy has sent 45 tonnes of medicines in two consignments in the last few weeks. Third consignment of 20 tonnes of medicines will be sent tonight (Monday, April 13, 2026) by special Mahan Air flight, Iran embassy sources have said.

- reports @janusmyth

[Masoud Pezeshkian @drpezeshkian]

To the people of the United States of America

[Bi-khim Hsiao 蕭美琴 @bikhim]

Exactly 30 years ago Taiwan held our first presidential elections. Since then & although imperfect, our young democracy has thrived and matured, but we are constantly reminded that freedom cannot be taken for granted, it has to be cherished and protected.

[AFP News Agency @AFP]

US intelligence concluded that Iran was not rebuilding nuclear enrichment capacities destroyed last year by the United States and Israel, contradicting a key justification by President Donald Trump for his ongoing war.
https://t.co/spZEv7HRoK

[CHINA MFA Spokesperson 中国外交部发言人 @MFA_China]

China is shocked that the Israeli military is said to have been “authorized to kill any Iranian official.”

China is firmly against the use of force in international relations. The killing of Iranian leaders and attacks on civilian targets are by no means acceptable.

[Nikhil T @Sk_Nikhil13]

@ReuvenAzar Morally dead people are ruling this country, otherwise you should have been declared persona non grata and kicked out from here asap.

[Nikhil T @Sk_Nikhil13]

@salmanravi Get well soon, Sir 🙏🙏

[Sidhant Sibal @sidhant]

Indian doctors fit artificial limbs for 100 disabled Afghan citizens in Kabul.

[Nikhil T @Sk_Nikhil13]

@heguisen My understanding is that when people say 'the KMT arrived in Taiwan in 1949,' they mean the final defeat of the KMT and its retreat to Taiwan. Please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm writing a chapter on Taiwan and I want to avoid making such mistakes in the chapter

[Stanly Johny @johnstanly]

When the Taliban returned to Kabul, #Pakistan genuinely believed it would gain strategic depth. Recall Imran Khan’s remark that Afghans had “broken the shackles of slavery”? It took two decades of playing a double game for Pakistan’s Generals to see the Taliban back in power. But what followed was the exact opposite of what they had hoped for — just as we had forecast in our book #TheComradesAndTheMullahs. The Taliban had needed Pakistan while they were an insurgency. But since August 2021, they have been the state. Border skirmishes between Pakistan and Afghanistan have resumed. The Taliban’s rise to power invariably emboldened the Pakistan Taliban, which ramped up attacks in Pakistan’s tribal regions. Then came the refugee crisis. Pakistan’s mass expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Afghans has further strained an already fraying relationship between the former patron and client. Add to this Pakistan's internal turmoil. The economy survives on bailouts. Imran Khan — the country's most popular politician, whose party won the last election against all odds — is languishing in prison. Baloch separatism continues to simmer despite a heavy-handed state crackdown. Pakistan is in serious trouble. And this, in part, explains why terror was unleashed in Kashmir. First came the Pak. Army chief's comments about Hindus, Muslims and Kashmir. Then came the attacks.

[Nikhil T @Sk_Nikhil13]

@SOASTaiwan Hi, is there any link to join this event, or is it offline/exclusive?