OIL SHOCK
   Date :19-Sep-2019

 
 
THE disruption in the oil supplies to major importers like the US, India, Japan, China following the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities has sent into tailspin economic calculations of several countries of the world. That half of Saudi Arabia’s oil exports have been hit by the worst ever disruption since 1991Gulf War shows the enormity of the crisis in oil supplies to the world. And given the volatile situation in the Gulf region there is no guarantee of any early resumption of normal production in Saudi facilities. This is a big blow to countries of the world already battling worsening recessionary winds. Apart from the phenomenal hike in prices globally, most countries will see their import bills ballooning to very high levels, impacting their budget calculations very adversely. For India, particularly, this is not a very happy development as the country heavily depends on imports of crude oil and besides Iran, Saudi Arabia happens to be a major supplier of oil to the country. How long the current crisis will last, considered to be very serious, nobody is in a position to say for sure.
 
TALIBAN TERROR
 
IT IS appalling to think how an organisation which has murder and violence as its core philosophy and hatred for other faiths could be made a stakeholder in the future of Afghanistan. But at one time US President Mr. Donald Trump was pursuing a mirage of sanity from the Talibanese who have been carrying massive terror attacks on a daily basis. Mr. Trump’s only interest seemed to be to get out of the years of muddle even if that meant handing over the country to an outfit which has been one of the major sponsors of terrorism world wide. Mr. Trump’s eyes opened only when one of his country’s soldiers was killed by the Taliban, forcing him to call off all talks. Although the Taliban had joined the peace parleys with the US there was no cessation of terror attacks on civilians, authorities or Government facilities. As Afghanistan is in the midst of elections the Taliban is carrying out suicide bombings of electoral rallies. To involve Taliban in the peace process, hence, is a travesty. It has emboldened the Taliban even more.