This remote frontier is not remote for India. The cold waters between Hokkaido, Sakhalin and the Kurils connect the unfinished business of World War II to the wars of the present.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the disputed Kuril Islands for the first time, travelling to Iturup as Moscow's relations with Japan remain deeply strained over…

The four contested islands, seized by Russia during World War II, have gained importance since the end of the conflict, providing strategic military bases to the Kremlin, coupled…