If the U.S.-India relationship is to move into high orbit, there will be need for India to begin a process of replacement of Russian weapons platforms with U.S. alternatives, now accessible to India where they were out of bounds in the past. Just as the US and China arrived at a historic understanding in …
The Rise of Modi and the Future of India-South Korea Ties
The re-election of Prime Minister Modi has created a new wave of hope and excitement among the Korean political, diplomatic and business elite. After Tagore and Gandhi, Modi is undoubtedly the most popular Indian statesman in South Korea today. Never before has an Indian political leader received as much appreciation for his work as Modi …
Trump-Modi-Xi Ties Set to Define the Coming Decades
In the case of US, India needs to be forthcoming on security matters, while being tough on commercial issues. In the case of China, India needs to be firm on matters concerning security, while ensuring leeway in purely commercial fields. The clay mountains of Shaanxi province are a universe away from New Delhi, where …
Sri Lanka Provided Fertile Ground for the Easter Attacks
The Easter Sunday suicide bombings in April (2019) across three cities in Sri Lanka, targeting packed Churches and luxury hotels, is a stark reminder of the ruthlessness of global terrorism today. While the Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attacks, questions are naturally raised regarding the lapse in security on the part of …
China Countering the US in the Arctic Ocean
Rising temperatures and other environmental changes in the Arctic such as thawing permafrost and melting sea ice and glaciers have enabled ships traversing from Chinese ports to European ones to use the shorter Northeast Passage Route (NSR). Yong Sheng, a COSCO ship, left Dalian port in China for Rotterdam in Europe via the Bering Strait …
US-China Conflict Opens Door to Sino-Indian Border Settlement
Unlike his predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, who believed that the boundary dispute was best left to be settled at a much later date, key policymakers say that Xi Jinping is looking to strengthen his historical legacy by coming to a boundary settlement with India during his term. Far from anticipating a speedy …
The 2019 SCO Summit: What it Means for India?
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) summit meeting will take place in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek during 13-14 June 2019. This year’s SCO summit has many new backgrounds to it. This will be SCO’s first leaders’ meeting since the full escalation of the trade war between the United States (US) and China. This will be …
Recent Trends in China’s Population Policy and its Implications for the Chinese Economy
Introduction The Chinese government adopted the one child policy in 1979 with the aim of controlling the population increase and improving the living conditions of the people as high population was perceived to be a major hindrance for the country’s growth. Reports suggest that the one child policy helped China prevent around 400 million …
India Needs to Prepare for China’s Growing Espionage Threat
The changes the international system has undergone from being tight bipolar to loose multipolar have resulted in the blurring of lines between traditional conceptions of hard and soft power. Military wars envisaged in the form of the two World Wars are distant memory; and new forms of warfare fuelled by technological advances have become the …
S-400 Deal May Shatter India’s Indo-Pacific Advantage
Several other purchases, such as the planned acquisition of another Akula-class nuclear submarine, may also attract US sanctions. But would the Trump administration be willing to give India access to nuclear submarines, air defence systems, etc? According to senior officials spoken to, the reply is in the affirmative. In the 1950s, Secretary of State …