India-China relations are complex and will be getting even more complex as time passes by. For a successful engagement, a nuanced and cool-headed handling of this relationship is needed. This is primarily because the nature of relationship between India and China will determine the future of Asian security and the architecture of the Indo-Pacific region.
Bhutan has been a friendly and reliable neighbour to India. The friendship between India and Bhutan is time-tested and deep-rooted. Not only has India signed a friendship treaty with Bhutan but also placed a permanent training team in the latter. The cultural and religious affinities also bring the people of Bhutan and India very close to each other.
Pakistan’s candidature for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership and its claim as “a prospective member of the cartel on its own merit…with the possibility of strengthening the non-proliferation regime” warrants a serious scrutiny.
Pakistan has, in the past, been accused of offering critical nuclear weapons technology to countries like North Korea, Iran and Libya. The rationale behind these transfers varies from reciprocal missile technology sought by Pakistan from these countries to certain personal gains made by several high-ranking Pakistani government officials.
The Chabahar deal signed by India with Iran in May last year is seen by many as its strategic response to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which culminates in Gwadar. Besides deepening ties between India and Iran, Chabahar deal provides a strategic edge to India by gaining connectivity to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.
Pakistan has been very proud of its nuclear weapons programme and its dependence on the weapons has enhanced tremendously with the continuing instability within the country and rising Islamic extremism in the region. Islamabad has long tried to balance its domestic vulnerabilities with the nuclear weapons which it treats as the ultimate guarantor of its survivability and security.
North Koreans say that as long as there are US troops in South Korea, Japan and Guam, Washington will not initiate hostilities against Pyongyang.
As the world confronts the threat of North Korean nuclear weapons, a peak into the history of its nuclear weapons and missile programme displays evidence of funds and technology having flown out of an American ally in the region. Japan, a US ally since the end of World War II, fell victim to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) intelligence and subversive attacks that led to the flow of financial and technical assistance to the latter’s nuclear and missiles programme.
The US President Donald Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement has certainly given a setback to global action on climate change. After all, it is after years of arduous negotiations that the international policy community had reached this agreement.
