Neutrality and balance — Colombo’s habitual vocabulary — have yielded little economic benefit. Ultimately, Sri Lanka slid into bankruptcy. Given this background, the land link is not merely a strategic starting point but a necessity. India’s strategic position on Sri Lanka is perennial; whether the bridge is built or not, India’s concerns remain fundamental. As an immediate neighbour and rising global power, India will not allow rivals to use Sri Lanka as a base.
If India and China choose collaboration by setting aside strategic suspicion in the climate domain, they could fundamentally reshape the trajectory of the 21st century, as they have already demonstrated individually through their pursuit of clean energy over the past decade. More importantly, such a coalition could revive the COP28 fossil-fuel phase-down pledge, which stalled at COP29 in Baku and appears to be drifting further at COP30 in Belém.
Increased industrial activity in India could generate demand for raw materials, intermediate goods, and services from countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh’s textile industry could strengthen its links with Indian manufacturing networks, while Sri Lanka may gain from expanded opportunities in tourism, logistics, and services.
ADB’s role has evolved beyond financing into shaping India’s structural transformation into a high-growth, technology-driven, and climate-conscious economy. Compared to other multilateral institutions, it offers a more agile, implementation-focused, and regionally attuned approach. As India moves toward becoming one of the world’s largest economies, this partnership will play a defining role in shaping not only India’s growth trajectory but also the broader economic future of Asia.
China has only upgraded infrastructure along the border in India's northeast, and new villages have not come up, India's Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday, saying pointedly that the country's main adversary was China, and not Pakistan
China has delivered to Pakistan this week its biggest stealth warship, a Type054 frigate, in a move that will strengthen the latter’s position in the Indian Ocean, the area traditionally dominated by India
The fertilizer row that erupted late month between the Sri Lankan government and a Chinese firm, Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co Ltd, is showing no signs of ending anytime soon as the firm has now demanded $8 million in compensation, weeks after the former canceled the contract citing contamination
Sri Lanka’s Shipping Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena has said he has instructed officials at Colombo Port to deny any request by a ship carrying rejected Chinese fertilizer from unloading the cargo in Colombo
China’s ambassador to Kabul Wang Yu met with Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Motaqi and discussed bilateral relations, particularly matters related to trade, Afghan foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a tweet
The United States fears China, whose influence has grown significantly in South Asia in the past decade, is now looking at Sri Lanka to build a military base or logistics facility--a scenario India has been wary of
The annual United States Department of Defence report on military developments involving China details the US perception of the tension along the Line of Actual Control or LAC, and also refers to the creation of a 100-home Chinese village in Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India
The Indian Army is conducting aerial exercises close to the border in eastern Ladakh to induct troops in high-altitude zones and validate its rapid response capabilities, a media report said
China has resumed its air corridor with Afghanistan--for the first time since the Taliban takeover-- and imported around 45 tonnes of pine nuts, one of Afghanistan’s key exports, to support Afghan businesses which have been struggling amid severe economic and humanitarian crisis caused after the collapse of the erstwhile Afghan government on 15 August
Indian and United States armies have held a joint exercise in the snow-bound Chugach Mountains in Alaska, approximating the conditions Indian soldiers face in the Himalayas where they confront Chinese troops, though no one is saying it that way explicitly
Only when India is strong enough to promote a new paradigm based on internationally acceptable and verifiable norms can the boundary questions raised by China be settled
China has blacklisted a state-owned bank in Sri Lanka after it allegedly failed to honor letters of credit issued for a fertilizer deal that was later canceled by the Sri Lankan government over substandard quality issues
India on Wednesday announced that it carried out the latest test of the 5,000 km range Agni-5 missile from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast, a significant step towards boosting the nuclear deterrence against China
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has expressed confidence that the ongoing talks between China and India for a peaceful resolution of the eastern Ladakh standoff will continue while Indian troops stand "firm" in the region
India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday said that China’s unilateral decision to bring about a new land law can have implications on existing bilateral arrangements on border management and that the legislation can even have an impact on the unresolved ‘boundary question’
