BIMSTEC

Growing Salience of BIMSTEC : Reconnecting the Bay of Bengal Civilisation Through Trade and Connectivity

If the twentieth century was shaped by the Atlantic and the early twenty-first century witnessed the rise of the Pacific, the coming decades may well belong to the Bay of Bengal. The foundations of that future will not be built solely through trade agreements or infrastructure projects. They will emerge from a shared commitment to connectivity, cooperation and civilisational understanding.

West Bengal's Economic Transformation: A Blueprint for Growth

West Bengal has the resources, talent, culture, and strategic location necessary to become one of India’s most prosperous states. By combining efficient governance, investment-friendly policies, infrastructure development, education, innovation, trade expansion, tourism growth, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion, the state can achieve rapid economic transformation and substantially raise incomes, employment, and overall quality of life.

India’s Balance-of-Payments Challenge: Need for Structural Transformation in Uncertain Times

India possesses immense talent, entrepreneurial capacity, and a large domestic market, yet it still lacks sufficient depth in high-end manufacturing, research and development, semiconductor ecosystems, advanced engineering, and globally dominant product companies.

What Trade Patterns Reveal About South Asia’s Economic Future

One of the most striking features of South Asian trade is how little the region trades internally. Intra-regional trade within South Asia remains among the lowest in the world relative to geographic proximity. Political tensions — especially between India and Pakistan — have prevented the emergence of a deeply integrated regional production system comparable to ASEAN or the European Union.  This is a major missed opportunity.

More on Geoeconomics, Trade and Development

With China in mind, Indian, US armies hold joint exercises, simulated assaults, test interoperability in Alaskan snow-bound mountain

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

India needs to reduce its growing economic dependence on China

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 blacklists Sri Lanka’s state-owned bank for refusing payments for canceled fertilizer deal

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 successfully test-fires Agni-5 missile to boost China deterrence

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

Talks with China to go on, Indian Army to stand firm: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

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

China’s decision to bring new land border law of concern, says India

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’

Pakistan PM dials China’s Xi Xinping, talks of strengthening economic ties; call for immediate aid to Afghanistan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday held telephonic talks with Chinese President Xi Xinping when both leaders agreed to “further strengthen bilateral economic and commercial ties”

China passes new land border law making its territorial integrity 'inviolable'

Asserting that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China are “sacred and inviolable”, the country’s national legislature has adopted a new law on the protection and exploitation of the land border areas, which could have bearing on Beijing’s long-standing border dispute with India

Atheist China has no right to choose next Dalai Lama: Head of Tawang monastery

China has no authority at all to get involved in choosing the next Dalai Lama, especially since the Chinese government does not believe in religion, and the succession is entirely a spiritual matter for the Tibetan people, the head of the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh has said

To counter China threat, Indian Army deploys rocket artillery system in Northeast

Indian Army has deployed Pinaka and Smerch Multiple Rocket Launcher Systems (MRLS) at forward position near the China border to counter any threat arising across on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in northeastern India

Broader relationship with China affected by border developments: India

Asserting with emphasis that peace and tranquillity in the border areas is a "sine qua non" for India and China to work together, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said New Delhi hopes that Beijing will work with it to bring a satisfactory resolution to the current issues, keeping in view each other's sensitivities and interests

Pax Sinica is still a long shot

A foreign policy blunder could lead to the collapse of Chinese Communist rule and severe economic turmoil for the country

Pakistan bans Chinese firm for forged documents

A Chinese firm dealing in electrical hardware has been banned by Pakistan from participating in government bidding or tendering process for a month

Bhutan and China agree on three-step roadmap to expedite boundary talks

Bhutan and China on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing on the three-step roadmap for expediting the Bhutan-China boundary negotiations which started in 1984. So far, 24 rounds of negotiations have been conducted without any final agreement

Fresh friction with China: Beijing objects to Indian Vice President's visit to Arunachal Pradesh

Two days after India and China blamed each other for failing to make headway in talks over the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, Beijing Wednesday said it “firmly opposed” Indian Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh - in the northeast of India bordering China - last weekend