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.
Afghanistan has reached a “critical stage” as foreign troops are departing and the country’s security situation remains “uncertain”, the Chinese foreign ministry said after holding the 4th trilateral conference involving Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China
China on Wednesday hinted at an early launch of the Main Line-I project of Pakistan Railways – the biggest infrastructure project in the country’s history with an estimated cost of around USD 6.8 billion – that has been funded by Beijing as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has assured that all BRICS member nations will help India in combating the second and deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
After facing heat from opposition leaders on vaccine procurement, the Sri Lankan government has said that the country was not a dumping ground for "Chinese garbage", a report in Daily Mirror says
The Brussels-based Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC) has accused China of creating "discriminatory" trade barriers, resorting to "forced" technology transfer and intellectual property theft and asked the European Union to confront and counter Beijing’s "disinformation" campaign and expressed displeasure over some EU countries being “soft on doing business” with China
After becoming fully operational, the Gwadar Port and Gwadar Free Zone would generate economic activities of around USD 10 billion per annum, said China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa on Monday
Outgoing Tibetan president-in-exile Lobsang Sangay has warned his people and the world against Chinese aggression in no uncertain terms
A leading Indina think tank has claimed that China has been steadily increasing its influence within the United Nations using a combination of increased funding, strategically placing its key officials and selecting the most influential agencies and bodies to lead
A controversy erupted in Sri Lanka over the alleged differential pricing of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines that the Sri Lankan government has been procuring from China, with authorities facing the allegation of signing the deal at a relatively higher price
Sri Lanka has officially told a state enterprise of China investing in the island nation’s language policy in the Colombo Port City following controversy over a name board, a minister said
A Chinese national hacked and injured two Bangladeshi youths working on the Dhaka-Mawa railway project in Keraniganj near capital Dhaka
There seems to be no end to the Sino-Indian border standoff as Beijing is trying to equip its Western high-altitude plateau regions with new weapons systems, said reports quoting Chinese Communist Party-run media
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) fits perfectly with “Pakistan’s geo-economic paradigm that is now the vision of the government”, a top official said
China has so far donated around 1.8 million Sinopharm vaccines to Nepal, and the latter is now looking for a commercial agreement to seek more vaccines
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority Chairman Lt Gen (retd.) Asim Saleem Bajwa has termed an export-oriented textile factory, established by a Chinese investor in the country’s most fashionable city Lahore, as a role model for new special economic zones
