The potential implications of recent protests in New Caledonia are best understood in the context of a broader framework of China’s increasing presence in the South Pacific island countries.
Asia's Balance of Power Depends on India's Ability to Face China’s Strategic Challenge
Over the past decade, India’s strategic landscape has grown increasingly complex. Beijing has not diluted its consistent strategy of constraining India. Whether through deepening ties with Pakistan, or expanding influence in India’s periphery, China’s approach remains adversarial. Beijing’s assertive regional posture underscores the urgency for India to rethink both its economic and security policies.
Myanmar's Collapse Will Have Consequences Far Beyond Asia
What began with a coup in 2021 has devolved into a theater for China’s energy security, India’s border anxieties, Russia’s arms sales, and America’s China strategy. Each external actor pursues its narrow interests; none has the incentive to restore genuine stability. The losers, inevitably, are Myanmar’s people.
The Tibetan Buddhist Reincarnation System and China's Political Weaponization
Chinese emperors, especially those of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, recognized that control over Tibetan Buddhism offered a powerful form of soft power. By leveraging religious authority, they could exert indirect political influence over Buddhist populations beyond China's borders.
India’s Indian Ocean Strategy Harnesses Civilisational Depth With Blue Economy Cooperation
Development diplomacy remains India’s strongest soft-power tool in the Indian Ocean. The contrast between India’s low-interest, grant-based infrastructure projects and China’s debt-heavy Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has not gone unnoticed. The Maldivian pivot back to India is partly driven by this contras
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Quad and now the Squad: New power equations in the Indo-Pacific
This new bloc is vital for both the US and regional players, especially the Philippines which is not part of the original Quad. For Australia and Japan, this new partnership represents a more focused security arrangement with greater on-the-ground ease of conducting military activities as compared to the more bureaucratic Quad.
Is the US finally realizing Bangladesh's importance in its Indo-Pacific strategy?
Bangladesh must exercise caution when considering the adoption of the Indo-Pacific Strategy advocated by the US and its regional allies. This move could potentially strain Bangladesh's friendship with China.
Chinese 'research vessels' in Indian Ocean raises red flags in Indian maritime circles
Over half of these 'research vessels' operated in the South China Sea, but their growing presence in the Indian Ocean has stirred regional tensions and is a matter of growing concern to India.
US looking to boost economic ties with ‘critical partner’ India through IPEF
While most of the attention to keeping the Indo-Pacific region free and open has been focused on strategic issues, Venkataraman emphasized the critical role of the IPEF in boosting regional economic ties.
China's growing maritime muscle has implications for IOR security
India has signed a $375 million contract with the Philippines for three batteries of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, among the most advanced in the world. This will be seen by Beijing as a direct threat to its interests in the South China Sea.
China joins India in the climate challenge - target Net-Zero university campus
“We are all fighting a global war against our common enemy, which is the climate crisis,” said Dr Rajendra Shende
How China dumped in India using the RCEP intra-trade route
China used both the ASEAN FTA and RCEP tariff concessions to enter the ASEAN market to make it a potential platform for sneaking into the Indian market through the ASEAN–India FTA.
Chinese military activities in the Indian Ocean Region are a warning to India
Sri Lanka is also allowing Chinese research vessels in its ports. China has big plans for the region, not just spy ships.
India's rising power benefits the Indo Pacific
India’s inevitable regional and global leadership provides a welcome new opening for the country and the region in their security calculations. It remains the region’s most important Asian partner in providing the economic and security fallback that is based on values, trust and proven expectations.
India-China border standoff continues as disengagement seems remote
Why no heads rolled for the surprises in 2020 with PLA exercising in Aksai Chin and a new road constructed five km short of Galwan?
India braces for China's growing muscle-flexing in the Indian Ocean
The establishment of a second naval base in Lakshadweep, INS Jatayu is a key part of this strategy. It's a calculated move to counter China's influence in the Indian Ocean Region.
An Indo-Lankan naval task force in Palk Bay to meet China's strategic challenge?
China has tried to set up a hybrid renewable energy system mixed with solar, wind, and other renewables on three islands in the Jaffna Peninsula. It was later cancelled. There is no economic reason for hosting such a project in a place so close to India.
Can Australia overcome ASEAN divide to promote a common Indo-Pacific security vision?
Australia has succeeded in sending a strong message to both ASEAN and China. To ASEAN, Canberra has communicated its commitment both in economic and security terms. The keyword will be a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is in line with the overall security vision of the West.
Why America and the West remain critical for Indo -Pacific security
The US meanwhile, remains resilient in its future demographic and economic growth projection and stability, alongside the prospects of India. The so-called rise of China is now reversing, and the perceived decline of the US and the West is not happening.
