42nd ASEAN Summit

ASEAN must change or face irrelevance

ASEAN remains ill-equipped to handle the fallout from the tensions in the South China Sea or the potentiality of a full-blown Taiwanese conflict.

Strategic significance of the 6th Indian Ocean Conference in Bangladesh

Against this backdrop, India has been promoting the idea of ‘net security provider’ in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). 

China's ethnocide and the transborder implications of the Uyghur Muslim unrest

Following the attack on a mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan on October 8, 2021, ISK confirmed the recruitment and mobilization of Uyghur fighters. This was the first time that the alliance between IS-K and Uyghurs was affirmed by IS-K on media platforms.

India making rapid strides in military modernisation - but still far to go

But New Delhi must not be complacent, because a lot more needs to be done in acquisitions and modernisation to match the much larger and more sophisticated Chinese arsenal and to raise India’s politico-diplomatic assertiveness against Beijing's muscle-flexing.

More on Indo Pacific - China Watch

India's 'complex' ties with Russia, Indo-Pacific security to figure during Blinken visit to India

“What will be even more interesting is immediately following that ministerial meeting, the Secretary will participate in a panel at the Raisina Dialogue”, Lu said. “I’m not aware that they’ve ever had an hour-long public event where the four foreign ministers have had a chance to talk about the Quad, and to demonstrate how it is getting tangible and concrete things done in the Indo-Pacific”, he said. 

Can good journalism shape better India-China relations?

Journalism takes the centre stage in Sino-Indian relations as it builds narratives, perceptions and a repertoire of political attitudes that can recreate, reshape and reprocess the original information that journalism disseminates. This becomes even more challenging when the audience is a few billion people  - considering China and India together - and their consumption of information is not just restricted to the conventional legacy media but also vibrant social media in the digital space. 

China's military and economic muscle-flexing puts Indo-Pacific region on a knife-edge

Taiwan is but one piece in China’s arc of aggression that runs through the Indo-Pacific region and veers into the Himalayas for the border confrontation with India. The US sees Beijing’s policy in the region as a step towards global domination.

Nepal's strategic importance makes it courted by major powers

Like other nonaligned states in South Asia, Nepal seeks strategic space to pursue relations with China, India, and the United States on its own terms. That’s harder to do as countries fall over one another to court Kathmandu.

Bangladesh-Myanmar military cooperation can enhance regional stability

Strengthening military cooperation has the potential to provide strategic benefits for both of them. Due to their geostrategic importance, Bangladesh and Myanmar have become a hotspot in the western front’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) and China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Top US, Indian security officials discuss military coordination over China threat; India's regional leadership commended

Separately at a meeting of the India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) led by Doval and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, the US committed to expeditiously review a GE proposal to jointly produce jet engines to power jet aircraft manufactured indigenously by India, according to the White House

Indonesia, Malaysia mull joint deterrence against 'common threats' in Indo Pacific

Indonesia sees Malaysia and Australia as key players, including Vietnam and the Philippines, in forming a stronger common cooperative platform in facing the challenges of China in the Indo-Pacific.

Bangabandhu Tunnel: A game-changing connectivity infrastructure coming up in Bangladesh with Chinese help

The tunnel will link the Asian Highway network. Through this route, goods can be moved directly across the border between India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

With BrahMos missile, India acquires significant strike capabilities

China’s English language publication Global Times had said these "observers" - euphemism for party apparatchiks - had warned New Delhi of “new barriers” in talks related to de-escalation if India were to go ahead with the transportation of its most advanced missile to the western side of the LAC. It was also reported that China was quite riled about widening of roads on the Indian side of the LAC for the purpose of transporting heavy equipment, including BrahMos missiles.

To match Chinese border defences, Indian Army embraces rapid construction technology

The implementation of this project in Eastern Ladakh and other sectors along the LAC is going to predictably rile the Chinese.

Can Malaysian policymakers get their country out of China’s expanding orbit?

Domino effects seen in various countries at the receiving end of Beijing's political bearhug and economic penetration, from port takeovers to media influence, should warrant alarm bells in Kuala Lumpur. Policymakers here are in full awareness of this dilemma, but it takes more than political will to reimagine a new direction in Malaysia’s thinking and policy orientation.

China's latest territory-grabbing attempt raises fundamental questions for India

India’s narrative against China must be reviewed and reframed and the appropriate use of India’s military capability must get accepted by the political leadership. 

Regional fears amid heightening contestation over South China Sea

With the declining impact of deterrence measures, including dwindling effectiveness of confidence-building measures and a wide array of dialogue-building processes in trying to mitigate risks of conflicts, the question of a full-blown conflict stemming from the inevitability of Thucydides’ trapping would be a matter of when and where.

China continues to shield Pakistan; protects from UN sanctions key leaders of LeT behind 26/11 Mumbai attack

When the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) met in Mumbai last month, an audio clip of Sajid Mir directing the 26/11 terrorists at the Chabad House Jewish cultural centre was played to focus on the role of the terrorist under Beijing protection at the UN.

Biden-Xi meeting: A modus vivendi and a reality check for Beijing?

The rise of nationalist sentiments globally and in Europe, as seen in the premiership of Giorgia Meloni in Italy and Rishi Sunak in Britain, are conflating political circumstances for a global pushback against China’s actions where these countries are ready to call out China in a more forthright manner.

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