INS Jatayu in Lakshadweep

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.

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The free world should not succumb to Beijing’s Taiwan blackmail

The rest of the democratic world and the alliance of free nations need to stand in solidarity with Taiwan now more than ever, as Taiwan remains the last bastion against the growing autocratic forces, even surpassing Ukraine in terms of criticality and the costs at stake.

Hard power replacing soft power: China’s spy balloon marks a new phase of big-power confrontation

The balloon incident is a brazen willingness by Beijing to flex its power outside its region, and to challenge the US at its continental base, magnifying its continuous attempts to expand its influence across the world through intelligence efforts targeting businesses, universities and other institutions.

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.