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There are several ways whereby the IPEF will outbid China in the Indo-Pacific region and outweigh India’s China dependency, writes S. Majumder for South Asia Monitor
Firefight-phobic PLA purchases advanced maces. How much longer will India manage disputed borders ‘bulletlessly’?
The CPC-PLA combo’s very smart use of bullet-less border management agreements, incursions/transgressions, and building villages along the LAC is continuing because the Indian Army is following bullet-less methods initiated by the Chinese even after losing 20 soldiers including a colonel by PLA’s brutal and barbaric attack in June 2020.
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.
More on Indo Pacific - China Watch
Despite the Chinese challenge, American primacy in the Indo Pacific remains unquestioned for now
The short game might be Beijing’s to lose for now, but the long game is certainly Washington’s to squander away, writes Collins Chong Yew Keat for South Asia Monitor
India, Vietnam ink pact to broad-base ties with China in mind
Vietnam, an important country of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), has territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea region. India has oil exploration projects in the Vietnamese waters in the South China Sea. India and Vietnam have been boosting their maritime security cooperation in the last few years to protect common interests.
IPEF: A challenge and opportunity in the Indo-Pacific region
Since the US is not a member of RCEP, the collaborative approach of the US and India will pose a big challenge to RCEP, which falls under Chinese influence, writes S. Majumder for South Asia Monitor
Fearing US influence, China asks Bangladesh to reject ‘bloc politics’
Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Wilson Centre, noted in a Foreign Policy Brief that the Biden administration’s growing engagement with countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Maldives, “marks a shift for Washington, which in recent decades has expended most of its diplomatic capital in the region on India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.”
Trade, FDI, and fast-tracking projects: A subdued China belatedly proposes five-point assistance program for Sri Lanka
Beijing also seems nervous as its earlier run, largely on the back of support of the now-discredited Rajapaksa brothers, appears to have come to an end. Unlike earlier, a crisis-hit Sri Lanka in need of assistance is more eager than any time before in recent years to embrace India, the West, and the United States.
Kim's nuclear brinkmanship: Can Quad rise up to the Indo Pacific challenge?
Kim Jong-un's new strategy shifts the region's counter-reaction to a new level of risk that will invite changes in the dynamics of the military spectrum, writes Collins Chong Yew Keat for South Asia Monitor
Quad a significant presence on world stage, says Modi as India joins IPEF economic grouping to check China's stranglehold on supply chains
The summit is taking place under the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It is also taking place at a time when relations between China and the Quad member countries have become fraught, with Beijing increasingly challenging democratic values and resorting to coercive trade practices.
Modi in Tokyo for Quad Summit, to meet Biden and new Australian PM
A review of Quad initiatives is one of the key agendas for the four world leaders, an Indian government statement quoted the prime minister as saying before his departure. The grouping includes the world’s oldest and largest democracies — Japan, India, Australia and US — and represents a combined GDP of $34 trillion, or 40 per cent of the global total.
UN Rights chief to visit China’s restive Xinjiang province; HRW says need to underscore justice for victims
Bachelet, during her China visit between 23-28 May, will “meet with a number of high-level officials at the national and local levels, civil society organizations, business representatives, academics, and deliver a lecture to students at Guangzhou University,” the statement released by her office said on Friday
Chinese media defends India over wheat exports
But what came as surprise amid this report was the Chinese state media's defence of India after criticism from Group of Seven (G7) nations, ANI news agency said. Global Times, a Chinese government outlet said, "Blaming India won't solve the food problem."
Chinese power companies threaten to quit Pakistan over dues payment of $1.5 billion
Chinese firms also raised objections to Pakistan’s new draft renewable energy policy, which, interestingly, calls for international competitive bidding—something the Chinese have been advocating in the Sri Lankan power sector, mainly to counter Indian influence
China intends to keep boundary issue alive, says Indian Army Chief Gen Pande; efforts to alter status quo will be thwarted
In his book "India-China Boundary Issues", late Indian diplomat R S Kalha observed that, "China will continue its policy of keeping India strategically confined to South Asia with the active assistance of Pakistan, and strategically imbalanced by continuing incursions across the LAC.In such an event, there is little change that there will be any meaningful forward movement in the settlement of the boundary dispute between India and China."
No more body pushing on LAC; Indian, Chinese armies in regular contact, says Indian Army commander
“Earlier, we used to say Chinese have strategic patience. They are ready to wait. Now, the present India has come up a long way and we also have strategic patience and we are also ready to wait,” he said
When Chinese yuan challenges US dollar: Can India consider yuan-based payment mechanism to increase export competitiveness?
Currently, the total trade between India and China is exchanged through US dollar per se. As the Chinese yuan is not a global currency, it is more stable than the US dollar, writes S. Majumder for South Asia Monitor
