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India’s inability to develop interdependencies with neighbouring countries, both economically and strategically, has left a void that China has dutifully filled. There still remains a window for India to correct its past mistakes and develop a concerted strategy to regain influence in the region.

A military base in Djibouti is a useful asset for China, as it denotes both geopolitical heft and economic stakeholdership in the Indian Ocean.

In the Chinese defence paper, though nothing is directly indicative of India, the implications are quite clear with the focus on open seas protection and unbending approach to territorial disputes. Urgency and imagination will be key in tackling Chinese ambitions in what is considered New Delhi's backyard.

As the power of the US is declining, China, the US and India will have to work together for peace in the region, according to Prof. Huang Jing, Director of the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

This brief makes an assessment of the data-sharing arrangement between China and India as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding for sharing hydrological information on the Brahmaputra river system, aimed at facilitating advance warning for floods in India during monsoon. Using hydro-meteorological data, this brief assesses the arrangement and identifies its limitations, primary of which is the wrong choice for the location of measuring stat

If the Indian press statements are a signal to China, the message is clear: India is angry.

Beijing’s statements on China-India relations should be reassuring, but China’s repeated aggressive moves do not give India much confidence that Beijing means what it says.

This paper examines China and India’s economic engagements at the bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral levels. The evaluation is made in the context of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the mega-regional trade agreement in the east in which both nations are parties. The paper argues that irrespective of the nature of the two countries’ relationship, at its core is not cooperation, but mutual mistrust aggravated by Ch

The prevailing tension on the China-India border is a symptom of the broader strategic competition between the two Asian neighbors.

China and India are competing to be seen as leaders on the Afghanistan issue, resulting in a deadlock.

China's relation with Pakistan has become one of the most comprehensive one that Beijing has with any country. The strategic imperatives of developing Pakistan as a bulwark against India has been among Beijing's overriding objectives in influencing the balance of power in South Asia.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is now revealing, more assertively than before, its high expectations with regard to the opening up of Sino-Indian border trade specifically through revival of Yadong (Shigatse, Tibet) Trade Post, which was set up on May 10,

Tibet is where India and China meet. It is through Tibet that China manages its relations with India, using the boundary dispute to keep New Delhi off-balance. India is also where the most revered Tibetan, the 14th Dalai Lama lives in exile. Having failed to negotiate his return, there is now a two-pronged effort by China to deal with the consequences of the Dalai Lama’s passing and his possible reincarnation outside Tibet: to m

The 13th round of military commander’s talks between India and China will take place at Moldo today.

This brief evaluates the state and development of China’s cruise missile capabilities, specifically that of its air-launched and ground-launched missile forces. It finds that China has developed a formidable inventory of cruise missiles, which poses a threat to India’s own military infrastructure.  The brief lays out the imperative for India: to build up its long-range cruise missile forces. It argues that India’s current capabilities woul

China is extending its hand to Nepal, India’s Himalayan neighbour, which for its part is understandably attracted to the prospects that are emerging on its Northern front. How does China’s expanding footprint in Nepal affect India? This brief examines the possibilities for India’s success in competing with China in Nepal, and posits two overarching factors: New Delhi’s overall capacity to challenge China, and India’s political will to a

Military modernisation was the fourth and last of Deng Xiaoping’s ‘Four Modernisations’. Even before the third modernisation got underway—that of science and technology—China began using commercial technologies to advance its military capabilities. This strategy has gained salience since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 and made it the state’s key goal to transform the PLA into a “world-class military”. Military-Civil Fusi

Even as Nepal’s new leaders appear to pursue closer ties with Beijing, not all is lost for New Delhi.

China’s evolving security dynamics with the United States have compelled it to rethink its nuclear strategy to achieve effective deterrence. It is aiming to modernise its nuclear arsenal and increase its nuclear ambiguity through conventional-nuclear entanglement. Ambiguity will increase the risks of mischaracterisation and can have a destabilising impact on the Indo-Pacific region. This paper highlights two areas where India ought to be most c

China’s nuclear weapons arsenal has grown and modernised over the recent years, and current estimates say the country has 350 operational warheads ready for delivery, over 248 land-based ballistic missiles, and 72 sea-based ballistic missiles. China also has 20 nuclear gravity bombs and additional warheads intended to be armed on land- and sea-based missiles. This brief outlines a history of China’s nuclear weapons programme, scrutini

Despite continuing talks between India and China, military preparations clearly are continuing, too.

New Delhi will need to look to the US for help resisting Beijing’s maritime ambitions.

China’s actions in Ladakh since 2020 are in violation of common understandings and have brought the focus of bilateral relationship back to the issue of the border. This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of China’s behaviour along the India-China border by exploring a fresh perspective that explains the instability along the border as a function of China’s two-front conundrum. It makes a historical account of past events to arg

The China-brokered Saudi Arabia-Iran deal puts the spotlight on New Delhi’s ties with Tehran

Over the past two decades, China, in the name of counterterrorism has been carrying out a repressive campaign against the minority Muslim Uyghur population in its northwest region of Xinjiang. Its policy has provoked widespread condemnation from Western democracies. However, Beijing appears unscathed by such criticisms, especially as the Muslim world has either remained silent, or else have approved China’s actions in the region. This pap

China’s ‘three warfares’ strategy (TWS)—understood as public opinion, psychological, and legal warfare—has received considerable attention, but most analyses focus on Beijing’s sovereign claim to Taiwan and its maritime claims in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. This occasional paper evaluates the manifestation of the TWS against India in Ladakh and China’s motivation for adopting the same approach in the Arctic and Antar

India’s ties with Beijing have frayed even as relations with Moscow lose warmth because of their actions

It is being argued that since 2024, China-India relations have shown signs of easing, with frequent high-level interactions.

The deployment of a Chinese nuclear submarine - presumably a Type 093 Shang-class - as part of the anti-piracy patrol of two ships and a supply vessel operating off the Gulf of Aden has set alarm bells ringing loudly in the Indian Navy. The implications of such a strategically significant move are simply enormous.

The shift in Chinese foreign policy poses new and different kind of challenges to India. Even while we are working feverishly to ensure the defence of our Himalyan border militarily, the Chinese are throwing an economic challenge, as manifested by its growing ties with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal.

A research study by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has found that there is a clear danger to India from CBR (Chemical, Biological and Radiological Materials) terrorism due to the known intentions of terrorist groups active within India's borders.

Climate change has added to the enormity of India’s food security challenges. While the relationship between climate change and food security is complex, most studies focus on one dimension of food security, i.e., food availability. This paper provides an overview of the impact of climate change on India’s food security, keeping in mind three dimensions — availability, access, and absorption. It finds that ensuring food security in the face