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China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has undergone many changes since Xi Jinping became general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2013. Efforts at modernising the PLA have been conducted in earnest for the past 10 years through the overhaul of the organisation and the introduction of latest technologies to make it battle-ready. This paper describes these capability-related and institutional changes in China’s military, wh

On 3 September 2025, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held a grand parade in Beijing, showcasing ballistic and cruise missiles, nuclear triad components, unmanned platforms with countermeasures, and conventional systems from across its services. The event marked the 80th anniversary of China’s ‘War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression’, which Beijing interprets as culminating in Japan’s surrender to the Allied Powers in September

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

Increasingly, the Chinese are realising that keeping their currency undervalued is not a viable option. The end game as far as the exchange rate management in China is concerned should look towards establishing a less controlled and more market oriented exchange rate-one that is determined by actual demand and supply factors.

The white paper is an amalgamation of past experiences as well as the role that China will play in the global order in the coming years.

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

China’s nuclear expansion could lead to a spiraling arms race.

The oil deal could be a fundamental test for the future of Afghanistan-China cooperation

China wants to move its manufacturing up the value chain to become a producer and exporter of high-value goods, for which Europe can be the best market.

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

In recent years, the United States (US)—under both the Donald Trump 1.0 and Joe Biden administrations—has resorted to a technology-denial regime to deprive China of advanced know-how that could give it any military advantage. During Trump’s first presidential term, he levied tariffs that led to a trade war, prompting China to respond with retaliatory tariffs and currency depreciation. Anticipating Trump’s possible return, China began deve

Arguably the most significant global phenomenon of the past four decades has been the economic and strategic rise of China. Today analysts are confronting questions of whether China will replace the United States as the world’s biggest power, if it will do so peacefully or through confrontation and conflict, how it will subvert the existing system of global rules and institutions, and whether a new form of bipolarity would emerge to accommodate

The message — no business if you are on the wrong side of issues like Xinjiang

For China, it is the problems in what it considers to be its core interests which are becoming difficult to handle.

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

The PLA Navy acknowledges the importance of maintaining air superiority in future naval conflicts, for which large aircraft carrier are important.

Sharp power—a state's attempt to alter the behaviour of other countries through the manipulation of culture, education systems, and the media to further its interests—is a key tool of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Issues related to regime legitimacy and the CCP's development priorities have shaped China's sharp power approach. In the Xi Jinping era, there is some anxiety in the party ranks that external conditions are turning aga

शार्प पॉवर (sharp power) - एक देश की सांस्कृतिक, शैक्षणिक व्यवस्था और मीडिया बर्ताव में तिकड़म का उपयोग करते हुए परिवर्तन की कोशिश करते हुए दूसरे देश को प्रभावित करने का प्रयास - चीन

China finds that its trustworthiness among ordinary Aussies has plummeted from 52 per cent to just 23 per cent in two years.

As usual, China intends to be the number one nation in space

Three months since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic, the health crisis has wreaked havoc on people’s lives and livelihoods across the globe. Can state responsibility be apportioned for the pandemic, under the current international legal system? What would the elements of such responsibility be? This brief explores the concept of “state responsibility” under public international law and exam

New Delhi’s Indian Ocean woes aren’t confined to Sri Lanka. Across the Indian Ocean’s littorals, the Chinese navy has been preparing to establish a stronger security presence. On Pakistan’s Makran coast, the PLAN has deployed regularly, including at Gwadar, also constructed by CMPorts. Earlier this year, the PLA is said to have initiated talks with the Pakistan military for another outpost at Jiwani.

Beijing’s Southeast Asia outreach may complicate the U.S.’s efforts to build a coalition to isolate or deter China economically.

Vivek Mishra, “China’s Tech Challenge: Assessing Biden’s Response,” ORF Issue Brief No. 649, July 2023.

This brief aims to examine one of China’s possible responses to the various extremist and terrorist activities that plague the internal security of Pakistan, given the necessity of securing its USD 62 billion investment in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Given that Pakistan is failing to control this problem, China will have to take measures of its own to secure CPEC. The response of China could possibly be inspired by its strateg

Restricting access to strategic resources is a classic statecraft strategy that China seems to be perfecting

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

China’s moves in the region, despite the pandemic, are only likely to generate fear and inspire greater cooperation with Washington.

Despite the hypocrisy and power politics at the foundation of the GSI, it would be foolish to dismiss it or assume that it will not garner support from other countries.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has detained an estimated one million Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps in the Xinjiang province for forced re-education and political indoctrination. While the West has deplored China’s actions, the major Muslim countries have defended and even welcomed the policy. China has exploited its economic and diplomatic clout and the growing indebtedness of the Muslim world to subdued any criticism of its actions

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

India's response to the strategic minerals challenge has been to improve domestic capacity.

Not just India but others too are re-assessing the China threat and altering their stance accordingly

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

As PM Modi attends the G7 Summit, China watches closely, concerned over rare-earth diplomacy and India's balancing act between the West and Global South amid growing geopolitical unease.

China taking primary ownership to try and mend Afghanistan-Pakistan ties can bog Beijing down in a region and conflict where it has limited experience

Tensions in Taiwan Strait are an allegory for the Sino-American joust to dominate tomorrow's tech world

An Indian maritime expert feels China, which had increased its defence budget several-fold in order to retain or recover its territories in the disputed area, is also cleverly diffusing the situation by having joint military exercises with countries around the area to prevent them from banding together against its claims.

China’s ambivalence on Pakistan’s sponsorship of terror as state policy stands in the way of any umbrella agreement on cooperation

Despite advanced outward appearances, China’s weapons have performed poorly in battle.

As ancient and highly populated regions, China and the Indian subcontinent have for long shaped global migration patterns. But, unlike Delhi, which has had to deal with diaspora issues ever since Independence, Beijing's problems have just begun.

India needs to get a lot more clarity on what it expects from China. For all the economic engagement that India may have with China, it should not be under the illusion of its impact on the overall India-China relations.

Since the onset of the twenty-first century, China has employed various instruments of exchange diplomacy to overcome its historical 'century of humiliation’ and realise its 'Middle Kingdom’ dream. Riding on the platform of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has leveraged its strong economy and large human resources through tourism, education, and sister-city arrangements to strengthen people-to-people contact between its citizens, diaspora,