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An erratic US President Trump, with a poor grasp of policy, can give Beijing a free run not only in South-east Asia, but Central and West Asia as well

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.

With China aiming to develop a "world-class" military by 2050 that can fight and win wars across all theatres, Indian conventional and nuclear thinking will also have to evolve

Modi must now bridge the growing strategic gap with China through both internal and external balancing. This must run parallel to a significant expansion of economic cooperation with Beijing at the bilateral and regional levels. But can Modi play three-dimensional chess with China?

We are yet to get to the bottom of the mystery of the Chinese incursions. But the rhetoric that is coming out from New Delhi and Beijing now seems to suggest that the issue may quietly die down. As it is, it comes on the eve of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's visit to Beijing, and, more Chinese premier Li Keqiang's visit to New Delhi.

The Shanghai spirit moved into the next phase of its development as the fourth summit of the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) began at Tashkent, Uzbekistan on May 17, 2004. From a security-centred organisation that came into being in June 2001,

India and China's space missions tend to be real space firsts, rather than duplications of the US' and Soviet Union's Cold War space firsts.

Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan's tri-nation goodwill tour started with Pakistan on March 22, 2004 and ended with Thailand, with an in-between five-day visit to India from March 26 to 30.

China's existing stand of moving ahead with its aggressive stance on nuclear policy clearly stems from Indo-US nuclear deal, which according to China, seriously damages the integrity and effectiveness of non-proliferation thereby setting dangerous precedence for other countries.

Though South China Sea has remained contested for several decades, the recent tensions surrounding these waters have heightened the potential for it to emerge as a major flashpoint. China's recent steps have made the involvement of external powers very likely.

China has a space lab in orbit and it also plans to launch 100 satellites during its on-going five year plan from 2011-15. Twenty space craft will be launched this year including its third lunar probe and a manned space craft that will dock with China's space lab. There are indications that, by 2020, China may have more than 200 space craft in orbit accounting for about one-fifth of the world's total.

If New Delhi lets domestic political passions overwhelm the need for a carefully crafted strategy towards Pakistan, it will find the Afghan dynamic will soon make matters a lot more difficult for India.

Since 9/11, both China and the US have one concern in common - the threat of 'Islamic' terrorism. On December 15 2003, China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) issued a list of four terrorist organisations and eleven terrorists that pose a threat to China's security.

While declaring that China opposes all forms of terrorism, its foreign ministry asserts that it seeks to foster amity. Does Beijing really think it can present itself as an honest broker even as it acts like a behind-the-scenes instigator?

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.

In China, the regime's vision and capacity to transform the society and state has made a lot of difference, said Mr Harish Khare, Senior Associate Editor and Chief of the Delhi Bureau of The Hindu. Contemporary Chinese elite, cohesive as they are, have played a vital role in shaping-up the country.

This year’s defence budget marks an increase of 8.1 percent from last year. China has justified its defence budget by arguing that its defence spending is less than 1.5 percent of its GDP, but that argument is not going to go down well with its neighbours.

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

This paper examines major developments achieved by China in outer space in recent years, both from a technological as well as an arms-control perspective. The paper also looks at the implications for India in the domain and in the broader regional secu rity context.

Extraordinary events in geopolitics have redefined China's contemporary history: the breakup of Soviet Union; the end of Cold War; and China's realignment with Russia and the erstwhile states of the Soviet Union.

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

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is central to the country’s ambitious policy reorientation. The energy sector accounts for nearly 40 percent of all investments under the BRI, with significant geostrategic and geoeconomic implications. In recent years, China has adopted a “greening the BRI” strategy, emphasising green energy projects. This brief analyses China’s BRI investments in the energy sector to establish the potential trend

Over the last two decades, China has established a significant economic presence in most African countries. Its lucrative economic investment package, flexible political approach, and focused big-ticket development projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) provide an ostensibly massive opportunity to African countries. However, the unilateral nature of the initiative, the lack of transparency and accountability to African countries, and t

China’s caution in the Middle East endures. As US influence wanes and Gulf states diversify defence ties, Beijing may expand its role—but not replace Washington.

Tweaking BRI policy to allay fears of reluctant countries

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

For India, China's growing presence around its periphery will continue to pose challenges.

China’s growing military profile in Africa is following its economic footprint in the continent as exemplified by the Chinese “logistics support base” in Djibouti. It is moving towards an ever more expansive definition of its global interests, as its business in Africa pushes it to create new mechanisms for securing those interests, including its own growing military footprint abroad. This brief examines the changing nature of China’s inv

In October 2019, China’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Mauritius opened the Chinese market to Mauritian exporters and investors. Not long after, concerns arose that Mauritius might be lacking in the capacity to benefit significantly from the agreement and thus lose in terms of a trade imbalance that clearly favours China. This brief revisits China’s motivations for the FTA, and finds economic and geopolitical goals. Given Mauritius’s smal

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

The ‘new model’ is about getting the US to accept China as an equal

At a time when the world is distracted by the Wuhan virus pandemic, China has stepped up its plan to annex Hong Kong fully

Liberal democracies remain vulnerable to Chinese machinations as the country’s capacity to launch influence operations abroad attains new heights