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Last fortnight's India-China joint naval exercise, however limited, may be a new opening in bilateral relations. Coupled with the politico-economic CBMs of the past years, the Shanghai naval exercise is an indication that both nations are learning to overcome the bitter past.

Traditionally, a newly elected South Korean President visits Washington first, followed by Tokyo. But the new President Park Geun-hye, as expected, did visit Washington first in May, but followed it up by a visit to Beijing and not to Tokyo. This is interpreted this to speculate that China has taken precedence over Japan in Seoul's diplomatic calculations.

During the past couple of weeks, Nepal Maoist chief Prachanda has given three significant interviews. He carefully picked up three influential and understanding media channels, ¿ Kantipur in Nepal, The Hindu in India and the BBC of London ¿ to send a strong message across to Nepal, India and the international community respectively.

India will likely struggle to achieve the SDGs for financial reasons. At present, a shocking 2-3 per cent of Indians pay taxes. Mobilising domestic finance ? including optimal tax collection reform ? can help supplement the traditional sources of aid.

The Chinese government and its private sector, both have reached out to nations as diverse as France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Iran, Iraq, the Philippines, and even the US

Iran's cancellation of $500 million funding to Pakistan for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline indicates Iran's clout in regional energy affairs. It is unclear why Iran took this sudden step. Is President Rouhani merely fine-tuning some of the policies of his predecessor? But there is certainly more to this than meets the eye.

Abstract India is aiming for an eightfold increase in its share of the global space economy by 2047. The Indian ‘sunrise’ commercial space sector is benefiting from the government’s reforms, though gaps remain. The exact size of India’s domestic space economy is unknown, and the export promotion strategy for the space sector is unclear. This brief outlines three recommendations in parallel with the articulation of India’s National Sp

Fintech Regulatory Sandboxes have become essential tools for fostering innovation while maintaining regulatory oversight amid the rapid growth of global fintech, projected to reach US$1.5 trillion by 2030. India’s fintech sector, driven by robust digital infrastructure and government support, is expected to reach US$2.1 trillion by 2030. Regulatory sandboxes introduced by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, and IFSCA enable the controlled testing of such innovat

President Pervez Musharraf has a number of reasons to be unhappy with India. It took only a few hours for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to dismiss the General's seemingly well-crafted and cleverly worded war-game plans for Greater Kashmir. The General's idea was simple.

Chennai may have lost out on the petroleum, petro-chemicals, pharmaceutical, and biotech fields, but it still remains the home-base of several solid market leaders from myriad industries.

The collapse of an under-construction 11-storey building in Chennai which claimed 42 lives should serve as a wake-up call for the housing sector to have a regulatory mechanism for the construction industry.

The collapse of an under-construction 11-storey building in Chennai which claimed 42 lives should serve as a wake-up call for the housing sector to have a regulatory mechanism for the construction industry.

The George Bush visit was a giant step forward for Indo-US relations and India was elated to be part of the Big League. Now that he has gone, the Left protests turned out to be only that much bushfire and the euphoria of the visit has evaporated somewhat, it is time to evaluate just what this winwin situation might mean.

India-Bangladesh relations got a major boost following Home Minister P Chidambaram's visit to Dhaka in July this year. The visit, described by Chidambaram as constructive, infused optimism about the resolution of some of the bilateral issues like border during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit to India in September this year.

ORF report titled 'IRBM for Brahmaputra Sub-basin: Water Governance, Environmental Security and Human Well-being' released on 25 October.

At the forefront of the new militancy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) are children. This brief builds on a United Nations (UN) 2018 report highlighting the recruitment of juveniles by militant groups in Kashmir, and explores the issue using data and case studies. The brief discusses the factors and conditions that encourage minors in J&K to join such groups, in the context of the weaknesses of the existing juvenile justice

Since the mass exodus of the Muslim Rohingya people from Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017, close to a million of them have been residing in Bangladesh. While the country has offered them sanctuary, there are massive gaps in seeing to their welfare, including the lack of formal, basic education for the children. In 2020, the Bangladesh government announced the launch of the Myanmar Curriculum Pilot (MCP) to provide the displaced Rohingya

The People's Republic of China (PRC) witnessed the beginning of a new era - Hu Jintao era, when the sixty one year fourth generation leader was elected to the post of Chairman of the Central Military Commission(CMC) during the Fourth Plenum of the 16th Chinese Communist Party(CCP) Central Committee (Beijing, September 16-19

China has avoided taking up regional and global responsibilities despite the United States' basic policy and efforts to make it a responsible stakeholder in the international community and help it take its rightful place as a global power, according to US scholar Dr Michael Auslin.

After years of calculated relationship between China and the Taliban, the strategic Wakhan Corridor has become a focal point of tension between them. Beijing would like to use the corridor to expand its political and economic influence over Afghanistan, while the Taliban seeks to control it to ensure its own stability and Afghanistan’s development. The new generation of the Taliban, often referred to as Taliban 2.0, regards this corridor as vit

In the absence of a legal framework, Beijing is in overdrive to build its cyberspace capabilities—with military ramifications—as the world looks askance.  

This has been a longstanding policy of China, but more recently, Beijing has been perturbed by New Delhi’s proactive push in China’s periphery along the wider Indo-Pacific. Beijing is attempting to portray itself as the new leader in the emerging multipolar world

Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed bilateral relations in March 2023, following a deal brokered by China and ending a hiatus of seven years. The diplomatic breakthrough underlined Beijing’s political inroads into the Middle East. Indeed, China’s relations with Iran have grown in recent years due to an alignment in their geopolitical interests, while China-Saudi Arabia relations have also notably strengthened. The deepening of the strategic partner

2003 was an important year in the evolution of China¿s counter-terrorism policy. In December last, its Ministry of Public Security issued a list of identified 'Eastern Turkistan' terrorist organizations. Figuring in the list are the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the World Uighur Youth Congress (WUYC),

China was a late entrant in Arctic engagement, with its involvement beginning only in 1991. Since then, its engagement has expanded both in depth and breadth. Even though it signed the Svalbard Treaty in 1925 at France’s invitation, China’s polar activities initially focused only on the Antarctic. This report explores China’s journey and collates its activities in the Arctic.

As part of its political transition from military to "civilian" rule, Myanmar adopted a new constitution through a national referendum in 2008 and conducted its first national elections in two decades in November 2010.

Since the early 2000s, China's debt profile in Sri Lanka has increased rapidly, with estimates indicating that over 20% of the overall debt stock is owed to China. Beijing's lending has been opaque on high-interest loans and has often contributed to several white elephant projects. Much of this lending comes from Chinese policy banks, such as China Exim Bank and China Development Bank that is entrusted to further Beijing's economic and commercial

Taiwan’s civil society has hit the streets to register their displeasure against what they perceive as Beijing’s moves to get a backdoor entry into Taiwan’s democratic process.

China's rulers have a problem. They are not sure if they can continue to portray the image of a country interested in a peaceful rise without this coming into direct conflict with a desire to reassert newly defined core interests.

India and Japan unite over Beijing's moon landings and antisatellite weapons

For decades since 1932, after the Chakri dynasty gave up absolute power, Thailand has lived under the shadow of military coups.

US crackdown on economic espionage could hurt research and innovation

As in Bandung 60 years ago, there is little consensus in Asia on how to build a new regional order. Prickly nationalism and persistent territorial disputes are making Asia into a geopolitical tinderbox. China's growing power has made it an attractive economic partner as well as the prospective political hegemon.

The policy implications of a change in administration at Washington will raise valid concerns on the continuity of policies that came out at Apuli

Well aware of China's growing influence in the Bay of Bengal and the changing power dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region, Japan is now presenting itself as an alternative benefactor. With an eye toward Beijing, can the emergence of Japan in this region prove to play a balancing role?

As a rising China becomes the most important extra-regional partner for India's neighbours, India cannot simply wish away the Chinese influence in the subcontinent. The only way to limit the scope and structure of China's security profile is to expand India's own cooperation, including in the defence domain, with all neighbours.

China, a late entrant in Latin America, has now emerged as the region’s major economic partner. Bilateral trade between the two stands today at more than USD 200 billion. By augmenting investments and trade in Latin America, Beijing has managed to project itself as an alternative to the United States, which had previously enjoyed overarching influence in the region. The US’ inability to lead Latin America into a path of sustainable econ

The fifth meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing was used by China to reinforce its engagement with Africa. It is significant that despite it being only a ministerial conference, six Heads of State and two Prime Ministers attended the opening session.

China has clearly made very significant strides in its Space capability. However, it is still a long way short of matching U.S. capabilities and alarm bells need not ring just yet. It will need to undertake significant reforms before it supplants the U.S. as the world's leading Space power.

New Delhi has made it clear that it does not see China as a "threat" to India. The official position reflects a correct assessment of our security environment. China poses a challenge, not a threat, to India.

The last India-Africa Forum Summit took place in New Delhi way back in 2015, and significant shifts in global geopolitics and geoeconomics have occurred since then.

India has seen a huge jump in screen time by 25 per cent (4.9 hours pre-COVID to 6.9 hours) during the pandemic.

Given the past Sino-Russian relations the longevity of their entente is moot. Clearly, India is not entirely without options in this geopolitical competition, the only problem is to get New Delhi to play the game.

The Chinese growth story, triggered and driven by its industrial growth, is truly amazing. But now that industrial growth is slowing down because of higher wages and higher standards of living, to remain competitive China would have to outsource its production to cheap labour countries or move to another growth area - services.