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

Beijing's expanding footprint in this oil-rich region has set the stage for a competition with Washington

While Nepal has signed up for a rail link with Tibet, it stands to gain more from projects with the Indian Railways.

The challenge will be how India and other countries use this opportunity to restore strategic balance in the region.

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.

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

There is public anger against China and a dominant feeling that China has to be stopped before it succeeds in changing the status-quo on the India-China boundary

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.

The response to the country’s new defense budget suggests that Beijing continues to be tone deaf to regional anxieties.

China will continue to shield Pakistan. The Wuhan spirit, if it ever existed, is gasping for breath — and New Delhi will have to firm up its response to China.

Beijing’s move, though unsurprising, is not without significance.

For the biggest maritime parade held in China since 1949, the People's Liberation Army Navy deployed 48 warships, 76 aircraft and 10,000 sailors and marines.

A new Pew Research Survey indicates that the US still continues to be perceived in positive light and that a conflict between China and its neighbours over territorial disputes is likely. A new Pew Research Survey indicates that the US still continues to be perceived in positive light and that a conflict between China and its neighbours over territorial disputes is likely.

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

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,

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.

India-China relations appear to be showing signs of easing, particularly with successive high-level exchanges between the two governments since late 2024. Given the positive momentum in bilateral ties in the past few months, there is cautious optimism in certain quarters that some kind of détente might be on the anvil. Against this backdrop, this brief surveys a sampling of current domestic discourse in China around issues related to India. It f

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

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

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

China’s space policy planners are convinced that the country should aim for manned lunar landings by 2040. It has already established a sophisticated robotic lunar exploration programme and human landings are perceived as the logical next step. New navigation and communication architectures are being developed for this purpose, in addition to building life support systems and a suitable launch vehicle. However, China’s political leadership wo

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Tibet and the Dalai Lama's status continue to worry the Chinese. India's stated policy that Tibet is part of China notwithstanding, Chinese feel that India has a hidden agenda. The fact that Lobsang Sangay was invited to Modi's swearing-in has made the Chinese nervous.

Even today, renewable energy sources definitely cannot replace fossil fuel that is getting scarce over time. Given this theoretical underpinning, why do we have a negative price for crude oil?

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

In 2015, the Paris Agreement of UNFCCC emphasised the role of climate finance in strengthening the global response to climate change. Since then, developed countries have made various claims about climate finance flows. Some of the myths surrounding climate finance need to be demolished.

There can be no peace unless the Taliban and Afghan security forces de-escalate

As the world comes closer in the wake of information explosion and gobalisation, the idea of ¿Cooperative Federalism¿, which is seen as a tool to resolve conflicts, is gaining increasing relevance and acceptance. Inspired by this development, a two-day International Conference on ¿Co-operative Federalism and Management of Diversity¿, has been organized from November 2-3, 2004, under the auspices of Observer research Foundation (ORF) , New Del

Governor’s rule will end next month, a spell of President’s rule may be next