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As China’s rise threatens the democratic rules, values, and institutions that have shaped the post-war world order, the United States (US) is increasing its outreach in the Indo-Pacific region. Distant South Asian island nations such as Sri Lanka are today receiving greater attention from the US. This brief seeks to bridge the gap in the literature on the US’s Sri Lanka policy and highlights how the current US government positions Sri Lanka i

All the major powers in the Asia Pacific region are ramping up their defence budgets and modernising their militaries. They are also building coalitions with each other through defence partnerships agreements and ports calls.

Exercise Malabar and the trilateral dialogue have assumed significance in the backdrop of the US' rebalance to Asia and India's Act East Policy. The growing convergence of interests among the US, Japan and India on issues such as the Indian Ocean, maritime security, respect for international law and a stable Asian security order has driven the trilateral dialogue.

Maritime power projection, and not sea denial, is the answer to China’s creeping assertiveness in South Asia.

Tensions in Asia are rising over unresolved territorial disputes and sovereignty issues. In contrast to the immediate post-Cold War period, recent tensions are characterised by the evident proclivity of some, if not all, parties towards the threat or use of limited force.

The Indo-Pacific, which holds most of the world’s mangroves, faces serious risks from natural disasters, including those related to the long-term sustainability of coastal communities and valuable ecosystems. Mangroves uphold biodiversity, support ecosystem functionality, and sustain local livelihoods; however, financing their conservation is proving to be a massive challenge. This report examines the ecosystem services provided by mangroves, i

Development cooperation has gained further currency in a post-pandemic world amid staggered economic growth and an increasing gap in financing the Sustainable Development Goals. As a strategic geographic expanse, the Indo-Pacific has witnessed an upswing in cooperation programmes under different modalities (North-South, South-South, and triangular development partnerships). This paper explores the role of development cooperation as a tool of dipl

India faces a medium-term challenge from the Chinese PLA Navy, which has been active in terms of sending vessels on regular patrols in the Indian Ocean.

Sectors such as oil and gas, non-renewable energy, natural resources, agriculture, etc. hold tremendous potential for cooperation between India's North-East and the BCIM region. There was a need to ensure seamless movement of goods, services and people across borders to promote trade.

A preview to the author’s book-in-progress, Nehru and Kashmir. Would India have succeeded in recapturing Pakistan-occupied Kashmir if Jawaharlal Nehru heeded the advice of his generals? Using correspondence between Nehru and his private secretary, Dwarka Nath Kachru, this book will reveal how Nehru’s idealism stood in the way of the Indian Army reclaiming what eventually became PoK.

A Japan that is deeply invested in Indo-Pacific stability and prosperity is reassuring

Myanmar hosted US President Barack Obama this week in Nay Pyi Taw for the ASEAN and East Asia Summit. Obama, who visited the former 'paraiah State' for the second time in three years, said that the reforms in Myanmar were real but incomplete.

The first meeting of the ORF-Pacific Council Task Force on India-US Relations was held at Jamnagar on March 18-19, 2004.

This Paper examines the existing critiques of China's oil supply diversification strategies in the Asia Pacific. It deconstructs the growing energy relationship between China and the Middle East that has made the security of the Hormuz Strait and the Malacca Strait vital to China's energy security. It also analyses specific geographic and strategic chokepoints in China's oil supply route and concludes that supply diversification motivations are d

Since being initiated by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally in 2016, Tokyo’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision has become the preferred framework for diplomatic engagement among like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific. This paper undertakes an assessment of FOIP. The motivation is threefold: first, it creates an understanding of Tokyo’s vision of maintaining a stable global order; second, because FOIP has become inclusive—it

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari is due to complete his term in office after the elections later this year. The role of General Kayani, the Army Chief who is due to complete his extended term this year, remains to be seen. It is to be noted that the ISI is also under the Army.

Cooperation with like-minded countries gives India more space to emerge as a key regional interlocutor

Biotechnology is a critical and emerging technology with wide-ranging applications in human medicine, biodefence, nutrition, and the use of bio-based materials. This positions it as a key driver of geopolitical influence and a pillar of global health security, where innovations shape disease surveillance and enable the development of medical countermeasures. Recognising biotechnology as an upcoming frontier in technology competition, the Quad cou

The ASEAN’s intent to be in the driving seat is clear as it seeks to manage the emerging regional order with policy moves

After a decade, officials from India, Japan, Australia and the United States convened in Manila in November 2017 to renew their quadrilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. While the agenda of the quad is still unknown, this paper presents a political-military strategy for the grouping directed at shaping Chinese behaviour in the region. Viewing strategy through the ends-means-ways lens, the paper describes key objectives of dissuasion, deterre

Defence cooperation is the dominant component of the India-US bilateral relationship. India seeks to leverage this aspect in the Indo-Pacific to diversify the scope of nascent plurilaterals, integrate with US frameworks to expand cooperation with regional nations, and consolidate its position as the preeminent partner for extra-regional players. This brief recommends that India take advantage of ongoing development initiatives with the US and ide

The Indo-Pacific region is experiencing profound geo-strategic re-alignments. Post-war norms are being challenged by a rising China that is unconstrained by the established legal, economic and diplomatic order. These changes come at a time of growing uncertainty over US commitments to both its regional allies and a liberal international trade regime. In the absence of American leadership, the only formidable and practical alternative is the emerg

The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is one of the most vibrant, distinct, intricate mountain systems in the world. An estimated 210 million people live within these mountain systems, and some 1.3 billion people who live downstream of the HKH rely on the freshwater obtained directly or indirectly from the rivers and tributaries of the region. Recent data shows that significant areas of glaciers in the HKH region are retreating at an alarming rat

While Russia has been very careful of not antagonising China, which has emerged as Moscow's second largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific, Beijing is uncomfortable by the nature of Moscow's involvement in Hanoi.

Shoba Suri and Subhasree Ray, Seas of Sustenance: Navigating ‘Blue Food’ for Indo-Pacific Food Security, June 2024, Observer Research Foundation.

Countries such as India and Australia are redefining their Indo-Pacific policies amidst the growing belligerence of China in the region. The two have a common interest in stability, while standing firmly against any militarisation. Their willingness to partner closely with like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific lays the foundation for stronger defence and security cooperation between the two middle-power democracies and Indian Ocean li

In the pushback against China, strategic cooperation between India, Italy and Japan can ensure a free Indo-Pacific

India and South Korea stand as important middle powers whose influence in the Indo-Pacific region is expanding in their own ways. At the same time, their bilateral partnership today has even bigger potential to serve as a stabilising factor amid shifting regional geopolitical equations. The current year—the 50th since the two countries established formal diplomatic ties—is an opportune moment for harnessing their converging interests. This br