India-China defence relations Seven years after the last Indian defence minister visited China, A K Antony landed in Beijing in the first week of July 2013 with a welcoming discordant voice from one of the retired Chinese Generals who warned India not to provoke problems at the LAC. Though the shrill voice was not stoutly rejected by the Chinese foreign or defence ministries, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman clarified with a mild denial that Major… Read More »Trust deficit
Bhutan and China’s diplomatic engagements Bhutan is finally awakening from its long, tranquil sleep and slowly facing the realities of geo-strategic politics and international relations. Squished in the middle of the two Asian giants- India and China, the tiny, peace-loving nation is slowly embracing democracy and diplomacy. The process can be overwhelming for a country that gives importance to Gross National Happiness over Gross Domestic Product and believes in maintaining happiness over securing strategic interests.… Read More »First move
Unrest in Turkey may impact balance of equations The anti-government protests in Turkey have posed a grave challenge for Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan’s grip on power. Its ruling party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is being accused of pushing conservative and Islamic influenced policies under the leadership of an authoritarian Prime Minister even though it is a secular republican democracy. The unrest has been on for a month and the movement shows no sign… Read More »Spilling wider
China’s strategic relations with Sri Lanka China has further strengthened its strategic grip over Sri Lanka, as the President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his May end visit to Beijing, his sixth after the elimination of LTTE leaders and hardcore cadres, sealed fresh agreements to deepen Chinese involvement not only in training Sri Lankan defence forces and other areas of defence cooperation but also expanded its arms in the port sector from Hambantota to Colombo. Hambantota, which… Read More »Strengthening grip
South China Sea challenges pose risks to ASEAN unity The ASEAN meeting in Brunei has ended with a joint communiqué which promises that ASEAN and China will work more closely to find an amicable solution to South China Sea dispute after Beijing agreed that it is ready to look into the drafting of a Code of Conduct. A CoC is necessary to bring down the tension in the South China Sea which can prevent parties… Read More »CoC needed
Antony’s three nations visit and its significance At a time when the US Defence Secretary Chuck Hegel was elaborating the Pivot to Asia policy renamed as Rebalancing Asia, during the Shangri- la dialogue in Singapore in the first week of June, the Indian defence minister A K Antony was visiting those countries prominently included by the US in its rebalancing Asia strategy. The visit to Singapore, Australia and Thailand by the Indian defence minister drew… Read More »New orientation
Babies have short attention spans. Congressmen are even worse. A couple of months ago legislators were outraged over the willingness of President Barack Obama to ignore the Constitution by going to war in Libya. Now the issue is all but forgotten. The debt-limit fight offered Congress an excuse for being preoccupied. But now legislators again should confront the president’s law breaking. In recent years presidents have taken on kingly airs. Frustrated with only being tasked… Read More »Predator behavior: US Congress must stop Obama’s Libya war
It is a good news that South Sudan is born as 193rd country among the comity of nations but what is the future of this tiny landlocked nation which needs a long way to go. No doubt it has brought freedom for millions of South Sudanese who have been fighting for this day for last 50 years. Despite all the potentialities, there is a saying democracy works better if there are enough resources to support… Read More »Limited future: Potential for a role model or a disaster
The Strategic Dialogue between India and the United States has gained salience in the context of the emerging international and regional security environment. The timing of the second Indo-US Strategic Dialogue, which got concluded during the third week of July 2011, was such that it got preceded by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai at three different locations. It is ironical that such incident keeps taking place in India despite the fact that there is a… Read More »Overcoming deficit: Significance of Indo-US strategic dialogue
Even after four years wait for the newly elected Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution, Nepal’s squabbling political parties have not been able to agree on the shape of a Constitution or even what the future of this small Himalayan nation would be. The situation in Nepal becomes more obscure with the elections which were scheduled on November 22 being postponed due to refusal of political parties to participate unless current Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai… Read More »Deepening crisis: Political impasse in Nepal