The mid-July Sixth Summit of BRICS in Fortaleza has come out with some concrete results on economic front. Certainly, BRICS has moved beyond the rhetoric of cooperation, unity and mutual respect by taking a firm decision of setting up a BRICS New Development Bank, a move of far reaching significance in international financial sector. However, China has stolen the show by hosting the headquarters of the Bank in Shanghai. China wanted to show this unity… Read More »BRICS challenges

Recent years have witnessed renewed tensions over disputed territories in the South China Sea. In response to China’s encroaching military maneuvers – and the country’s (purported) designation of the whole area as part of its “core interest”, with Beijing exercising “inherent” and “indisputable” sovereignty based on historical claims-several Southeast Asian countries have found themselves dangerously vulnerable. A murky legal regime has led to the emergence of a series of overlapping territorial claims in the area,… Read More »Tension in SCS

The Indo-Pak situation is very much as it was when Narendra Modi’s icon Atal Behari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. The past year has been replete with shootings along the Line of Control and infiltrations. It appeared to some Indians that this was because of an arrangement between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the military establishment headed by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif that the Army would have a free hand in Kashmir… Read More »Indo-Pak border

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first foreign visit to Bhutan is a great indication that the tiny neighborhood of India will enjoy high priority under Modi’s leadership in the coming years, which was somehow neglected under the UPA rule in the past. Narendra Modi has demonstrated that firming up troubled or neglected relationships will be a major priority of his regime, a point he has already emphasized by inviting the heads of all SAARC countries… Read More »Bhutan visit

Beijing may tout its continued military buildup as part of its “peaceful rise” or “peaceful development,” but reactions outside of China have been anything but sanguine. There is genuine concern throughout the Asia and the Pacific Rim that this expansion of military power is a prelude to a more aggressively assertive China-and one that is prepared to use its growing armed might to press its national interests and back up its various geopolitical claims. This… Read More »Chinese military

One can excuse India for not sending its official representative to the famous Shangri-La Dialogue, held annually in the last week of May in Singapore, as the new Indian government had just taken birth and it would have required time for the new foreign policy managers to frame a stand on any issue likely to emerge during the Conference. This is the most watched security gathering where world leaders issue quotable quotes on burning issues… Read More »Shangri-La dialogue

China’s recent standoff with Vietnam over the placement of a large flotilla of oil rigs in the latter’s EEZ in South China Sea may create fresh round of tension and could seriously undermine the ASEAN unity in the long run if the group fails to take appropriate steps in an urgent manner. This has however sparked a debate over the motive and timing of such an act, which is not ethical and legally correct. At… Read More »SCS tension

In diplomatic and strategic arena the new Narendra Modi led government has started on a sound footing with one to one meeting with the seven leaders of SAARC on his very first day of taking charge as the new Prime Minister of India. This has created a congenial diplomatic ambience for the new government to work with its various international partners. The new Prime Minister has also received messages of congratulations and goodwill from all… Read More »Indian diplomacy

The relations between Myanmar and China that flourished during the days of Military Junta regime in Myanmar have become strained with the suspension of Myitsone dam. The civilian president Thein Sein, who took power in 2009, has suspended the work of the dam mainly due to environmental concerns stating that cancellation has been ordered as per “will of the people” clearly implying that his government takes environmental concerns more seriously than the previous ruling ‘military… Read More »Myanmar dam

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit’s recent comments in Mumbai on the possibility of a resolution of the Siachen issue once talks resume makes one wonder why he is so optimistic about any outcome over the issue given Pakistan’s hard line about accepting the Actual Ground Position Line. The point at issue is why should the Indian Army withdraw from its own territory which is an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir even as Pakistan and… Read More »Siachen issue