President Xi Jinping of China paid a state visit to the U.S. on 23-25 September. The invitation for this visit came from U.S. President Donald Trump and it was accepted by Xi in May when the former visited China. Trump announced the date of Xi’s visit immediately after it was accepted, in contrast to the Chinese practice of announcing such visits a week prior to the actual dates. Almost certainly, China did not like being upended in that manner. Trump read more

President Xi Jinping of China paid a state visit to the U.S. on 23-25 September. The invitation for this visit came from U.S. President Donald Trump and it was accepted by Xi in May when the former visited China. Trump announced the date of Xi’s visit immediately after it was accepted, in contrast to the Chinese practice of announcing such visits a week prior to the actual dates. Almost certainly, China did not like being upended in that manner. Trump read more

The U.S.-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) is ensnared in the complex web of tariffs imposed by U.S.President Donald Trump in 2025 and 2026. The tariffs, intended to protect American industries, have raised significant concerns within Indian policy circles, particularly in light of India’s inclusion in the U.S. Commerce Department’s Special 301 investigations of forced labour, excess capacity and inadequate intellectual property protection. Compounding these challenges is the Trump administration's plans to endorse the Russian Sanctions Bill which empowers Washington to read more

Pakistan and Afghanistan have long shared one of the world's most volatile borders. Pakistan's 2025 airstrikes inside Afghanistan marked a dramatic rupture in a relationship Islamabad had once carefully cultivated. Regional expert Raghav Sharma examines the evolving military balance, China’s mediation efforts, the role of the Gulf states, and how the Iran conflict is reshaping Pakistan’s economy and internal fault lines. The result is a region facing read more

During August and September, the Houthis, the armed militant group in Yemen, hit several ships, ports and oil installations in Saudi Arabia, disrupting oil traffic from the Red Sea. In early September, drones launched from Iraq hit and shut down the Saudi East-West pipeline, which moves part of Saudi Arabia’s oil output to Red Sea ports. Since the start of the U.S.-Iran war, which has disrupted oil flows from the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia had relied on the Red Sea read more