A new Asian triangle?
Aung San Suu Kyi paid high-profile visits to both Japan and India recently; economic cooperation would have been high on her agenda. But what could also emerge from such overtures is a diplomatic threesome
Aung San Suu Kyi paid high-profile visits to both Japan and India recently; economic cooperation would have been high on her agenda. But what could also emerge from such overtures is a diplomatic threesome
Perhaps South Block did not gain as much as it had hoped to: there was a gulf in member states’ perceptions. One takeaway, therefore, for policy makers was that while noise has its uses, it is now time for some quiet diplomacy
The 8th BRICS summit in Goa comes in the midst of major geopolitical events; Brexit, the U.S. elections, the South China Sea dispute, and the terror attacks in Uri. There is much need for BRICS to demonstrate to the world, its capability to manage internal differences and showcase a collective sense of cooperation
India’s new focus on Balochistan has more to do with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) than with Kashmir. China understands that CPEC may not be achievable. But there are real dangers in reviving Pakistani fears of secessionism and in broadening the field of Indo-Pakistani conflict beyond the confines of Kashmir.
Russia's decision to go ahead with joint military exercises with Pakistan is the latest move in Putin's flexible and pragmatic Asian foreign policy playbook. However, whether it will be worth having provoked Indian ire remains to be seen.
The Second Eastern Economic Forum, held last month in Russia, could have been a time for India to forge stronger trade links, but the governments of both countries have to be more supportive before this can happen.
Prime Minister Modi’s reference to Balochistan in his Independence Day speech, which coincided with the Kashmir unrest, sparked speculations of this being smartly retaliatory. But the province’s geo-strategic complexities mean that New Delhi will have to play the ‘human rights’ card carefully.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent trip to Vietnam had both heads of state announcing an upgrade of their ‘Strategic Partnership’ into a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’. This added term captures the importance both sides have vested in the need to deepen the relationship and the prospect for future cooperation.
India's policy towards the Indian Ocean has begun to take a clear, coherent form with the signing of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement with the United States, an important bilateral visit to Vietnam by Prime Minister Modi, and an ambitious future being laid out by Foreign Secretary Jaishankar
The visit of the Myanmar president was a landmark visit, the first in five decades. It raises the fundamental question as to whether the visit will bring forth major strategic and economic gains in the India-Myanmar relationship.