Chinese_Fishing_Nets_Cochin Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
5 May 2017

Keeping maritime Asia on course

The Oceans Dialogue 2017, held last month in Thiruvananthapuram, devoted itself to aspects of ocean governance, such as security management, combating terrorism, depletion of marine resources and providing disaster relief, serving as a precursor to the UN General Assembly’s Ocean Conference in June

120416-N-ZI635-259 
INDIAN OCEAN (April 16, 2012) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) participate in a passing exercise with Indian navy ships during Exercise Malabar 2012. Carl Vinson, Bunker Hill, and Halsey comprise Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 and are participating in the annual bi-lateral naval field training exercise with the Indian navy to advance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman George M. Bell/Released) Courtesy: Wikimedia
24 April 2017

Military option in North Korea too risky

As the United States considers its policy options towards North Korea it must understand that Pyongyang has been thinking about military conflict for decades. It too will have military plans and they could pose major challenges for the U.S. This is why China and South Korea–and U.S. regional experts too–prefer the diplomatic route

Impact of the Indian Ocean Connectivity on India-Kenya Relations
30 March 2017

Impact of the Indian Ocean Connectivity on India-Kenya Relations

The past decade has witnessed an evolution of India-Africa relations especially since the implementation of Modi's Act East policy. There is also a growing realisation of the strategic and geopolitical value of the Indian Ocean region. This speech highlights the policies needed to strengthen India-Kenya relations and tap the wealth of resources in this Blue Economy.

37733095_303 Courtesy: Deutsche Welle
27 March 2017

All that makes ASEAN unique @ 50

This regional grouping of 10 nations, which observes its golden jubilee year in 2017, has come a long way from the Cold War era when it was founded, making a significant contribution to peace, security and prosperity. Now, its future prospects and “centrality” look uncertain amidst the region’s changing geopolitics

silk road Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
14 February 2017

Interweaving the old Cotton and Silk Routes

China’s resurrection of the ancient Silk Road is ambitious, sprawling, hegemonic. Its pre-European origins, though, lay in a criss-crossing of nameless caravan routes on which Indian cotton was traded as vigorously as Chinese silk, tangible proof of the interdependence of two ancient civilisations over two millennia

28912263963_0b75893744_h Courtesy: MEA/ Flickr
14 February 2017

Indo-Pacific: a scenario of possibilities

The Indo-Pacific region is home to some of the largest and most rapidly growing economies as also powerful military forces. Nuclear threats, international terrorism and climate change are some of the issues that define the region. Uncertainty dogs relations among the four nations in the top league—U.S., China, India and Japan—but what is emerging is a hawkish, policy stance from the U.S. as opposed to an isolationist outlook apprehended earlier

1200px-Malabar_07-2_exercise Courtesy: Wikipedia
14 February 2017

A democratic quadrilateral in Asia?

A strategic coming together of the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India was close to fruition some years ago, impelled initially by the tsunami of 2004. The spirit of the enterprise remains alive even now, and there are many merits in India joining the quad, but such an arrangement can skew existing Asian equations, jeopardising the Act East policy