The historical evolution of the Malabar Exercise and the currently fraught relations between the participating countries and China created a much sharper context for the event, with the Chinese evincing a heightened interest in it
The origin of current India-China hostilities in Bhutan harks back to a colonial era agreement framed in 1890 between the British and the Qing empire on issues related to Tibet and Sikkim. The present standoff is an occasion to revisit many aspects of a relationship that has shown perennial strain
Three epoch-making events in 2016 are continuing to have global repercussions. They were: Brexit, China’s rubbishing of the July verdict of the Permanent Court of Arbitration after it rejected its claims on disputed islands in the South China Sea, and Trump’s election. This article, the prologue to a book-in-progress, The Hinge Year – Geopolitical Dislocations and Dispersals, outlines how these events intersect with transformed geoeconomic realities
The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been steadily building its underwater infrastructure since the 1980s to undertake energy-efficient, long-range and dual-purpose reconnaissance and exploration missions. While the Indian Navy’s superiority is unquestionable, New Delhi should provide it the crucial futuristic paraphernalia
Has a turning point been achieved in the establishment of a strong defence industrial base for India? The new strategic partnership policy outlines the process for private sector participation in defence manufacturing
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
Myanmar’s first democratically elected government in decades completes a year this month, but it has not won widespread appreciation on many counts. Critics have highlighted the areas of darkness, but ignored its many achievements
Referendums are a way of mobilising society and bringing in exceptional change. Turkey’s third constitutional referendum in the last 10 years, being held on Sunday, April 16, is the greatest of them in many respects as it puts the country on uncharted waters, having it move from one unbalanced system to another
A Pakistani committee has recommended to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that Gilgit-Baltistan should be declared the country’s fifth province. For 70 years Pakistan has avoided integrating its occupied parts of Kashmir for fear of damaging its legal position. That calculation may now have changed