Courtesy: Channel News Asia
Allegations of corruption brought down erstwhile South Korean president Park Geun-Hye. Now, there are many changes afoot: the new president who will be elected in May will face some crucial dilemmas that may affect the country’s relations with China and North Korea, besides the U.S.
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In two years, the Modi government’s Act East Policy has gone well beyond the focus on economic ties of its predecessor, the Look East Policy. It has made progress on many wider fronts, including connectivity and defence collaboration. India must now build on this success and further consolidate relations and trade links with ASEAN and beyond
Courtesy: India Strategic
The recent re-evaluation by the US, China, Japan, and Russia of their military strategies reflects new geopolitical equations in which the Asia Pacific is a major strategic intersection. Turmoil in this region can impact India’s trade and security interests, and to avoid this India must craft a balance between its relations with all the countries involved
Courtesy: Wikipedia
The Trans-Pacific Partnership might soon be concluded if the U.S. Congress fast-tracks it, as recently announced, while the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement remains on slow-track. But the TPP, although ambitious, follows an outdated template, and it is the dynamic RCEP that can be a model for a new global rules-based framework
Courtesy: UN Climate Conference
With the weaker-than-expected agreement at the recent Climate Change Conference at Lima, there is an urgent need to replicate innovative green endeavours in civil society and business for a sustainable global economy with grassroots empowerment
Courtesy: Narendra Modi (wikimedia.org)
A major theme at the multilateral summits this month was connectivity, with China at the forefront. India is trailing behind due to a shortfall in investment and political will, among other factors. Prime Minister Modi must follow up on his meetings at the SAARC Summit by robustly taking forward India’s connectivity agenda
Courtesy: Department of National Defence, Republic of Philippines
The recently held Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security forum of Asia’s defence establishments, highlighted the growing anxieties over China’s belligerent pursuit of territories under dispute in the South China Sea. The U.S. and Japan have made it clear that they will strongly challenge China’s claims. It’s a tussle that will throw up new security dilemmas for India in the future
Courtesy: Prime Minister's Office
The India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in services and trade will allow India to leverage its competitive offerings in IT, finance, among other fields. But the pact has proved elusive so far due to the open squabbling between ministries. The deal now looks set to come through only after the new government takes over
Courtesy: Systemman, Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo/Wikimedia Commons
The U.S. government shutdown and President Obama’s absence gave China immense diplomatic and political space at the APEC and East Asia Summit meetings. China’s declaration of a “de-Americanised” world may be premature but the crumbling old order is doing little to dispel this notion
Courtesy: Ministry of External Affairs, India
During his visit to Japan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of the need to increase bilateral consultations on strategic issues. This, and other moves, indicate new developments in India’s Look East Policy, with alternative security and economic scenarios for regional actors in the context of the rise of China