Courtesy: Wikipedia
Does India plan to remodel its Andaman & Nicobar Islands as a launching pad for future security operations to check growing Chinese inroads in the Indian Ocean Region? Development of the islands has long been ignored to India’s detriment, and their strategic position in the Indian Ocean, underutilised.
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After decades of passivity, India is beginning to assert itself in the maritime arena. There is a whiff of salt in the usually 'sea-blind' corridors of Delhi, where the Modi government clearly sees the linkage between the possession of maritime wherewithal, both civilian and military, and the furthering of national prosperity, through ever-increasing trade.
Courtesy: Narendra Modi / Flickr
The Indian government and businesses should stay away from giving an overly “mercantile” attitude to foreign policy and investments abroad. A deal secured by only economic heft and preying on weakness is likely to produce only bitter fruit later on.
Courtesy: Wikipedia
Is China actively building up its maritime presence in the Arabian Sea, to dominate vital sea lanes and perhaps encircle India with a chain of naval bases? There can be little doubt that China views Gwadar as a potentially useful asset. China, however, will know better than anyone that Gwadar has two considerable limitations.
Courtesy: Wikipedia
In his last and final State of the Union address, President Obama reasserted the United States’ global supremacy as a military and political power. He claimed credit for the historic Iran deal while conceding that Congress had maneuvered efforts on many crucial fronts
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This year, India's defence diplomacy has ramped up. In 2015 alone there have been 18 military exercises- naval, army and air force- with 13 countries, among the largest engagements the country has had. Most significant is Japan joining the Malabar exercises in the Bay of Bengal and the first-ever maritime exercise with Australia. This is increasing India's presence from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. As these exercises intensify India will be better positioned to handle regional security challenges.
Courtesy: Wikipedia
The recent meeting between the Taliban and the Afghan governments– brokered China– holds promise to bring peace to Afghanistan. However, the absence of India at the table notable. Given India's investments in Afghanistan and geopolitical importance, China must seek to bring India to the table, otherwise peace will remain elusive
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While China will seek India’s cooperation on its ambitious ‘One Belt, One Road’ project during Prime Minister Modi’s visit this week, Indian policy makers must soon articulate a definite stand on this transnational corridor by bridging the country’s security concerns and the benefits of such an engagement with China.
Courtesy: Ministry of External Affairs/GoI
The style and substance of the foreign policies of Narendra Modi’s six-month-old government have been remarkably different from those of his predecessors. Gateway House examines the changes in India’s equations with three critical countries—the US, China and Pakistan—and outlines a foreign policy forecast for 2015
Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
This year has seen a disturbing increase in brutal violence by terrorist groups across the world—the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Tehreek-e-Taliban in Pakistan. With non-traditional terror targets like Belgium, Canada and Australia also being attacked this year, 2015 could see a more lethal spread of jihadist terror