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China’s clean-up of its cities and its success in improving urban air quality hold important lessons for India. But the outbreak of the corona virus and reports that news about it was initially suppressed tell a different story. While physical infrastructure is important, equally vital are a free media and an open society, where people are not afraid to speak
Courtesy: The Hindu/Handout
Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar on January 17 highlighted the economic aspect of the two countries’ bilateral relationship. China has been Myanmar’s top partner for years. But more than the 33 agreements signed, the visit threw light on the region’s changing geopolitics and Myanmar’s own compulsions in growing closer to China
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Sanctions, a form of imposing control and pressure, traditionally focused on countering nuclear proliferation and trade-related disputes. Recently countries have expanded their scope and impact by using them as potent tool of warfare
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The recently announced New and Emerging Strategic Technologies (NEST) Division of India’s Ministry of External Affairs is timely. It can become vital for India’s national technosecurity in the imminent Fourth Industrial Age if a new Cabinet Committee on Futuristic Science and Technologies is established along with it
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The global balance of power is in the process of a fundamental shift. The West appears fixated on China, which is both a “systemic rival” and a strategic partner to be cultivated. Europe now needs to choose between the values it shares with India and commercial profitability from China
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The services sector is the most dynamic in the global economy, constituting nearly 25% of global trade, but its intangibility – unlike the materiality of trade in goods – makes it difficult to monitor. Service providers in this sector need a national regulatory governing framework
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India will host four prestigious international conferences, such as the India-Africa Forum Summit and the subsidiary SCO Summit in the course of the next three years. These are historic opportunities for the country to show global leadership and fulfil a diplomatic agenda that involves handling strategic competition and advancing partnerships
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The 35th summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations, held in Bangkok early in November, showed that a shifting geostrategic landscape notwithstanding, “ASEAN centrality” in the region is a top priority with members. It also served as a backdrop for three summits that ASEAN held on November 4 with China, U.S. and India
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The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is an inter-agency body which reviews in-bound foreign investments for their impact on national security. The Treasury Department recently proposed draft regulations, strengthening it. An analysis of the effect these amendments have had – and their applicability in an Indian context
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In India, China’s tech giant companies and venture capital funds have become the primary vehicle for investments in the country – largely in tech start-ups. This is different from other emerging markets where Chinese investments are mostly in physical infrastructure. Chinese FDI into India is small at $6.2 billion, but its impact is already outsized, given the increasing penetration of tech in India