Xi'an_erhuan_southeast Courtesy: Wikimedia
28 September 2015

Learning from China’s OBOR playbook

The ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative announced by China last year is being actively implemented at the provincial level. A recent conference in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, provided a glimpse of China’s multi-pronged strategy to harness various resources available to make OBOR a success.

Former_Taliban_fighters_return_arms Courtesy: Wikipedia
23 July 2015

No peace in Kabul without Delhi

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

In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, a destroyer of the South China Sea Fleet of the Chinese Navy fire a missile during a traning in South China Sea on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007. Dozen of warships of the South China Sea Fleet were deployed in the competitive training to improve combat capability of the fleet, Xinhua said.  (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zha Chunming) Courtesy: India Strategic
16 July 2015

Military strategies collide in the Asia-Pacific

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

Shanghai_pudong Courtesy: Wikipedia
7 July 2015

Ideas for the NDB’s institutional design

The New Development Bank initiated by BRICS countries can reform and democratise global economic governance. But to reach this goal, in this critical period when the bank is preparing to operationalise, it must formulate an innovative institutional design. This article outlines four guiding principles for such a structure

Middle Powers Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
2 July 2015

Why middle powers matter to India

Narendra Modi, who spent nearly two months abroad in his first year as prime minister, helped India cultivate a wide range of bilateral and multilateral relationships. But of these, it will be the middle powers that hold the key, economically and geopolitically to India’s growth and security, and Modi must continue to widen his middle powers arc

Iron ore Courtesy: Peter Craven/Wikipedia
3 June 2015

India-China deficit: beyond iron ore

A distinguished Chinese scholar, speaking at a BRICS forum in Moscow recently, ascribed the growing India-China trade deficit to India’s ban on iron exports. While this contention is partially true, the data does not validate this argument, and nor does his view account for the other reasons for the deficit

Leaders_of_TPP_member_states- wikipedia Courtesy: Wikipedia
20 May 2015

TPP and RCEP: the hare and the tortoise?

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