Written by John Pollock
After conducting the largest ever Varuna exercise off Goa in May 2019, the Chief of France’s navy Admiral Christophe Prazcuk announced that the French and Indian navies would undertake joint maritime security patrols in the Indian Ocean. The first such patrol took place in March 2020 utilising P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft.
Read MoreWritten by Ritika V Kapoor
Although Sri Lanka has stated it will adopt an ‘India-first approach’ under Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency, observers will be watching what the election portends for Sino-Sri Lankan relations, particularly as they had burgeoned during Mahinda’s presidential terms from 2005 to 2015.
Read MoreWritten by Sreeradha Data
Aung San Suu Kyi’s choice to align with Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, served to display little sympathy for the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas that were forced to flee their homes amid a widespread campaign of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State.
Read MoreWritten by Angshuman Choudhury
COVID-19 cases in Myanmar have grown rapidly since the end of August. Although postponing the election has so far been ruled out, the government is scrambling to contain the virus. What’s more, the dramatic spurt began in arguably the most strife-torn region in the country today, Rakhine State.
Read MoreWritten by Shishir Rao
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently announced a five-year import embargo on 101 defence items beginning in December 2020. The embargo aims to boost the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives promoted by the Modi government.
Read MoreWritten by Niranjan Marjani
In the past few years, in particular, under Modi’s premiership, India has developed increasingly close ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which has gone beyond the narrow realm of religious connections. India has also been successful in upgrading its relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to the strategic level.
Read MoreWritten by Manish Jung Pulami
Beijing's presence in the Bay of Bengal’s waters has provoked a level of strategic competition among regional and extra-regional actors not seen since the Cold War when Soviet and American Indian Ocean squadrons competed for influence in South Asia.
Read MoreWritten by Dinesh Bhattarai
The current dispute concerns the territory on the eastern side of the Mahakali river, a strategic area at the trijunction between Nepal, India, and China. This area has been under India’s control since the 1962 Sino-Indian border war.
Read MoreWritten by Chayanika Saxena
Since the Taliban’s presence in the peace process is inevitable, India must abandon its self-imposed binary approach to the impending negotiations and adjust its strategies accordingly. India’s either/or approach is no longer viable, especially when the Afghan government is willing to negotiate with the Taliban.
Read MoreWritten by Manavik Raj
The recent developments in the India-China relationship, specifically the stand-off in Ladakh, India’s growing interest in the South China Sea and the development of the Quad all have implications for the India-Sri Lanka relationship, in large part due to China’s perceived influence in Colombo.
Read MoreWritten by Don McLain Gill
In a surprising turn of events, the government of Myanmar has decided to involve international partners in the mega Yangon City Project, which is a key element of the Beijing-funded China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC).
Read MoreWritten by Tanvi Kulkarni
Since May, New Delhi has tried to delicately balance the diplomatic-military standoff on the LAC with the broader economic relationship with China. It has neither summoned the Chinese envoy over the transgressions nor explicitly demanded a status-quo ante.
Read MoreWritten by Frank O’Donnell
The growing pressure upon the Modi government to be seen to be robustly responding to China’s Ladakh incursions threatens to accelerate increasingly aggressive developments in Indian nuclear doctrine and posturing.
Read MoreWritten by Shiyana Gunasekara
If India wants to draw more energy investments beyond the short term, it needs to convince funders that it is the top emerging market for net-zero carbon projects. By leveraging its growing natural gas network and supply, India can become an attractive market for high-value hydrogen projects and meet its potential to grow ten-fold by 2050.
Read MoreWritten by Vengalil Venugopal
A standoff in the Indian Ocean, between the navies of India and China, has increasingly been predicted by analysts as a likely military scenario. The context most often cited would see it develop from a limited conflict, where border skirmishes escalate into a maritime standoff in the littorals of South Asia.
Read MoreWritten by Niranjan Marjani
India’s border disputes with Nepal and China have previously been bilateral in nature. But in the current circumstances, these disputes have assumed a much more complex character owing to China's ambitions.
Read MoreWritten by Uday Bakhshi
The power struggle between the NLD and the Tatmadaw is a major source of political instability in Myanmar. At the crux of this is the 2008 military-drafted constitution, which allows the Tatmadaw to appoint 25 per cent of the members of the bicameral Assembly of the Union, effectively giving it veto powers.
Read MoreWritten by Abhishek Mishra
The African continent increasingly occupies a central place in India’s strategic calculus. While India and Africa’s trade, investment, and capacity building initiatives are growing, it is the maritime-security partnership where ties are set to evolve.
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