Gateway Features
The three ports of Bangladesh
Courtesy: BSS News
Bangladesh has just signed a loan agreement of $335 million with China’s Exim Bank for modernising its second largest port, Mongla. Mongla handles 10 million tonnes of cargo a year, and has an attached Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with textile and related industries attached to the port. The loan is at a concessional interest rate of 2% and is to be repaid over 20 years . This is the first significant loan agreement to have been signed between the read more
Multiple dimensions of BRICS’ Delhi Summit
Courtesy: Reuters
The BRIC grouping was conceptualised as an economic grouping in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill. However, it started as a political cooperation group in 2006 and is slowly expanding, with more countries showing interest in joining it. From four members, it has grown to 11 members, 10 official partners, and about 30 countries waiting to join. There are two reasons for the increased interest in BRICS. One, because the Bretton Woods Institutions are not sensitive to the requirements read more
Ratan Tata remembered: Trust over commerce
Courtesy: Gateway House
October 9 is the second death anniversary of Ratan Tata, former Chairman of the Tata Group, a leader revered and admired by millions around the world. It is an appropriate time to assess how the Tata family sees the role of the group in India today, given the current challenge to the family’s 150-year legacy. It is a dispute over whether to list Tata Sons, the unlisted parent company of the $180 billion group, that has stood the test of read more
The outcomes of global youth movements
Courtesy:
President Xi Jinping of China paid a state visit to the U.S. on 23-25 September. The invitation for this visit came from U.S. President Donald Trump and it was accepted by Xi in May when the former visited China. Trump announced the date of Xi’s visit immediately after it was accepted, in contrast to the Chinese practice of announcing such visits a week prior to the actual dates. Almost certainly, China did not like being upended in that manner. Trump read more
Research
India and Indonesia have a comprehensive strategic relationship built on their ancient and modern histories, and a flourishing relationship sustained by trade, economic exchange and people-to-people contact. The India-Indonesia Track 1.5 Dialogue, hosted by Gateway House and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia, aims to provide policy recommendations to promote innovation and navigate evolving governance issues through bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Foreign Affairs
Not long ago in the sweep of history, countries that had once been buried behind the Iron Curtain, and even some Soviet republics, were transformed into members of the solidly democratic club. Some of those that weren’t, such as Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, experienced mass revolts against rigged elections and corrupt misrule amid widespread public yearning to join the West. Free trade was again celebrated as an instrument of peace; Kant’s “democratic peace theory” enjoyed a revival.
Book Reviews
In this book, C. Raja Mohan analyses Asia’s shifting political, economic, military, and technological balance, with particular focus on U.S.-China and India-China relations. He argues that India’s rise from a middle power to an emerging great power will require stronger hard power, diplomatic creativity, economic vitality, and domestic consensus. Yet, amid tensions over tariffs, Russian oil, Gaza, and the U.S.-Iran conflict, India’s strategic path remains challenging.
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