Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to India this week is his first foreign visit since assuming office in August this year. While this will further stimulate India-Nepal bilateral relations, China-Nepal economic cooperation has been rising significantly in recent years. To capture the extent of this cooperation, Gateway House has tracked China’s investment in Nepal from 2005 to 2016 and analysed the implications for India.

The implementation of the award by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, on the interpretation of the UNCLOS in a case that pitted the Philippines against China in a dispute over the South China Sea is going to be a test for the primacy of international law. This speech was originally made at Christ University, Bengaluru on 27 September, as part of a 'National Seminar on the Formulation of Treaties'.

China's refusal to accept the ruling of The Hague greatly harms its international reputation and will fuel regional concerns about China's rise. Nationalist sentiments stirred up by a sustained media campaign heighten the risk of a confrontation, but there is also a possibility for the Philippines to use its new leverage to its advantage through new negotiations.