61XgnQBhwiL._SY425_ Courtesy: Amazon India
27 November 2025

Indo-Pacific Strategic Churn: Challenges and State Responses

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Rajiv Bhatia explains how this book brings together perspectives on the geostrategy, geopolitics, and geoeconomics of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Edited by Chintamani Mohapatra, it features 16 essays by experienced yet young academics. It highlights how the world changed after 2020, the ‘Age of Polycrisis’, COVID-19, conflicts in West Asia and Europe, and other global flashpoints. The book offers analysis that seeks to reposition the Indo-Pacific as vital to India’s strategic interests.

revised design Courtesy: Gateway House
27 November 2025

Rise of the Davos Competitor

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U.S. health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. called the World Economic Forum a “billionaires’ boys club” imposing totalitarian controls. Indeed, since 1971, the elite platform shaped geopolitics. But its Western-centricism kept out the concerns of the rest. This gave rise to alternative forums, which look beyond financial agendas to the perspectives shaping the Global South. Here are 45 of biggest, half of which began just two decades ago.

ASEAN Website Courtesy: Kuwait Times
25 July 2023

ASEAN on a trodden path

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The 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Jakarta reflected the grouping’s resilience amidst transformative geopolitical changes in the Indo-Pacific. Striving for unity and centrality, ASEAN tackled challenges posed by COVID-19, economic slowdown, climate change, and U.S.-China competition. However, internal differences on sensitive issues like Myanmar have tested its credibility.

Vietnam's effective ASEAN leadership Courtesy: asean.org
13 January 2021

Vietnam’s effective ASEAN leadership

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Vietnam had a busy 2020, starting with its chairmanship of ASEAN and ending with the signing of RCEP, and a free trade agreement with the EU. All were completed successfully despite the pandemic, which it also handled well. It has revealed Vietnam’s dexterity and confidence, good management and societal control and raised the country’s global profile.

https---s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com-psh-ex-ftnikkei-3937bb4-images-2-2-2-1-13871222-5-eng-GB-20180510_former-PM-Mahathir-01 Courtesy: Nikkei Asia
6 December 2018

Malaysia in transition, and recalibrating

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Six months after Malaysia’s parliamentary elections, its domestic affairs are still untidy. The government is combating corruption, but not bringing in constitutional reform. A successor’s name is not emerging clearly either. But Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad’s foreign relations priorities – principally, Japan and China – are in order

Modi Asean Courtesy:
12 May 2016

India’s Act East Policy so far and beyond

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In two years, the Modi government’s Act East Policy has gone well beyond the focus on economic ties of its predecessor, the Look East Policy. It has made progress on many wider fronts, including connectivity and defence collaboration. India must now build on this success and further consolidate relations and trade links with ASEAN and beyond

singapore Courtesy:
11 September 2014

Lessons from Singapore

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By using information and communication technology innovatively, Singapore has overcome the challenges of limited size and resources. There are many lessons here for India which is collaborating with Singapore on the Smart Cities project – especially when it comes to affordable housing and transport planning.

Myanmar and the ASEAN Matrix copy Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/Gunkarta
18 May 2012

Myanmar in the ASEAN Matrix: An opportunity for India?

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As India and the world welcome the recent democratization of Myanmar, this presents India an opportunity to increase its access to South East Asian countries as well, especially with members of ASEAN which still have catching up to do – particularly Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.