ASEAN Website Courtesy: Kuwait Times
25 July 2023

ASEAN on a trodden path

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.

IMG-1700 Courtesy: @BIMSTECInDhaka
8 June 2022

BIMSTEC@25

June 6, 2022, marks 25 years since India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Thailand joined hands to create BIMSTEC and infuse South Asia with economic and institutional cooperation. The strategic geography of this grouping has the potential to bring new synergy between South Asia and the recently-instituted Indo Pacific Economic Framework, ASEAN and the Quad, for a prosperous, secure Bay of Bengal Community.

amb saurabh kumar Courtesy: Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
3 February 2022

India’s Indo-Pacific vision

Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, delivered the keynote address at the panel discussion on India in the Indo-Pacific: Pursuing Prosperity and Security, organised by Gateway House and the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, on 1 February 2022. He outlined India's vision for a free and inclusive Indo-Pacific, and the initiatives undertaken to further cooperation among nations in the region.

DRUK HYDRO DAM Courtesy: Druk Green Power Ltd
18 November 2021

Bay of Bengal connectivity

The Bay of Bengal is gaining relevance as a significant sub-region within the Indo-Pacific. Despite its importance to regional security, there is inadequate financial, physical, and energy connectivity. India must use its strategic and political pre-eminence and influence in the sub-region to pursue deeper connectivity with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and to block China's growing influence.

TAPI: Possibility or pipe dream? Courtesy: Michael Trolove/WikimediaCommons
21 December 2011

TAPI: Possibility or pipe dream?

Growing instability in the region make the planned Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline seem more like a burden than a solution to India’s hunt for alternative energy sources. Is it wise for India to move ahead with the $7.6 billion project?