39886955481_b6d420f879_o Courtesy: MEA/ Flickr
14 September 2018

Brunei, ASEAN’s quiet, cautious player

India and Brunei have a 34-year-old diplomatic relationship; but as yet no Indian president or prime minister has paid the country a bilateral visit to strengthen these ties. The strategically-located nation is rich in its history, with a unique political system. Its foreign policy approach is non-controversial, yet noticeably pragmatic.

2-8-18 CableMap-02 - Copy Courtesy: Gateway House
2 August 2018

Version 2: Mapping China’s global telecom empire

This version of the Gateway House Map on China’s Expanding Global Telecom Empire identifies some more telecommunication assets -- optic-fibre and satellite ground stations -- that Beijing is working on in South and Central America, Africa, Myanmar, the Indian Ocean Region and mainland China besides the existing ones, such as the Pakistan East Africa Cable Express (PEACE). It shows the direction China’s investment is taking, its diplomatic overtures and the larger geopolitical implications of its growing telecom empire

41728042254_a6935b2139_k Courtesy: MEA Flickr
7 June 2018

Modi acts East, pivots to Indonesia

Prime Minister Modi’s visits to South East Asia last week were major steps in furthering the goals of India’s Act East Policy even as major power rivalries unfolded in the region. Most significant was the visit to Indonesia, a low key Asian power but one that India can partner to enhance its regional stature.

04 Courtesy: Sameer Patil & Shah Maieen
8 February 2018

The Rohingyas and India’s difficult choices

A recent trip to Cox’s Bazar showed that despite numerous health, social and security challenges, the Rohingya refugees are reluctant to return to Myanmar. India will have to walk a tightrope, keeping in mind humanitarian, security, and geopolitical priorities

IORA photo Courtesy: Gateway House
2 March 2017

IORA summit: sharing commonalities

The two decade-old Indian Ocean Rim Association holds its first ever summit next week. Maritime safety and security in the region is a paramount concern as also enhanced trade, but will the Blue Economy be included as a priority? Another area of concern is devising modalities for cooperation with dialogue partners, such as the United States, China and Japan

28912263963_0b75893744_h Courtesy: MEA/ Flickr
14 February 2017

Indo-Pacific: a scenario of possibilities

The Indo-Pacific region is home to some of the largest and most rapidly growing economies as also powerful military forces. Nuclear threats, international terrorism and climate change are some of the issues that define the region. Uncertainty dogs relations among the four nations in the top league—U.S., China, India and Japan—but what is emerging is a hawkish, policy stance from the U.S. as opposed to an isolationist outlook apprehended earlier

Rohingya Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
6 February 2017

Minority report: a bleak road ahead?

Even nearly 70 years after independence, the people of Myanmar are struggling to complete nation-building and resolve the Rohingya issue. Is the million-strong community an ethnic group native to Myanmar or is it of South Asian origin, and, therefore, a part of Bangladesh? Evading the issue may not hasten national reconciliation