1 Courtesy: Getty Images
16 October 2018

Train To Tibet

The romance of the Sky Train—which runs 3,757 km and connects Lhasa to Beijing—lies in the stark beauty of the Roof of the World, an ancient land long closed to the public and foreign gaze as also in the modern engineering of the railroad and the train

chineseoil-1 Courtesy: Lifeforex
11 October 2018

Petro-Yuan, the new speculation

Basing the global oil trade on the Yuan instead of the U.S. Dollar is one leg of China’s bid to convert its currency into the international reserve currency, replacing the dollar-dominated global financial architecture. But many factors impede the Yuan from reaching the maturity required for its global adoption.

so18_cover_large_0 Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
1 October 2018

Battlefield Internet

The immediate threat is more corrosive than explosive. States are using the tools of cyberwarfare to undermine the very foundation of the Internet: trust. The result is that an arena that the world relies on for economic and informational exchange has turned into an active battlefield.

IOC Courtesy: Indian Ocean Conference
21 September 2018

SAGAR and security: leading in Indo-Pacific

If India wants to become a serious Indo-Pacific player, it has to prioritise implementation of the SAGAR initiative, look beyond the Quad to partner with smaller littoral states and provide alternatives to China’s investment strategies. This was the message from the recent Indian Ocean Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam

42991855934_9843c72844_o Courtesy:
3 August 2018

The big five at 10

BRICS has grown in influence in its first decade but is still far from achieving its initial goals

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