Courtesy: Defense News
Warfare is changing its character, and drones are playing a big role in it. Technology that was first extensively used in the Vietnam war is a current conflict staple. With the increasing use of artificial intelligence, drones are becoming more powerful and useful.
Courtesy: U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India
The July 2 meeting of the QUAD foreign ministers in Washington, D.C., restated all the commitments of the grouping, including a condemnation of the April 22 terrorist attacks on Pahalgam. Yet, none of the QUAD countries actually came to the aid of India, despite China being a present player in the fight, in full support of its partner Pakistan.
Courtesy: Gateway House
The proposed IMEC corridor connecting India to Europe through the Gulf can be transformative, helping to reduce risks to the global movement of goods and data. It’s early days yet, and there are gaps to be filled in terms of missing infrastructure and overcoming a diplomatic rift.
Courtesy: PTI
Operation Sindoor conveyed three messages: First, to Pakistan that it will have to bear the consequences of continuing to support terrorism. Second, to terrorists, that Bharat will inflict the same pain, if not more, than they inflict on Indian citizens. Third, to the world, that Bharat is resolute in responding to terrorism in a “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible” manner.
Courtesy: Agence France-Presse
India-China relations, undergoing a thaw since October 2024, have been slow to mend. In this scenario it is worth examining what assistance China can give Pakistan in case of military action by India, post Pahalgam. The state of play on the India-China border will also have a major implication for this.
Courtesy: East Asia Forum
The traditional power structures of ‘unipolarity’ or ‘bipolarity’ prevalent over the past 80 years are no longer appropriate to describe the current global order, with more countries increasingly supporting the evolving multipolar world. With the old ‘rules-based’ order becoming less relevant, emerging powers like India have an opportunity to draft more equitable rules to match their multipolar intentions.
Courtesy: Reuters
Two important conclaves held in December 2024 - a Politbureau meeting and the Central Economic Work Conference – set the tone for China’s economic focus in 2025. The economy needs a resurgence, given the domestic environment of low spending and the external threat of high tariffs – the outcome of swapping development for security. In 2025, China’s mandarins will try and find a balance between the two.
Courtesy: UNESCO
India and China are the world’s most populous countries, with much in common and much divergence. Reform, discipline, long-term thinking and scale brought China to its present near first-world conditions; India is accommodative with its democracy, cultural diversity and all-round religiosity to achieve development, wealth creation, cultural preservation and self-respect. There’s a great deal that the two Asian giants can learn from each other.
Courtesy:
China has just announced a grand stimulus for its economy. An analysis of the outcome of the Third Party Plenum held in July, where many of these measures take birth, shows that despite the optimistic planning, China is readjusting its ambitions for future stability.
Courtesy: South China Morning Post
The recently-concluded National People’s Congress or Two Sessions in Beijing didn’t surprise much. But a thorough analysis reveals departures from the past – not holding a press interaction after the meeting, and further consolidation of domestic power by the Communist Party of China. Of note to India is the delinking of China’s defence budget from the country’s rate of growth – meaning freedom to enhance its military’s capability.