edited asian geo Courtesy: Shutterstock
1 January 2021

Asian geopolitics in 2021

As 2021 opens, the post-COVID world can expect some changes in the geopolitics of Asia. It will involve altering equations in the Indo-Pacific among major, middle and small powers. These will fluctuate with characteristic familiarity, creating instability, tensions and strife, but not leading to military conflict – barring an unforeseen accident. Post-COVID, the world will be uncertain and complex.

US Navy Courtesy: Twitter
24 December 2020

Will 1st Fleet trump Biden’s Asia-Pacific?

The U.S. Navy Secretary, Kenneth Braithwaite, visited India on 17 Dec 2020. Will this year-end visit culminate in the reactivation of the First Fleet under the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command? The First Fleet, is likely to be an expeditionary fleet - one without a shore-based headquarters and assigned primary responsibility for the Indian Ocean and parts of Pacific Ocean bordering South Asia. Its reactivation will emphasise the strategic importance of this region. It will also relieve the burden of the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet headquartered in Japan, that is deployed for operations in this vast oceanic space.

amit paper cover Courtesy: Gateway House
21 December 2020

India’s energy investments: A fresh approach

India’s investments in energy thus far have concentrated on buying stakes in oilfields in developing countries often at the risk of political unpredictability. With oil prices, and therefore oil company values, falling – India should revise this strategy and aim for better value and lower risk by making investments in companies in the developed world. This paper recommends investing in oil and gas assets in energy-rich developed countries like the U.S., Canada and Australia, to reduce India's vulnerability to future increases in energy prices. These should be made via a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), not the national oil companies. The SWF will be best served by acting as a financial investor, acquiring, only minority stakes, rather than aiming for management control.

shutterstock_1443940382 Courtesy: Shutterstock
9 December 2020

India and Canada: A third pole

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's controversial wading into the Punjab farmers' protests has obfuscated the hard work done by diplomats and think tanks on both sides over the past three years, to boost the bilateral. India and Canada have much to gain from each other's strengths in technology, natural resources and investment, and even more if they collaborate internationally to develop an alternative to the current bipolar world order

Malabar Excercise Courtesy: US Navy/Twitter
26 November 2020

Malabar Naval Exercise 2020

Australia's much-awaited inclusion at the Malabar Exercise-2020 reflects a hard reset in India's foreign policy that was traditionally accommodative to Chinese concerns on the militarisation of the Quad. In the backdrop of the on-going stand-off with China at the Ladakh border, the Indian Navy has maintained a high operational tempo and deployed the highest numbers of frontline assets during this edition of the Malabar Exercise. India must build on this strategic vision and work towards including France at the next edition of Malabar in 2021.

Final Courtesy: Gateway House
19 November 2020

Beyond BECA

India has institutionalized a robust civilian-space agreement with the U.S. through the Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation in 2005 and added a military dimension to it in 2020 when it signed the U.S.-India BECA Agreement. The two countries should now partner to secure each other’s interest in the rapidly-maturing space economy sector.

shutterstock_355422692 Courtesy: Shutterstock
5 November 2020

Growing Sino-American Military Rivalry

The global world order is witnessing a substantial shift. Part of the greater tussle for strategic and geopolitical dominance is the military rivalry between the U.S. and China. The two countries together now account for over one-half of the world’s defense spending.

shutterstock_1746264761 Courtesy: Shutterstock
5 November 2020

Weekly Podcasts – U.S. Presidential Elections 2020

As part of our weekly series of podcasts in the run-up to the U.S. elections, Ambassador Neelam Deo, Director and Co-founder of Gateway House shares her insights on various aspects of the U.S. Presidential elections.

shutterstock_1330442813 Courtesy: Shutterstock
5 November 2020

U.S elections, a China order & India’s position

The recent in-person Quad meeting attended by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and the India-U.S. 2+2 meeting of foreign and defence ministers in New Delhi, highlights not only the big upgrade in India’s strategic relations with the U.S. but also the enhanced U.S. focus on India, the Indo-Pacific and Asia. Clearly then, the foreign policy of the next U.S. administration will impact India, Asia and the world.