china-map-of-obor-1 Courtesy: The Wire
6 February 2017

OBOR: in search of private financing

China has launched the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative in an attempt to rebuild the ancient Silk Road with proposed land and sea routes to promote infrastructure, trade, and investment in the regions that it will thus connect. The challenge will be to attract private financing to support the official and multilateral ones

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

28455374735_17cf79553a_b Courtesy: Flickr
31 January 2017

Saudi prince: not quite a game changer?

Prince Salman’s accession to the throne after the death of Saudi King Abdullah on 23 January 2015 has been a game changer, both domestically and in West Asian politics. Within days, he sidelined rivals within the House of Saud, and took on Iran with a confrontational policy. But two years later, the results of his new strategy disappoint

uae prince india Courtesy: MEA/Flickr
25 January 2017

India-UAE: time to foster mutual interests

The West Asian monarchies are being forced to ‘look East’ due to a range of factors: the rise of the Islamic State, their need to boost falling oil revenues and doubts about the United States continuing to remain a guarantor of regional stability. Quite coterminously, India is looking towards the Gulf for energy security besides fulfilling other geostrategic goals: this is an ‘East’ and ‘West’ where the ‘twain will meet

31668713074_d6ee271be8_k Courtesy: MEA flickr
25 January 2017

Revisiting India’s ‘Link West’ policy

The choice of the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be the chief guest at India’s 2017 Republic Day celebrations is an indication of the enhanced attention that the Indian government is according the Gulf countries. Many trade interests ally India to the UAE, but a deeper engagement is called for even as instability grows in the region

Shinzō_Abe_and_Donald_Trump_(1) Courtesy: Wikipedia
16 January 2017

A more robust Asia policy expected?

Trump’s cabinet has a preponderance of China hardliners, which has wider implications for the Asia Pacific region while some of its members view Narendra Modi as Reaganesque and a man of the times

28909667344_cad7ec10cc_k Courtesy: MEA/flickr
4 January 2017

Acting East: what does 2017 hold in store?

The year 2017 may change some equations in the East Asian region. Will the near parity that the U.S. and China currently share turn into a keener contest? Will strained relations between India and China persist? Donald Trump’s election as the next U.S. president casts the spotlight squarely on these inter-state relationships