This daily column includes Gateway House’s Badi Soch – big thought – of the day’s foreign policy events. Today’s focus is on the negotiations for a free trade agreement between the E.U. and the U.S.
Courtesy: Ministry of External Affairs, India
While the recent India-Japan Joint Statement contains significant breakthroughs, the China-Pakistan Joint Statement reveals the absence of warmth between India and China. With the current flurry of bilateral exchanges, India is fine-tuning its approach to emerging regional realities, as are others.
Courtesy: Kucingbiru13/WikimediaCommons
The Chinese defence industry has emerged as one of the world’s top five arms exporters. It has come a long way from the early 1990s when it was characterised by inefficiency, corruption, and poor performance.
Courtesy: Courtesy: Petersnoopy/Flickr
The new provocations from Pyongyang heighten the risk of a military showdown with the U.S., South Korea and Japan. China, the only power with sway over the regime, is exercising limited options for peace on the peninsula.
In 1990, the erstwhile South Commission recommended the creation of a 'South Bank' to aid the economic emancipation of the global South. Can the BRICS bank, which was discussed in length at the 5th BRICS Summit, provide a solution to the problems of the crisis-ridden African continent? Devaki Jain blogs
Courtesy: Ministry Of External Affairs, India
Indian foreign policy has not yet addressed the ramifications of Chinese economic dominance in BRICS. Nor have we matched China’s engagement within the group to ensure that the BRICS vision of a new international order for emerging economies actually works in their favour.
Courtesy: Government/ZA/Flickr
At the 5th BRICS Summit that begins in South Africa today, the heads of state of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are expected to ratify the creation of the BRICS Bank. After discussion and study for over a year by the respective governments, the bank will be launched with seed money estimated at between $50 billion to $100 billion, and most likely an equal share of voting rights for the management of the bank. What remains
The establishment of a BRICS Development Bank will be among the prime topics of discussion at the BRICS Summit on March 26. Gateway House’s Akshay Mathur interviews former Indian Ambassador and Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, on the prospects and viability of alternate financial architectures.
Courtesy: Pete Souza/The White House
The announcement of the Pacific pivot by the U.S. in 2001 has led to several nations making bold political moves. However, the U.S. isn’t yet ready to be a regional protector against China. What does Washington have to do to prepare itself for the Pivot?
Courtesy: U.S. Department of Defense
The nomination of Chuck Hagel for the post of the U.S. Defense Secretary has garnered severe criticism from Israel and the Jewish lobby. Given the geopolitical changes unfolding in the Middle East and the rest of Asia, what will Hagel’s assumption of office mean for Israel, India and the rest of the world?
