Courtesy: Government of South Africa/ Flickr
Internal political constraints dog it currently, but if overcome, South Africa can be a good chairman to BRICS and IORA in 2018. It also has a tough balancing act to perform between two great Asian powers, China and India
Courtesy: Western Naval Command
China has expanded its presence in the Indian Ocean Region. President Xi Jinping has abandoned Deng Xiaoping’s conciliatory posture for an aggressive, money-fuelled search for super power status
Courtesy: Google Maps
Hopes of a close partnership between the U.S. and India, as expressed at the Modi-Trump Summit, will have repercussions on East Asia. Will the region see peace or exacerbated conflict between China and all the nations opposed to its domination?
Courtesy: MEA/ Flickr
The Indo-Pacific region is home to some of the largest and most rapidly growing economies as also powerful military forces. Nuclear threats, international terrorism and climate change are some of the issues that define the region. Uncertainty dogs relations among the four nations in the top league—U.S., China, India and Japan—but what is emerging is a hawkish, policy stance from the U.S. as opposed to an isolationist outlook apprehended earlier
Courtesy: MEA/flickr
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
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In two years, the Modi government’s Act East Policy has gone well beyond the focus on economic ties of its predecessor, the Look East Policy. It has made progress on many wider fronts, including connectivity and defence collaboration. India must now build on this success and further consolidate relations and trade links with ASEAN and beyond
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This year, India's defence diplomacy has ramped up. In 2015 alone there have been 18 military exercises- naval, army and air force- with 13 countries, among the largest engagements the country has had. Most significant is Japan joining the Malabar exercises in the Bay of Bengal and the first-ever maritime exercise with Australia. This is increasing India's presence from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. As these exercises intensify India will be better positioned to handle regional security challenges.
Courtesy: Wikipedia
The Trans-Pacific Partnership might soon be concluded if the U.S. Congress fast-tracks it, as recently announced, while the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement remains on slow-track. But the TPP, although ambitious, follows an outdated template, and it is the dynamic RCEP that can be a model for a new global rules-based framework
Courtesy: file photo/Xinhua, Wikipedia
The AIIB is a step along a path that started with the Asian financial crisis, which defined ASEAN’s views about the U.S.’s commitment to the region. Although the bank may signal the rise of China, it is also a coming together of Chinese and ASEAN goals—ASEAN’s focus on infrastructure for growth requires another source of finance, and this forecasts its strong relationship with the AIIB
Courtesy: Random House
‘Asia’s Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific’ is a pragmatic narrative by Robert D. Kaplan of the receding power of the U.S. and China’s growing dominance