Courtesy: Swarajya
India, as chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, hosted the foreign ministers’ meet in Goa last week. What would have been an important and expanding regional grouping has been complicated by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the increased influence of China and an obstructionist Pakistan. Still, India has played its role with an eye on the long term.
Courtesy: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
The Indo-Pacific is viewed by powers within and outside the region as both a strategy and policy to interpret the changing geopolitical dynamics in Asia and beyond. But the question of its geographical and geopolitical definition has varied. Opinions among governments and academics have traditionally differed, but over the years, a viable consensus for a wider definition of the concept seems to have emerged.
Courtesy: The Maritime Executive
China is rapidly expanding its influence in the Indian Ocean Region, as its massive investment in ports starts to materialise. From smaller investments of $78 million in Djibouti to large ones like $1.6 billion in Gwadar, these are funded largely by Chinese state-owned enterprises. This infographic shows the 17 ports being built by China, which are now important strategic, economic and political outposts for the country.
Courtesy: Gateway House
Over the last five years, China has quietly created a significant place for itself in India – in the technology domain. While India has refused to sign on to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), this report shows India's positioning in the virtual BRI to be strategically invaluable for China. Nearly $4 billion in venture investments in start-ups, the online ecosystem and apps have been made by Chinese entities. This is just the beginning; there is more to come.
Courtesy: Shutterstock
Kenya’s Mombasa port, the gateway to East and Central Africa, has enabled the Chinese to gain better access to resources in the region and export destinations within Africa through the Belt and Road Initiative. A recent visit offered insights into some of the shortcomings of increasing Chinese investments in the region – and the scope for other countries to step in
Courtesy: Gateway House
Gateway House was part of a delegation of scholars that recently visited China and interacted with Chinese scholars and universities across Beijing, Chengdu and Kunming. It provided a better understanding of China’s perspectives and concerns on key geopolitical and geoeconomic issues
Courtesy: Flickr/MEA
The 35th summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations, held in Bangkok early in November, showed that a shifting geostrategic landscape notwithstanding, “ASEAN centrality” in the region is a top priority with members. It also served as a backdrop for three summits that ASEAN held on November 4 with China, U.S. and India
Courtesy: Government Law College, Mumbai
The world has changed – and so has India in the last 70 years since independence. Its foreign policy has evolved from non-alignment to multipolarity and to proactive participation in various multilateral organisations. Building on the work of its predecessors, the Modi government’s diplomacy articulates India’s interests more forthrightly and pursues them more energetically
Courtesy: The Diplomat
Philippines, Cambodia and Lao PDR face a range of development challenges at home even as they respond dynamically to shifting priorities in external relations. With U.S.-China competition increasingly shaping this part of the world, will India provide some balance? An insider’s account of how three less noticed ASEAN countries are coping with geopolitical changes
Courtesy: Penguin RandomHouse
This timely book on a controversial subject attempts to sum up the scope and ambitious scale of the BRI. It does not offer judgement nor copious detail, but shows how an infrastructure project now seems to be the basis of a China-centred global economic system