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After much bonhomie in Beijing, PM Modi has moved on to raise India's strategic profile in two key states on China's periphery - Mongolia and South Korea. Although geography limits New Delhi's role in East Asia, Modi is betting India can win friends and partners through active engagement.

As the Philippines prepares to elect a new President next year, we evaluate if the country’s ambitious armed forces modernisation programme can be i

At 96, after eight years of relentless ongoing military reforms, the PLA’s continued investment in reforms implies a seriousness in achieving China�

There are strong indicators of a regionally dominant People's Liberation Army of China attempting for an expeditionary status, says Mr. Abraham M. Denmark, Vice President of the National Bureau of Asian Research.

In contrast to India's hesitant response to the humanitarian emergency following the MH370 disappearance, China's military operations have demonstrated Beijing's impressive maritime capabilities and the strong political will to use them.

Since 2015, China has been undertaking a thorough restructuring of its military, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. This has involved significant changes in the operational structure of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with the modernisation and optimisation of the military to bring about better jointness and overall efficiency. This paper examines the PLA reforms as they pertain to training and jointness in the Tibet Autonomous R

China, Japan and South Korea have a long way to go in their trilateral free trade agreement. The road to an agreement is going to be long and complex. However, how this trilateral venture is going to be viewed by the US is to be watched with care and interest.

What does the future hold for this long-standing relationship?

रूस यूक्रेन युद्ध के बीच शंघाई सहयोग संगठन में आखिर पीएम मोदी ने समरकंद में क्‍या कहा. उनके इस भाषण पर रूस ने क्‍या प्रतिक्रिया दी. इसके क्‍या निहितार्थ हैं. मोदी के इस संबोध

रूस यूक्रेन युद्ध के बीच शंघाई सहयोग संगठन में आखिर पीएम �

India’s policymakers signal that historically strong ties with Russia should not become an obstacle to an equally strong relationship with the US

Why has Modi chosen to be India's first prime minister to visit Mongolia? Mongolia is indeed a very sensitive neighbour of China, and the investment of the PM's time in Mongolia seems worthwhile. To be sure, there has been a geopolitical dimension to India's engagement with Mongolia.

Given the ground realities - where China's power exceeds ours by orders of magnitude - we need allies. That is where relationships with the US, Japan, ASEAN and Australia come in.

Modi's strategy to navigate the impossible trinity of US, China and Europe-Russia is clear. Engage with the US, Japan and Germany aggressively and integrate into their value chains. Keep expectations low but exchange lofty targets with the Chinese and the Russians.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has begun yet another important foreign visit, this time to all the five Central Asian republics. It is a well-timed visit. India cannot possibly replace or compete with China and Russia, but it can definitely improve its visibility in the region and provide much needed room for strategic manoeuvrability.

Recent years have highlighted the global headwinds against China's increasingly aggressive moves in the Indo-Pacific region. Vulnerabilities associated with an overdependence on the country for several critical goods, including electronics, have exacerbated prevailing anti-China sentiments. This has provided the impetus for diversifying electronics supply chains, an opportunity India is well positioned to leverage. This brief assesses Ind

Will Sri Lanka be able to withstand both domestic instability and critical foreign policy concerns?

The dynamics that have shaped the recent Bangladeshi election will leave an imprint on the country’s bilateral ties, in turn affecting its developme

Prof. Feng Zhongping, Vice President of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, feels that US's rebalancing strategy in Asia is not entirely designed to contain China but also based on economic considerations.

This issue brief explores the prospects and problems for the new government in Afghanistan with respect to: the two new leaders and their respective positions; the Taliban; and the regional countries China, India, Iran and Pakistan.

Nearly 100 million people are said to have been lifted out of poverty in China since 2012, coinciding with President Xi Jinping's reign as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Indeed, closing the income gap is a stated goal of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and part of the CCP's objectives till 2035. As resentment of the rich has grown, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi has encouraged the wealthy to embrace austeri

Despite making headway in other aspects of its ties with China, Nepal’s inability to raise key concerns with the latter may prove costly in the long

India, China and the US share a similar perspective on balancing economic interests with climate-action, seeking a pragmatic approach to combat climate change through plausible self-determined contributions that are cognizant of national interests, says former Union Environment Secretary N R Krishnan.

Hybrid warfare is an emerging global challenge, with military and non-military elements. This has given rise to the need to develop national capabilities to combat amorphous adversaries by utilising intelligence, information, cyber, electronic, conventional, and unconventional warfare techniques. This paper discusses the nuances of hybrid warfare, explores the hybrid warfare capabilities of India’s key adversaries (Pakistan and China),

China's assessment of its threat environment has evolved under President Xi Jinping, who underscores the imperative of bolstering traditional and non-traditional security. The Chinese Communist Party believes that inimical forces will attempt to overthrow it by penetrating the ideological sphere. Additionally, following the tumultuous presidential succession in the US in 2021, China has sought to cast doubts on the virtues of democracy, and is le

Adopting a firmer stance than his predecessors, President Lai reaffirmed in his speech that the ROC is separate from the PRC, reflecting the will of T

The G20 meeting in Seoul next month ( November 11 and 12th) for the Finance Ministers of the twenty member countries that include India, China and the US, is likely to be a stormy one judging from the controversies surrounding the state of the world economy.

The US would be foolish to deepen the new Cold War atmosphere by trying to isolate Russia over Ukraine developments. As for China, that option is simply not open to them any more. The reason is that the Americans need cooperation from Moscow to deal with Syria, Iran and Afghanistan.

Though there are lingering differences within the group, the need to counter China’s challenge is an area of converging interest.

The Quad’s growing effort to shape international norms and rules in the Indo-Pacific is taking place in an environment fraught with multiple challenges. China’s assertive rise as well as internal differences within the group pose significant risks to the plurilateral platform’s mission of creating a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific. Focusing on the Quad’s cybersecurity cooperation, this brief examines the various internal and e

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue सुनिस्चित करेगा की दक्षिण चीन सागर और भारतीय

Quantum computing (QC) forms one of the cornerstones of emerging technologies as we know them today. The technology has seen rapid progress over the years, but practical hurdles remain. The recent boom in Artificial Intelligence and the corresponding boost it has provided to classical algorithms also presents an additional hurdle for quantum algorithms. Countries like the United States, China, and Canada have made significant strides in QC and ha

The chance of an all-out two-front war with nuclear-armed Pakistan and China are near zero; local skirmishes are always possible. The difference between planning for all-out war and a limited one is hundreds of thousands of crores of the taxpayer's precious money .

As the Modi Govt presents the rail budget this week, it is worth reflecting on the growing gap between the Indian railway system and that of China. If the British Raj understood the strategic significance of the railways, the rulers of independent India squandered the advantage and have wrecked the system rather than build on it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear that global health crises are geopolitical events with far-reaching and long-lasting effects across the globe. It creates prodigious disruptions across economic, security, and social sectors, with spillover effects through trade, financial linkages, and tourism, to name the least. This essay argues that as the American-led order in Asia arguably falters, instead of China rushing to fill the post COVID-19 vacuu

This paper follows the proceedings of a workshop organised by ORF in August 2014 to re-examine India's nuclear doctrine. The workshop explored the challenges posed to India by Pakistan's introduction of battlefield nuclear weapons or Tactical Nuclear Weapons (TNWs), New Delhi's interest in acquiring a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system, and the growing threat perception from China.

Delhi has envisioned various subregions in and around the subcontinent. Re-integrating the subcontinent by re-discovering the old as well as building

As the two key players have returned to the negotiating table, it seems that it has become even more difficult for them to see eye to eye

The BRI was conceptualised under the ethos of the Chinese proverb, “If you want to get rich, build roads first”; however, China is adapting its ap

The Indian Foreign Secretary’s visit to Bangladesh is timely, as there is a need to re-affirm the India-Bangladesh partnership in the face of China�

The US pivot or rebalancing is an attempt of reassurance to its friends and allies in the context of the emerging dynamics in the Asia Pacific region. While China is a major factor in the US pivot strategy, it is only a part of the story.

PRC regulators have eased their crackdown as companies are open to advancing PRC objectives abroad.

REE क्षेत्राला उद्योजकांसाठी पायाची बनवायचे असेल तर धोरणात्मक हस्तक्षेपासह स्ट्रॅटेजिक सेक्टर म्हणून मान्यता देण्याची गरज आहे.