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Showing posts with the label India- China Competition

India-Maldives Relations, Changing Contours

Image Credits- VOA I have been away from active blogging for the last few months and had not written any blog. In the meantime, the world has changed considerably. North Korea- South Korea in the path of reconciliation. Many things have changed. But today I intend to deal with a particularly troubling relationship between two close allies at one time, that is India and Maldives.  Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean. It is lies adjacent to the Indian territory of The Lakshadweep Islands. India and Maldives established bilateral relations in the year of 1966. Since then the relationship has grown by leaps and bounds. The high point of the relationship was "Operation Cactus" when India militarily intervened to save Maldives from invading Tamil militants from Srilanka. India has been the main provider of aid and assistance to Maldives for many years. That is until Maldives started tilting to China. China sees Maldives as the main cog in it's ambitious B

China and India Aren't Afraid to Use Money as a Weapon ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Rishika Chauhan)

Chinese Yaun ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) Source- The National Interest Author- Rishika Chauhan “Major powers have to work with each other even if their interests diverge on some issues,” India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar stressed at the recently concluded India China Think-Tanks Forum in New Delhi. However, within the next few days, two articles in significant Indian and Chinese dailies seemed to have dampened the spirit of cooperation. Talking about a Chinese consignment worth $2.8 million dispatched to Nepal, a widely circulated Indian newspaper said that the shipment “will severely hit Indian businesses.” A reporter at the Chinese state-run Global Times was quick to respond, insisting the move did not mean that “Chinese goods will push Indian products out of the country.” Impassioned media debates ensued. While reports of competition between the two rising states is common, such discussions have been frequent since September of last year. Accusing Ind

Only America Can Keep a China-India War from Erupting ( Source- The National Interest / Author- McDaniel Wicker)

Image credits- Indian navy Source- The National Interest Author- McDaniel Wicker India and China are on a collision course. They boast the world’s two largest populations, two of the fastest growing economies on the globe and aspirations to lead the way into a new Asian century. The two nations’ fates will be intertwined for decades to come. Troublingly, China’s move last week to block Indian membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is merely the latest sign of tension to emerge between the two Asian giants. Further competition and even confrontation await. Competition between rising powers is hardly new or surprising. This particular case, however, shows China’s intent to remain the sole Asian power stretching from Siberia to the Arabian Sea. This was most recently demonstrated last week when China led the push to exclude India from the NSG. Membership in the prestigious group, which controls the trade of nuclear material and related technologies, would fac

The Growing India-Pakistan-China Nuclear Rivalry ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Francis P. Sempa )

Agni-5 ICBM ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons ) Source- The Diplomat Author- Francis P. Sempa  On June 22, 2016, the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute released a 60-page monograph analyzing the major trends in India’s nuclear posture and thinking in the increasingly challenging geopolitical environment of the Indo-Pacific region. India’s Evolving Nuclear Force and its Implications for U.S. Strategy in the Asia-Pacific is the work of three scholars who have written widely on India and Asia security topics: Yogesh Joshi, a PhD candidate at the Jawaharlal Nehru University whose work has appeared in Asia Policy and India Review; Frank O’Donnell, a lecturer in strategic studies at the University of Plymouth at Britannia Royal Naval College; and Harsh V. Pant, a professor of international relations at the India Institute at King’s College, London. Their work is a timely and important reminder that recent events in the East and South China Seas, which domi

China-India Relations After the NSG Plenary ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Deep pal)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping ( Image credits- Flickr/ MEA, Govt of India) Source- The Diplomat Author- Deep Pal Few analysts following developments at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) plenary in South Korea expected India’s membership bid to sail through. As the dust settles, what is clear is that Xi Jinping’s China differs considerably from Hu Jintao’s China. The latter did not want to stand alone; the former is on the path to establishing China as the challenger in the global order – and understands that such a project is necessarily a lonely pursuit. Beyond the arguments of whether or not joining the NSG accords India additional advantages, what stood out over the past month is the Modi government’s impressive ability to set a concrete objective, and pursue it with great coordination. While Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar was leading India’s charge in Seoul, the prime minister himself brought up the issue with Xi in Tashk

Is War Between China and India Possible?( Source- The National Interest / Author- Daniel Markey)

INS Satpura F-48 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Daniel Markey As I was researching and writing the latest Contingency Planning Memorandum for CFR’s Center for Preventive Action, “Armed Confrontation Between China and India,” one of my top priorities was to avoid overstating the probability of the contingency. Throughout most of my conversations with Indian, Chinese, and U.S. policy analysts, I found a striking consensus about the relative stability between these two giant Asian neighbors. This was reassuring, but also slightly surprising given the lingering suspicions and growing competition between New Delhi and Beijing. Then I started reading a new book by Bharat Karnad, Why India Is Not a Great Power (Yet), and quickly observed that nearly all of the avenues by which I thought a China-India conflict might conceivably emerge (land border skirmish, Tibetan protests, India-Pakistan standoff, and maritime

This Is What Could Start a War between India and China ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Palmo Tenzin)

INS Jalashwa underway ( Image credits- Indian Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Palmo Tenzin While everyone’s anxiously watching and analyzing the events unraveling in the South China Sea, there’s another resource conflict involving China that also deserves attention. In the Himalayas, China and India are competing for valuable hydropower and water resources on the Yarlung Tsangpo–Brahmaputra River. The dispute offers some important lessons for regional cooperation (on more than just water), and highlights what’s at stake if China and India mismanage their resource conflict. The Yarlung Tsangpo–Brahmaputra River is a 2,880km transboundary river that originates in Tibet, China as the Yarlung Tsangpo, before flowing through northeast India as the Brahmaputra River and Bangladesh as the Jamuna River. The resource conflict began on June 11, 2000, after a natural dam-burst in Tibet caused a flash flood that resulted in 30 deaths and serious damage to infrastr

Asia's Nightmare: Could India and China Clash over the South China Sea? ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Darshana M.Barauh)

INS Vikramaditya ( Source/ Credits- Indian Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Darshana M. Baruah Developments in the South China Sea (SCS) have significant implications for India’s strategic interests and its role in the Indo-Pacific. Yet New Delhi has traditionally maintained a safe distance from direct commentary on issues like SCS maritime disputes, instead emphasizing the need for freedom of navigation. However, India now appears to be picking up the pace. Under the Modi government, New Delhi has turned the ‘Look East Policy’ into the ‘Act East Policy’, made direct comments on the need to resolve the SCS dispute, signed a joint strategic vision with the U.S. for the Asia–Pacific and the Indian Ocean region and is in talks with key regional countries to increase security collaboration, especially in the maritime domain. The Modi Government recognizes the SCS as an important element of New Delhi’s relationship with the East, for both trade and strategic

India vs. China: A 21st Century Economic Battle Royal ( Source- The National Interest /Author- Christopher Whalen)

RBI Tower ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Nichal P) Source- The National Interest Author- Christopher Whalen Back in August of last year, TNI described why India’s economic prospects are brighter than those of China (“Beware, China: India's Economy Could Have an Even Brighter Future,”). That judgment seems to have been confirmed by subsequent events. As we noted at the time, "When all is said and done, the difference between India and China can be summed up in one word: freedom." India is now clearly outperforming the other emerging nations, particularly China, a nation hobbled by a command economy and one of the most corrupt political systems on the planet. “As Brazil, Russia and China hit hurdles, it’s the poorest member of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s emerging-market group that’s proving a darling of global investors,” Bloomberg News reported in February. “The International Monetary Fund is predicting India will next year grow faster than ea

China and India: A Balancing Act in Africa ( Source- The Diplomat, Author- Pushan Das)

Indian troops under UN flag in Congo ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Attribution- Julien Harneis ) Source- The Diplomat Author- Pushan Das As the conflict in South Sudan crosses the one year mark, China is preparing its first deployment of combat troops in UN peacekeeping operations, reflecting the change in the country’s policy of non-interference based on principles set down by Premier Zhou Enlai at the 1955 Bangdung Peace Conference. But what exactly does this deployment of 700 combat troops to South Sudan mean – is it an example of China using its military to safeguard its commercial interests in the region? And does it also open up a new front in the country’s rivalry with India, which has been one of the major security providers operating under the UN flag on the African continent? With both countries becoming ever more dependent on African resources to drive their growing economies, India and China’s interests in peace and stability for trade are very high –