India has signed a $375 million contract with the Philippines for three batteries of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, among the most advanced in the world. This will be seen by Beijing as a direct threat to its interests in the South China Sea.
The Palk Strait Link: Sri Lanka’s Unresolved Question With India
Neutrality and balance — Colombo’s habitual vocabulary — have yielded little economic benefit. Ultimately, Sri Lanka slid into bankruptcy. Given this background, the land link is not merely a strategic starting point but a necessity. India’s strategic position on Sri Lanka is perennial; whether the bridge is built or not, India’s concerns remain fundamental. As an immediate neighbour and rising global power, India will not allow rivals to use Sri Lanka as a base.
Disruptive Diplomacy: Why India and China Must Lead Humanity Beyond Fossil-Fuel Chokepoints
If India and China choose collaboration by setting aside strategic suspicion in the climate domain, they could fundamentally reshape the trajectory of the 21st century, as they have already demonstrated individually through their pursuit of clean energy over the past decade. More importantly, such a coalition could revive the COP28 fossil-fuel phase-down pledge, which stalled at COP29 in Baku and appears to be drifting further at COP30 in Belém.
Bridging Oceans, Building Regions: India–New Zealand FTA and Potential of South Asian Integration
Increased industrial activity in India could generate demand for raw materials, intermediate goods, and services from countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh’s textile industry could strengthen its links with Indian manufacturing networks, while Sri Lanka may gain from expanded opportunities in tourism, logistics, and services.
A New Era in India–ADB Relations: Will Play a Defining Role in Shaping Asia's Economic Future
ADB’s role has evolved beyond financing into shaping India’s structural transformation into a high-growth, technology-driven, and climate-conscious economy. Compared to other multilateral institutions, it offers a more agile, implementation-focused, and regionally attuned approach. As India moves toward becoming one of the world’s largest economies, this partnership will play a defining role in shaping not only India’s growth trajectory but also the broader economic future of Asia.
More on Indo Pacific - China Watch
China joins India in the climate challenge - target Net-Zero university campus
“We are all fighting a global war against our common enemy, which is the climate crisis,” said Dr Rajendra Shende
How China dumped in India using the RCEP intra-trade route
China used both the ASEAN FTA and RCEP tariff concessions to enter the ASEAN market to make it a potential platform for sneaking into the Indian market through the ASEAN–India FTA.
Chinese military activities in the Indian Ocean Region are a warning to India
Sri Lanka is also allowing Chinese research vessels in its ports. China has big plans for the region, not just spy ships.
India's rising power benefits the Indo Pacific
India’s inevitable regional and global leadership provides a welcome new opening for the country and the region in their security calculations. It remains the region’s most important Asian partner in providing the economic and security fallback that is based on values, trust and proven expectations.
India-China border standoff continues as disengagement seems remote
Why no heads rolled for the surprises in 2020 with PLA exercising in Aksai Chin and a new road constructed five km short of Galwan?
India braces for China's growing muscle-flexing in the Indian Ocean
The establishment of a second naval base in Lakshadweep, INS Jatayu is a key part of this strategy. It's a calculated move to counter China's influence in the Indian Ocean Region.
An Indo-Lankan naval task force in Palk Bay to meet China's strategic challenge?
China has tried to set up a hybrid renewable energy system mixed with solar, wind, and other renewables on three islands in the Jaffna Peninsula. It was later cancelled. There is no economic reason for hosting such a project in a place so close to India.
Can Australia overcome ASEAN divide to promote a common Indo-Pacific security vision?
Australia has succeeded in sending a strong message to both ASEAN and China. To ASEAN, Canberra has communicated its commitment both in economic and security terms. The keyword will be a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is in line with the overall security vision of the West.
Why America and the West remain critical for Indo -Pacific security
The US meanwhile, remains resilient in its future demographic and economic growth projection and stability, alongside the prospects of India. The so-called rise of China is now reversing, and the perceived decline of the US and the West is not happening.
Passage of Resolve Tibet Act in US Congress significant, but will it move Beijing?
Among other things, the bill, which is now an act, dismisses as inaccurate the Chinese claim that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times and empowers the State Department to actively counter China’s disinformation about Tibetan history, people and institutions.
QUAD's strategic role in shaping a robust critical mineral supply chain in the Indo-Pacific
The critical mineral supply chain in the Indo-Pacific is undergoing transformative changes through new deals, reforms, and negotiations facilitated by the strategic partnership of QUAD.
The continuing shroud of secrecy over Ladakh faceoffs
The belligerence by the PLA also exposes the futility of continuing Corps Commander-level military-to-military talks when China has repeatedly indicated there will be no more PLA pullback.
Why Taiwan election results are important for future of democracy and containment of China
Beijing might still use this election victory for President Tsai as a pretext to increase aggression and to justify that peaceful reunification is a lost cause, portraying the DPP as the cause of increasing cross-Strait tensions.
Japan's Big-B initiative aligns with Bangladesh's blue economy vision
As traditional geopolitics transforms, with the Gulf regaining centrality in the larger Indo-Pacific arena, India, Japan, and Southeast Asia see their strategic perspectives increasingly converge. The Big-B plan has significant implications for India, Bangladesh's Look East policy, and Thailand's Look West policy.
