Xi Jinping with Saudi Monarch and Gulf leaders (Photo: Twitter)

China’s rise in the Middle East : A fallout of US 'pivot' to Indo Pacific?

Many rising powers including India, which the US is counting on along with Japan, Australia, South Korea to deal with China in the Indo-Pacific, have robust and strong  commercial ties with China which they can not easily jeopardize only because the US feels threatened by the rise of China. Even the European Union is economically entrenched with China and the EU would not upset China beyond a certain threshold.

Driving the future: India-China collaboration on EVs can be model for green mobility

One such opportunity lies in the realm of electric vehicles (EVs). Both India and China are on the cusp of transformative shifts in transportation, and the adoption of EVs could play a pivotal role in sustainable development and poverty alleviation in India. As India considers domestic EV manufacturing in collaboration with Chinese companies such as BYD, Leapmotor, and NIO, the potential for job creation, trade, and technology transfer is enormous. Chinese expertise in EV technology could help India meet its ambitious environmental goals while bolstering economic growth.

A positive shift in India-China relations can be a global changer

In such a scenario, closer engagement with Beijing, does not mean that New Delhi needs to abandon its call for open sea lanes and unhindered movement through the South China Seas, or its support to QUAD, or participate in the naval exercises in the Pacific, or disown His Holiness the Dalai Lama, or break trade and other contacts with Taiwan, to name a few. Each is critical to crafting India's foreign and security policy towards China, the ASEAN, and the Indo-Pacific. 

More on Indo Pacific - China Watch

China's strategic missteps can have dangerous consequences for Indo Pacifc region

Beijing should be wise enough in realizing the dangerous impact of its using pugnacious responses to Pelosi’s visit that can risk greater backfiring from its strategic adversaries in the future

With eye on China, India's armed forces incorporate AI systems in three services

In view of China’s build-up all along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) till Arunachal Pradesh, it is just as well that India is pursuing efforts to equip its armed forces with AI-backed systems

Pelosi’s Taiwan trip: upholding values of democracy over autocracy

A new spectrum of tactical competition has begun in the Indo Pacific, and it requires more than threats and deterrence to determine the path and pattern of the conflict; it needs wisdom and strategic foresight by all the players in playing both the short and long game with both conventional and new tools of war and diplomacy

Sharpening China Watch: Indian Army seeks to up language and knowledge expertise on China

The Indian Army’s notification in July 2022 inviting applications from persons fluent in Mandarin to properly communicate with the Chinese military along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is a beginning in fulfilling a decades-long important requirement

Can the US help Taipei escape Beijing’s claws?

Regardless of future leadership transitions in Washington, the pivot to the Indo-Pacific will be here to stay in safeguarding America’s status quo and primacy, writes Collins Chong Yew Keat for South Asia Monitor

‘Opaque’ loans from China caused the crisis in Sri Lanka, says USAID chief

Interestingly, despite gaining significant influence and footprint in Sri Lanka, China’s failure to assist the crisis-hit country has left analysts baffled about Beijing’s thought process. The restructuring of loans, which Colombo sought repeatedly, was ignored by China

Indian policy towards China needs to change: offence is the best form of defence

During the military commanders' meeting, the Indian side asked for the PLA to move back from all the “friction points”, which is a euphemism for "intrusions" used by India to avoid acknowledging it has lost control of some 1,000 sq km of territory during the 2020 Chinese aggression. For the same reason, India keeps asking of more military-to-military talks, with each round continuing 12-13 hours without any progress, writes Lt Gen P.C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

India, Israel, US, UAE launch Middle East Quad I2U2

The I2U2 is an attempt to replicate in a different environment the Indo-Pacific Quad of India, the US, Japan and Australia, the goal of which is developing a bulwark of democracies against China

Targeting China Inc: Challenges of reducing India’s dependence on China

The punitive mood against Chinese firms is not reflected in a diminishing dependence on Chinese goods on the trade front or telecom technology. The dragon remains one of our largest trade partners, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Involve Japan in enhancing India-Bangladesh connectivity, unlocking potential of India’s Northeast

Apart from engaging in projects for upgrading India highways that go all the way till the Bangladesh border, Japan could also collaborate with India in the constantly deferred Agartala (India)-Akhaura (Bangladesh) rail link, something that provides scope for Indo-Japan collaboration under India’s Act East Policy and Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy, writes Prarthana Sen for South Asia Monitor

In solidarity show on Indo-Pacific vision, Quad leaders mourn assassination of co-founder Shinzo Abe

Abe was among the first to envision with then-Prime Minister Manmohan the group of democracies as a potential counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific taking forward the cooperation of the four countries in providing relief during 2004 tsunami

India should be pro-active in supporting the Dalai Lama

China has harmed Tibet, massacred innocent Tibetans and is occupying Tibet for the last several decades with a vice-like grip and suppressing freedom of the Tibetans

Can US-led IPEF reduce India’s China dependency, outbid China-led RCEP?

There are several ways whereby the IPEF will outbid China in the Indo-Pacific region and outweigh India’s China dependency, writes S. Majumder for South Asia Monitor 

Despite the Chinese challenge, American primacy in the Indo Pacific remains unquestioned for now

The short game might be Beijing’s to lose for now, but the long game is certainly Washington’s to squander away, writes Collins Chong Yew Keat for South Asia Monitor 

India, Vietnam ink pact to broad-base ties with China in mind

Vietnam, an important country of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), has territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea region. India has oil exploration projects in the Vietnamese waters in the South China Sea. India and Vietnam have been boosting their maritime security cooperation in the last few years to protect common interests.