India and China on Thursday agreed on the need to find an early resolution to the remaining issues along their Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh and to hold the next round of the senior commanders meeting at an early date
What Trade Patterns Reveal About South Asia’s Economic Future
One of the most striking features of South Asian trade is how little the region trades internally. Intra-regional trade within South Asia remains among the lowest in the world relative to geographic proximity. Political tensions — especially between India and Pakistan — have prevented the emergence of a deeply integrated regional production system comparable to ASEAN or the European Union. This is a major missed opportunity.
The West Asia Conflict: Challenging Times for Indian Economy
Scarcity of cooking fuel is pushing people, particularly across South Asia, toward hunger. Livelihoods have been lost among the large unorganised labour force while thousands of self-employed street vendors, smaller restaurants and eateries are being forced to close shop, facing a scary, insecure future. For middle class households across India, everyday snacks like the samosa or dosa have become scarce because of shortage and high prices of cooking gas cylinders.
New EU Medicines Law Could Impact FTA With India
India is one of the world’s largest suppliers of generic medicines and APIs to Europe. If the EU begins favouring “Made in EU” pharmaceutical production through procurement preferences, subsidies or state aid, Indian drug manufacturers could face reduced access to EU public procurement contracts and tougher supply-chain resilience requirements.
Caught in Geopolitical Quagmire, West Asia Crisis Looms Large Over Indian Supply and Demand Metrics
India’s pharma export market has been affected as India supplies medicines to more than 200 countries. Supply chain interruption not only hurts Indian producers but also creates medicine scarcity in the US, UK, and African markets that highly depend on Indian generics. From the logistics end, re-routing of cargo away from conflict-ridden corridors such as the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz has increased freight insurance premiums, distressing Indian exporters who function on lean cost structures.
More on Geoeconomics, Trade and Development
Tensions rise between China, Sri Lanka over rejected fertiliser shipment
Tensions ratcheted up between Sri Lanka and China over a shipment of rejected fertiliser, with Sri Lankan Director General of Agriculture Dr. Ajantha Silva stressing on Monday that Colombo has not agreed to re-test the rejected Chinese organic fertiliser by a third party, a day after Beijing’s envoy announced that a re-test was being done
Sri Lanka declines to conduct re-test on rejected Chinese fertiliser, to order more nano fertiliser from India
Tensions between Sri Lanka and China over a rejected shipment of contaminated Chinese fertilizer continued, with Colombo on Saturday hardening its stand and refusing to conduct a re-test of the fertilizer, even as the Sri Lankan cabinet has okayed the purchase of more nano nitrogen fertilizer from India
China is 'enemy No. 1', border 'villages' not new, says India's CDS
China has only upgraded infrastructure along the border in India's northeast, and new villages have not come up, India's Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday, saying pointedly that the country's main adversary was China, and not Pakistan
China delivers biggest stealth warship to 'iron brother' Pakistan; aim to offset India's ocean dominance
China has delivered to Pakistan this week its biggest stealth warship, a Type054 frigate, in a move that will strengthen the latter’s position in the Indian Ocean, the area traditionally dominated by India
Fertilizer row escalates as Chinese firm seeks $8 million in compensation from Sri Lanka
The fertilizer row that erupted late month between the Sri Lankan government and a Chinese firm, Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co Ltd, is showing no signs of ending anytime soon as the firm has now demanded $8 million in compensation, weeks after the former canceled the contract citing contamination
Fertiliser fiasco: Cargo ship carrying rejected Chinese fertiliser denied entry to Colombo Port
Sri Lanka’s Shipping Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena has said he has instructed officials at Colombo Port to deny any request by a ship carrying rejected Chinese fertilizer from unloading the cargo in Colombo
Chinese envoy in Kabul meets Taliban's Foreign Minister; trade ties discussed
China’s ambassador to Kabul Wang Yu met with Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Motaqi and discussed bilateral relations, particularly matters related to trade, Afghan foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a tweet
China looking to build a military base in Sri Lanka, says Pentagon report
The United States fears China, whose influence has grown significantly in South Asia in the past decade, is now looking at Sri Lanka to build a military base or logistics facility--a scenario India has been wary of
Pentagon report mentions Chinese village in northeastern India
The annual United States Department of Defence report on military developments involving China details the US perception of the tension along the Line of Actual Control or LAC, and also refers to the creation of a 100-home Chinese village in Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India
Indian Army conducting airborne exercises in eastern Ladakh along China border
The Indian Army is conducting aerial exercises close to the border in eastern Ladakh to induct troops in high-altitude zones and validate its rapid response capabilities, a media report said
China resumes air corridor with Afghanistan, imports 45 tonnes of pine nuts
China has resumed its air corridor with Afghanistan--for the first time since the Taliban takeover-- and imported around 45 tonnes of pine nuts, one of Afghanistan’s key exports, to support Afghan businesses which have been struggling amid severe economic and humanitarian crisis caused after the collapse of the erstwhile Afghan government on 15 August
With China in mind, Indian, US armies hold joint exercises, simulated assaults, test interoperability in Alaskan snow-bound mountain
Indian and United States armies have held a joint exercise in the snow-bound Chugach Mountains in Alaska, approximating the conditions Indian soldiers face in the Himalayas where they confront Chinese troops, though no one is saying it that way explicitly
India needs to reduce its growing economic dependence on China
Only when India is strong enough to promote a new paradigm based on internationally acceptable and verifiable norms can the boundary questions raised by China be settled
China blacklists Sri Lanka’s state-owned bank for refusing payments for canceled fertilizer deal
China has blacklisted a state-owned bank in Sri Lanka after it allegedly failed to honor letters of credit issued for a fertilizer deal that was later canceled by the Sri Lankan government over substandard quality issues
