China on Friday announced it will contribute an additional 10 million yuan ($1.47 million) to the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to facilitate its work. Still, the Voice of America claimed that China is squeezing Russia’s influence in Central Asia by economic means. According to the report, Russia is mired in the Syrian crisis and has bumpy relations […]

This volume investigates the nature of threats facing, or perceived as facing, some of the key players involved in Asian maritime politics. The articles in this collection present case studies on Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia as a whole and

The China-Pakistan axis plays a central role in Asia’s geopolitics, from India’s rise to the prospects for a post-American Afghanistan, from the threat of nuclear terrorism to the continent’s new map of mines, ports and pipelines. China is Pakistan’s great economic hope and its most trusted military partner. Pakistan lies at the heart of China’s geostrategic ambitions, from its take-off […]

Pakistan was born as the creation of elite Urdu-speaking Muslims who sought to govern a state that would maintain their dominance. After rallying non-Urdu speaking leaders around him, Jinnah imposed a unitary definition of the new nation state that obliterated linguistic diversity. This centralisation – ‘justified’ by the Indian threat – fostered centrifugal forces that resulted in Bengali

Established as a homeland for India’s Muslims in 1947, Pakistan has had a tumultuous history that has unfolded in the vortex of dire regional and international conflicts. Beset by assassinations, coups, ethnic strife, and the breakaway of Bangladesh in 1971, the country has found itself too often contending with religious extremism and military authoritarianism. Now, in a probing biography of […]

Since Pakistan gained independence in 1947, only once has an elected government completed its tenure and peacefully transferred power to another elected government. In sharp contrast to neighboring India, the Muslim nation has been ruled by its military for over three decades. Even when they were not directly in control of the government, the armed forces maintained a firm grip […]

India on Thursday successfully test fired a new surface-to-air missile, developed jointly with Israel, from a defence base off Odisha coast. The medium range missile (MR-SAM), a product of joint venture between India and Israel, was successfully test launched from a mobile launcher in the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur at around 08.15 hours, a DRDO official said. “The […]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a five-day visit to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya beginning July 7, with an aim to further deepen India’s engagement with the resource-rich African continent where China has been expanding its influence. The Prime Minister’s visit comes within weeks after President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari travelled to Africa to […]

As India and Pakistan look to break the logjam in ties, the two countries will hold a dialogue between the Indian Coast Guard and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) this month. Official sources said a Coast Guard team will visit Pakistan from July 12 to July 14 to attend an international conference on maritime issues in Karachi and also engage […]

In a sign of increased offensive operation by the security forces, the army has killed nearly 72 militants this year in Jammu and Kashmir as compared to about 38 last year. Defence officials said the spurt in their elimination has alarmed various militant groups, and the recent attacks by them is a “result” of that.