A more collective US approach to dealing with China will force India and Russia to rebalance power relations, especially in a post-pandemic world requiring greater cooperation. India will increasingly be caught between the tug and pull, as closer ties with US fray relations with Russia.

We are heading for a ‘contra-polar’ world, where contradictory policy pursuits and contrarian impulses are the norm. China’s ability to avoid becoming the glue that provides cohesion to the US-India partnership will shape the next decade’s geopolitics.

The joint statement released after the Chinese and Indian foreign ministers met in Moscow reiterates old formulations, and the divergence in media reports on it only highlights the bitterness that has built up since May.

Amid regional anxiety about China’s bullying and US commitment, Asean and Quad nations could administer a litmus test: a joint statement calling out Beijing for its ‘unlawful’ activities and demanding a course correction. How China responds would be instructive.

China seems to have decided it can bear the cost of its territorial assertion at the disputed border with India. However, the current gain might cloud the big picture for Beijing in the long term.

With China standing its ground, India determined to prevent a repeat of its 1962 humiliation, and tensions rising in the region, hopes of an ‘Asian century’ seem more elusive than ever.

Modi has declared a 21-day national curfew and started a South Asian emergency fund, displaying leadership when global coordination against Covid-19 is lacking. India’s success could disprove the idea that authoritarian regimes are better placed than democracies to tackle a pandemic.

The Indian government’s authoritarian approach to dealing with protests against a recently introduced citizenship bill, including shutting down the internet in parts of the country, has found support in China.

The Supreme Court ruling on a disputed religious site brings judicial closure but leaves some Muslims feeling abandoned. The Kartarpur corridor, allowing Indian Sikhs to visit a shrine in Pakistan, is a model of tolerance that should be replicated.

Bangladesh has the potential to be an arena for cautious India-China engagement and coexistence, says C Uday Bhaskar, in contrast to how New Delhi views Beijing’s ties with Islamabad.

With the Vladivostok agreements, India and Russia have deepened a relationship that dates back to the cold-war era. What makes it special is its kaleidoscopic polarity, with room to disagree on specific issues while staying the common strategic course.

In the Indian political narrative, the Kashmir issue is arguably a mistake to be rectified. But the high-handed manner in which the government revoked the autonomy of Kashmir will not help the image of Indian democracy

After two decades of strife, the Afghan Taliban and the Kabul government have struck a resolution to pave the way for peace, even as Donald Trump meets Imran Khan to encourage Pakistan, a Taliban supporter, to nudge the peace process along.

The punitive trade move comes even as the US publicly embraces India as a key partner in its Indo-Pacific strategy against China. The contradictory moves are part of a long and uneasy alliance between the two countries.

A strong majority in parliament for the right-leaning National Democratic Alliance on results day would embolden the country’s Hindu right. Liberals fear sectarian divisions are being institutionalised by prioritising Hindutva, India’s aggressive form of Hindu nationalism.

The case of Ahok, the ethnic Chinese governor who enraged hardline Muslims, still haunts Indonesia’s latest election. The question is whether President Widodo, the likely winner of the election, will use his term to restore ‘smiling Islam’.

The principles of liberty and citizen equality that are enshrined in the constitution are being threatened by a strengthening movement of Hindu nationalism under Modi’s rule. Yet, where is the credible alternative?

How Islamabad responds to New Delhi’s ‘pre-emptive’ cross-border air strike will determine what the future holds for the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been even more strained than usual following February 14 suicide bombing.

China has provided unstinting and uncritical support to Pakistan despite its role in nurturing terror groups.

As representatives meet to discuss an end to the 17-year war in Afghanistan, care must be taken to ensure the lives and almost US$1 trillion that have been expended in the war on terror have not been wasted

C. Uday Bhaskar writes that the growing India-Japan partnership must balance its rivalry with and dependence on China to realise the dream of an Asian century, because while both are wary of China’s growing power, India and Japan have a trade dependency on Beijing that the other cannot fill.

Pakistan’s latest election has apparently chosen a former cricket player known for a poor attention span to lead a deeply divided country where a military, beholden to Islamic extremists, has pulled the strings for decades. Islamabad’s backers in Beijing and Washington must be wondering: what could go wrong?