The global response to Covid-19 and climate change illustrates how the profit motive has blunted the human imperative. Instead of joining forces against existential threats, leaders are focused on geopolitical competition and securing political power.

Amid the US-China schism, contemporary geopolitics is rife with contradictions. This picture is in stark contrast to the optimism that all boats would rise together in the wake of the Cold War.

After excluding Myanmar from its latest summit, Asean announced a strategic partnership with China and a similar deal with Australia, the US’ security partner. Clearly, the bloc continues to walk a tightrope between the US and China.

The latest Quad summit can be seen as a preliminary effort by the US and its partners to rewire the discourse on Indo-Pacific security. However, following the strong signalling of Aukus, the Quad has steadfastly avoided finger-wagging.

The messy withdrawal, capped by a bomb attack at Kabul airport that killed dozens, is a sorry end to 20 years of America’s war in Afghanistan. A commission should be set up to bring to light the reasons for this debacle.

Geopolitics and geoeconomics have dominated the discourse on maritime security for 500 years. But the latest UN report on global warming and irreversible ocean damage shows where true priorities lie.

Xi painted a benign image of China as a ‘peace-loving’ nation, but he also delivered an unambiguous warning to its adversaries. While India and contemporary Russia were not mentioned, they will affect Beijing’s options in managing the hegemony of the US and its allies.

While China and Asean have pledged in their recent meeting to take their partnership to ‘new heights’, given China’s actions in the region, Asean’s wariness is understandable.

America’s abiding strategic objectives have been relatively consistent since the Cold War’s end. While China remains a top priority, expect Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, Taiwan and the South China Sea to also feature prominently.

India is vaccinating at top speed and approving more vaccines but is still struggling with the challenge of its massive population – and is also letting large crowds gather. With hospitals already overwhelmed, experts expect the wave of infections to peak in May or later.

Domestic sociopolitical imperatives will blunt the Quad’s larger strategic choices in dealing with the China challenge. Engagement with China in certain domains while offering resistance in others calls for policy suppleness that might prove elusive.

That the US conducted a two-carrier naval exercise in the South China Sea shortly after Biden pledged to be open to ‘result-oriented engagement’ with China signals continuity rather than radical change. However, to build on its edge against China, the US would have to engage with Beijing in the economic and trade domain.

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.