https://www.scmp.com/rss/264801/feed Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar is director of the Society for Policy Studies (SPS), an independent think tank based in New Delhi. He was formerly head of two other major Indian institutions: the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and the National Maritime Foundation (NMF). en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com C. Uday Bhaskar C. Uday Bhaskar For the India-China-US triangle, the new US-India trade deal, announced with Trumpian flourish on social media on Monday, has potentially significant economic, geopolitical and strategic implications. US President Donald Trump’s post, which came after a phone call with Narendra Modi, said the Indian prime minister had committed to “BUY AMERICAN”, including over US$500 billion of US products. It also said Modi had “agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3342263/why-new-us-india-trade-agreement-big-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3342263/why-new-us-india-trade-agreement-big-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 21:30:08 +0000 C. Uday Bhaskar C. Uday Bhaskar Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day state visit to New Delhi last week, for the 23rd Russia-India Summit, was heavy on optics, symbolism and multilayered signals, while tangible outcomes were relatively modest. First and foremost, Putin signalled to the West that Russia is not isolated, despite the US-led criticism of the war his government has unleashed against Ukraine since 2022. In an unusual departure from customary diplomatic practice, three European ambassadors to India – from... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3335866/putins-visit-india-reveals-anxieties-changing-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3335866/putins-visit-india-reveals-anxieties-changing-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:30:08 +0000 C. Uday Bhaskar C. Uday Bhaskar South Korea is set to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines with US approval and assistance, according to a joint fact sheet last week. That approval came following a meeting at the end of October between South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump in Gyeongju. The agreement allows South Korea to build its first nuclear-powered attack submarines, which will be conventionally armed and powered by highly enriched uranium the United States will help source. It also... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3333413/south-koreas-us-nuclear-sub-deal-risks-roiling-east-asias-waters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3333413/south-koreas-us-nuclear-sub-deal-risks-roiling-east-asias-waters?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Nov 2025 01:30:14 +0000 C. Uday Bhaskar C. Uday Bhaskar The two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit that concluded in Tianjin on September 1 was a significant diplomatic triumph for President Xi Jinping and Beijing. The forum sought to burnish China’s geopolitical profile as a reliable interlocutor and an alternative voice for stability in global governance. SCO summits tend to be low-key and do not garner much notice. This time, though, China used the opportunity to signal it had arrived at the global high table at a time when US... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3324348/summit-full-symbolism-china-lays-out-vision-multipolar-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3324348/summit-full-symbolism-china-lays-out-vision-multipolar-order?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Sep 2025 01:30:08 +0000 C. Uday Bhaskar C. Uday Bhaskar The unconditional ceasefire agreed to by Thailand and Cambodia that came into force from midnight on Monday is to be cautiously welcomed, and current Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) chair Malaysia is to be commended for enabling this truce. China and the United States also played a role in nudging the two Southeast Asian neighbours to end the unexpected escalation in a military conflict over a disputed border that saw the use of fighter jets, drones, tanks and artillery guns. The... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3320083/cambodia-thailand-ceasefire-welcome-festering-grievances-must-be-tackled?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3320083/cambodia-thailand-ceasefire-welcome-festering-grievances-must-be-tackled?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:30:08 +0000 C. Uday Bhaskar C. Uday Bhaskar The United States’ attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites on June 22 have been described as a “spectacular military success” by US President Donald Trump. Some have concluded that Israel has emerged as the definitive winner in a long-festering regional rivalry. The political objective of this dramatic American intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict was a simple Trump goal: “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” With a fragile ceasefire in place between Israel and Iran, an objective assessment of US and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3315742/us-bombing-iran-risks-breakdown-nuclear-governance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3315742/us-bombing-iran-risks-breakdown-nuclear-governance?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jun 2025 21:30:07 +0000 C. Uday Bhaskar C. Uday Bhaskar US President Donald Trump made his first overseas visit in his second term with a whistle-stop tour to the Middle East which took him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The visit that concluded on May 16, apart from triggering a controversy over Qatar’s offer to give a luxury plane to Trump, has led to several presidential announcements that radically alter long-held US policies towards the region. If realised, these will result in a dramatic churn in regional... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3311122/his-historic-tour-trump-puts-us-power-back-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3311122/his-historic-tour-trump-puts-us-power-back-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 May 2025 21:30:07 +0000 The bilateral relationship between China and India, described in rich imagery as the “dragon-elephant tango” by President Xi Jinping, came into focus when leaders from the two nations exchanged greetings on April 1 for the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties. Currently both Asian giants are trying to arrive at a modus vivendi over a long festering territorial dispute that in 2020 erupted into a deadly clash in the Galwan region of Ladakh in the high Himalayas. Xi noted that both... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3305503/void-left-us-aid-cuts-could-be-vital-test-china-india-detente?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3305503/void-left-us-aid-cuts-could-be-vital-test-china-india-detente?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Apr 2025 12:30:09 +0000 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded its deliberations in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, recently. Predictably, there was a deadlock between the participants over the date by which the detailed, three-part assessment on the climate crisis – the seventh in the series – will be presented to the United Nations. The report is a comprehensive review and a rigorously researched assessment of climate impacts, vulnerabilities and mitigation efforts. Some want the report to be... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3300953/can-china-and-india-step-fill-climate-void-left-trumps-america?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3300953/can-china-and-india-step-fill-climate-void-left-trumps-america?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Mar 2025 12:30:10 +0000 The India-US bilateral relationship is likely to be reviewed at summit level after US President Donald Trump invites Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House for a visit next week. Trade tariffs and immigration will be on the top of the list, and the first batch of deported immigrants have returned to India. Soon after Trump assumed office, the two leaders had a telephone conversation which was described as “productive”. Trump sought a move towards a “fair bilateral trading relationship”... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3297407/how-modis-us-visit-could-add-chinas-growing-list-worries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3297407/how-modis-us-visit-could-add-chinas-growing-list-worries?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Feb 2025 21:30:07 +0000 China continues to be the target of US security and strategic concerns. An abiding policy focus since Donald Trump’s first presidential term in 2017-2021, the anxiety about Beijing has been reiterated in Joe Biden’s current tenure with all the early signals suggesting the policy will continue when Trump assumes office again on January 20. With his many senior appointments announced being well-known China hawks, the concern about China is clearly recurring. This was more than evident when Trump... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3294324/beyond-us-china-tussles-geopolitics-will-be-shaped-india-russia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3294324/beyond-us-china-tussles-geopolitics-will-be-shaped-india-russia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2025 12:30:09 +0000 Rebel groups that ousted former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have named Mohammed al-Bashir as the caretaker prime minister of a nation that is caught in the vortex of a dramatic regime change with significant geopolitical implications, both regional and global. The flux in Syria ranges from celebration over the removal of a brutal ruler to deep anxiety about what the future holds for more than 23 million citizens who have endured years of repression, war, displacement and turmoil. Violent... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3290285/can-syria-finally-find-stability-after-decades-war-and-repression?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3290285/can-syria-finally-find-stability-after-decades-war-and-repression?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Dec 2024 21:30:08 +0000 In a sign that could be interpreted as the beginning of a tentative thaw in the troubled Sino-Indian relationship, Beijing invited a group of Indian journalists to China earlier this month for an interaction with officials, academics and analysts. Dwelling on the personal chemistry between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their brief meeting on the sidelines of last month’s Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, the message from Beijing to the Indian... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3287226/improved-india-china-relations-could-temper-effects-trump-20?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3287226/improved-india-china-relations-could-temper-effects-trump-20?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2024 21:30:08 +0000 The Norwegian Nobel Committee is to be commended for awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to the Japanese grass-roots organisation Nihon Hidankyo for its quiet but tenacious anti-nuclear advocacy. The organisation was set up in 1956 by those who survived the August 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These survivors are known in Japanese as hibakusha; the term refers to people affected by exposure to radiation from the atomic bombs. They are among the most unfortunate victims of the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3282541/bomb-survivors-nobel-prize-reminder-world-edge-nuclear-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3282541/bomb-survivors-nobel-prize-reminder-world-edge-nuclear-war?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Oct 2024 12:30:07 +0000 The latest Quad summit took place last Saturday in Wilmington, Delaware – the hometown of US President Joe Biden. The leaders of the United States, Australia, India and Japan gathered for a sixth time since 2021 and capped their meeting with a detailed, expansive statement of more than 5,000 words. The agreements reached ranged from matters related to the Indo-Pacific and maritime domain awareness, to joint port development, cybersecurity and improving interoperability among coastguards.... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3279746/quad-makes-it-clear-china-its-much-more-sea-foam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3279746/quad-makes-it-clear-china-its-much-more-sea-foam?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Sep 2024 21:30:07 +0000 After Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 23 in Kyiv, the media played up photographs of Modi giving Zelensky his traditional bear hug. Zelensky said on X (formerly Twitter) that with Modi’s first visit to Ukraine as prime minister “history was made”, and that India supports “Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty”. While this might suggest Modi’s visit to Kyiv was a case of India supporting Ukraine in the festering war... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3276059/india-and-china-continue-walk-fine-line-over-russias-war-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3276059/india-and-china-continue-walk-fine-line-over-russias-war-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Aug 2024 21:30:11 +0000 An unexpected and dramatic development plunged Bangladesh into turmoil on Monday as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina abruptly resigned after 15 years in power and fled to India in a military aircraft. This ignominious exit followed weeks of student-led protests over the job quota system and brutal reprisals by security forces. Images of jubilant protesters ransacking the prime minister’s residence testify to the intensity of the anti-Hasina sentiment. This was reminiscent of what happened in Colombo... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3273562/sheikh-hasinas-fall-bangladesh-shows-historys-cruel-irony?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3273562/sheikh-hasinas-fall-bangladesh-shows-historys-cruel-irony?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Aug 2024 15:54:47 +0000 China enabled a potentially major diplomatic breakthrough in the historically tangled and now bloodied Palestinian issue on Tuesday with the consensus reached in the Beijing Declaration. The agreement lays the foundation for reconciliation among 14 rival Palestinian factions. The fact that China brought together the two most dominant groups and bitter rivals – Fatah and Hamas – to the same table is a feather in the cap for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. One uses the word “potentially”, for... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3271962/kudos-china-helping-open-door-palestinian-unity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3271962/kudos-china-helping-open-door-palestinian-unity?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Jul 2024 21:30:13 +0000 A little-known reformist politician Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon by profession and former health minister, will be sworn in as Iran’s ninth president in early August. He will succeed the late former president, Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. The crash led to speculation that Raisi was assassinated, among other conspiracy theories. Iranian domestic politics has been in a state of unexpected churn since the tragic development. This most recent presidential election pit... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3269766/iranians-voted-change-just-how-much-can-get-through?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3269766/iranians-voted-change-just-how-much-can-get-through?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jul 2024 12:30:09 +0000 On June 1, India, the world’s largest democracy, concluded the last phase of a six-week marathon voting process to elect a new government. Big numbers are par for the course in a country of 1.4 billion people. More than 642 million people – including about 312 million women – cast their vote, with total voter turnout estimated at around 66 per cent. The results declared on June 4 brought welcome surprises as well as deep dismay. These responses are both innately symbolic and have potentially... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3265641/indias-shock-election-result-shows-democracy-still-thriving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3265641/indias-shock-election-result-shows-democracy-still-thriving?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jun 2024 08:30:11 +0000 Major power relations have undergone a significant transformation this month. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Europe, followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China, may well herald the start of major geopolitical turbulence. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has imposed new tariffs on imports of electric vehicles and other strategic goods from China. Whether this marks a new phase of the US-China trade war is moot. For now, the Chinese commerce ministry has noted that... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3263469/putins-visit-china-brings-new-cold-war-and-nuclear-threat-ever-closer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3263469/putins-visit-china-brings-new-cold-war-and-nuclear-threat-ever-closer?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 May 2024 21:30:09 +0000 The April 13 Iranian attack on Israel with more than 300 explosive-laden drones and missiles has definitively altered the West Asian security framework. Certain long-held axioms have been broken or rendered obsolete, spanning the entire spectrum of warfare – from strategic nuclear weapons and conventional capabilities, such as air defence systems, to low-intensity conflict and grey zone warfare. While there is both anxiety and uncertainty about how Israel’s military is likely to respond to the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3259328/how-irans-attack-will-force-israel-rethink-its-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3259328/how-irans-attack-will-force-israel-rethink-its-security?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:30:09 +0000 In a politically significant, albeit symbolic development, the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding a Gaza ceasefire for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. This is the first ceasefire resolution it has passed since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and the brutal reprisals that followed. Four previous ceasefire resolutions failed: three were vetoed by the US and one was voted down by China and Russia. The latest resolution had 14 votes in favour; the US... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3257115/gaza-war-un-security-councils-ceasefire-demand-must-not-be-ignored?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3257115/gaza-war-un-security-councils-ceasefire-demand-must-not-be-ignored?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Mar 2024 07:30:22 +0000 The human suffering in Gaza is tragic beyond words. Relief agencies have been warning of extreme food deprivation and the outbreak of diseases. The official death toll in Palestine is reaching 30,000. According to the Gaza health ministry, women and children make up most of the casualties. Even as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of Rafah, there is some hope that the “basic contours” of a hostage deal for a temporary ceasefire may soon be finalised. In the meantime, the pain felt by the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3253389/gaza-war-gives-global-south-powers-chance-provide-moral-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3253389/gaza-war-gives-global-south-powers-chance-provide-moral-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Feb 2024 12:00:10 +0000 The UN Security Council emergency meeting, held on Monday at Russia’s request to deliberate the US military strikes against targets in Iraq and Syria – and the potential implications for peace and security in a region still reeling from the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and the disproportionate reprisals – ended in an inconclusive but predictable manner. The five permanent members stuck to their respective national positions – as is often the case when there is a sharp divergence between the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3251390/world-needs-china-take-diplomatic-gauntlet-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3251390/world-needs-china-take-diplomatic-gauntlet-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Feb 2024 21:30:18 +0000 The US has carried out a second strike on Yemen to curb the Houthi rebels’ ability to attack merchant shipping – which the group has been engaged in since November, in protest at Israel’s war against Hamas. While Washington has stressed its strikes were defensive in nature, it is possible that they could lead to an escalation of violence in the Middle East. This would not be in the global interest and major powers need to prevent such an outcome. The Houthi movement that controls large parts of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3248590/china-and-india-have-duty-act-houthi-threat-global-shipping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3248590/china-and-india-have-duty-act-houthi-threat-global-shipping?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jan 2024 21:30:14 +0000 The Indian Ocean has been receiving considerable attention recently, with a conclave of naval chiefs of littoral nations meeting in Bangkok under the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium banner. The symposium is an Indian initiative begun in 2008 and seeks to further maritime cooperation among the regional navies of the Indian Ocean. Earlier, China convened a maritime conference in Kunming to enhance blue-economy cooperation with select Indian Ocean nations under the theme of “Boosting Sustainable Blue... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3245781/can-china-and-india-give-small-indian-ocean-region-nations-what-they-really-need?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3245781/can-china-and-india-give-small-indian-ocean-region-nations-what-they-really-need?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Dec 2023 21:30:12 +0000 The annual US Department of Defence report on “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China”, also called the China Military Power Report, was released on October 19. Its central assertion is that Beijing’s national strategy is to achieve “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” by 2049. The 212-page report further adds that this strategy aims to “revise the international order in support of the PRC’s system of governance and national interests” and that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3239577/unstable-world-needs-us-and-china-thaw-ties-and-provide-better-global-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3239577/unstable-world-needs-us-and-china-thaw-ties-and-provide-better-global-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Oct 2023 12:30:18 +0000 Peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific was the theme of a recently concluded conference of 18 army chiefs in New Delhi. Though the US and Indian army chiefs, who were joint hosts, did not directly name China as a challenge, it was clearly on their minds, given the remarks of the participants at the three-day 13th Indo-Pacific Army Chiefs Conference (IPACC), drawn from 30 nations. It would also seem that the Indo-Pacific, usually perceived as a maritime domain, is acquiring an autonomous... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3236552/long-us-stokes-chinas-indo-pacific-fears-there-will-be-no-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3236552/long-us-stokes-chinas-indo-pacific-fears-there-will-be-no-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Oct 2023 12:30:08 +0000 The 94-paragraph joint statement issued last week at the Brics summit by the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa contained the event’s most significant outcome towards the very end, in paragraph 91. It referred to the decision to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of the group from next January. The group that was founded with the four nations in June 2009, and later incorporated South Africa, has now... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3232842/troubled-china-india-relationship-means-asian-century-remains-elusive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3232842/troubled-china-india-relationship-means-asian-century-remains-elusive?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Sep 2023 00:15:12 +0000 Russia’s threat on July 30 of a “global nuclear fire” in response to Ukraine’s counteroffensive came exactly a week before Hiroshima Day, held as a reminder of the horrors of the nuclear bomb. The US dropped atomic bombs on Japan in the final stages of World War II, hitting Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, then Nagasaki three days later. Since that terrifying nuclear inferno ravaged the two Japanese cities and their hapless citizens, a global nuclear taboo has been maintained – but this now appears... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3229757/russia-again-raises-spectre-nuclear-war-world-leaders-must-renew-their-deterrence-vow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3229757/russia-again-raises-spectre-nuclear-war-world-leaders-must-renew-their-deterrence-vow?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Aug 2023 19:30:09 +0000 Though China was not explicitly referred to in the joint statement signed by US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington on June 22, it is the catalyst that has elevated US-India relations to a special strategic partnership. The two democracies have lived with a shared but muted strategic and security concern since the end of the Cold War. They are both focused on the implications of the rise of China. In recent years, this anxiety has become more acute and both... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3225606/why-deepening-us-india-bond-should-give-china-pause?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3225606/why-deepening-us-india-bond-should-give-china-pause?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jun 2023 00:15:09 +0000 The United States and China engaged in a robust verbal duel at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore this month under the aegis of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. As in recent years, the defence ministers of the two nations held each other culpable for endangering regional peace and stability. This year, sharp words were again exchanged and stern proclamations issued. It seemed that the warning lights were flashing given the provocative military manoeuvres which... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3223219/us-china-relations-despite-discord-singapore-high-level-talks-beijing-offer-hope?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3223219/us-china-relations-despite-discord-singapore-high-level-talks-beijing-offer-hope?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jun 2023 17:30:17 +0000 Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan may have been released on bail but the country remains in a tumultuous spiral after his heavy-handed arrest at the Islamabad High Court last week by the paramilitary Rangers. The ugly arrest and its sheer impunity – carried out by soldiers rather than the police – sparked nationwide, anti-army protests by Khan’s supporters. This assault on the army is unprecedented in Pakistan. With at least nine reported dead and thousands arrested, the situation... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3220789/what-protests-pakistan-against-imran-khans-arrest-mean-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3220789/what-protests-pakistan-against-imran-khans-arrest-mean-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 May 2023 22:15:10 +0000 This has been a month of heightened diplomatic activity in East Asia with Chinese President Xi Jinping hosting his French and Brazilian counterparts in Beijing while Tokyo convened a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven in preparation for next month’s G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit received considerable attention for the scale of his red-carpet reception and Xi’s attention. Sino-French bonhomie was on display and informal meetings between... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3217644/eus-struggle-find-unified-stance-china-will-shape-us-china-contest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3217644/eus-struggle-find-unified-stance-china-will-shape-us-china-contest?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Apr 2023 17:00:09 +0000 As the intractable war in Ukraine, initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 last year, reaches the 400-day mark, Moscow has visibly upped the ante by announcing it will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Putin said the trigger for the move was the UK’s decision to provide Ukraine with ammunition containing depleted uranium, although the latter cannot be compared to tactical nuclear weapons. This is not the first time Russia has rattled its formidable nuclear sabre.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3215111/russia-rattles-nuclear-sabre-again-there-path-forward-global-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3215111/russia-rattles-nuclear-sabre-again-there-path-forward-global-security?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Mar 2023 17:00:09 +0000 US President Joe Biden delivered the annual State of the Union address on February 7, and the references to China point to the emergence of what could be described as a low-intensity war between the world’s two major powers. This bodes ill for a pandemic-scarred, conflict-weary world seeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lurch into the second year of a war that began last February 24. Biden, who is likely to seek re-election next year, said in his address, “I am committed to work with China where... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3210260/us-china-balloongate-fallout-should-hasten-review-near-space-use?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3210260/us-china-balloongate-fallout-should-hasten-review-near-space-use?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Feb 2023 19:30:08 +0000 January 6, 2021, will go down in history as the day the United States was shocked out of its self-image as a robust, liberal nation committed to democracy. On that tumultuous day, the rule of law and sanctity of the ballot in one of the world’s oldest democracies came under brutal assault and the lives of elected legislators were at grave risk. In an unprecedented development, a sitting president stoked a mob that included many white supremacists into rejecting the voter verdict and casting... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3205326/attack-us-capitol-two-security-time-bombs-america-revealed-committee-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3205326/attack-us-capitol-two-security-time-bombs-america-revealed-committee-report?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Jan 2023 19:30:20 +0000 Notwithstanding its raison d’être of “economic cooperation”, the 21-member Apec grouping released a statement after its recent Bangkok summit that highlighted the prevailing geopolitical tensions that have led to destruction, displacements and disruptions across the world. This is in keeping with the discordant sentiment that animated the Group of 20 summit held in Bali just days before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. While the focus of the G20 summit was overshadowed by the first... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3200742/g20-apec-great-power-obstinacy-strangling-plans-economic-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3200742/g20-apec-great-power-obstinacy-strangling-plans-economic-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Nov 2022 19:30:08 +0000 The troubled US-China relationship recently acquired formal articulation through two major policy documents released within a week of each other – first, the US national security strategy report, then Xi Jinping’s report to China’s 20th party congress. Both are comprehensive and aimed at the domestic audience. As the world’s two largest economies with significant military and technological capabilities, their national strategies are framed against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine –... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3198026/wary-india-remains-caught-between-us-china-geopolitical-contest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3198026/wary-india-remains-caught-between-us-china-geopolitical-contest?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Nov 2022 17:00:20 +0000 India and the United States moved swiftly in tandem this week to engage in a damage-control exercise to smooth a jolted bilateral relationship. New Delhi was visibly upset over Washington’s decision to extend support to Pakistan by way of upgrading its US-supplied F-16 fighter aircraft. On Monday, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the US’ claim that the F-16s package was to aid counterterrorism operations was “not fooling anyone”. Following that sharp observation, US... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3194133/blowback-over-pakistan-f-16-deal-highlights-limits-indias-closer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3194133/blowback-over-pakistan-f-16-deal-highlights-limits-indias-closer?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Sep 2022 19:30:13 +0000 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, concluded on Friday with the leaders signing off on a comprehensive joint declaration in Russian that was more than 7,800 words long, subdivided into 121 paragraphs in its English translation. In the opening section of the declaration, the leaders of the SCO member states – China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – noted the global changes the world is experiencing. They... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3193038/tensions-between-china-india-and-russia-samarkhand-summit-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3193038/tensions-between-china-india-and-russia-samarkhand-summit-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Sep 2022 22:45:09 +0000 The Chinese satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 left the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota on August 22, after sparking a mini political-diplomatic row between China and India. The muted turbulence is the most recent manifestation of a long-simmering power rivalry in the Indian Ocean between the two Asian giants. It is instructive that this muscle-flexing took place amid India’s celebration of its 75th anniversary of independence on August 15. In the first few heady years of postcolonial... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3189850/china-india-row-over-yuan-wang-5-spy-ship-sending-ripples-through?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3189850/china-india-row-over-yuan-wang-5-spy-ship-sending-ripples-through?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Aug 2022 01:15:23 +0000 The international conference to review the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) could be one of the most important yet most bitterly contested global meetings in recent years. The deliberations of the nearly month-long 10th NPT Review Conference starting today in New York will affect how nuclear weapons will be managed in the decades ahead. The choice is between the world moving towards some degree of consensual nuclear restraint, or lurching into a discordant and brittle... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3187081/amid-ukraine-war-gap-between-nuclear-weapon-haves-and-have-nots?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3187081/amid-ukraine-war-gap-between-nuclear-weapon-haves-and-have-nots?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Aug 2022 05:30:24 +0000 A series of major-nation summits was held at the end of June – including the Group of 7, BRICS and Nato – where the war in Ukraine and related geopolitical developments dominated deliberations. Yet, a little-noticed UN conference that concluded in Lisbon on July 1 could yet be the most critical event that has the potential to shape the health of the world and its inhabitants. The past 300 years have witnessed rapid technological progress, resulting in the ruthless exploitation of natural... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3184479/lack-global-consensus-bodes-ill-health-worlds-oceans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3184479/lack-global-consensus-bodes-ill-health-worlds-oceans?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Jul 2022 22:45:21 +0000 The Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, which brought together defence ministers and senior officials from across the Indo-Pacific, was mainly dominated by the verbal sparring between the United States and China, and the war in Ukraine. As alliance members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the US, Japan, India and Australia also acquired a degree of focus. This was more so since Japan and Australia were represented by their prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively – while India... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3181800/india-remains-wild-card-us-china-security-tussle-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3181800/india-remains-wild-card-us-china-security-tussle-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Jun 2022 01:15:20 +0000 US President Joe Biden hosted Southeast Asian leaders at an in-person summit in Washington on May 13, hailing it as the beginning of a “new era” in the relations between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Myanmar and the Philippines were not represented at the summit, with the former being excluded after the military coup and the latter being in the midst of a major electoral transition. While the joint statement between the US and Asean was comprehensive and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3178162/differences-within-asean-and-quad-could-sink-us-indo-pacific-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3178162/differences-within-asean-and-quad-could-sink-us-indo-pacific-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 May 2022 16:30:19 +0000 The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 is poised to enter its third month. Given its European geography, strategic locus and sociopolitical history, this war has received more attention and coverage than many equally, if not more, tragic wars in Asia and Africa in the post-Cold-War decades. Nevertheless, the damage and destruction has been considerable. Casualties among those involved in the fighting number in the thousands, while millions of people have been displaced within Ukraine or... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3175034/ukraine-war-reminder-asia-move-past-its-old-rivalries-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3175034/ukraine-war-reminder-asia-move-past-its-old-rivalries-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Apr 2022 01:15:18 +0000 The unannounced visit of Foreign Minister Wang Yi to New Delhi last Friday was the first visit by a senior Chinese minister since the tense military stand-off between India and China in mid-2020 along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh region of the Himalayas. At the time, Chinese troops moved into areas along Pangong Lake that are part of the Indian claim line. This was a violation of the 1993 agreement to maintain peace and tranquillity along the LAC. Beijing sought out... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3172240/ukraine-war-how-india-china-cooperation-can-help-remove-nuclear?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3172240/ukraine-war-how-india-china-cooperation-can-help-remove-nuclear?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Mar 2022 19:30:13 +0000 The crisis in Ukraine has been rendered even more ominous after Russian President Vladimir Putin put his country’s nuclear deterrence forces on “special alert” in response to what he described as Nato’s aggression. Belarus has also decided to renounce its non-nuclear status, enabling Russia to locate nuclear weapons in that nation – if required. Predictably, the global community is bewildered by this threat of weapons of mass destruction. The US has condemned the move as “unacceptable” and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3168697/world-has-entered-post-ukraine-phase-which-9/11-will-shape-global?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3168697/world-has-entered-post-ukraine-phase-which-9/11-will-shape-global?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Mar 2022 19:30:16 +0000