Indo-Pacific
Commentary: Vietnam-Australia Relationship Upgraded to Strategic Partnership: Adds to Regional Stability

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, after his visit to New Zealand and Australia in mid-March also attended the Australian-ASEAN Summit, the first ever such exercise being undertaken by Canberra. The Vietnamese leader’s visit took place af....

Commentary: Cambodia inching closer to China: Regional Implications on the Indo-Pacific

The forcible dissolution of Cambodia’s opposition party Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the seizure of its headquarters and the crackdown on reporters has resulted in condemnation from the West. The Cambodian senate elections that were condu....

Whither ‘Quad’ – Alliance or Alignment

The congregation of the leaders of the US, Japan, India and Australia on the sidelines of ASEAN Summit in November 2017 in Manila has been a significant geo-political statement for the Indo-Pacific community. The timing and place for rekindling the o....

Commentary: China and Philippines Rapprochement: Implications for India

With the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Philippines conducting the second Bilateral Consultation Meeting on the South China Sea, there’s been a range of views on what this could mean for regional stability in the Indo-Pacific. While the USA....

Commentary: Quad Plus - Time for New Stakeholders

China’s rapid march westward through the Indo-Pacific region appears to be running into rough weather. Australia, India, Japan and the United States, the members of the ‘Quad’, an ‘association of like-minded nations’, have established a Qua....

Commentary: Strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Vietnam

Within a short period of less than two months there would have been two high level political leaders from Vietnam visiting India. Last month Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was in New Delhi as part of the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit as also to w....

Commentary: India, Hopeful to Expand its Influence in the Indo-Pacific, Signs Pact with Seychelles

The Republic of Seychelles is an archipelago which lies in the Indian Ocean. The country has 115 islands with Victoria as its capital. Some of the nearby islands and territories to Seychelles are Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, Comoros, etc. The coun....

Commentary: Japan’s Challenges and Indo-Japanese Connection - Perspectives for 2018

In the new year, Japan under Shinzo Abe faces many challenges on the foreign policy front. Some of these are perennial problems and others are relatively new. Among the continuing challenges is the threat of North Korea and its ballistic missile a....

Containment Again: Will this be the Leitmotif of the ‘Quad’?

Prologue When George F Kennan wrote his ‘Long Telegram’ from the Moscow embassy in February 1946, soon after the death of the three-term president of the USA, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), it was early in arriving. The lege....

Commentary: North Korea Takes Advantage of Flags of Convenience Regime

Amid high decibel ‘verbal exchanges’ between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over latter’s nuclear ambition, the United Nations Security Council announced on 22 December 2017 new economic sanctions against Democrat....

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