South East Asia

Beijing’s Development Aid Plan Is Less Flashy—but No Less Ambitious In the decade since Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s huge infrastructure and investment program has become a defining part of its foreign policy. In the BRI’s early years, dozens of emerging economies in Africa, …

India has disregarded pressure imposed by western nations, and continues to engage in trade and energy cooperation with Russia Indian oil refiners have started purchasing the majority of their Russian oil via UAE-based traders using dirhams, the Gulf state’s currency, instead of the US dollar, a number of informed sources …

Several Central Asian states are attempting to realign their energy routes and usage in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising domestic demand. Moscow and Tehran both possess the willingness and ability to disrupt or threaten Central Asian energy export routes. China is a major market for Central Asian …

The Pentagon on Friday rejected China’s claim a balloon floating above the central United States was a Chinese civilian weather research craft, though the Defense Department said the airship posed no threat to Americans on the ground. “The fact is we know that it’s a surveillance balloon,” Air Force Brig. …

IRAN The government confirmed a drone attack Sunday on what it described as a defence ministry workshop in Isfahan. There were no reported injuries, and officials said the damage was minimal. In a subsequent letter to the UN Security Council, the foreign ministry pinned responsibility on Israel, whose role has …

Thanks to the Biden administration’s weak and vacillating leadership, Iran, Russia and China have been emboldened to levels never before seen. [T]he Biden administration has not been taking any action to deter, disincentivize or punish those who breach the sanctions. Ever since the Biden administration assumed office, in fact, Iran’s …

India proposed on Wednesday 5.94 trillion rupees ($72.6 billion) in defence spending for the 2023-24 financial year, 13% up from the previous period’s initial estimates, aiming to add more fighter jets and roads along its tense border with China, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated 1.63 trillion rupees for …

The Chinese coast guard, already the largest in the world, is set to expand even further with the addition of more than 20 warships, according to a Japanese news agency. The addition of 22 former navy corvettes to China’s coast guard will give it more than 150 patrol vessels with …

Even though Southeast Asia is a strategic region in the emerging U.S.-China standoff, the Biden administration’s policy toward it in 2021 left much to be desired. During its first year in office, the Biden team lacked a strategy for the region, was short on ambassadors, and paid little attention to …

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO, has stated that the increased presence of China and its cooperation with Russia can be seen as a danger in Asia and Europe. On Wednesday, Stoltenberg stressed that the increasing assertiveness of China and its partnership with Russia poses a risk to Asia and Europe. …