IDR Blog
As China woos South Asia, India remains wary
The flowers in the ‘spring city’ of Kunming, capital of China’s southwestern Yunnan province, were in full bloom and the pleasant weather was at its best as it played host to the 4th China-South Asia Expo and the 24th China Kunming Import and Export Commodities Fair (June 12-17). At the end of the six day Kunming Expo and Fair co-hosted...
Vietnam's Love-Hate Relationship with China: A Historical Explanation
China had always been and would continue to be a key point of reference to the foreign policy makers of Southeast Asian countries, especially for Vietnam. Sharing land and maritime boundaries with China, Vietnam, from very early times, had been profoundly influenced by its giant neighbor in the north. It has shared cultural traditions; in fact,...
Defining India's role in Indo-US Strategic Partnership
Background In 2005, the Bush administration assigned an additional aircraft carrier to the US Pacific Command (USPACOM). Later, Henry Kissinger in an article published in Washington Post on August 19th, 2009, for the first time talked about ‘Rebalancing Relations with China’. After initial churning of strategic options for the rebalancing...
It has got the beans: India and Mexico seek new partnership
At the invitation of President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the concluding leg of his five nation tour on June 8, 2016, undertook a brief working visit to Mexico. The main objective of the visit was to carry forward the recent momentum in bilateral relations, discuss cooperation and seek Mexico’s support...
One of the Most Intriguing Officers in the Indian Army
Quoting former Foreign Secretary M.K. Rasgotra, PTI reported that though the U.S. President John F. Kennedy had offered to help India detonate a nuclear device much before China did (in 1964), it was rejected by the Indian Prime Minister. The conclusions of news agency are however doubtful, as the incident is taken out of context; PTI says:...