Category : As We Heard

The Delhi-Canberra strategic relationship may be rocking after the Modi-Morrison summit last week but there was a time when bilateral ties had hit rock-bottom. This was shortly after the Pokhran-II nuclear tests of 1998 when Australia, eagerly followed in the footsteps of the U.S. in imposing harsh sanctions on India, severing both diplomatic and military […]Read More

The Nepal government may be trying its best to pressure India into discussing territorial disputes over Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura but New Delhi seems in no hurry to accept Kathmandu’s demand for foreign secretary-level talks. It’s told Kathmandu the issue will be discussed between the foreign secretaries once the two countries have dealt with Covid-19. […]Read More

Top Indian officials have gone on record indicating that China was at fault for instigating Nepal on the Lipulekh road. But Beijing sees Nepal as the conduit to enter the Indian market, so logically it would be careful about what it did. Now it seems the Nepalis were alerted to the Lipulekh road by a […]Read More

This will appear odd but, until fairly recently, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ran karaoke bars, revenues from which went directly into the local commander’s pockets.  Even today, the PLA runs piggeries to ensure a steady supply of pork to the men in uniform. It’s part of an extensive network of commercial enterprises that has enriched the […]Read More

Was China surprised by 54 African nations backing the resolution for a probe into the pandemic? Probably not. They may have been informed quietly by some of their friends and well wishers on the continent. This could mark a turning point for African perceptions of China, until now grounded in Beijing’s lavish spending on infrastructure […]Read More

Has the time come for India to change track on Taiwan? Until now it’s been bending over backwards to please China, with the result the flow of commerce and technology has been squeezed while also limiting South Block’s diplomatic leverage vis a vis Beijing.  StratNews Global learns this may be changing. The idea is to unshackle […]Read More

Higher than the Himalayas, deeper than Indian Ocean. This philosophy of friendship between China and Pakistan manifests itself in various ways even under the most adverse circumstances. While the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has slowed down considerably for lack of timely funds, military and intelligence cooperation between the two countries continues unabated. For instance, a […]Read More

China was making a not-so-subtle point when it installed a 5G base station on Mount Everest earlier this month. Cyber is among China’s “new domains of warfare” (others are biology, brain science, artificial intelligence etc) where the state is investing heavily. Through extensive use of cyber tools, China will seek to infiltrate, hack and undermine […]Read More

India’s High Commissioner-designate to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay landed in Colombo today. Unable to travel on a commercial flight since airlines stopped flying in and out of India immediately after the lockdown came into effect in the last week of March, Baglay flew on an IL-76 plane from Delhi to Colombo accompanying a load of […]Read More

The Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi has been hard at work trying to evacuate its citizens stranded by the Indian decision to suspend all international and regional flights, followed by the lockdown. Many Bangladeshis were here for medical treatment and thanks to the high commission’s efforts, many have returned home. A group of 164 Bangladshi […]Read More