There is enough scope for India and China to cooperate on nuclear energy issues despite the lingering issues which not only includes the Sino-Pakistan nexus, but also the Sino-India border dispute over the LAC, says Debalina Ghoshal.
'Pakistan's is the only military-controlled nuclear weapons programme in the world.' 'As people get radicalised, the risk of a brigadier or pilot taking matters into their own hands is a real concern.'
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is actively engaged in diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions in West Asia, offering to host talks between the US and Iran and engaging with regional leaders to promote peace and stability.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has engaged in extensive diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the conflict in West Asia, offering to host talks between the US and Iran and engaging with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, the UK, China, and the European Union.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has offered to mediate between the US and Iran to de-escalate the ongoing conflict in West Asia, following a joint US-Israel attack on Iran. Sharif has been in contact with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other nations to promote dialogue and diplomacy.
The UN Security Council, with India's support, has adopted a resolution condemning Iran's attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Jordan, demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities and denouncing threats to the Strait of Hormuz.
The enduring relationship between the two countries have survived the disintegration of the erstwhile USSR in 1991, the end of the Cold War and the regime change in both countries, points out Rup Narayan Das.
By appearing to privilege ideological affinity over strategic balance, India risks eroding the trust painstakingly built across West Asia. Once the perception takes hold that India's friendship is conditional and transactional, rebuilding credibility will be difficult, warns Amberish K Diwanji.
US President Donald Trump signed the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026 into law, highlighting broadened engagement with India and addressing the challenge posed by China in the Indo-Pacific region.
In the Indo-Pacific's new era -- where perception shapes reality faster than treaties -- the real entrapment is not of China or the United States. It is the test Japan has set for itself -- and whether partners like India, acting as balancers rather than accelerants, can help ensure that the story ends in stability, points out Varun Arya.
China tacitly acknowledged on Thursday that it will build two new nuclear reactors in Pakistan in a deal that could re-ignite persistent concerns about proliferation and safety of atomic materials in the restive South Asian nation.
On the table are additional batches of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia, which India used with immense success during Operation Sindoor. India could buy at least two squadrons of Su-57 fighter jets plus joint production of S-500 air defence systems.
The new US national security strategy signals a retreat from global dominance while reaffirming continuity in India's role in Indo-Pacific security and Quad cooperation, points out former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
India and Canada have unveiled a roadmap to boost cooperation in trade, critical minerals, and energy, signaling efforts to rebuild strained relations following the killing of a Sikh separatist in 2023. Discussions include addressing concerns over pro-Khalistan elements and pursuing a balanced partnership.
'If they can be duplicitous, we can be equally duplicitous.' 'If they offer friendship, we reciprocate.' 'If they choose hostility, we respond with equal hostility.'
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
Russia and China are 'seriously' considering a project to install a nuclear reactor on the Moon in the next decade, the official media in Moscow quoted the head of the Russian space corporation as saying.
One key development is the direct cargo connection between Chennai and Vladivostok, a crucial Russian port on the Northern Sea Route.
'What we need to watch is how Saudi Arabia's financial assistance will be used by Pakistan. If the funds go to build their military hardware and operations, it should worry us.'
'Saudi-Pak defence pact is to anchor the defence and security of Saudi Arabia and not Pakistan, per se, with Islamabad being the junior partner.'
New Delhi might have loudly welcomed an age of multipolarity, hedging and strategic autonomy. But it seems the winner in that game is Islamabad, not us, points out Mihir S Sharma.
According to recently declassified CIA data, obtained by the National Security Archive under the Freedom of Information Act, the CIA had evidence suggesting close Pakistan-China nuclear cooperation, to the point of facilitating a nuclear weapons capability, although the intelligence community saw this as possibly a special case based on an alliance that had existed since 1963.
'Geopolitically and diplomatically it's a very difficult situation for India.'
During the talks, India and the US decided to take a big leap in broad-basing their strategic ties in several critical areas.
India-US relations, like Rome, were not built in a day, nor can they be demolished in a day.
All said and done, when the new global order emerges, India can only remain with the democracies, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
A parliamentary panel on external affairs has expressed concern over China's growing presence and influence in the Indian Ocean Region, citing risks to India's national security and strategic interests. The panel also highlighted the strengthening China-Pakistan naval nexus as a cause for concern.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying said China-Pakistan cooperation is in accordance with the 48-member nuclear club, which supervises global nuclear commerce.
'...it should not delude itself into thinking that India's security or its great-power ambitions will be advanced by those partnerships.'
'Instead, what India should focus on is on riding out the next three-and-a-half years of Trump's presidency with minimal damage to itself.'
'What the Americans want is to destabilise Iran. For destabilising Iran, you need access. 'One access is through Iraq. The other access is through Pakistan.'
'Within minutes, my mobile began ringing. It was National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, asking why the Iranians were complaining.' 'I explained that we had only restated our position in the light of the conclusion reached by the IAEA, but will remain helpful to Iran to reach a consensus.' 'Then came a call from Foreign Secretary Kamal Sibal, repeating what Mishra said about the Iranian complaint.' 'I was very impressed that Iran was able to reach two top officials in India to intervene at short notice,' recalls Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'The message that we intend to leave with at the end of this trip is one of real gratitude for the friendship and the close partnership that President Biden and Prime Minister Modi have enjoyed over the last four years, but also one of tremendous optimism because we see a lot of opportunity in the future.'
'Pakistan has found itself in a favourable position after Operation Sindoor by appreciating the mediation as claimed by Trump and recommending him for the Nobel Peace Prize.'
United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said India has not been a good trading partner and announced that he will raise the tariffs on New Delhi 'very substantially' over the next 24 hours because it is buying Russian oil.
The Quad grouping has called for bringing the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to justice without any delay and urged UN member nations to extend cooperation for it.
'Every decision India makes along the LoC, it must also consider implications along the LAC.'
'If there is a military standoff eyeball to eyeball on the western border, the Chinese could create problems by making movements in the north, in our northeast, which could involve us tying down some forces there so that could stretch our military actions.'
The formulations in the declaration in reference to terrorism is going to be to our "satisfaction", Dammu Ravi, secretary (economic relations) in the external affairs ministry said on Monday.
'Fears in Washington began to intensify when it was realised that subsequent Pakistani and Indian attacks on major military facilities -- which were significant in terms of geographic scope and intensity -- could rapidly take both sides to where neither actually wanted to go.' 'The US objective was to stop the fighting as soon as possible. Everything else was secondary.'