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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'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.'
'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.'
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
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.'
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.
'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.
'Geopolitically and diplomatically it's a very difficult situation for India.'
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.
During the talks, India and the US decided to take a big leap in broad-basing their strategic ties in several critical areas.
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.
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.
'...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.'
'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.'
'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.
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.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying said China-Pakistan cooperation is in accordance with the 48-member nuclear club, which supervises global nuclear commerce.
'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.'
'Every decision India makes along the LoC, it must also consider implications along the LAC.'
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.
'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.'
'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.'
Trump couldn't care less anymore about the Israeli demand for Iran's 'de-nuclearisation' and 'de-militarisation.' Trump pins hopes on a grand bargain with Iran as a partner in America First, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The BRICS nations condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, advocated for a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, and criticized rising tariffs during their summit in Rio de Janeiro. They also addressed global challenges and called for reforms in international institutions.
'We are too important to want to be paired with Pakistan but too intensely connected to it to successfully detach ourselves,' asserts Aakar Patel.
The crises of the 21st century, 9/11, the economic meltdown, COVID-19, Russia-Iran war and the Hamas-Israel war seem to be never ending. In this situation, Iran might be contemplating a nuclear deterrent to defend itself, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the distinguished long-time Rediff contributor who turns 80 on June 17..
Reports (not denied by India) that the USA had 'for the first time provided real-time details to their Indian counterparts on the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion' into Tawang at the LAC in December 2022, helping India thwart China's expansionist designs, show how operationally effective the USA-India friendship has become on the ground. A engaging excerpt from Sreeram Chaulia's must-read new book, Friends: India's Closest Strategic Partners.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
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