In its annual report to Congress on Tuesday on 'Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025', the US Department of War said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is actively considering and planning for additional military facilities.
India has expressed strong concern over the targeting of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during the West Asia conflict, urging for the restoration of unimpeded navigation and global commerce.
Since 55 per cent of Indian trade passes through the South China Sea, and with over $5 billion investments in the energy sector in Vietnam, it is imperative India actively pursues its national interests in the region, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
China on Tuesday warned the Philippines not to "misjudge" its resolve over a disputed island in the South China Sea, saying it is "fully prepared" to respond to any move by Manila to escalate the situation.
The top diplomats of Quad nations on Friday denounced as "inadmissible" any use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war and strongly opposed any "unilateral actions" that seek to change the status quo in the South and East China Seas, a region that has witnessed increasing Chinese military offensive.
Amid deepening row with the United States over disputed South China Sea where American ships challenged China's claims of sovereignty, Chinese military has deployed its latest anti-ship cruise missiles which experts say can form a powerful defence line at sea.
Amid its raging dispute with Japan over the sovereignty of islands in East China Sea, the Chinese military has conducted exercises with amphibious tanks practising stealth landing on the territory.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday asked the United States to "play a constructive role" in maintaining peace and stability in the disputed South China Sea, asserting that Beijing will "unswervingly" safeguard its sovereignty over the area.
Against the backdrop of a tiff between India and China over the South China Sea, Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday called for exercising restraint to resolve the issue while pressing for freedom of navigation and access to resources.
An international tribunal in the Hague has ruled in favour of the Philippines.
Striking a combative posture amid deepening row over the South China Sea, China on Wednesday announced naval exercises in the Western Pacific asserting that its lawful rights including navigation should not be hindered.
With East Asian countries remaining locked in a tussle over mineral-rich South China Sea, India today said the dispute should not override the interests of the region and favoured an "open, inclusive and rule-based" architecture to govern the maritime region
India and Japan on Friday sought a peaceful solution to the territorial disputes in the strategic South China Sea, saying parties involved in the matter must not resort to "threat or use of force", in remarks that could anger China which is opposed to any outside interference.
The United States and China on Wednesday failed to reach a consensus on how to resolve Beijing's territorial disputes with smaller nations in South China Sea, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks with top leaders in Beijing but not 'President-in-waiting' Xi Jinping who cancelled a meeting at the last minute.
The clock on the ceasefire is running out. But everyone's already whispering about round two, possibly as soon as this weekend.
Hailing India for keeping "neutral stand" over the South China Sea issue despite pressure from the US and Japan, state-run Chinese media on Wednesday said there are some contradictions and frictions between the two nations but the overall bilateral relations have been developing smoothly.
...is a way out, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War. What the indefinite extension produces is a prolonged condition of not-war-not-peace, in which oil markets cannot stabilise, Asian refineries cannot plan, European governments cannot stop subsidising consumption they cannot afford, and the next flashpoint -- a seized tanker, a miscalculated drone strike, a Truth Social post that claims too much -- is one news cycle away.
Amid the dispute between India and China over exploration in South China Sea, the United States on Tuesday said the laws of the seas should apply and issues should be addressed through dialogue.
Will rising tensions between US-Israel and Iran threaten crude oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, putting India's fuel prices, imports, and economic stability at risk?
The Kremlin has announced it will not disclose data on crude oil exports to India, citing concerns about 'ill-wishers'. This decision follows reports of increased Russian oil supplies to India and China amid geopolitical tensions.
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'The worst case scenario is for China to behave like a bull in China shop, and brazenly and wantonly indulge in further encroachments, create obstacles to free navigation and convert SCS into an Air Defence Identification Zone.'
As famous as movie stars and global leaders are a bunch of animal celebs that the world grew to positively adore.
In an angry reaction to US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's remarks that "China's actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation" in the South China Sea, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media that "Carter's remarks reflected typical American style thinking and hegemony".
The US has temporarily permitted India to accept Russian oil already on ships to ensure energy supplies amid the conflict with Iran. This short-term measure is not expected to significantly benefit Russia financially.
Indian and the United States navy are conducting their annual amphibious training exercise -- Habu Nag -- in the East China Sea, which is designed to enhance their bilateral interoperability, including humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
China for the first time deployed a marine surveillance unit with a helicopter to carry out patrolling and observation missions near the contested islands in the South China Sea.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that long-term oil supplies are 'abundant' and there are no worries regarding that, but in the short term, there is a need to get oil on the market.
China is opposed to India's oil exploration in the South China Sea because it is a disputed area, but regards its ambitious US $46 billion (Rs 2.9 lakh crore) economic corridor through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir a "livelihood project" with issues left over from history.
The cost of the war is being counted not in the corridors of power in Washington or Tehran, but in Firozabad's darkened furnace rooms, Howrah's idle casting sheds, and a barbershop in Kochi where the wait is suddenly, inexplicably, an hour long, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
If China can operate in India's backyard and systematically expand its influence, then there is no reason why India should feel diffident about operating in areas that China considers its own sphere of influence, argues Harsh V Pant as the Asia Security Summit convenes in Singapore.
How to manage China's rise and mould its behaviour will be one of the biggest diplomatic challenges facing New Delhi in the coming years, says Harsh V Pant.
'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.'
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'As the PLA higher command is almost dismantled and instability spreads, India needs to be prepared for any eventuality,' cautions China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
The question is whether the clocks allow enough time for two deeply mistrustful sides to get there, and whether the surface calm holds long enough for the paddling to produce something before the ceasefire ends on April 22, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
The logic of war plus the gathering storms in US politics as the midterms loom large leave him with no real alternative but to negotiate, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Any move by India to join the US navy for jointly patrolling the disputed South China Sea will be against its national interest, would divide Asian countries and further escalate regional tensions, a state-run Chinese daily said on Friday.
India has seized three US-sanctioned oil tankers linked to Iran and increased surveillance in its maritime zone to curb illicit trade.
