As US President Joe Biden launched a new trade deal with 12 Indo-Pacific nations, including India, to enhance trade, economic and investment opportunities, China, which sees the pact as a threat to its dominance in the region, went on the offensive against it, promising more opening up, while the official media here termed it as "economic Nato".
It is for China to decide what role it plays at the G20 summit in New Delhi, a top US official has said, asserting that if Beijing wants to come in and be a "spoiler", that option is available to it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg are being finalised, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Monday but did not give a direct reply on the possibility of a meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
'There is little appetite in the Democratic foreign policy establishment to pick a fight with India.'
The official told the reporters during a conference call on Friday, ahead of the next week's 2+2 India-US Ministerial in New Delhi, that the Trump administration was providing support to India through defence sales, joint military exercises and information sharing.
While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
India and China have made "some progress" in disengagement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday, describing it as a "welcome" move which opens up the possibility that other steps could happen.
Prof. John Harriss of the London School of Economics says the huge investments in China have been mostly done by overseas Chinese rather than by international companies.
'We are beginning to see that the rest of the world will not simply accept the domination of one power'
The South Koreans, meanwhile, secured their first win in Group B as Paulo Bento's side saw off Lebanon in Suwon.
India is the second most optimistic nation.
The sources said 39 international passengers were found positive for COVID-19 out of the 6,000 tested on arrival in the last two days.
India, who have never won an Olympic archery medal, will send a full six-member contingent to Paris to compete in all five events for the first time in 12 years
The Biden administration's failure in stopping two major wars and several minor ones was seen as a major disaster by many Americans and the world at large, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
While Modi has spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor (270 days versus Dr Singh's 306), he has travelled more extensively and actively than any other Indian PM.
'We called on relevant countries to have dialogue and communication as soon as possible and launch a thorough investigation into this incident, strengthen information sharing and establish a notification mechanism in time to ensure the recurrence of such incidents and prevent miscalculation'
'It is time we Indians stop our internal bickering and present a united front to Chinese machinations,' advises Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
India is a driving force of the Quad and an engine for regional growth, said the White House, days after foreign ministers of the countries, which are part of the grouping, met in Melbourne.
Her comments came amid the ongoing war of words between India and Pakistan ever since India withdrew Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two union territories on August 5.
'Congrats to our team @USUN for their work in negotiating JEM's Masood Azhar's #UN designation as a terrorist,' Pompeo tweeted.
Expressing grave concern over a US nuclear-powered submarine sustaining damage in the disputed South China Sea, China on Friday demanded Washington to reveal the details and the location of the accident and blamed America's frequent air and naval sorties in the Indo-Pacific to assert the "freedom of navigation" as the "root cause" of the incident.
In a show of strength, China is deploying its aircraft carrier group and a nuclear submarine in large-scale military drills in the Taiwan Strait in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's high-stakes visit to Taipei which infuriated Beijing as it claims the island as part of its territory.
The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
'If the Chinese intent is to be gauged based on its aggression in the South China Sea, greater forays in the Indian Ocean, a hawk's attitude towards Taiwan, flying its fighters repeatedly over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea and creating strategic assets globally, there would be a requirement for strategic partnerships for India,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
China on Monday said it is keeping a close watch on reports of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's planned visit to Taiwan though it was conspicuously missing from her official Asia tour itinerary and warned of a resolute response by its military and strong countermeasures if she went ahead with the trip to Taipei.
The US wants to split Sino-India ties, says the Chinese media.
Jaishankar, who arrived in Santo Domingo on his first official visit to the Dominican Republic, also said that India has seen a dramatic expansion in connectivity, contacts, and cooperation across the region.
His comment comes weeks after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi during which both the leaders discussed strengthening trade and infrastructure relations.
Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Monday inaugurated the country's second international airport built by China that will help connect Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha and a major tourist and pilgrimage destination, to Buddhist circuits in South Asia as well as to the rest of the world.
Continued uncertainty or confrontation in the Asia-Pacific is clearly in no one's interest as it will affect major powers' attempts to restructure their economies and revive growth. Conflict would roll back the gains to each of our countries of 40 years of stability and peace, says Shivshankar Menon.
A Harvard study says India's GDP will grow at 7.9 per cent annually in the next 8 years, well ahead of China's 4.6 per cent
In the past, India strongly rejected references made to Jammu and Kashmir in a previous joint statement by Pakistan and China.
Manmohan Singh and Yusuf Raza Gilani hold the key to South Asia's progress, observes Sanjaya Baru, former media advisor to the Prime Minister.
Russia's unprecedented rapprochement with North Korea has raised concerns about the re-emergence of a Russia-China-North Korea alliance which could increase the probability of conflict on the Korean Peninsula, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
"The two sides note that the relationship between Russia and China has progressed to a more advanced interstate cooperation compared to the military-political unions of the Cold War era as it is not bloc or confrontational in nature, nor does it target any third countries," Russia's new agency Tass quoted the document as saying.
"Only one of the five permanent members, China, openly favours Pakistan," the Dawn report noted.
Stating that India's entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group will "shake strategic balance in South Asia and even cast a cloud over peace and stability in the entire Asia-Pacific region", an article in the state-run 'Global Times' however said China could support India's inclusion in the 48 member nuclear club if it "played by rules".
US President Joe Biden is set to meet his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay Area, CNN reported, citing senior US administration officials.
United States President-elect Joe Biden administration is likely to be as tough as President Donald Trump's on the several contentious issues between Washington and Beijing such as the South China Sea, South China Morning Post reported citing experts.
Harris, in a major foreign policy speech as part of her three-day visit to Singapore, said America's vision includes the freedom of navigation which is vital to all.
