China on Wednesday said the latest round of the border talks with India was held in a "candid and pragmatic atmosphere" and the two sides had a "positive, constructive and in-depth discussion" on the resolution of the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector.
Although the special relationship might compel Bhutan to be considerate of Indian interests, new challenges will likely arise. An emerging new phase of relations will also call for fresh redlines between India and Bhutan, observe Harsh V Pant and Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy.
But even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plans to visit Tokyo for his annual summit from October 25-27 -- as part of a journey to Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur -- and hopes to sign a landmark civil nuclear pact with his counterpart, Naoto Kan, Japanese resentment against India's nuclear ambitions continues to simmer.
Unlike Asia's other populous giant China, India have never made much of a splash at the Olympics, their seven-medal haul at the Tokyo Games a record for the nation. Adding cricket to the Olympic programme -- as is expected for the 2028 Los Angeles Games -- could help boost the tally.
China and India occupy the top two spots in contributing foreign students to the United States, with the international education sector bringing in USD 21.3 billion into the domestic economy, a new report said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told the media in Beijing on Monday that the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues.
'The government will ensure that India's pride is not affected as far as the situation along Indo-China border is concerned'
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang reiterated that the situation at the India-China border is generally stable and both sides should consolidate the present achievements and strictly abide by the relevant agreements while pushing for further cooling and easing of the conditions for sustainable peace and tranquillity at the frontier.
China on Friday said it will not attend the planned G20 tourism working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir next week, asserting that it is "firmly opposed" to holding such meetings in the "disputed territory".
Some may see China's decision to antagonise India as strategically unwise. But China believes its prestige demands standing up to India, whatever the cost.
A new era of Indian equity market outperformance compared to China "appears to be dawning", according to Morgan Stanley. The firm has upgraded India to overweight in its Asia Pacific-excluding Japan (APxJ) list, making it their most preferred market not only in the region but also in the global emerging market (GEM) pack. India now holds the top position in this category, with an overweight of 75 basis points, a significant increase from nil previously.
'This incident offers ammunition to those inside the US government and elsewhere who question the wisdom of trusting India, so it will have a lasting consequence no matter how it is managed.'
The exercise from September 1 to 7 is taking place at different locations in Russia's Far East amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The use of the strategic road by the Indian security forces from Leh has helped in reducing the travel time between Leh and DBO to six hours.
As India's stock rises, the resolution of the border row may become even more difficult, warn Harsh V Pant and Kalpit Mankikar.
'We will likely never know why Xi decided not to travel to New Delhi. One possible explanation could be his desire to avoid a meeting with US President Joe Biden.'
Russia said on Monday that the Vostok 2022 military exercises will be held from September 1 to 7 in different locations in the Far East and the Sea of Japan and involve more than 50,000 troops from China, India and several other countries.
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.
"The current border situation is overall stable," the Chinese diplomat said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will travel to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers' meeting being held in Goa on May 4 and 5, the foreign ministry in Beijing announced on Tuesday.
'Having India as a credible deterrent vis-a-vis Chinese ambitions in the Indian Ocean and South Asian region is a desirable short-term outcome.'
At a media briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the two sides have maintained smooth communication on border-related issues through diplomatic and military channels.
Throughout its standoff with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chinese officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis, emphasising Beijing's intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of its bilateral relationship with India, the Pentagon said in a report on Tuesday.
'China seems more intent on creating a new world order rather than shaping the existing one.' 'India is of course, at this moment in time, aligned with the West-led order because of China's full-spectrum aggressive behaviour towards India.'
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity and seek no unilateral military superiority in adjacent areas.
China on Friday concurred with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's observation that an Asian Century cannot happen if India and China don't join hands and emphasised that the two neighbouring countries have 'far more common interests than differences'.
Today, with China centrally seated and located, the Global South has an intriguing road ahead. Odds of it becoming a Chinese bloc in the emerging new bipolar world are higher than we'd wish them to be, observes Shekhar Gupta.
China will not be allowed to use the southern port of Hambantota for military purposes, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, apparently attempting to allay fears in India and the United States about China's increasing maritime presence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
'Three decades of intensive discussions, protocols and Confidence Building Measures were jettisoned one fine morning in 2020.' 'The primary lesson that has been learnt is that that there is no reliability about the Chinese.'
If the Pakistani foreign minister attends the meeting in person, it will be the first such visit from Islamabad to India since 2011.
'The 2017 Doklam stand-off in Bhutan, the 2018 Maldives crisis, and the 2020 Nepal Kalapani border dispute shows how Beijing has shot off these countries' shoulders to target India.'
After a 59-year wait, an ancient trade route across a 150-year-old bridge is open near the India-China border in Uttarakhand.
India is among the top three emerging markets in the wellness economy.
Glimpses from Yudh Abhyas, the India-US military exercise currently being conducted in Tapovan, Uttarakhand, 100 km away from the Line of Actual Control.
India must formulate a new growth path to become a top Asian economy.
The talks took place in a beach resort in Benaulim on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
The study by an international team led by scientists at the UK's Newcastle University is the first global assessment of areas at greatest risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF). Published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, it estimates that 15 million people around the world are at risk from flooding caused by glacial lakes.
'We hope this round of meeting, on the basis of previous meetings, can move forward, further enlarge consensus, narrow differences and work for a solution that is acceptable to both parties,' the spokesperson said in updated comments posted on the ministry's website.
