Vietnam is a key player in India's act east policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From India's perspective, a strategic partnership with Vietnam will only deepen political, economic, and security ties and be a bulwark against China, say Melissa S Hersh and Dr Ajey Lele
Indian Defence Minister A K Antony is 'very suspicious of the private sector', leading Indian business baron Jamshyd N Godrej has said.
Neither Biden nor his successors can any longer ignore the threat China has come to pose to the US in both economic and military fields, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'There appears to be greater convergence of interests between China and the US in the Afghan-Pakistan theatre than between India and the US. This is hardly a recipe for a super-alliance,' says former foreign secretary Ambassador Shyam Saran.
In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the focus of Modi's remarks at the meeting on Friday was the events of June 15 at Galwan that led to the loss of lives of 20 Indian military personnel.
Wang Junzheng, Tibet's new Communist party boss, is on a number of sanctions lists by the US, Britain, the EU and Canada, for his tough role in Xinjiang, aimed at China's Uyghur ethnic minority, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and distinguished China expert.
The international operations of Air India seem to be the main attraction for IndiGo, which has also flagged concerns about some foreign overseas airlines being allowed "disproportionate access" to the Indian market.
'India has ramped up infrastructure on its side, so the Chinese military is finding Indian soldiers in locations where they are not used to seeing an Indian footprint,' points out Harsh V Pant.
'The border standoff, if not properly addressed by both sides, could escalate to a conventional or sub-conventional conflict between India and China,' predicts Srikanth Kondapalli, one of India's leading China experts.
The start of Indian lobbying in the US can be traced back to Pakistan's anti-India lobbying. Policy wonk Ashok Sharma documents this journey and its catalytic role in transforming the US-India relationship.
Budget has already bombed at the box office and passing it without a revisit will be a mockery of the exercise though any modification may be short lived and perfunctory, observes V Ranganathan.
'The Modi government's greatest blunder is to exploit sensitive external relations in its domestic politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Sibal asked Modi to stop doing the politics of "illusion and delusion" and showing "red eyes" to China, and protect Indian territory.
China is in no hurry to disengage at the border and the region and international community is moving on. The spectre of a long haul in Ladakh haunts India, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
An alert government in Delhi should have begun government-to-government discussions with Moscow the moment it came to know that Russians were developing a vaccine. That is to say, almost an year's time has been lost, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The tearing hurry to form theatre commands has to be replaced by a balanced and deliberate approach. We need to accept that this process will take time if executed correctly and in the best interests of the Indian armed forces, argues Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'India in 2020 is a lot better prepared than in 1962.' 'It is no longer a pushover; and anything other than a crushing Chinese military victory will be a major loss of face for China,' observes Rajeev Srinivasan in the first of a three part column.
India may adopt norms similar to the US Federal Reserve model, which regulates conglomerate-led banks in the country.
'Dr Singh, visibly relieved, said, 'Yesterday night I couldn't sleep. I stayed awake, praying throughout. You have saved the country'.' A fascinating excerpt from former atomic energy chief Dr Anil Kakodkar's memoir Fire And Fury: Transforming India's Strategic Identity.
Much sophistication is needed by US policymakers if the US-India relationship is to be on a par with Washington's most durable strategic partners
'We will be required to take different steps than other large countries who are following a total lockdown strategy'
As the pandemic unfolded, the India-China relationship has come under severe stress. To restore normalcy, agreements between the two countries must be respected scrupulously in their entirety. Where the Line of Actual Control is concerned, any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo is unacceptable, declares External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
India should plan its strategies on the assumption that the rightward swing will stay and the West will retreat into an economic fortress, says Nitin Desai.
'Since India has to live next to Pakistan, it can't remain under permanent blackmail.' 'A predictable consequence of these fundamental shifts is the fraying of the principle of strategic restraint.' 'It hasn't been junked. But the threshold has been shifted to provide India much greater room for retaliatory action,' says Shekhar Gupta.
India was fooled into believing that Communist China wanted a 'negotiated' settlement with the Tibetans; it was never the case, says Claude Arpi.
The steelmaker's India basket grew after Tata Steel completed its acquisition of Bhushan Steel under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code process and its subsidiary, Tata Sponge, acquired Usha Martin.
The Budget would have been the perfect vehicle to introduce some bold initiatives.
That opportunity has been lost through this Budget, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
Two elderly Chinese aerospace experts are hospitalised after a violent attack by a 'Princeling', states Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer, highlighting the power the 'Princelings' ironically hold in the Communist People's Republic.
Alibaba's pervasive economic and social influence in China is seen as a threat to the authority of the Chinese Communist party, notes Shyam Saran.
Indian elections are won and lost on 'negative' imageries and campaigns - but not certainly on 'negativity' as a political trait and electoral creed, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
After years of giving free passes to counterparts from Korea, Japan, US in the Indian auto market, Chinese automakers had planned a major push to grab the fifth largest car market in the world. But the shutdown of factories and logistics hubs in the country following the outbreak of coronavirus is slowly constricting the business of Chinese auto majors which have recently entered India.
'Having tied himself in knots, he just might take a decision which is dangerous, one that could take his nation to war.'
'The focus for IT companies will shift from adding scale to building a smaller, more specialised, talent pool with specific domain expertise,' says Shyamal Majumdar.
'One of R&AW's greatest achievements is in projecting itself as benign.' 'This work -- done in tandem with the Diaspora and the MEA -- sells a story of India as mostly the victim.'
'Should the two armies clash in a conventional battlefield, the advantage will pass more and more to the Indians as the battle progresses,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The reason why private banks will play the deposit pricing game strategically is the weakening of banks' deposits base given the competition from MFs and insurance companies due to tax-savings schemes.
Confronting a slowdown in growth, China says it will only increase its defence budget by 7.6% this year, against the anticipated rise of between 20% and 30%. 'It is difficult to explain the reduction in the Chinese defence budget,' says Claude Arpi. 'Is there a hidden budget? Possibly!'
As India's international role expands, so must our capabilities, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'The Indian government wakes up after the fact when it can do nothing, or rather lacks the will to prosecute military actions to reverse these adverse PLA-driven developments.'
The meeting was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General M M Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria.
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