India

Attendees take their positions for a photograph with journalists during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Jakarta on 4 February 2023. (Bay Ismoyo/AFP)

State of Southeast Asia Survey 2023: Separate tangos with China and the US

If ASEAN can’t tango with China or the US, who else? Pragmatic as always, ASEAN’s favourite choices for hedging partners remain the EU and Japan but attention appears to have also fallen on India as its third choice this year.
The Gateway of India in Mumbai, India, on 7 January 2023. (Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

India could drive the next big change in the global economy, just as China did

India holds the prospect of driving the biggest change in the global economy in the next quarter century just as China did in the previous one, says economic professor Arvind Panagariya. India has several factors in its favour, but it must also push ahead with its reform agenda and open its economy wider to friendly countries through free trade agreements to make the best of its time in the sun.
Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Lim Jock Hoi pose for pictures before a meeting with Southeast Asian foreign ministers at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, 27 October 2022. (Galih Pradipta/Pool via Reuters)

George Yeo: ASEAN’s advantage in an emerging multipolar world

Delivering the keynote address of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Regional Outlook Forum 2023, Singapore’s former Foreign Minister George Yeo spoke about the ways that ASEAN’s weakness is also a strength in the transition to a multipolar world.
Leader of Maoist Centre Party Pushpa Kamal Dahal (right), better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, waves next to Communist Party Nepal-Union Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) chairman KP Oli, before leaving for the president's office to claim majority for his appointment as the new prime minister, in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, on 25 December 2022. (Dipesh Shrestha/AFP)

Which way Nepal is heading: China, India or the US

After its elections in November 2022, Nepal is now led by a new coalition government formed by parties of the Left Alliance. However, volatile relations and power struggles especially between the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and the Maoist Centre could mean difficulties in making decisions and implementing policies. The top leaders also have different ideas about foreign relations and great power politics.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi walks at the welcoming dinner during the G20 Summit in Badung on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on 15 November 2022. (Willy Kurniawan/AFP)

India's G20 presidency: Can China and India cooperate to create an 'Asian moment'?

China’s aspirational “Asian moment” in global governance will come true if a China-India geoeconomic concert drives India’s presidency of the G20 in 2023. For this to happen, the two Asian neighbours must rise above the geopolitics of their ongoing military hostility and work together to advance global economic recovery.
People walk along a pedestrian street surrounded by shops and shopping malls in Shanghai, on 12 October 2022. (Hector Retamal/AFP)

George Yeo: China's rise is creating a multipolar world that could benefit the US

George Yeo, Singapore’s former foreign minister, delivered the Goh Keng Swee Lecture on Modern China to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the National University of Singapore's East Asian Institute on 15 December. In covering issues of the day such as China-US rivalry, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the South China Sea, he concludes that a multipolar world is good for both China and the US. This is the full transcript of his speech.
China's President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and other participants attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 16 September 2022. (Sergei Bobylyov/Sputnik/AFP)

China gains stronger foothold in Central Asian region

Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan analyses the outcomes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Uzbekistan and the implications of China’s perceived stronger courting of the Central Asia region.
China's President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Samarkand on 15 September 2022. (Alexandr Demyanchuk/AFP)

Xi-Putin meeting in Uzbekistan: China pulling back from Russia

China seems to be pulling back while Russia wants to take a step forward, as seen from the Xi-Putin parlay at their meeting in Uzbekistan. But the delicate dance is not only at the surface level of the Ukraine war, but China’s deeper strategic goals in Central Asia, where Russia considers itself a dominant power.
A police officer guards the Registan square in downtown Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 13 September 2022. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP)

Xi Jinping embarks on Central Asia visit amid a changed world

After more than two years since the start of the pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping will resume making diplomatic visits overseas with his Central Asia tour this month. The geopolitical situation has vastly transformed during his physical absence in the international arena. Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu explores the implications of these changes.