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Singapore Summit and China’s Strategic Assumptions in East Asia

Thus it appears as if after pulling out a credible Iran deal, one which has enough checks and balances as well as involvement of other like-minded countries, The US President   Donald Trump gave away a lot in Singapore in return little verifiable in return from Kim. It appears as if North Korea, a de-facto nuclear power, is the bigger winner out of the Singapore summit. Donald Trump did have his moment of unilateral glory in Singapore but if Japan and South Korea came out on top, then they would have more reasons to worry. Moreover, China’s headaches would rise were they to act on those worries. Until the Singapore summit, Donald Trump and Kim Jong un had fairly same reasons for direct talks. For Trump it was his desire to stamp the American supremacy. He sought to show China its place, after years of engagement policy by Obama by first completely discrediting the Six Party talks which were not only China-initiated but also China-led. He used social media on one han
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Foxconn Model: China and India

In my recently submitted PhD thesis I took a quick look at the Foxconn model of China's engagement with the world economy. Sharing that section here as Foxconn enters India with a $5bn commitment to investment in an industrial park. While investment is welcome, India must learn from mistakes that China made in the past 30 years and try and avoid them.  Of course, workers' exploitation and suicides by Foxconn workers is a known issue and not going to intervene into it here.  (of course, if one is interested in knowing how factories like Foxconn work, one must read Leslie Chang's Factory Girls ) Foxconn, Apple and iPad: China and the issue of Value-Addition Apple’s iconic product iPad is produced in China by Foxconn Inc., which is a registered company in Taiwan. During 2010-2011, Foxconn was embroiled in a major controversy over labour abuse issues after it came to light, following a spate of worker suicides, that the workers at the iPad production facility were n

ABP Majha Show on Indian Army's action in Myanmar

I participated in a newshour show on ABP Majha on Indian Army's anti terrorism action in Myanmar and its regional implications.

Modi in Mongolia: Talking Points

Narendra Modi's visit to Mongolia was the first by an Indian PM.  Here are my talking points on that visit from a meeting-presentation. India was the first country to recognise Mongolia apart from the Soviet Bloc Mongolia was the cosponsor of the UN resolution in 1972, along with Bhutan and India, that recognised Bangladesh. India’s first Ambassador in Mongolia was Sonam Norboo, hailing from Ladak ------------------------------------ Mongolia is also seeking to expand its foreign relations with countries other than China and Russia under the policy of “Third Neighbour”. During most of the 20th century, Mongolia, due to its close links to Moscow, was said to be a country in Eastern Europe, not East Asia, where it is geographically positioned. 90 percent of Mongolian exports, most of it minerals, copper, gold, uranium and coal, go to China. China has always pressurized Mongolia for its relations with the dalai Lama, during his last visit in 2011, China lodged strong pro

पंतप्रधान मोदींचा चीन दौरा, कारणे आणि निष्कर्ष

पंतप्रधान नरेंद्र मोदी यांनी १४ ते १६ मे असे तीन दिवस चीनचा दौरा केला. ह्या दौऱ्यात अनेक असे महत्वपूर्ण करार झाले ज्यामुळे भारत आणि चीन मधील आर्थिक संबंध मजबूत होतील.  मोदींच्या दौऱ्यात भारत आणि चीनने एकूण २४ सामंजस्य कार्रंवार स्वाक्षऱ्या केल्या ज्याचे एकूण आर्थिक मूल्य २२०० करोड़ इतकी आहे. एकूणच चीन पुढच्या काही वर्षात इतकी गुंतवणूक भारतात करेल. गेल्या एक वर्षात मोदी सरकारने एक सकारात्मक आणि क्रियाशील विदेशनीती अवलंबिली असून चीन, मंगोलिया आणि दक्षिण कोरियाचा दौरा ह्या नव्या विदेश नितिची उदाहरणे आहेत. ह्या अधि मोदिंनी  नेपाल, भूटान, जापान, ऑस्ट्रेलिया, अमेरिका, कॅनडा, श्रीलंका, मॉरिशस इत्यादि देशांना भेट दिली होती.   चीन हा भारतचा सर्वात शक्तिशाली शेजारी देश आहे आणि एक वैश्विक महासत्ता आहे . पण भारत चीन सम्बन्ध १९६२ च्या युद्धच्या सावलीतून अजूनही बाहेर आलेले नहित. तसेच सिमा रेशा वाद आणि अक्साई चीन आणि मैकमोहन लाइन विषयीचा वाद अजूनही पूर्णतः सुटलेला नही. तसेच दोन्ही देश सामरिक दृष्टया शक्तिशाली आहेत. त्यामुळे एकूणच सम्बन्ध गुंतागुंतीचे आणि बिकट आहेत.  चिनच

Did the Chinese Model of Growth Defeat Rajapaksa?

Sri Lanka's electoral results have been surprising and there are many reasons behind the outcome of the elections. In this article I took a one dimensional view of the Sri Lankan elections and see whether embracing the Chinese model of development too fast cost Mahindra Rajapaksa little too much. Here is the link to the  full article on the IDSA website.   

President Obama’s Republic Day Visit: A Backgrounder

Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, will be in India as the Chief Guest for Republic Day celebrations. He will be the first US President to be invited as the Republic Day chief guest and his recent predecessors have been Prime Minster Abe of Japan, King Jigme Wangchuck of Bhutan, Prime Minister Shinawatra from Thailand, President Susilo Yudhoyono of Indonesia and President Lee Myung Bak from South Korea. The series of Asian heads of state being invited in the recent past reflects India’s closer ties across Asian countries eastward of India. Now India’s invitation to President Obama reflects the high importance India accords to the US and its sense of urgency in recasting the India US relations. This can also be seen as an extension of India’s Act East policy as the Pacific Ocean makes the US an integral actor in East Asia as well. Thus, right from the moment being announced in the social media by Prime Minister Modi, this upcoming visit has created a lot of ant