China, Russia circle wagons in Asia-Pacific

“Working meeting” between President Vladimir Putin (R), visiting Chinese State Councilor & Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu (L) and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Moscow, April 16, 2023 The official visit by Chinese State Councilor and Defence Minister General Li Shangfu to Russia on April 16-19 prima facie underscored the two countries’ emergent need to deepen their …

Russia and China display strategic coordination in Asia-Pacific

Russian Tu-95 MS (above) & Chinese Xian H-6 strategic bombers. File photo An exciting new template has appeared in the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific last week when Russia’s Aerospace Force and China’s Air Force carried out their first-ever joint air patrol in the region. Steadily and imperceptibly but profoundly, the regional alignments are transforming. Russia …

‘Military cooperation is the highlight and pillar of China-Russia strategic cooperation’

(Chinese and Russian Defence Ministers at Vostok 2018 exercises, September 11-17) Prime Minister Modi’s annual meeting with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe takes him to Tokyo next week. But this time around, it will be an Official Working Visit, dispensing with the frills of bonhomie. The signal is that the discussions will be largely devoted …

India must shed its strategic ambivalence in the multipolar world

By M. K. Bhadrakumar  Treasured friendship: President Putin and Prime Minister Modi during their informal summit in Sochi, Russia in May 2018 | PTI A WIDELY PREVALENT REFRAIN in our strategic discourses is that the present trajectory of international politics presents India with unprecedented opportunities to advance national interests. This estimation also appears to have …