Since the return of the Rajapaksa brothers to office as president and prime minister in Sri Lanka, Colombo’s relations with China have improved dramatically. Earlier in the week, the Sri Lankan Parliament decided to postpone a debate on the controversial Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill that was scheduled for the middle of the week.
Read Here | The Diplomat
One cannot but feel mildly amused at the theatrical spectacle of the US troop pullout from Afghanistan, its completion day now postponed for maximum PR impact to 9/11, 2021. Nearly two decades and a staggering US$2 trillion after this Forever War was launched by a now immensely indebted empire, the debacle can certainly be interpreted as a warped version of Mission Accomplished.
Read Here | Asia Times
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Communist Party officials at the start of the year the world was in “turmoil” and would be for some time, but regardless of the challenges it faced, Beijing was “invincible”. His comments came in a speech made during a study session at the Central Party School on January 11 – just five days after a mob stormed the US Capitol in Washington – and was published in full by party journal Qiushi.
Read Here | South China Morning Post
The still-unresolved Ladakh crisis has created a new strategic reality for India, marked by renewed political hostility with China, and an increased militarisation of the Line of Actual Control. This new strategic reality imposes unequal costs on India and China.
Read Here | Lowy Institute
When Joe Biden assumed the US presidency in January, many in Pakistan hoped for a bilateral reset. Three months on, there is no such rapprochement in sight as the new administration in Washington delivers perceived snubs rather than engaged olive branches to Islamabad.
Read Here | Asia Times
The idea of a return to great-power competition is related, by its proponents, to calls for national renewal, technological innovation, and a change in military posture such as moving forces from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific region, with an “increasingly aggressive” China as the rationale.
Read Here | The National Interest
Does US President Joe Biden want a dynamic America, open to the world, or Donald Trump’s anxious America, suspicious and contemptuous of others? Until Biden offers a bold gesture to exorcise the spirit of Trump from US foreign policy, his hopes of restoring American global leadership are likely to be disappointed
Read Here | Project Syndicate
The Indian military is currently undergoing a fundamental transformation. These changes are made possible primarily due to the creation, in December 2019, of the post of a chief of defense staff. Armed with a mandate to create joint theater commands, the current chief of defense staff is at the forefront of an attempted structural and intellectual transformation.
Read Here | WarOnTheRocks
After years of trying to build its influence—raising money, supporting candidates, building a ground game—the Indian American political world is starting to feel a sense of actual power and clout in the Biden-Harris administration—one that, it hopes, marks a new era for U.S. politics.
Read Here | Politico
