Comments & Briefs

As India deepens its strategic engagement with the countries of South East Asia, ASEAN needs to make up its mind on the mechanisms required to tackle core security issues instead of outsourcing them to a multitude of organisations.

The outcome of the elections in Myanmar is awaited anxiously by the international community but not much change is expected.

President Obama should make his stance clear on the issues of nuclear cooperation between China and Pakistan and perhaps take up the issue with Hu Jintao when he visits Washington DC early next year.

The current predicament the Military finds itself in can be used constructively by the Services and the government for undertaking the necessary correctives with a sense of urgency and obligation.

The clash between Russia and Japan over the Southern Kurils in the North Pacific highlight Russia’s emerging role in the Asia Pacific Region and its relations with China and Japan.

People in India have traditionally looked up to the Armed Forces. Corruption in the Armed Forces therefore militates against the spirit of service to the nation. It has to be cleansed wholesale, with effective mechanisms for protecting whistleblowers and taking swift action against the guilty put in place. Caesar’s wife must be beyond reproach.

The meeting between Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi on 28-29 October has brought about a warming of the atmosphere and may lead to progress in Sino-Indian relations.

China’s moves concerning Kashmir evoke apprehension regarding retrogressive changes in its Kashmir policy, designed to give it a hold over India. The best case scenario for China is that the Kashmir issue is never resolved; and if this issue inches towards any kind of resolution, that China should be considered a party to the Kashmir dispute.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited Beijing on October 16 – 21 to discuss cooperation in manned space flight. While one swallow does not make a summer, it may signal that the US may be considering greater engagement with China in outer space, particularly manned flight.

The fruits of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan can be seen in the conclusion of negotiations on the long-pending CEPA, start of the negotiations on a civil nuclear pact and sharing of views on Afghanistan, UN reform, and on engaging China as a responsible stakeholder for peace and stability in Asia.