Politics

J. P. Singh, joint secretary in India's foreign ministry, meets the Taliban's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul. (Photo from Taliban spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi's Twitter account)
International relations

India's Taliban outreach offers Afghanistan a China alternative

New Delhi says diplomacy in Kabul only about aid; analysts see deeper reasons

20 June 2022
People queue at a fuel station in Colombo, Sri Lanka, hoping to buy kerosene. IMF delegates are set to visit the country this week as it battles a spiraling economic crisis.
Your Week in Asia

IMF heads to Sri Lanka, Japan upper house election campaign, G-7 summit

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

19 June 2022
A bridge connecting Myanmar with India's state of Mizoram: Insurgents from the Indian side are adding to the Southeast Asian country's ethnic strife.
Myanmar Crisis

Insurgents from India add fuel to fire in Myanmar's restive north

Ethnic groups jostle for dominance in Chin, complicating resistance to military regime

19 June 2022
Indian tanks participate in a military parade.
International relations

India bolsters arms ties with West to sever Russian dependence

Warmer Moscow-Beijing ties compel Modi to seek new weapons deals

17 June 2022
Indian military trucks carrying supplies move towards forward areas in the Ladakh region.
International relations

China, India build roads and bridges in disputed Himalayan region

Tensions continue to rise in Ladakh 2 years after deadly border clash

17 June 2022
"ASEAN is central to India's 'Act East Policy' and its vision for the wider Indo-Pacific," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told media recently. (Source photos by Ken Kobayashi and Kosaku Mimura)
International relations

India aims to tighten Quad's ASEAN ties as it hosts top diplomats

Foreign ministers meeting comes as U.S.-China tensions loom over Indo-Pacific

16 June 2022
Chinese troops dismantling their bunkers at Pangong Tso region in Ladakh in February 2021: China has turned other captured areas into permanent all-weather military encampments. (Handout photo from Indian Army)
Opinion

India's front line battle against autocracy more important than ever

The risk of renewed skirmishes with China is growing

16 June 2022
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a plenary session at the 19th International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 11.
US-China tensions

U.S. policy on Taiwan hasn't changed, but China's has: Austin

Defense chief rules out 'Asian NATO;' warns of Beijing's 'growing coercion'

11 June 2022
Protesters condemn Indian officials' derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in Lahore, Pakistan, on June 8.
International relations

India does damage control in Muslim world over anti-Islam remarks

Economic partners no longer turning blind eye to Modi government's divisive record

9 June 2022
Protesters hold placards demanding the arrest of Nupur Sharma, a spokeswoman for ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, in Mumbai on June 7: Anger spread to the Islamic world.
Opinion

Modi walks a tightrope between Hindu base and Muslim trade partners

India has no desire to jeopardize its growing relationship with the Islamic world

9 June 2022
India, China and Turkey recorded large increases in the numbers of tankers bringing Russian oil. (Source photos by AP and Reuters)
Energy

China, India and Turkey to siphon more Russian oil ahead of EU ban

Extra crude finds eager Asian buyers for now but scale of future demand is uncertain

9 June 2022
The Negev Summit held in Sde Boker, Israel, on March 28: The growing distance between the U.S. and its regional allies was on display.
Opinion

Biden needs to bring the Middle East closer to Asia

U.S. president's July trip to Israel and Persian Gulf offers a prime opportunity

9 June 2022
From left, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the IPEF launch event in Tokyo on May 23. 
The Nikkei View

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework can add stability to region

Byproduct of US-China rivalry has potential to benefit local companies

8 June 2022
An oil tanker docks at Russia's far eastern Transneft-Kozmino Port. Russian revenue from oil exports between January and April has climbed 50% on the year, the International Energy Agency says.
Energy

China and India buy more Russian oil, blunting Western sanctions

Both countries take advantage of discounts as buyers disappear

8 June 2022
A member of India's Central Reserve Police Force stands guard in Srinagar, Kashmir, in late May.
Politics

Killings tear Kashmir's fragile social fabric in test for Modi

Minority Hindus flee region after being lured back in part by BJP promises

7 June 2022
From a Maldives bond payment to India's central bank meeting and Pakistan's upcoming budget, South Asia's economic strain is in focus.
Asia Insight

Beyond Sri Lanka, economic cyclone bears down on South Asia

From Pakistan to Maldives, forex and debt risks grow as inflationary headwinds build

7 June 2022
Min Aung Hlaing is greeted by an Indonesian official upon arrival at the airport on the outskirts of Jakarta in April 2021: The presence of the Senior General at the leaders' meeting in Jakarta emphasized the ASEAN family.
Opinion

India should invite Myanmar's foreign minister to ASEAN meet

Giving Naypyitaw the cold shoulder is not in New Delhi's interests

6 June 2022
People dine outdoors at a restaurant during the Dragon Boat Festival, the first public holiday in the city since the lifting of the lockdown for the COVID-19 outbreak, in Shanghai on June 3.
Your Week in Asia

More reopening in Shanghai, Japan opens to tourists, Singapore security summit

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

5 June 2022
An ayurvedic medicine shop in Mumbai: The traditional Indian method of care focuses on mainly plant-based medicines.
Politics

India doubles down on traditional therapies with WHO hub, new visa

Modi defies skeptics, pours $250m into research and courts treatment tourists

5 June 2022
A seller prepares freshly butchered chickens at the Kampung Baru wet market in Kuala Lumpur on May 31, the day before Malaysia stopped exports to protect its domestic supplies.
Economy

'Food nationalism' worries rise after India, Malaysia export bans

Policies stoke fears of further inflation, weaponization of supplies

3 June 2022
Narendra Modi, Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework launch event in Tokyo on May 23: Modi's moves do signal a significant shift.
Opinion

Modi's trade rethink shows that geopolitical friendship has benefits

National security concerns are driving new forms of Asian economic integration

2 June 2022
Outnumbered by Chinese forces in the South China Sea, the U.S. is working on its game plan for a potential invasion of Taiwan by Beijing in the near future. It hopes to call on treaty allies Japan and Australia for support.
The Big Story

All for one: U.S. enlists its Asian allies in defense of Taiwan

Washington fears a possible Chinese invasion by 2027. It will need all the help it can get

1 June 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden, center, used his recent trip to Asia to show that the Indo-Pacific region is a top priority for his administration. He met South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol, Australia's Anthony Albanese, Japan's Fumio Kishida and India's Narendra Modi. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
Biden's Asia policy

Was Biden's Taiwan statement scripted? 5 takeaways from his Asia trip

Quad summit, new trade framework underscore region's importance to U.S.

25 May 2022
The Sakhalin-2 project's liquefaction gas plant in Prigorodnoye, about 70 km south of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. 
Ukraine war

Japan should exit Sakhalin energy projects: Ukraine 1st deputy PM

Svyrydenko urges India to join sanctions against Russia

25 May 2022
Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida and Narendra Modi at the Prime Minister's Office of Japan in Tokyo on May 24: The Quad's moment of truth has arrived.
Opinion

Biden's empty Taiwan rhetoric reveals Quad's core weakness

Group will have to move fast if it is to maintain status quo in the Indo-Pacific

25 May 2022