While these institutions have made some headway in meeting the infrastructure needs of Asian countries, some critics of the World Bank and ADB argue they are slow and bureaucratic, and impose stifling environmental and social constraints which deter investment.
Ahead of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka on Friday, Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar announced New Delhi’s cooperation with Sri Lanka’s new government on the repatriation of 100,000 Tamils currently residing in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Beijing’s announcement on Thursday of a 10 percent increase in military spending, to $145 billion, marks the fifth consecutive year of double-digit increases, and is not without significant repercussions in Asia.
Tired of corruption and stagnation, India voted the reform-minded Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into power in May 2014.
Last Friday, Beijing reacted strongly to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to India’s disputed border area with China, to mark the 28th anniversary of the establishment of Arunachal Pradesh as an Indian state.
Self-inflicted wounds – which come in the form of poor domestic governance, decrepit infrastructure, a hostile business climate, and the absence of a unified national market – continue to hobble India’s ambitions in Asia and on the larger world stage.
On Feb. 19, Chinese from around the world welcomed the year of the sheep, also celebrated as the year of the goat or ram.
The results from last weekend’s state government elections in New Delhi have been tallied, and the message on Tuesday was clear – voters are still fed up with corruption.
In his first foreign trip since assuming power, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will visit India on Feb. 16 for two days, hailing a potential warming of relations between the two countries.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to Barack Obama to attend India’s Republic Day on Monday was not only a great honor bestowed upon the U.S. president but also packed with implications for Chinese foreign policy and influence in the Asia Pacific.
Before Narendra Modi became the prime minister of India, some observers in China believed that he could well be “the Deng Xiaoping of India,” comparing him with the Chinese leader who led the economic reform that has transformed China to a global power from a Third World country.
The disputed waters of the South China Sea have been quiet recently, as a nationalistic Beijing has sought to reassure its neighbors of its peaceful intentions by toning down the rhetoric and hesitating from taking any further aggressive actions.
January is an important month in India-U.S. relations, with the arrival of a new U.S. ambassador, a visit by Secretary of State John Kerry to the country, and a meeting in New Delhi between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama.
In a speech on Tuesday, Maharaj, who represents the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, spoke of the obligation of Hindu women to protect the Hindu majority by having at least four children.
With the recent U.S. “pivot to Asia,” some analysts argue the U.S. is losing interest and influence in Africa, resulting in China overtaking the United States as Africa’s largest trading partner.
