East Asia

About Centre

The East Asia Centre is dedicated to studying the domestic and foreign policies of the region as well as India’s multifaceted relationships with the major countries of this region. With respect to China, the Centre’s research foci are its foreign policy, domestic politics, economy, military affairs, and India’s relations with China in all its dimensions. It monitors developments in China’s autonomous and special administrative regions. The Centre also focuses on Taiwan with reference to cross-Strait relations, ties with the US, India-Taiwan relations and domestic politics. The Centre researches Japanese and Korean affairs. Its major research focus is on their domestic politics, foreign policy and comprehensive bilateral relationships with India. It follows the developments in the Korean peninsula and inter-Korean relations. The geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific is studied at the Centre too.

The Centre brings out five monthly newsletters: East Asia Military Monitor, Japan Digest, China Science and Technology, Korea Newsletter, and China Military Digest.

XI’s visit and the boundary issues

In the Chinese mind the settlement of the border issue with India cannot be divorced from regional, political and larger strategic issues. China has used the threat of intrusions across the LAC, as a part of its coercive diplomacy and it is too valuable an asset to give up.

Mukul Sanwal
September 24, 2014
IDSA Comments

PLA Asserts as Modi-Xi Jinping Talk

The military gap between Indian and China is growing steadily as the PLA is upgrading the military infrastructure in Tibet to enable rapid deployment. China will stall resolution of the territorial dispute till it is in a much stronger position.

Gurmeet Kanwal
September 22, 2014
IDSA Comments

India and China: Ready to Meet Halfway

Can the two leaders go further and recognize the regional strategic interests of each other in the Pacific and the Indian Oceans? What about full support for India’s membership of the Security with the two countries working together in that forum?

Mukul Sanwal
September 22, 2014
IDSA Comments

India-China Ties: Between Personalities and Principles

President Xi Jinping’s visit to India is a new opportunity for infusing momentum in the bilateral relations. Economic dealings would be one aspect of the talks; but neither country can afford to bypass the sensitive security and strategic issues that dog their efforts to bring peace and stability.

Jagannath P. Panda
September 05, 2014
Issue Brief

India-Japan Relations: New Times, Renewed Expectations

The biggest takeaway for India from Prime Minister Modi’s visit is Abe’s assurance of $33.5 billion public and private investment and financing including ODA, doubling Japanese FDI and the number of companies in India over the coming five years.

Titli Basu
September 04, 2014
IDSA Comments

Japan’s white paper on defence: An overview

The dominant challenges for Japan apart from China remain North Korea. The document expresses concerns on the launching of multiple ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan along with the possibility, for the first time, that the North Koreans may have acquired nuclear warheads.

Naval Jagota
September 01, 2014
IDSA Comments

Sifting Through the Himalayas

Prime Minister Modi has to think beyond the immediate circle and leverage the Himalayas as a bridge for India reaching out to wider Eurasian space the access to which has blocked by Pakistan. A way out could be to promote a regional market across the border, woven by a web of spiritual and commercial interests.

P. Stobdan
August 14, 2014
IDSA Comments

Beijing’s APEC Call on India: A New Twist in India-China Power Politics?

While India needs to vigorously pursue its endeavour for APEC membership, it is crucial for the policymakers to comprehend the geo-political allusions of this Chinese invitation, which is linked with India-China ties as well as their balance-of-power politics in Asia-Pacific.

China’s Maritime Silk Route: Implications for India

China’s announcement of a 10 billion Yuan ($1.6 billion) fund to finance the “maritime silk road plan” is a clear sign that it is serious about moving ahead with its stated plans. For India, it is instructive that the sales pitch of shared economic gains does not conceal the MSR’s real purpose: ensuring the security of sea lines of communications (SLOCs) in the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The McMahon Line: A hundred years on

On 3rd July 1914 nearly a hundred years ago at Simla, Tibet and India signed the Simla Convention that gave birth to the McMahon Line separating Tibet from India in the eastern sector. Much is made by some that the Simla Convention was not a legal document but from the time of the Convention till 23rd January 1959, the Chinese government never officially, in any document, ever challenged the McMahon Line.