If the achievements of Premier Wen’s visit to India were more pronounced in terms of economic content, his visit to Pakistan was more characterised by political and strategic significance.

Soon after naming the North Korean regime as its “enemy”, South Korea has, quite abruptly, invoked the desirability of reverting to the Six-Party Talks.

The world needs India as a balancer – in trade, as a market, as an alternative model, and as a world power.

The conflict over rare earths is not only a consequence of the monopoly amassed by China but is also reflective of the current flux in global power hierarchies.

Would China’s strategic error in inviting Japanese hostility place more blocks to its rise as an unchallenged regional power or would it be able to override the Japanese threat in ample measure by altering its strategic game and finding a meeting ground with the United States?