China continues to pursue its agenda on the South China Sea, employing its political, diplomatic and military departments in a well-coordinated and planned manner.
BRICS is not challenging the existing world order. It is seeking a place in the sun for developing countries. It is looking at alternative approaches but there is no desire to seek confrontation with the West.
The Tibetan issue is primarily a political one and less an economic one as China projects it to be. China should talk to the Tibetan diaspora and India for a final solution. That would be in the true interests of the peoples, bilateral relations and regional stability.
A ‘pearl’ could be viewed as a sphere of influence seeded, secured and maintained through the use of economic, geopolitical, diplomatic or military means. The ‘string of pearls’ is about China’s unambiguous maritime strategy that investments in increasing its sea power. This is essentially a multi-pronged strategy that challenges dominant US interests in the Indian Ocean and sends a clear message to India that the Indian Ocean is not India’s ocean by increasing the dependence of the littoral states in the region on China.
An analysis of these exercises reveals some interesting insights into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) thinking, its priorities, areas of interest and countries of concern.
The PLA has been laying emphasis on human resource management. Recruitment, salaries, living standards, perks and education are likely to get an impetus with attendant advantages of morale, motivation and technology absorption.
Apparently, serving the PLA is no longer a very attractive option and there seem to be issues of lack of motivation among the new recruits to make the supreme sacrifice.
“Innovation” has become a buzz word in recent science and technology policies of various countries. It has also been given ample importance in the science and technology policies and programmes of India, China and Pakistan. It is interesting to know on what exactly these countries are focusing in their recent science and technology policies and how these new policies and programmes will help them in social development, economic growth, technology innovation and pursuing national interests.
China is undergoing a transitional period of rapid economic and social development. The way in which this period is managed will hold significant implications for the Chinese state concerning both its internal and external security. While fundamentally resting upon progressing from a developing to a developed economy, this transition highlights deep issues and tensions affecting China—ranging from rising societal inequalities to various separatism threats to mounting individualism.
The second Chinese BMD test has a message for India: propel the development of long-range (exo-atmospheric) interception capabilities to mitigate the possibility of further asymmetry on strategic forces.
