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Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol the border with Pakistan in Ranbir Singh Pura, India, February 2019. Mukesh Gupta / Reuters

MundoAsia

For decades, policymakers and scholars have been trained in the West and elsewhere to think of the countries of the Indian subcontinent as part of a coherent region: South Asia. Home to around a quarter of the world’s population, the region consists of eight countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Its diverse peoples speak hundreds of different languages and follow numerous different religious traditions, but they have shared histories, including the experience of British colonialism, and shared cultural connections, including a love of the sport of cricket and Bollywood films, ethnic ties, and musical and culinary practices, for instance.…  Seguir leyendo »

Flags at a NATO military exercise, Lest, Slovakia, April 2024. Radovan Stoklasa / Reuters

MundoAsiaInternacionalOTAN

Writing in Foreign Affairs last week, NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, took aim at Beijing, condemning its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and declaring that NATO had entered a new era of “enduring competition with China”. This situation “shows that in today’s world, security is not a regional matter but a global one”, he wrote, adding, “Europe’s security affects Asia, and Asia’s security affects Europe”. This is not a new idea. Stoltenberg has long championed a greater role for NATO in countering China’s rise. “Everything is intertwined”, he said in June, referring to European and Asian security at a joint press conference with U.S.…  Seguir leyendo »

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shaking hands in Hiroshima, Japan, May 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / Reuters.

MundoAsiaEuropa, , , ,

It has become commonplace to suggest that the war in Ukraine is only a Western fixation. According to this argument, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has galvanized the West and inspired concerted action in defense of a democratic country, but it has failed to resonate in many other parts of the world. The countries of the global South are by and large indifferent to the plight of Ukraine or merely annoyed by the inconvenience the war has caused their economies. Observers in the global South may astutely point to neglected conflicts raging in their necks of the woods, but their critics in the West see the fence-sitting and functional neutrality of democracies such as Brazil, India, and South Africa as tantamount to condoning Russian actions or rejecting liberal norms and values.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsiaEuropa,
New Delhi Is Not Done With the Kremlin Yet

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many of the world’s major democracies lined up to condemn Russian aggression and rally to Ukraine’s defense. India did not. It abstained on key votes at the United Nations and refused to denounce its longtime partner. The backlash that ensued was striking; numerous governments expressed frustration with India for its reluctance to condemn the indefensible.

Some observers have suggested that, as a result, India may be changing course; they see signs that it may finally be considering breaking with Russia. In September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin that “today’s era is not of war”—remarks that seemed to admonish the Russian president and which U.S.…  Seguir leyendo »

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, September 2022. Sputnik Photo Agency / Reuters

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India’s initial reluctance to condemn Russia for its war against Ukraine has been the subject of much debate and criticism in the West. In mid-March, Jen Psaki, then the White House press secretary, urged India to reflect on “where you want to stand when history books are written at this moment in time”. Numerous world leaders and diplomats have expressed impatience with India for effectively abetting a Russian agenda by remaining on the side-lines.

Some analysts and former policymakers in strategic circles in New Delhi insist that such a reproach is unfair and fails to appreciate India’s nuanced position on the war.…  Seguir leyendo »