The good news, according to Yuan Xin, vice-president of the Population Association of China, is that the reduction in the national headcount this year will be milder due to a cultural preference for having a baby during the Year of the Dragon. In China, some families prefer to have a baby in the Year of […]

The post China hopes for new births in year of the dragon appeared first on Asia Times.

In domestic politics, economics and international clout, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed a stellar 2023.  At home, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won most state elections. Regionally, India passed China to become the most populous country — and India’s GDP growth rate underscored her aspiration to replace China as the world’s factory. Globally, Modi […]

The post Modi’s juggernaut steaming toward a third term appeared first on Asia Times.

Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the resulting economic and political crises have led the resurgence of the “Global South” – developing countries seeking leverage through unity on the global stage. Increasingly, they have found themselves caught in the crossfire of larger nations, such as the United States and China. James Marape, prime minister of […]

The post India can unite Global South with developed world appeared first on Asia Times.

India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully tested this month its Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator, an indigenous high-speed flying-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) from the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka. An Indian Ministry of Defense statement on the flight notes that the UAV is designed and developed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment […]

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The post False prophet of new age protectionism misleading India appeared first on Asia Times.

Argentina is poised to downgrade China ties and upgrade US relations in a geopolitical switch driven by the ballot box. But new Argentinian President Javier Milei’s stated plan to dollarize his China-dependent economy is likely a non-starter. Milei, 53, a right-wing politician often referred to as Argentina’s version of former US president Donald Trump, beat […]

The post Argentina’s Milei wants no more ‘secret’ deals with China appeared first on Asia Times.

India has recently become the world’s most populous country, with 68% of its population working-age individuals between the ages of 15 and 64.  This demographic structure – often referred to as a demographic dividend – has the potential to generate very high economic growth if India can create productive employment opportunities for its large working-age […]

The post India wasting its youthful demographics appeared first on Asia Times.

The rise of security-driven economic policy in industrial countries gives license to atavistic inward-looking policy thinking, infecting the framing of development strategies at a critical time in countries on the cusp of major developmental breakthroughs like India and Indonesia. Geopolitics is changing the global economic policy landscape. Today’s backdrop of strategic competition and conflict has seen the […]

The post Import substitution subverting Asia’s next economic miracles appeared first on Asia Times.

On the sidelines of 18th G20 Summit hosted under Indian presidency in New Delhi, a new economic corridor was launched. Dubbed the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), it is an ambitious trade and investment project. Starting from India, it connects with the Persian Gulf of the Middle East via Saudi Arabia and the United Arab […]

The post Gaza tragedy a reminder that Hindutva is a major barrier to IMEC appeared first on Asia Times.

New Delhi’s request that Canada repatriate 41 diplomats from India by October 10 marked another escalation in the two nations’ ongoing diplomatic crisis. India cited the principle of diplomatic parity as the basis for the demand. Canada did not withdraw its diplomatic staff by the deadline and instead opted to engage in discreet negotiations with India in an attempt […]

The post India should cooperate with Canada‘s probe of Sikh’s killing appeared first on Asia Times.

Time is an ally of Russia in the Ukrainian conflict. Russia needs to reduce its rate of battlefield deaths and remain militarily active in Ukraine for as long as possible. A great aid to Vladimir Putin would be a disruption in the supply of weapons to Kyiv, and a diminishing commitment from European and US […]

The post Israel-Gaza distraction: an opportunity for Putin appeared first on Asia Times.

India plans to embark on a massive naval buildup in response to China’s growing naval might and presence in the Indian Ocean, but the broad strategy will face various significant challenges that could cap its ambitions. Last month, multiple media outlets reported that the Indian Navy plans to order another Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) similar […]

The post India eyes massive naval build-up to challenge China appeared first on Asia Times.

China will send an unmanned spacecraft to the south pole of the moon next year with the lunar aim of bringing two kilograms of rock samples back to Earth.  The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said on September 29 it will send Chang’e-6 to the far side of the moon, which has not yet been […]

The post China-India rivalry playing out on the moon appeared first on Asia Times.

Financial bookmarks can be very illuminating in assessing a market’s readiness for global primetime. Such is the case with JPMorgan Chase & Co adding Indian debt to its emerging market indices.

The Wall Street icon plans to do just that in June 2024, perhaps drawing US$40 billion into South Asia’s biggest economy – and at a moment when investors are buzzing that India is a ready alternative to a slowing China.

Perhaps most interesting, though, is that India will enter JPMorgan’s benchmark just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaches his 10-year mark in power. On May 26, 2014, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power with a bold economic reform agenda.

The post India’s not the China alternative Wall Street thinks appeared first on Asia Times.

When India invited delegates attending the G20 summit in September 2023 to dinner with “the President of Bharat,” rather than “the President of India,” it may have looked to the world like a simple case of postcolonial course correction. The word “India” is, after all, an exonym – a placename given by outsiders. In this […]

The post Why so many Indians prefer ‘Bharat’ to ‘India’ appeared first on Asia Times.

India and Canada have engaged in tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions as part of an escalating row over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil. The expulsions follow claims by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that there are “credible allegations” linking the Indian government of Narendra Modi with the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. […]

The post Behind the India-Canada spat over a Sikh’s killing appeared first on Asia Times.

For two decades, the conflict in Afghanistan occupied international attention and US resources. But ever since American troops withdrew in 2021, the conflict has seemingly been viewed in Washington more as a concern localized to the region of Central and South Asia. This is due in large part to Washington’s shifting global priorities. The invasion […]

The post US ‘pragmatic engagement’ legitimatizes Taliban rule appeared first on Asia Times.

China and India, the world’s two largest populations, are competing against each other by developing their own 1,000-qubit quantum computers, a goal that will be achieved by the United States’s IBM this year.  In terms of making quantum computers, India is a latecomer when compared with China. The Indian government in April this year approved […]

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The invitations to a state dinner to mark India’s hosting of this year’s G20 came not, as you’d expect, from the office of the president of India, but from the “president of Bharat.” This has prompted speculation from observers both at home and abroad about whether this signifies an official government intention to rename the […]

The post Hidden agenda behind renaming India to ‘Bharat’ appeared first on Asia Times.

US imports of consumer goods dropped by a record 17% in the second quarter of 2023, as the Covid boom in work-from-home electronics faded. All the major exporters of electronics, including Taiwan, South Korea and China, showed corresponding declines in exports.

The post US consumer bust shrinks world trade appeared first on Asia Times.