Latest news with #IISS
Newsweek
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
China's Military Presence Grows on Doorstep of New U.S. Partner
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. China has rapidly expanded its military footprint across the Indian Ocean, conducting exercises from the Red Sea to the Malacca Strait and deepening ties with key regional players—including some U.S. allies, analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reveals. Newsweek has reached out to Chinese and Indian authorities for comment. Why It Matters China's growing expansion in the Indian Ocean—an essential route for global trade—has prompted India to step up its naval activity to counter regional challenges. While not a formal U.S. ally, India has become a key strategic partner in Washington's efforts to balance China's influence, with President Donald Trump once calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "great guy." Although the United States has historically prioritized the Pacific, it signaled a broader regional outlook by renaming Pacific Command to Indo-Pacific Command in 2018, acknowledging the Indian Ocean's rising strategic importance. Map showing China's presence in the Indian Ocean republished with permission from the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Map showing China's presence in the Indian Ocean republished with permission from the International Institute for Strategic Studies. International Institute for Strategic Studies What To Know IISS, a global thinktank, highlighted China's military presence and the drills it had conducted in the Indian Ocean from 2020 to 2025. "China's military deployments and presence in the Indian Ocean is significantly different today compared to a decade ago," IISS Senior Fellow Darshana M. Baruah who co-authored the analysis, told Newsweek on Wednesday. China has deployed anti-submarine warfare assets across key points in the Indian Ocean and held annual maritime exercises with Iran and Russia between 2022 and 2025, the recent report noted. China is also deepening ties with U.S. Arab allies. China's expanding presence in the Indian Ocean could help it secure critical energy transit routes and protect its sea lines of communication, while deepening strategic ties with Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia. One of China's biggest challenges is gaining operational experience and familiarity with the environment, compared to its competitors, India and the U.S. in particular, Baruah noted. While India remains Washington's primary strategic partner in the region, the U.S. presence at the island of Diego Garcia offers an enduring foothold in the Indian Ocean. India's already uneasy relationship with China has grown more tense amid Beijing's deepening alignment with Pakistan—its nuclear rival—with expanded military cooperation, notable in Pakistan's deployment of Chinese-made fighter jets in the latest aerial conflict with India. What People Are Saying International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): "Along with securing its interests, Beijing has established itself and its capabilities in the area, anticipating any potential future conflict in the Western Pacific." Darshana M. Baruah, Senior Fellow for Indo-Pacific Defence and Strategy, IISS told Newsweek: "India considers the Indian Ocean its primary area of interest and is a resident player. Developments and strategic threat in the Indian Ocean will always have an important impact on India's maritime calculations." What Happens Next A carrier strike group—and potentially a Chinese aircraft carrier—are expected to enter the Indian Ocean theatre, signaling a more permanent and assertive naval presence in the region, according to IISS.
CNA
15 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Non-geopolitical factors have led to 'less than ideal' security responses in Asia Pacific: IISS
From domestic politics to the interdependence of economies -- a new report has warned that these non-geopolitical factors have often led to "less than ideal" responses on the security front in the Asia Pacific. The regional security assessment released by London-based think-tank International Institute of Strategic Studies comes ahead of the Shangri-la Dialogue, a key annual defence gathering in Singapore this weekend. Olivia Siong shares what some of these factors are and their impact on the region.
GMA Network
18 hours ago
- Business
- GMA Network
Asia boosts weapons buys, military research as security outlook darkens
HONG KONG — Spending on weapons and research is spiking among some Asian countries as they respond to a darkening security outlook by broadening their outside industrial partnerships while trying to boost their own defense industries, a new study has found. The annual Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment released on Wednesday by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said outside industrial help remains vital even as regional nations ultimately aim for self-reliance. "Recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, coupled with worsening US-China strategic competition and deterioration of the Asia-Pacific security landscape, may lead to a rising tide of defense-industrial partnerships," it read. "Competitive security dynamics over simmering into the need to develop military capabilities to address them." Spending on defense procurement and research and development rose $2.7 billion between 2022 and 2024, it showed, to reach $10.5 billion among Southeast Asia's key nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The spike comes even as the nations spent an average of 1.5% of GDP on defense in 2024, a figure that has kept relatively constant over the last decade. The study, released ahead of this weekend's annual Shangri-La Dialogue defense meeting in Singapore, said Asia-Pacific nations still rely on imports for most key weapons and equipment. Such items range from submarines and combat aircraft to drones, missiles and advanced electronics for surveillance and intelligence gathering. The informal Singapore gathering of global defense and military officials is expected to be dominated by uncertainties stemming from the protracted Ukraine conflict, Trump administration security policies and regional tension over Taiwan and the disputed busy waterway of the South China Sea. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are increasingly active and making inroads, the study said, though European companies have a prominent and expanding regional presence, via technology transfer, joint ventures and licensed assembly deals. The UAE now operates a diversified network of collaborators, such as China's NORINCO weapons giant and rival India's Hindustan Aeronautics. Joint development operations are not always easy, the study said, offering lessons from India's two-decade collaboration with Russia to produce the BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missile. While the feared weapon is fielded by India, exports have been hampered by lack of a clear strategy, with deliveries to its first third-party customer, the Philippines, starting only in 2024, the study added. Closer Russia-China ties could further complicate the weapon's development, particularly if Moscow chooses to prioritize ties with Beijing to develop a hypersonic version of the missile. — Reuters
Arab News
20 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Asia boosts weapons buys, Gulf states make inroads as security outlook darkens
HONG KONG: Spending on weapons and research is spiking among some Asian countries as they respond to a darkening security outlook by broadening their outside industrial partnerships while trying to boost their own defense industries, a new study has found. The annual Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment released on Wednesday by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said outside industrial help remains vital even as regional nations ultimately aim for self-reliance. 'Recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, coupled with worsening US-China strategic competition and deterioration of the Asia-Pacific security landscape, may lead to a rising tide of defense-industrial partnerships,' it read. 'Competitive security dynamics over simmering flashpoints ... feed into the need to develop military capabilities to address them.' Spending on defense procurement and research and development rose $2.7 billion between 2022 and 2024, it showed, to reach $10.5 billion among Southeast Asia's key nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The spike comes even as the nations spent an average of 1.5 percent of GDP on defense in 2024, a figure that has kept relatively constant over the last decade. The study, released ahead of this weekend's annual Shangri-La Dialogue defense meeting in Singapore, said Asia-Pacific nations still rely on imports for most key weapons and equipment. Such items range from submarines and combat aircraft to drones, missiles and advanced electronics for surveillance and intelligence gathering. The informal Singapore gathering of global defense and military officials is expected to be dominated by uncertainties stemming from the protracted Ukraine conflict, Trump administration security policies and regional tension over Taiwan and the disputed busy waterway of the South China Sea. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are increasingly active and making inroads, the study said, though European companies have a prominent and expanding regional presence, via technology transfer, joint ventures and licensed assembly deals. The UAE now operates a diversified network of collaborators, such as China's NORINCO weapons giant and rival India's Hindustan Aeronautics. Joint development operations are not always easy, the study said, offering lessons from India's two-decade collaboration with Russia to produce the BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missile. While the feared weapon is fielded by India, exports have been hampered by lack of a clear strategy, with deliveries to its first third-party customer, the Philippines, starting only in 2024, the study added. Closer Russia-China ties could further complicate the weapon's development, particularly if Moscow chooses to prioritize ties with Beijing to develop a hypersonic version of the missile.
Business Recorder
21 hours ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Asia boosts weapons buys, military research as security outlook darkens
HONG KONG: Spending on weapons and research is spiking among some Asian countries as they respond to a darkening security outlook by broadening their outside industrial partnerships while trying to boost their own defence industries, a new study has found. The annual Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment released on Wednesday by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said outside industrial help remains vital even as regional nations ultimately aim for self-reliance. 'Recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, coupled with worsening U.S.-China strategic competition and deterioration of the Asia-Pacific security landscape, may lead to a rising tide of defence-industrial partnerships,' it read. 'Competitive security dynamics over simmering flashpoints … feed into the need to develop military capabilities to address them.' Spending on defence procurement and research and development rose $2.7 billion between 2022 and 2024, it showed, to reach $10.5 billion among Southeast Asia's key nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The spike comes even as the nations spent an average of 1.5% of GDP on defence in 2024, a figure that has kept relatively constant over the last decade. The study, released ahead of this weekend's annual Shangri-La Dialogue defence meeting in Singapore, said Asia-Pacific nations still rely on imports for most key weapons and equipment. Pakistan, India drone battles mark new arms race in Asia Such items range from submarines and combat aircraft to drones, missiles and advanced electronics for surveillance and intelligence gathering. The informal Singapore gathering of global defence and military officials is expected to be dominated by uncertainties stemming from the protracted Ukraine conflict, Trump administration security policies and regional tension over Taiwan and the disputed busy waterway of the South China Sea. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are increasingly active and making inroads, the study said, though European companies have a prominent and expanding regional presence, via technology transfer, joint ventures and licenced assembly deals. The UAE now operates a diversified network of collaborators, such as China's NORINCO weapons giant and rival India's Hindustan Aeronautics. Joint development operations are not always easy, the study said, offering lessons from India's two-decade collaboration with Russia to produce the BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missile. While the feared weapon is fielded by India, exports have been hampered by lack of a clear strategy, with deliveries to its first third-party customer, the Philippines, starting only in 2024, the study added. Closer Russia-China ties could further complicate the weapon's development, particularly if Moscow chooses to prioritise ties with Beijing to develop a hypersonic version of the missile.
