Latest news with #WilsonCentre
Mint
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
JD Vance's ‘none of our business' remark on India-Pak tensions echoes Trump-era foreign policy, says Michael Kugelman
After US Vice-President JD Vance remarked that the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan is 'none of their business,' a Washington DC-based South Asia expert Michael Kugelman has said the comment reflects a 'broader shift in American foreign policy'. Kugelman, a prominent analyst and Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre, suggested that Vance's statement aligns with the Trump administration's general stance on global affairs. 'I think on the whole, the read I have of what JD Vance said is that it really reflects the Trump administration's broad view of foreign policy,' Kugelman told media. 'That is, that the US should not be over-extending itself in international affairs.' He added that while Washington might support de-escalation in principle, it is unlikely to devote serious diplomatic resources to mediating the conflict. 'It's happy to express its desire for India and Pakistan to de-escalate, but the US is not going to expand significant levels of bandwidth to try to get the two sides to de-escalate,' Kugelman said. 'That would be a significant change from the first Trump administration.'
South China Morning Post
03-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
India and Sri Lanka set to sign defence pact amid China's rising regional clout
The visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka is seen as another step by New Delhi to counter China's rising influence and presence on the island nation, with observers citing a landmark defence pact to be signed by the South Asian neighbours. Advertisement Delhi and Colombo will finalise key agreements such as the set-up of solar-power plants during Modi's trip over the weekend, following up on talks that began when Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake visited India in December. Both countries will also strengthen bilateral trade, focusing on textiles, pharmaceuticals, and information technology, as well as sign a defence deal, according to Indian media reports. Analysts said the defence deal was set to be one of the most significant milestones in relations between Delhi and Colombo in recent years, with both sides expected to increase military cooperation through joint maritime surveillance, exercises and equipment support. Modi will be the first foreign leader to be hosted by Dissanayake who was sworn into office last September. Advertisement Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centre's South Asia Institute, said the visit came amid growing competition between India and China to forge closer ties with the littoral states of South Asia, including Sri Lanka.
South China Morning Post
20-03-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
US-China rivalry forcing Southeast Asia to pick sides, congressional panel hears
Southeast Asian countries now recognise they may have no choice but to take sides in the Sino-American rivalry, at least in certain sectors, even as they seek to avoid that dilemma, a US congressional advisory panel heard on Thursday. Advertisement Moreover, this reality should prompt Washington to adopt a sector-by-sector approach to the region and shape its choices before Beijing does, according to testimony given at the US–China Economic and Security Review Commission. 'Increasingly, they are accepting that, even though they don't like it … they might have to choose on specific issues,' said Lynn Kuok of the Washington-based Brookings Institution, referring to Southeast Asian countries. With that in mind, the US should view competition in the region in terms of 'swing sectors' and not 'swing states' as other observers have suggested, said Prashanth Parameswaran of the Wilson Centre, also a Washington think tank. Swing states are countries that possess clout but are not firmly aligned with either the US or China. Jon Finer, US deputy national security adviser in the Biden administration, advocated prioritising ties with Southeast Asian heavyweights like Indonesia. Photo: White House
