scorecardresearch
Friday, August 8, 2025
TopicBelt and Road Initiative

Topic: Belt and Road Initiative

China’s failing white elephant projects in Sri Lanka have lessons for India

Five years after it acquired Hambantota, China is learning cash has bought neither profit nor power in Sri Lanka.

G7 infra plan a lifeline developing nations can’t ignore but first crack this code, like BRI

Silk roads are getting bumpier but Beijing will maximise its pursuit of global leadership as long as it perceives that Washington seeks to deny it any.

India lost the first mover advantage but there’s benefit to gain from Indo-Pacific forum

India's centrality in the Indo-Pacific trade architecture should have made New Delhi launch IPEF much before US President Joe Biden did. It can still be a rule maker.

Beijing’s Afghanistan gamble: Can emerging China-Taliban-Pakistan triangle deliver peace?

China should support an inclusive process in Afghanistan. The alternative would be either a permanent black security hole or an Islamist dystopia on China’s doorsteps.

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka bets big on $14 bn China-backed Port City, wants reluctant India to invest

China has invested $1.4 billion in the strategically located project. But the Rajapaksa govt wants India to invest in the potential metropolis, which is Sri Lanka's first SEZ.

China wants to tame Internet algorithms. It’s all about national security

Chinascope — The Week Behind The Wall is everything you need to know about what’s happening in China this week.

China expanding influence in UN via increased funding, placing key officials: Think-tank study

UN agencies led by China are linked to domestic agendas like the BRI, Make in China 2025 and the rise of Chinese companies, Mumbai-based think-tank Gateway House's study says.

CPEC project is an economic initiative & has not affected its stand on Kashmir, says China

At a media briefing Monday, China defended the USD 60 billion CPEC project with Pakistan, disregarding India's protests as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

New China-Iran pact brings a headache for India. It’s not just another international deal

China's $400 billion deal with Iran comes at a time when the US is showing little signs of lifting the sanctions imposed on Iran. This is not good news for India.

India must be smart in supporting Myanmar, if Quad won’t measure up

Gaining overland access to Indian Ocean through Myanmar is crucial for China’s geostrategic designs. Which means India can’t protest against coup too loudly.

On Camera

US has misread India. New Delhi will hedge, push back, and assert

India’s foreign policy today is driven less by Western alignment or global liberalism and more by domestic political imperatives — economic, ideological, and electoral.

Smartphones, gems, pharma: Which Indian exports will be worst hit by Trump tariffs, which will be spared

Electronics—specifically smartphones—& energy & pharma products make up 30% of Indian exports to US. 25% tariff on India came into effect Thursday, extra 25% to kick in by August-end.

Pakistan army chief Asim Munir to attend CENTCOM chief’s farewell, second visit to US in two months

Munir was earlier in America in June when he had a two-hour luncheon meeting with the US president at the White House.

Pakistan, Dhaka have played Washington well. Back home, Modi ecosystem has an inner conflict

To protect ourselves from Trumpian diplomacy, first we must introspect the bipolarity within our establishment discourse.