India holds all the cards in the Indo-Pacific

[Cobra Arbok]

Interesting assertion considering the events of past Feb 27, 2019, why would a major power fail to make any credible gain on that day not to mention the loss of a fighter aircraft on a retaliatory action by Pakistan.

Then there are the issues of Maoists running wild in at least 5 Indian provinces where cops don't even go out at night in Maoists controlled areas. The issue of Kashmir remains unresolved and the insurgency in the entire NE.

No other major power has so many issues like India has, heck no other country in the world has so many issues like India.

Pleas stop living in the past. The Maoist insurgency is dying, and most of the NE insurgents have either gave up arms and are negotiating with the Gov. or have fled into Myanmar where they have defeated after joint Indo-Myanmar surgical strikes. There is nowhere in India controlled by Maoists anymore, the remaining Maoists have gone into hiding and are only able to conduct small raids and IED attacks. The Kashmir issue is also close to being resolved, with Jihadist groups in Kashmir suffering heavy losses. Over 120 militants have been killed this year including senior leadership. The abolishment of article 35A will further normalize the situation

 

[N.Siddiqui]

Not on the Indo Pacific. Pakistan does not have the centralized location on the Indo-Pacific that India has, nor does it control both of the region's major chokepoints. Pakistan's strategic value is limited to the Afghanistan conflict, and that will end eventually.

Add to this CAR's(Central Asian Republics), Iran, China and Russia too...and yes Pakistan relations with Saudia, UAE, and other GCC countries, they are neighbors too.

 

[masterchief_mirza]

Why does Modi always try to grab and cuddle respectable world leaders and look like he wants to take them skipping in these summit photo ops?

 

[Cobra Arbok]

Interestingly, not a single poster on this thread has refuted any of the points made by the author with facts. Instead, many are resorting to trolling and ad-hominem attacks

 

[masterchief_mirza]

Interestingly, not a single poster on this thread has refuted any of the points made by the author with facts. Instead, many are resorting to trolling and ad-hominem attacks

It's Modi's trolling ad-homosexual attacks we are more concerned about.

 

[Cobra Arbok]

It's Modi's trolling ad-homosexual attacks we are more concerned about.

Whatever floats your boat I suppose.

 

[Microsoft]

Interestingly, not a single poster on this thread has refuted any of the points made by the author with facts. Instead, many are resorting to trolling and ad-hominem attacks

You expect people to read such poorly formatted garbage?

 

[Arulmozhi Varman]

I tried to read this article and honestly it didnt make much sense.

 

[N.Siddiqui]

Interestingly, not a single poster on this thread has refuted any of the points made by the author with facts. Instead, many are resorting to trolling and ad-hominem attacks

Thought that was a pictorial...a la Modi with some disjointed and incoherent phrases and sentences...nothing to read and comprehend.

And since Modi is holding hands with world powers...thought the writer mistook it as India(Modi) holds all the cards(hands).

The caption of this post and article, notwithstanding the incoherence in it should be 'Modi holds all the hands'...

 

[Cobra Arbok]

You expect people to read such poorly formatted garbage?

Looking back, there may have been some problems with the way the article turned out when pasted. Here is the original link
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3018184/not-us-not-china-india-holds-cards-indo-pacific​

Thought that was a pictorial...a la Modi with some disjointed and incoherent phrases and sentences...nothing to read and comprehend.

And since Modi is holding hands with world powers...thought the writer mistook it as India(Modi) holds all the cards(hands).

The caption of this post and article, notwithstanding the incoherence in it should be 'Modi holds all the hands'...

 

[Cookie Monster]

So many Pakistanis are butthurt that India is a major world power with an important role to play in the recent geopolitical developments of Eurasia. And I never even mentioned Pakistan once in this thread. The obsession and butthurt is evident.

It's not butthurt as much as it is amusing to see u guys constantly churning out India this and India that stuff. First it was 2012 superpower...then it was 2020 superpower(which is just around the corner)...now it's that India holds all the cards and not US nor China

Sure buddy whatever helps u guys feel better. Do u see actual established world powers perform this kind of self fellatio? I have yet to see these kinds of articles coming out on a daily basis from US, China, Russia, or western European countries where they try to hype themselves up.

The fact that all of the world's major powers want India to fall in their "camps" should be proof enough of India's importance. I have also posted some non-Indian articles saying the same thing(BTW, this was published in the South China Morning Post). I will post them below for your convenience. But talking to you is like talking to a brick wall, you aren't actually interested in facts and evidence, you are only interested in confirming you ignorant, preconceived notions

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/russ...shed-in-global-politics.629326/#post-11662324

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/russia-india-china-share-a-room-with-a-view.629324/#post-11662321

Just bcuz they want u to fall into their camp doesn't mean it gives u all the cards while they have none. They simply want to make u a pawn...a piece on a chessboard is also important to execute the player's grand strategy.

Panama is important too(Panama Canal) does that make them hold all the cards and make them some sort of superpower? No.
Other countries(major players) think u important to be on their chessboard to execute THEIR grand strategies...that makes u a pawn and not the player.

 

[Chhatrapati]

Actually India being paranoid about Pakistan makes it a bigger power, Pakistan maybe not that powerful, has to punch above its weight.

That makes you an annoyance in the region. You try to compare, compete, desire what India has in geopolitics.
Besides that no, Pakistan is known because of it's conflict with India not something great to be known for. The theory of punching above the weight itself is a pretty emasculating statement similar to what made by Bhutto at UNSC. 'Mighty India attacking'.

And since Pakistan faces a constant threat from India has to get some parity with India, so if you look at the population difference it is about 1: 6.5, if you look into the airforce and army stats of the two countries the ratio narrows down to 1:2.5, Pakistan vs India. Or in some cases 1:3 in some numbers...

This is not card game to compare number of aircrafts one has. What matters is the type of aircraft, geography, and skillset/training. similarly, I like how you carefully excluded Navy.
Because you spend more on your military in %GDP it's only natural you maintain large forces, hoping to take over Kashmir someday. The theory that India is going to attack is a joke, almost all the time Pakistan tried to take over Kashmir by force. Keeps trying, and seems like that's the only way military can keep making money off public, apart from the business they run.

Pakistan makes up for the low numbers and less quantity with being more lean and mean, more thrifty in military splurges, and through quality...

Yeah, and yet these are not shown in reality. Similar to classic 10 Hindu = 1 Mard e Momin theory. More martial, more powerful, etc... etc...

 

[El Sidd]

Asian Angle by Rupakjyoti Borah

Not the US, not China. India holds the cards in the Indo-Pacific

• India has ties with all the major regional players and the heft to alter the balance of power, if it so wished
• But a long tradition of ‘strategic autonomy’ is likely to see the status quo maintained, unless Beijing provokes change

Rupakjyoti Borah

Published: 7:00am, 12 Jul, 2019

Updated: 7:04am, 12 Jul, 2019


Advertisement
TOP PICKS


This Week in Asia

Is Sri Lanka the next theatre for the US-China tussle?

27 Jul 2019



This Week in Asia

As Japanese population shrinks, foreigners arrive in greater numbers

16 Jul 2019



This Week in Asia

Temasek’s results spark discussion of Chinese investments, Ho Ching

21 Jul 2019



This Week in Asia

What’s driving Japan’s escalating feud with South Korea?

18 Jul 2019



This Week in Asia

Duterte: I allow Chinese vessels to fish in Philippine waters to prevent war

23 Jul 2019



This Week in Asia

Portugal: a new home for those who fear Hong Kong’s fate?

24 Jul 2019



This Week in Asia

Japanese companies eye investments in India’s ‘Detroit of Asia’

26 Jul 2019



This Week in Asia

Harsh truths for Hong Kong: protests will not achieve anything

11 Jul 2019



This Week in Asia

Brand confusion threatens South Korean boycott of Japanese goods

21 Jul 2019



This Week in Asia

One country’s winning the trade war. It’s not the US and it’s not China

10 Jul 2019

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (left), India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (centre) and China's President Xi Jinping meet on the sidelines of G20 summit in Osaka. Photo: Reuter
At last month’s
G20
summit in Osaka,
India
once again took part in two trilateral meetings – one with
Japan
and the
United States
, the other with
China
and
Russia
.
The first focused on “how the three countries can work together towards an open, stable and rule-based Indo-Pacific region”, according to India’s External Affairs Ministry. The latter, meanwhile, provided an important opportunity for “the world’s leading economies [to have an] exchange of views … on the economic, political and security situation of the world”, according to Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
.

US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Modi before their G20 meeting. Photo: AP
Share:Indo-Pacific
region that is in flux.
In the recent past, the US has looked to counterbalance China’s rising influence in the region. But President
Donald Trump
’s unpredictability and diplomatic moves with
North Korean
strongman
Kim Jong-un
have upset the calculations of the leaders of China,
South Korea
and America’s closest ally in the region, Japan. This also extends to India, which is not sure how Trump will deal with China in the long-run.
India could well prove to be a “swing state” in these rapidly evolving diplomatic sweepstakes. As New Delhi’s economic and military muscle increases, it could either tilt the regional balance of power in favour of the US and its allies or choose to side with Russia and China – possibly creating a new multipolar order. India is also a major arms buyer and this is one card which it could play when dealing with countries like the US and Russia.

Xi says China, Russia and India should take ‘global responsibility’
SUBSCRIBE TO This Week in Asia
Get updates direct to your inbox
By registering for these newsletters you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Thank you for your subscription.
You can also view our other newsletters.
Delhi has its own reasons for maintaining close communication with the US, Japan, Russia and China. The Modi government wants to spur further economic growth and needs strong ties with its major trading partners to do so.

Read more

View attachment 572005
The difference between Indo Pacific and Asia-Pacific? The US and China

Read more

View attachment 572003
China seeks Indian and Russian backing for ‘new’ trading system

Read more

View attachment 572004
The difference between Indo Pacific and Asia-Pacific? The US and China

Read more

View attachment 572006
China seeks Indian and Russian backing for ‘new’ trading system

Relations with Washington have been bumpy, to say the least, despite India inching closer in recent times with the signing of a memorandum of understanding on logistics exchange and its participation in the Malabar naval exercises with the US and Japan.

India also stopped importing oil from
Iran
after Washington withdrew all sanction exemptions on May 2. This was a big turnaround for a country that had been one of Iran’s biggest oil buyers, importing 23.5 million tonnes over the past year.

Advertisement

Trumps meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have upset regional leader’s calculations. Photo: Reuters
Share:Shinzo Abe
noting many times that “the India-Japan relationship has the greatest potential of any bilateral relationship in the world”.
Did Japan and India just launch a counter to China’s Belt and Road?
The pair’s economic ties have been slow to catch up, though. Bilateral trade between the two was a measly US$15.71 billion in 2017-18, as compared with US$84.44 billion for trade between India and China over the same period.

Russia, that other big regional player, is still a major defence supplier for India and the two have been working on
a deal for a delivery of Russian-made S-400 missiles
, putting Delhi back in Washington’s cross hairs. Moscow also has influence in countries like Iran – where India has economic interests in the form of investments in places like the port of Chabahar – and has increasingly been making overtures towards
Pakistan
, India’s neighbour and longstanding rival.
When it comes to China, India has kept its channels of communication open as seen with the informal summit between Modi and Chinese President
Xi Jinping
that was held in Wuhan last year. The two countries are also partners in organisations such as the
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
and the economic bloc
BRICS
, alongside Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

Leaders of the BRICS countries at the G20 summit in Japan. Photo: AP
Share:unresolved border issues
, however, and India is also wary of China’s ties with Pakistan. Earlier this year, China
withdrew its opposition
to Pakistan-based terror chief Masood Azhar being sanctioned by the
United Nations
, which could signal a softening of its position on the issue of Pakistan-based terror outfits and their leaders.
India, with its huge population, military capabilities and strong government, could significantly alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. However, given its tradition of strategic autonomy, Delhi is unlikely to commit to any one power bloc, even as it grows incrementally closer to the US and Japan.

That being said, it is also unlikely to give up its traditional ties with Russia. So whether India will act as a “swing state” in the Indo-Pacific may well depend on how its relations with China unfold.

Rupakjyoti Borah is a research fellow with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo, Japan

Everybody else is playing the different game.

What can india do with those cards? Humanitarian crisis and india should be synonyms

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

That makes you an annoyance in the region. You try to compare, compete, desire what India has in geopolitics.
Besides that no, Pakistan is known because of it's conflict with India not something great to be known for. The theory of punching above the weight itself is a pretty emasculating statement similar to what made by Bhutto at UNSC. 'Mighty India attacking'.


This is not card game to compare number of aircrafts one has. What matters is the type of aircraft, geography, and skillset/training. similarly, I like how you carefully excluded Navy.
Because you spend more on your military in %GDP it's only natural you maintain large forces, hoping to take over Kashmir someday. The theory that India is going to attack is a joke, almost all the time Pakistan tried to take over Kashmir by force. Keeps trying, and seems like that's the only way military can keep making money off public, apart from the business they run.


Yeah, and yet these are not shown in reality. Similar to classic 10 Hindu = 1 Mard e Momin theory. More martial, more powerful, etc... etc...

Where is the genuine, honest, irrefutable, reliable and compelling evidence for ANY of your claims? If ANY of what you say is true then please remember to post the links to the evidence here. Please do not use your indianistic sources which claim that the iaf killed 300 terrorists in Balakot and shot down an F-16..........

 

[Chhatrapati]

Where is the genuine, honest, irrefutable, reliable and compelling evidence for ANY of your claims? If ANY of what you say is true then please remember to post the links to the evidence here. Please do not use your indianistic sources which claim that the iaf killed 300 terrorists in Balakot and shot down an F-16..........

As I always say, ask for specifics rather than copy pasting same comments over and over. Or else your bla bla bla is ignored.