Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

NATO’s Outreach into the Indo-Pacific – Part I

Introduction In the great power contestation with the United States and China as the main two protagonists with satellite powers either endorsing stance or outright standing behind either of the two has turned global politics upside down. Whether...

July 19 , 2023

Escalation of Conflict Feared after Tsai’s Visit to the US

The Taiwan issue again entered a new geopolitical churn when Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met the US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on 5 April 2023, provoking Beijing to issue a sharp rebuke. This was the highest-profile meeting of...

April 17 , 2023

Rising Tensions in Taiwan Strait

As January 2024 -- the date for Taiwan's national elections -- draws closer, it is certain that China will be a factor in the elections. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's stop-overs in New York and Los Angeles and meeting with US House Majority Leader...

April 13 , 2023

Trilateral Web Conference on "Emerging Strategic Environment in the Indo-Pacific"

The Vivekananda International Foundation organized a trilateral webinar with the Japan Institute of National Fundamentals and the Prospect Foundation on 29 September 2022 on "Emerging Strategic Environment in the Indo-Pacific". After initial remarks...

January 4 , 2023

Japan upgrades its Defence and Security Posture

Introduction In a dramatic departure to Japan’s exclusively defensive posture embodied in the pacifist post-War Constitution of Japan, the Fumio Kishida administration effectively abandoned on 16 December 2022 when it passed ammendments to three key...

January 4 , 2023

Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan takes the Island Nation to International Limelight

In the wake of escalating tensions between the US and China that started over trade issues and further complicated by the Covid-19, the Taiwan issue has emerged as a caucus belli for a possible conflagration, which if not controlled with deft...

August 9 , 2022

Japan’s Defence White Paper 2021: China Riled by Mention of Taiwan Strait

On 13 July 2021, Japan issued the 2021 Defense White Paper. One significant mention for the first time is the need to maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait, which is threatened by increasing Chinese military incursions on the Taiwanese waters. The...

July 22 , 2021

Significance of Blinken’s and Austin’s Visits to Seoul and Tokyo

No sooner than the first virtual summit of the four Quad leaders discussed the regional issues and underlined the importance of rules of law and free and open Indo-Pacific, the Joe Biden administration sent his Secretary of State Antony Blinken and...

March 22 , 2021

US Augments Military Bases, Revitalizes Lilly Pads and Pushes for Visiting Forces Agreements in the Pacific Ocean

Earlier this month, on 1st July, 350 paratroopers from the US 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) parachuted onto Guam to test their ability to “execute real-world missions” and demonstrate that they could be deployed “anywhere in the U.S....

July 10 , 2020