Category: Foreign Policy

An article by Teresita C. Schaffer and Vibhuti Haté on India’s foreign policy and economic interests in Central Asia, a market that had been largely inaccessible during the existence of the Soviet Union.

India has had its eye on Central Asia for a long time. Its primary interests there are in energy, minimizing Pakistani influence, and establishing itself as a significant player in the interplay of outside powers that is taking shape. The main difficulties lie in connecting Central Asian resources to the Indian market – a familiar problem for the Central Asians. U.S. and Indian interests overlap, but the U.S. is more focused on sustaining the independence of the Central Asian states.

Originally published in the Center for Strategic & International Studies‘ South Asia Monitor on September 5, 2007. Read the entire article.

An article by Teresita C. Schaffer and Vibhuti Haté on India’s economic relations with China and Japan.

Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India in November 2006, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan in December 2006, underline India’s increasing economic and political prominence in Asia. India’s economic relations with China are developing faster than those with Japan. Its strategic connections with Japan are stronger, and lack the undercurrent of rivalry that marks those with China. India is interested in playing a larger role on the broader Asian scene, but at the moment has only a small place in the institutional infrastructure for Asian cooperation. These three countries’ economic and strategic interests, along with those of the United States, come together in the Indian Ocean. That is where the effort to create a peaceful path for the rise of China and India will be tested.

Originally published in the Center for Strategic & International Studies‘ South Asia Monitor on January 3, 2007. Read the entire article.