Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s first state visit to China since the 2021 coup to attend the SCO summit and the World War II victory day parade carried significance beyond ceremonial diplomacy. It came at a moment when the international community is scrutinizing Myanmar’s political trajectory after the junta’s dissolution of four years of emergency rule and the new governing body- State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC). While India engaged cautiously, China swiftly endorsed the new regime, converting political backing into seven economic agreements and reaffirming its stake in Belt and Road projects like the China–Myanmar Economic Corridor. For Beijing, the SSPC ensures continuity of strategic infrastructure, buffers against Western and Indian influence, and secures access to the Indian Ocean. Yet this embrace has inflamed domestic resentment, with ethnic armed groups and civil society accusing China of interfering in Myanmar's internal politics. By betting on Myanmar’s military for short-term stability, it may be sowing the seeds of long-term volatility that could undermine its own strategic interests.

The choreography of Tianjin revealed a paradox: convergence at the level of optics, but incongruity at the level of interests. India’s SCO presence was not an embrace of China’s Eurasian vision but an exercise in strategic autonomy—projecting India as an indispensable voice in the diversification of multilateralism. The Tianjin Declaration, with its inclusion of India’s security concerns, reflected not only India’s rising clout within the SCO but also China’s recognition that ignoring Indian sensitivities risks undermining the group’s unity and its own multipolar emphasis. This is a subtle but important recalibration by Beijing. India’s calculus after the SCO is clear: engaging China and Russia within multilateral settings provides diplomatic space and signals autonomy to Washington, but it does not alter the structural reality of rivalry with Beijing.

The war in Ukraine and the involvement of the Wagner Group in the conflict brought to light the phenomenon of states utilising private military companies to further their goals. This is not a new development, but for China, which has long been wary of deploying the People’s Liberation Army overseas, the case of Wagner presents a possible opportunity of having a tool at its disposal that can achieve similar goals while also providing room for plausible deniability. This article seeks to take a closer look at how the use of such groups may emerge as a tool of People’s Republic of China statecraft in the future.

To many external observers, the Chinese notion of democracy is contradictory to the country’s one-party political system and its limited space for dissent. Nonetheless, the Chinese party-state has consistently portrayed itself as a system that embodies democratic values, albeit in a form tailored to its own political and cultural context.

अमेरिकी टैरिफ के बाद बनी परिस्थितियों में तिंजियांग में एससीओ {शंघाई कारपोरेशन ऑरगेनाइजेशन } की दृष्टिगत सफलता के बाद ये कहना अनुमानित नहीं होगा कि भारत और जापान, चीन के साथ कूटनीतिक और आर्थिक रूप से जुड़े हुए हैं, साथ ही वे अमेरिका और ऑस्ट्रेलिया के साथ क्वाड में अपनी भूमिका को भी और मज़बूत कर रहे हैं।

The Special Issue “India’s Soft Push for Power in South Asia: Shaping A Favourable Tomorrow” was ideated keeping in mind the increasing need for Indian policymakers to mitigate challenges emerging against New Delhi’s South Asian policy. Through each chapter, contributed by emerging Indian scholars specializing in India’s neighborhood policy, the publications envisions new and existing strategies to effectively leverage India’s soft power appeal in South Asia. 

Religious exchanges, especially pilgrimages to Mount Kailash, have long symbolized the fluid cultural ties and contested sovereignties between India, Tibet, and China. The recent reopening of the Kailash yātrā reflects cautious Sino-Indian rapprochement post-Galwan. However, such religious engagement implicitly challenges Beijing’s authority in Tibet. Pilgrimage remains a subtle yet potent site of geopolitical tension and cultural assertion.