A tightrope walk over China for PM

A tightrope walk over China for PM

India china

News:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore on India’s defence and security outlook is expected to picture India’s ‘tightrope-balancing’ situation between the U.S. and its allies, and China.

Important facts:

1.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Singapore and Jakarta is expected to focus more on the possibilities of security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the recently convened “Quadrilateral” with the U.S., Japan and Australia.
2. Prior to Shangri-La dialogue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Indonesia and China’s Qingdao city for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Note that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit is also known as the “Eastern NATO”.

1. In Indonesia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to discuss security cooperation as well as information and expertise sharing on terrorism and countering violent extremism.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joko Widodo will be meeting for the 4th time since 2014, when both leaders were elected to power in their countries.

They first met on the sidelines of the East Asian summit in 2014.

And subsequently President Widodo has travelled to India twice, for a state visit in December 2016, and in January, 2018 for the ASEAN-India summit.

It is to be noted that Indonesia is seen as a focal point in the Indo-Pacific, and has recently strengthened ties with Australia and Japan.