Page 2 - Indo-pacific Region

India announces $500,000 Quad scholarship for Indo-Pacific students

India has announced a new initiative to award fifty Quad scholarships, worth USD 500,000, to students from the Indo-Pacific. These scholarships will enable students to pursue a four-year undergraduate engineering programme at a Government of India-funded technical institution, said the Wilmington Declaration issued after the fourth in-person Quad Summit. Hosted by President Joe Biden, the Quad Leaders' Summit took place on Saturday in his hometown Wilmington, Delaware. It was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan. "India is pleased to announce a new initiative to award fifty Quad scholarships, worth USD 500,000, to students from the Indo-Pacific to pursue a 4-year undergraduate engineering programme at a Government of India-funded technical institution," the declaration read. According to the declaration, the Quad is committed to strengthening the deep and enduring ties between our people, a

Myanmar's toll from Yagi rises past 200 with tallying hindered by civil war

Floods and landslides in Myanmar triggered by last week's Typhoon Yagi and seasonal monsoon rains have claimed at least 226 lives, with 77 people missing, state-run media reported Tuesday. The death toll, reported in the state-run Myanma Alinn, was almost seven times Friday's initial total of 33, with strong prospects of it continuing to rise. The counting of casualties has been slow, in part due to communication difficulties with the affected areas as Myanmar is wracked by civil war. Typhoon Yagi earlier hit Vietnam, northern Thailand and Laos, killing almost 300 people in Vietnam, 42 in Thailand and four in Laos, according to the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance.

PM Modi's visit to Brunei and Singapore: What is India's Act East Policy?

India's Act East Policy focuses on building ties with Asean countries to promote peace, economic collaboration, and cultural ties while also acting as a counterweight to China's growing influence

PM Modi to visit Singapore today: Top 5 things on agenda explained

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will start his bilateral visit to Singapore after his trip to Brunei. Singapore is a key partner in India's 'Act East' policy and in boosting Indo-Pacific engagement

PM Narendra Modi arrives in Brunei on first leg of two-nation visit

As he embarked on a visit to Brunei and Singapore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that the two nations are "important partners" in India's 'Act East' policy and asserted that his visits would further strengthen the partnership with the two countries and the larger ASEAN region. Modi is on a two-nation visit from September 3-5, starting with Brunei. "Today, I am embarking on a first ever bilateral visit to Brunei Darussalam. As we celebrate the 40 years of our diplomatic relations, I look forward to my meetings with His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and other esteemed members of the Royal family to advance our historical relationship to new heights," he said in his departure statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. The visit will further strengthen India's cooperation with Brunei in all existing sectors, including defence cooperation, trade and investment, energy, space technology, health cooperation, capacity building, culture as well as ...

Quad members pledge to work towards free, peaceful Indo-Pacific region

India and other Quad member nations on Monday reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and said no country should dominate others and competition should be managed responsibly in what is seen as a clear message to China. At a meeting, the foreign ministers of the Quad countries also called for upholding the free and open rules-based international order and respecting the principle of freedom, human rights, democratic values, sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations. The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Australia's Penny Wong. "All countries have a role in contributing to regional peace, stability, and prosperity while seeking a region in which no country dominates and no country is dominated, competition is managed responsibly, and each country is free from coercion in all its forms and can exercise its agency to determine its own future

China threat catalyses some air forces to defend freedoms in Indo-Pacific

This is being demonstrated in an air force exercise currently ongoing in Australia. Exercise Pitch Black 2024, held from July 12 to August 2, is the largest-ever exercise.

Amid US political chaos, Blinken heads to Asia to bolster Indo-Pacific ties

Ignoring the political chaos surrounding President Joe Biden's decision to end his reelection campaign, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head to Asia this week on a long-planned eight-day trip aimed at shoring up ties with Indo-Pacific allies and partners but with the priority of assuring them that the United States remains committed to the region. The State Department announced on Monday that Blinken, a longtime close aide to Biden dating from the president's days in the Senate, will travel to Vietnam, Laos, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia for a series of international and bilateral meetings. Those will include discussions in Laos with his Chinese counterpart and strategic and security talks in Tokyo and Manila also involving Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. The trip had been scheduled well before Biden's announcement on Sunday that he was withdrawing from the presidential race. State Department officials said there was no discussion of cancelling or postponing

India to apply for licences to scout Pacific Ocean for critical minerals

China, Russia, and some Pacific Island nations have already secured exploration licences for the Pacific Ocean

India-Indonesia-Australia trilateral talks under IPOI, IORA held today

The three sides held discussions to explore opportunities for collaboration, including under the framework of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

Govt aims to make Northeast gateway of 'Act East Policy': President Murmu

The government is working to make the northeast a strategic gateway under its 'Act East Policy' and has increased the allocation for the region's development by more than four times over the last 10 years, President Droupadi Murmu said on Thursday. Addressing a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha, Murmu said that for the first time, work on inland waterways has started in the northeast on a large scale and it will benefit the region immensely. "My government has increased the allocation for the development of the northeast region by more than four times over the last 10 years. The government is working to make this region a strategic gateway under its Act East Policy," she said. India's 'Act East Policy' focuses on the extended neighbourhood in the Indo-Pacific region with ASEAN as its core. The objective of the 'Act East Policy' is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationships with countries i

India, Australia, and France pledge to work for rules-based Indo-Pacific

India, Australia and France have vowed to jointly work towards a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific amid China's growing muscle-flexing in the region. The overall situation in the Indo-Pacific came up for detailed deliberations at the third 'India-France-Australia trilateral focal points' meeting that took place in Delhi on Wednesday. "The three sides reviewed the progress made under the three pillars of trilateral cooperation: maritime safety and security, marine and environmental cooperation, and multilateral engagement," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. It said the meeting identified new proposals for furthering the trilateral cooperation, including under the framework of the Indo Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) mechanisms. "India, Australia and France reaffirmed their commitment to advancing their shared values and working together towards a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific," the MEA said

Chinese premier Li Qiang flies to Australia after New Zealand visit

Chinese Premier Li Qiang is due to arrive in Australia on Saturday on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China's global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda. China's most powerful politician after President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Adelaide Zoo and a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant in the Kwinana Beach industrial estate, as well as Australia's Parliament House, during a visit that will end on Tuesday. Li's visit is the first by a Chinese premier in seven years and is expected to pave the way for Xi's first journey to Australia since 2014. China initiated a reset of the bilateral relationship after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left Labor Party was elected in 2022. The relationship collapsed during the previous conservative administration's almost decade in power over legislation that banned covert foreign interference in Australian politics, the exclusion of Chinese-owned telecommunications giant

US govt reaffirms unwavering commitment to the Indo-Pacific region

Highlighting significant milestones, Patel referenced President Biden's initiatives, including a historic trilateral summit at Camp David involving Japan and the Republic of Korea

'Ready to cooperate': G7 foreign ministers advocate free, open Indo-Pacific

The foreign ministers of the G7 have reiterated their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region and emphasised that a growing China that plays by international rules would be of global interest. Terming China a key interlocutor in addressing global challenges, and that the G7 stands ready to cooperate with Beijing on areas of common interest, a G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting Communique on Friday said, Our policy approaches are not designed to harm China, nor do we seek to thwart China's economic progress and development. However, we are concerned that China's nonmarket policies and practices are leading to harmful overcapacity that undermines our workers, industries, and economic resilience. A growing China that plays by international rules would be of global interest, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, and the High Representative of the European Union said on the final day of the Ministerial meeting on Foreign Affairs that wa

India, France to launch climate fund for startups in Indo-Pacific countries

Two nations agreed to set up the fund after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to France for Bastille Day celebrations last year

Indo-Pacific to ensure US-India partnership supports allies: Lloyd Austin

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has told lawmakers that by bolstering the Indian military's capabilities, the nations can work together to uphold a more stable balance of power across the wider Indo-Pacific. He also told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing this week on the annual budget of the Department of Defense that the militaries of the US and India are accelerating operational activities to boost maritime security in the Indian Ocean. "By bolstering the Indian military's capabilities, we can work together to uphold a more stable balance of power across the wider Indo-Pacific," Austin said and added that "with this budget request, we are beginning a new chapter in US-India relations under our Major Defense Partnership". The defense secretary said, "Our militaries are accelerating joint exercises, information-sharing and other operational activities to boost maritime security in the Indian Ocean." "We are committed to ensuring that th

Extreme heat in East Asia, Pacific putting millions of children at risk: UN

Warnings over more intense and frequent heat waves this summer are especially worrying in the region, as high humidity levels make it more difficult for the body to cool down naturally

Aiming for 15% revenue share out of Asia in next few years: SailPoint CEO

US-based company SailPoint Technologies uses AI to track user behaviour patterns and identify abnormal user behaviour in terms of accessing organisational data

US aims to be 'economic partner of choice' for Indo-Pacific, says official

Raimondo said she is often asked if the United States is asking countries in the Indo-Pacific to choose between China and the United States