India proposed on Wednesday 5.94 trillion rupees ($72.6 billion) in defence spending for the 2023-24 financial year, 13% up from the previous period’s initial estimates, aiming to add more fighter jets and roads along its tense border with China, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated 1.63 trillion rupees for …

The Chinese coast guard, already the largest in the world, is set to expand even further with the addition of more than 20 warships, according to a Japanese news agency. The addition of 22 former navy corvettes to China’s coast guard will give it more than 150 patrol vessels with …

Even though Southeast Asia is a strategic region in the emerging U.S.-China standoff, the Biden administration’s policy toward it in 2021 left much to be desired. During its first year in office, the Biden team lacked a strategy for the region, was short on ambassadors, and paid little attention to …