India, today, stands at a threshold in leveraging its economic and military growth in consonant with its national security goals. This situation has not only earned a national identity but also an international status where both economy and military strength are major determinants. It’s an irony that India’s growing international status has coincided with two major international developments: One is the disintegration of the erstwhile Soviet Union and the second one is the end of the Cold War.

The Indian Navy announced plans to dispatch a flotilla of four warships to the Asia Pacific region in March-April this year. These vessels will make goodwill visits to ports in the region and also engage in joint exercises with a number of regional navies: Singaporean Navy for the exercise Simbex in South China Sea; Malabar with the US Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) off the Okinawa coast; and Indra with Russian Navy off Vladivostok.

After the 17th Chinese Communist Party Congress National Meeting 2007, China started focusing on South Asia, specifically India. Both have been favorably disposed towards multilateralism, with India joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as an observer, while China joining SAARC summit in April 2008, also as an observer. Besides, people to people diplomacy expanded with mutual tourist visits.

Cross border threats, which involve influx of counterfeit currencies, illegal arms, smuggling of narcotics, illegal wildlife trade and its derivatives and cross border terrorism, are gaining momentum along the 726 kilometer long porous India-Nepal border. It is a grave concern for India considering the present political instability in Nepal.

During the present world turmoil, the Australian government has announced an aggressive defence policy. The White Paper on defence titled ‘Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030’ envisages a considerable increase in its defence expenditure and a significant military acquisition programme for the Australian Defence Forces (ADF).

A new kind of apartheid is emerging from a country which had been under five decades of apartheid regime. The recent denial of visa to Dalai Lama to enter and attend a conference in South Africa has created much uproar in the breaking news! Dalai Lama was to attend the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's conference that was to highlight the role of football in fighting xenophobia and racism.

The Chinese government has once again conveyed clear indication to the world its ability to administer the local media in its own favor during disasters, both natural and human. Even the government can mould the media reports for its own interest as it happened during Sichuan earthquake and thereafter. The Chinese media has shown contrasting behavior with respect to two disasters- the SARS epidemic (2003) and the Sichuan earthquake (2008).

Analyze this: A week long protest, riot and looting in Haiti due to spiraling food prices led to the ouster of the Prime Minister and announcement of $10 million feeding program by the World Bank during an emergency meeting in Washington in April. The 9000 strong UN peace keeping force is still in dilemma to face the ‘hungry mob’ in Haiti. Approximately 10,000 workers clashed with police near the capital in Bangladesh over the rising food price. At least dozens of people, including 20 police officials, were injured in the violence in Dhaka. In Egypt, the revolt over food is mounting.

China’s October 24 launch of its Chang-e 1 (Moon Goddess) Moon survey satellite has been heralded by the Chinese government as a “giant leap” for China’s peaceful exploration of outer space. But the launch of Chang-e, as well as subsequent Chinese Moon missions, to very likely include manned Moon activities, should also be viewed as a major step into space for China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which controls all of China’s space activities.

The fundamental cultural influences [mentioned in the first part of the article, “Negotiating with China-I”, Article No:120, June 14, 2007], have left their imprint upon the negotiating style of the Chinese. Scholars like John Graham and Mark Lam (The Chinese Negotiation. Harvard Business Review, October 2003) have identified and defined a set of eight elements that one would have to contend with when dealing with the Chinese.