The COVID-19 global pandemic is forcing countries the world over to rethink government spending — reallocating funds from defense and security sectors to other priority areas along public health and economic fronts to contain the spread of the pandemic and manage its effects on the economy. Despite the fiscal strain imposed on New Delhi by COVID-19, the crisis also presents a unique opportunity for India to enhance the country’s defense exports at a point when the country is striving towards self-sufficiency in the sector.
All in India
As Asian nations in the Indo-Pacific Rim emerge as potential future powers and enjoy greater global visibility, prestige, and power, great powers in the region have found themselves pressed with the need to pursue more comprehensive foreign policies towards the region. Beijing believes that by merging foreign and economic policy to reshape global infrastructure it can re-shape global trade routes and put China at the epicenter of both Asia and the world economy, making Beijing a global Milliarium Aureum of sorts.
Despite major conflicts between India and Pakistan, the one constant rule has been the sanctity of the de facto borders in the contested territory of Kashmir. Such an understanding has ensured that both nations, while heavily active on the border, dare not violate it whatsoever, to the extent that individuals meeting in border crossings into the region usually maintain cordial relations. However, India and Pakistan’s de facto policy on the Kashmir region has changed dramatically over the last few years, perhaps irrevocably.