South Asia: A New Strategy
The U.S. government should develop a coherent and coordinated strategy for South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The United States has a number of vital interests at stake in the region that includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the vast Indian Ocean. Perhaps most important, the region has become an increasingly vital theater of competition with China, which poses a direct threat to the security and prosperity of the United States and our allies. In recent years, Beijing’s expanding footprint in the region has been a cause for growing alarm and a catalyst for the transformation of U.S.–India ties and the revival of the Quad group joining Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. Preventing China from asserting hegemonic influence over South Asia and the IOR represents a vital interest of the United States. Over the past decade, Beijing’s growing military and economic reach into South Asia and the IOR has undermined democratic governance and burdened countries with unsustainable debt. Its aggressive maneuvers along its disputed border with India, new claims on Indian and Bhutanese territory, and deadly clashes with Indian soldiers in 2020 have stoked the China–India rivalry. Meanwhile, the threat of terrorism in the region remains acute. The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after a 20-year military campaign there has created new challenges and provided an opportunity to reset the deeply troubled U.S.–Pakistan relationship and reassess U.S. counterterrorism strategy in the region. The long-standing nuclear-tinged India–Pakistan rivalry and tensions over the disputed territory of Kashmir continue to pose risks to regional stability.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.