The sudden vanishing of Bao Fan, the head of China Renaissance Holdings, whose clients include ride-hailing Didi Chuxing and food-delivery app Meituan, has once again stirred the hornet’s nest in China. While such disappearances are not strange in authoritarian China, the frequency of such incidents at a time when President Xi Jinping is tightening political control, amidst China’s economic troubles, is revealing.
Well, after an year of Russia–Ukraine war or Moscow’s special ops one thing is for sure that there are no winners and the whole world especially the deprived developing countries, who had nothing to do with these power games, are big losers.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its second year and the path to ending the war remains uncertain, China is increasingly feeling constrained by and conflicted with its national interests and strategic goals, the exaggerated limitless partnership with Russia, and its overdependence on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) and G-7 countries for its economic and technological rise.
On 24 February, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, not only provoking the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, but also setting in motion geopolitical trends that are likely to change the contours of the post-Cold War global order.
The one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine marks an important turning point in our understanding of the post-Second World War global order. What was supposed to be a short and successful war against what seemed like a military minnow is now entering into its second year with the mighty Russian army looking like a pale reflection of its old self.
Even as India’s G20 presidency has gathered pace, there are signs that the Ukraine war is reaching a flashpoint, with Moscow preparing for a fresh offensive to mark the first anniversary of its invasion.
The IMPRI Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS) IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi hosted an interactive panel discussion on the topic “The Defence, Foreign Policy and Union Budget 2023-24” on 7 February 2023, under the IMPRI 3rd Annual Series of Thematic Deliberations and Analysis of Union Budget 2023-24, as part of the State of International Affairs – #DiplomacyDialogue. The discussion was opened by the chair, Dr Simi Mehta who is currently serving as the CEO and Editorial Director of IMPRI. She began with a brief introduction of how Defence and Foreign Policy play a crucial role in the Indian Budget and how it impacts the geopolitics of India.