Institute for Security & Development Policy

Search

India and South Korea need a strategic leap — India and South Korea need a strategic leap

Wondeuk Cho and Jagannath Panda write about South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's visit to India this week. They write that as President Lee prepares to visit India, the moment carries significance far beyond ceremonial diplomacy. The international order is passing through one of its most unsettled phases in decades. Great-power rivalry is intensifying, protectionism is returning, technological competition is accelerating, and military conflicts in one region are producing economic shocks in another. The war involving Iran has once again demonstrated how instability in West Asia can disrupt energy flows, maritime routes, insurance costs, inflation trends, and investor confidence across continents. For countries such as India and South Korea, these developments are not distant disturbances. They are direct strategic realities, writes Cho and Panda. Read this piece published in The Times of India here.

Report of the Silk Cage Series Webinar-III: “Corridors, Coasts, and Contestation: China’s Influence Operations in the Bay of Bengal and the BCIM Space” — Report of the Silk Cage Series Webinar-III: “Corridors, Coasts, and Contestation: China’s Influence Operations in the Bay of Bengal and the BCIM Space”

This webinar report, the third in the Silk Cage Series, examined how China utilized the Bay of Bengal and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) space to operationalize influence across South Asia and the northeastern Indian Ocean. As part of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) project, “The Silk Noose: China’s Power Architecture in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region,” the discussion moved beyond infrastructure to explore how corridors and coasts functioned as strategic tools for reshaping regional order and autonomy. The entire webinar is available on YouTube. Read and download the entire report here.

Opening the Arctic Route: Implications for Asia-Europe Cooperation and South Korea’s Strategic Role — Opening the Arctic Route: Implications for Asia-Europe Cooperation and South Korea’s Strategic Role

In-bum Chun writes that as one of the world’s leading shipbuilding nations, a major export economy dependent on maritime trade, and a country with strong interests in both Europe and the Indo-Pacific, Korea is uniquely positioned to benefit from and contribute to the development of Arctic connectivity. Korea’s strengths in ice-class ship construction, LNG carriers, port logistics, advanced navigation systems, maritime domain awareness, and naval cooperation provide it with an opportunity to play a meaningful role in the evolving Arctic order, writes Chun. This issue brief examines the background of Arctic shipping routes, evaluates their current status and future implications, analyzes South Korea’s potential role, and considers how Korean organizations and businesses could quietly contribute to broader strategic dialogue, alliance-building, and maritime security cooperation. Read and download the issue brief here.

Expert Perspectives on Arctic Communications: Resilience, Infrastructure Vulnerability, and Selective Interoperability — Expert Perspectives on Arctic Communications: Resilience, Infrastructure Vulnerability, and Selective Interoperability

This policy brief by Brendon J. Cannon, Emiri Iwasaki, Reika Nagano, and Takashi Gokita examines communications systems as a foundational enabler of Arctic security and maritime operations, drawing on an original survey of experts across industry, policy, academia, and defense. They write that while existing literature emphasizes infrastructure gaps and technical constraints, it rarely captures how experts assess communications in the High North in operational terms. The survey reveals three policy implications. Read the full policy brief and the three policy implications here.

Right Place, Right Time? Pakistan’s Role in the US-Israel-Iran War Ceasefire — Right Place, Right Time? Pakistan’s Role in the US-Israel-Iran War Ceasefire

Jagannath Panda reviews the role of Pakistan in the U.S.-Israel-Iran ceasefire. He writes the troubled South Asian state suddenly emerging as a stabilizing bridge between rival powers in West Asia was undoubtedly politically valuable for Islamabad, suggesting diplomatic relevance, strategic depth and renewed global utility. Yet the reality is far less impressive, writes Panda. He further asks: Pakistan has played a supporting or facilitating role through backchannels, geography and selective contacts, but was it really central to the ceasefire? Read the full piece here.

India, CP-TPP and the Indo-Pacific Trade Agenda in a Trumpian Era — India, CP-TPP and the Indo-Pacific Trade Agenda in a Trumpian Era

Aditya Laxman Jakki writes that India should try to join the CP-TPP to not only diversify trade away from the U.S. but also balance the trade hegemony of China in Asia by leading the most composite and coherent Indo-Pacific trade agenda. India must be ready to assume leadership towards this objective due to its necessities and the measures it is taking domestically to support such action, writes Jakki. Read the piece here.

China, Iran, and the Limits of Strategic Partnership Amid War — China, Iran, and the Limits of Strategic Partnership Amid War

Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal writes that the Iran war has exposed the fragility of the Middle East security environment and its direct implications for Asian powers, particularly China. While Beijing has long benefited from a U.S.-led security order, the current escalation highlights the challenges China faces, especially as it continues to refrain from offering any security commitments to Iran, writes Moonakal. China’s ties with Iran remain significant but limited, while its deeper and more diversified partnerships with Gulf states reflect clearer long-term priorities, argues the author. Read and download this brief here.

China’s Gwadar Gamble: Reshaping Sea–Land Connectivity — China’s Gwadar Gamble: Reshaping Sea–Land Connectivity

China’s maritime resurgence, though relatively recent, reflects a decisive shift from continental preoccupations to expansive sea power ambitions. This issue brief by Mandip Singh examines the evolution of China’s maritime strategy through three interlinked frameworks: the transition from “offshore defense” to “far-seas defense,” the intellectual influence of Mahan and Mackinder, and the operationalization of the Two Oceans Strategy. Central to this transformation is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which integrates economic development with security imperatives. China is expanding naval capabilities, securing critical sea lanes, and developing strategic infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific. Gwadar Port, a flagship component of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is analyzed as both an economic project and a potential strategic asset, despite its current operational and political challenges. This issue brief argues that China’s sea-land strategy reflects a long-term vision of geopolitical influence, combining maritime power projection with continental connectivity to secure its global interests. Read and download this issue brief here.

Events »

22 Apr

Silk Cage Series – Webinar IV: Corridors of Influence? The China–Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and Beijing’s Expanding Power Architecture
8 May

Hormuz 2030: The Next Great Chokepoint

Publications »

India and South Korea need a strategic leap

Wondeuk Cho and Jagannath Panda

Report of the Silk Cage Series Webinar-III: “Corridors, Coasts, and Contestation: China’s Influence Operations in the Bay of Bengal and the BCIM Space”

Jessica C. Liao, J Mohan Malik, Sanjay Pulipaka, Shahab E. Khan, Su Myat Thwe, Sevil Khikmatova, Anne Weiler and Jagannath Panda

Opening the Arctic Route: Implications for Asia-Europe Cooperation and South Korea’s Strategic Role

Right Place, Right Time? Pakistan’s Role in the US-Israel-Iran War Ceasefire

Jagannath Panda

Expert Perspectives on Arctic Communications: Resilience, Infrastructure Vulnerability, and Selective Interoperability

Brendon J. Cannon, Emiri Iwasaki, Reika Nagano and Takashi Gokita

Walking the Tightrope: India in the U.S.-Israel-Iran Fire

Jagannath Panda

ISDP Spotlight

The Taiwan-Nordic Forum 2026 Emphasizes Resilience Through Cooperation as Central to Defense — The Taiwan-Nordic Forum 2026 Emphasizes Resilience Through Cooperation as Central to Defense

The Taiwan-Nordic Forum 2026, titled Resilience as Defense, was held on April 15, 2026, in Stockholm and called for closer cooperation, deeper knowledge sharing, and strengthened joint expertise between Taiwan and the Nordic and Baltic countries to meet emerging challenges together.

Hybrid warfare and gray-zone activities in the Nordic and Baltic regions: The Stockholm Taiwan Center organized a roundtable discussion — Hybrid warfare and gray-zone activities in the Nordic and Baltic regions: The Stockholm Taiwan Center organized a roundtable discussion

On April 16, Bin-Yi Liu, Naval Captain and Director of the Military Coordination Division at the Taipei Representative Office in Denmark, Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Jen-you Wu, Air Force Colonel and Director of the Military Coordination Division at the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, visited ISDP.

Next webinar in the Silk Cages Series: Corridors of Influence? The China–Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and Beijing’s Expanding Power Architecture — Next webinar in the Silk Cages Series: Corridors of Influence? The China–Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and Beijing’s Expanding Power Architecture

Webinar on April 22, 2026: This webinar moves beyond South Asia to examine how China’s continental corridors interface with maritime strategy, influence operations, and geopolitical contestation. If earlier discussions explored Xi Jinping’s Three Global Initiatives, the CPEC, the Bay of Bengal, and the BCIM space, this webinar situates CICPEC within a larger arc connecting the South China Sea (SCS) to the Bay of Bengal and onward into the IOR.

The Stockholm Taiwan Center organized a roundtable discussion on “Xi Jinping’s Military Transformation and China’s Evolving Gray-Zone Strategy in the Indo-Pacific.” — The Stockholm Taiwan Center organized a roundtable discussion on “Xi Jinping’s Military Transformation and China’s Evolving Gray-Zone Strategy in the Indo-Pacific.”

“Xi Jinping’s Military Transformation and China’s Evolving Gray-Zone Strategy in the Indo-Pacific": ISDP’s Visiting Fellow Dr. Chia-Chien Chang presented his research findings connecting five important developments and their implications. The discussion was joined by ISDP research staff along with experts from Stockholm’s academia and policy research community.

The Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs hosted a delegation from India to discuss the electoral reforms and administrative practices and experiences of Sweden and India — The Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs hosted a delegation from India to discuss the electoral reforms and administrative practices and experiences of Sweden and India

The Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) hosted a delegation led by Mr. Swapnil M. Naik, Chief Electoral Officer of the Union Territory of Chandigarh in India, on Tuesday, 7 April 2026, in ISDP to discuss the ‘Electoral Reforms and Administrative Practices and Experiences of Sweden and India’.