New Delhi's maritime agenda

RORY MEDCALF of the Lowy Institute states that the Indian navy is growing in potency, reach and stated ambition with its expanding capabilities and its demonstrated maritime leadership within the Indian Ocean. In an op-ed at the Wall Street Journal, "India Ahoy", he states that New Delhi would benefit from strengthening practical cooperation with navies of Australia, Indonesia, Korea and Vietnam and showing greater leadership to fulfil its maritime vision of the Indian Ocean as India's sphere of influence.

The nuclear hermit

RORY MEDCALF, director of International Security at the Lowy Institute argues that New Delhi's nuclear-weapons posture characterized by a minimum credible nuclear deterrent, no-first use policy could be a model to emulate for other states. In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, "India's nuclear example", he calls for closer U.S.-India strategic ties to ensure India's strategic arsenal remained small and the world could not afford to leave New Delhi out of the non-proliferation and nuclear security tent.

Change in the Land of the Rising Sun

Yukio Hatoyama, President of Japan states that the creation of an East Asian community to support economic cooperation and national security in the wake of declining U.S. power and expanding Chinese power was one of his goals as President. In an op-ed in Wall Street Journal “'My Political Philosophy' The Banner of Party Politician Ichiro Hatoyama” he argues that the underlying structures required for the formation of a regional economic bloc were already in place and that the way to reduce bilateral tensions was to move towards greater regional integration targeting the establishment of a future common Asian currency.