Buddhist history is an ever-more-serious business. China and India have identified Buddhism as an instrument of soft power. In an area where, for centuries, Buddhism all but disappeared, a range of global stakeholders are investing in infrastructure to accommodate throngs of future pilgrims. India’s prize attraction is Bodh Gaya, the site where, it is believed, the Buddha attained enlightenment. Nepal jealously guards its claim to the Buddha’s birth and early life.   read more

Sri Lanka’s leader began his second state visit to India in 17 months Friday in a trip that underscores his island nation’s delicate efforts to balance relations with regional superpowers India and China. President Maithripala Sirisena was slated to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi for dinner after arriving during the day from Britain. On Saturday, the two men plan to participate in Kumbh Mela, a Hindu religious ritual of plunging into a river believed to wash away sins.   read more

Japan is expected to take part in the 2015 edition of India’s joint naval exercises with the United States that are scheduled in October. This is being seen as a sign of stronger military and diplomatic ties between India and Japan, and an attempt by India to recover its position as the dominant maritime power in the Indian Ocean that has recently seen inroads by China.   read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted an invitation from his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to attend the SAARC summit in Islamabad next year. In doing so, Modi has set the agenda for dialogue with Pakistan: dealing with terrorism.   read more

The group of emerging economies known as BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are as different in their values as they are in their economic growth. This informal club has in the past decade largely spent its time challenging the developed world. But the time has now come for closer cooperation and coordination, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who proposed a 10-point initiative at the ongoing BRICS summit.   read more