Author: Defenceline Webdesk

Myanmar’s military-backed government is ramping up the campaign against its rogue permanent representative to the United Nations, ahead of an expected credentials battle later this month. Kyaw Moe Tun was appointed by the civilian government that was removed from power in a military coup in February 2021. After the coup, he gave an emotional address to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA), in which he publicly broke with the junta and appealed for “the strongest possible action from the international community” to restore democracy to the country. He later pledged his loyalty to the National Unity Government (NUG), which was formed…

Chinese President Xi Jinping met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on September 12, on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit hosted by India. This was Xi’s first visit to India in nearly seven years and his third meeting with Modi in under two years – all on the sidelines of multilateral meetings, including at Kazan in Russia and Tianjin in China. Both the Indian and Chinese readouts from the New Delhi meeting sought to convey that relations, which had plunged to a low after the 2020 Galwan border clashes, were on an upswing. According to the…

Thailand’s government says that it has evidence that Cambodia stationed troops at Preah Vihear temple during fighting along the border last year, shortly after UNESCO released a report detailing the “profound” conflict-related damage to the temple structure. Preah Vihear, a Cambodian temple perched on the country’s border with Thailand, has been the subject of a long-standing dispute between Bangkok and Phnom Penh. It was also a focus of clashes that broke out along the two nations’ land border in July and December 2025. Last week, UNESCO published a report detailing the extensive damage sustained by the World Heritage-listed temple. The…

For decades, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has put forward a face of civility, a unified approach to regional politics made up of countries that were rapidly advancing, educated, and deserved a say in global politics. It’s an image welcomed in the West and elsewhere by governments that prefer to negotiate with Southeast Asian countries through a multilateral framework with ASEAN as the central power, as opposed to bilaterally with each individual country. As a trade bloc, ASEAN is a success story, and the better face of ASEAN still holds true for the maritime countries, where democracy…

The arrival of new weapons has often been followed closely by their use against civilian populations for strategic effects. Submarines, bombers, rockets; The Lusitania, Dresden, London. This 20th-century history portends that the emerging capabilities of the 21st century—cyber attacks, information warfare—will be similarly used against civilian targets. The challenge will be all the greater as extreme weather becomes more common. This month’s Fictional Intelligence narrative, set in the late 2030s, explores how adversaries could exploit the combination to raise existential questions about political, military, and societal resiliency. An empty bar is a terrible thing to waste.Tomec took in the Loui Bar…

This week, the 34th International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) and the 2nd El Alamein International Airshow both took place, and in reviewing the two, it is apparent that the European and Middle Eastern defence industries are homing in on three key domains: piston- and electrically-powered loitering munitions, low-cost subsonic cruise missiles (LCCMs), and scalable kinetic air defence solutions. It is unclear to what extent major platforms (e.g., combat aircraft) are taking a back seat, but what is clear is that leading militaries and vendors alike want to control the ‘cost of attack’ and ‘price of defence.’ A long-range munition must…

On August 1, U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor presented a consequential proposition to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to join Pax Silica. “The country has significant potential to become a partner in the global economic security alliance focused on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and critical mineral supply chains,” he said. On the same day, Dhaka announced that it would join the Shanghai-based World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), initially as an observer. Bangladesh therefore found itself courted by two emerging technology orders in a single news cycle. The invitation deserves neither reflexive rejection nor diplomatic applause. It…

Sri Lankan investigators arrested Namal Rajapaksa on September 4 over allegations that he received 100 million Sri Lankan rupees (about $800,000 per 2014-15 exchange rates) in bribes linked to an aircraft procurement deal involving SriLankan Airlines in 2012-13. The arrest shows that investigators have moved beyond airline officials and business intermediaries to a member of Sri Lanka’s most powerful political family. The reaction to the arrest was interesting. The United National Party (UNP), which led the 2015-19 Yahapalanaya (good governance) government under which several investigations against Rajapaksa began, joined the Rajapaksa family-led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in condemning his…

Learning Chinese Sign Language is a bewildering experience. To begin with, Chinese Sign Language (CSL) is in itself best understood as an umbrella term rather than a well-defined language.  You have Signed Chinese, shoushi hanyu, which is one-to-one transcriptions of the written standard Chinese into signs, replete with interpuncation such as signed question marks. Then there is Natural Sign Language, ziran shouyu, the language that is actually spoken between native deaf signers in China. It has syntax and grammar markedly different from Chinese, makes extensive use of abbreviations and, like all natural sign languages, incorporates facial expressions.  Besides these, there…

WASHINGTON — After more than a year of experimentation, the Army is on track to provide the first operational version of its ambitious Next Generation Command and Control hardware and software to the I Corps, starting with choosing which software applications to move forward. “The reality is, some of the principal apps of Next Generation Command and Control, we’ve already incorporated into our operations as we provided some C2 oversight for both 4th Infantry Division and 25th,” I Corps commander Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane told Breaking Defense. The 4th and 25th ID have been the principal testers for NGC2 prototypes…