Although Pakistani President - Asif Ali Zardari’s request for a US$1.5-3 billion loan to aid dwindling Pakistani reserves was declined by China, Beijing has agreed to help the energy starved nation build two new nuclear power plants.

The decision comes post Zadari’s , meeting with Wen Jiabao, China’s President on Friday and America’s decision to aid neighboring arch rival India’s nuclear energy plans. The nuclear agreement was amongst several other economic cooperation deals signed between the two countries on Saturday, hoping to take bilateral trade to US$15 billion by 2011.

Helping to restore the Balance of Power, the Pakistan-China deal also comes as Russia is helping to build a nuclear plant in Iran, highlighting the growing nuclear foothold each of the big three rivals have in three strategic countries stretching from the Persian Gulf to South Asia, the AP reported.

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Is it the deadly combination of a failed economics and politics that’s tarnishing Shining Asia’s rise to the top?

Coups, protests and resignations have been the flavor of the past month in Asia, which has seen uprisings spread across the region, from Pakistan to Japan. The potent combination of a rudderless society crippled with inflation woes, and plummeting stock markets has suddenly left Asia in limbo.

Stocks fell around the world Monday, led by Asian exchanges as concerns about a slowing global economy weighed heavily on the markets, AP reported. Adding to the crisis, were analysts who expect further near-term volatility and are warning foreign investors to stay away until the year-end.

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Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit South Korea, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on a three nation tour starting today to boost bilateral ties, strengthen its borders and gain prominence in Central Asia, a region being viewed by everyone interested in energy security.

The Chinese leader who will meet ROK President Lee Myung-bak, house speaker and prime minister today, is expected to sign a number of cooperation deals on energy saving, technology, economics, trade, education and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

China Daily reported that President Hu will leave Seoul tomorrow for Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, where he will attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the mutual security group including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The Chinese leader will visit Turkmenistan in the last leg of his tour. (more…)

In a move thats uncharacteristically Pakistan, President Parvez Musharraf resigned as head of state, bowing to massive domestic and international public pressure against him. While the move probably marks Pakistan’s first chance for a stable political future since 1977, it is also a measure of the Bush administration’s broken foreign policy.

“If I was doing this just for myself, I might have chosen a different course but I put Pakistan first, as always,” said the president, during an hour long impassioned defense of his record on live television. Wearing a western suit and tie but speaking in the national language, Urdu, Musharraf, according to the Guardian, kept the news of his resignation until the final moment, ending his almost nine years in power with “God bless Pakistan”. His own fate now however lies in exile or a criminal trial. (more…)

The BRIC’s are crumbling the house of international trade. After nine days of tough negotiations, which would have resolved the Doha round of free trade talks, prominent BRIC countries India and China failed to reach an agreement with the United States who refused to compromise over measures to protect farmers in developing countries from greater liberalization of trade.

The failure of the talks underscores what is s likely to be the biggest challenge in coming years to expanding world trade: the reluctance of emerging juggernauts such as India and China to risk their newfound success by offering rich nations greater access to the hundreds of millions of consumers rising out of poverty in the developing world, the Washington Post posted.

While it might be a good sign to see the developing powers stand against the might of the developed world, the failure of the talks on the whole, might not work well for the developing nations as the issue of farm subsidies still rests in favor of the developed nations.

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The East Asia Summit (EAS), (or ASEAN+3 summit) a “leaders-driven forum” with India, China and Japan in its fold, “is studying the feasibility of a free trade area among its 16 countries,” the official spokesman for the Summit told The Hindu. The forum of Asian leaders met in Singapore on Tuesday to discuss ways in which Asian nations could enhance their “internal consolidation”. The ASEAN-Plus-Three covers China, Japan, and South Korea, besides all the 10 members of the Southeast Asian grouping.

Although the United States was not a part of the forum, economic linkages between the U.S. and East Asia had already ensured that Washington “is very much a part of this region,” the spokesperson added. The forum however, made no mention of the new Australian proposal of forming a wider “Asia Pacific Community” or even the other idea of a pan-Asian grouping, the spokesman said.

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India and China’s growth is now certain and in many ways predictable, in other words, its old hat. For those who have their eyes set on future powers, they are keenly watching developments in Central Asia. Energy demands for burgeoning economies now mean that Central Asia is emerging as the new powerhouse.

Analyzing soft powers in the region reveal many hard truths. Evaluating he magnanimous changes sweeping across Central Asia, the Times of India reported – that heavy-duty Chinese bulldozers groan day and night, building motor able roads that will connect towns with cities in Kazakhstan. In the countryside, Russian engineers are busy putting new cables on newly-erected towers to put a fresh spark into the rusty, unreliable electrical grid.

On the streets of Tashkent and Dushanbe, Bollywood numbers incite local people to break into impromptu jigs. And in the war-torn dust bowls of Afghanistan, American workers are building schools and hospitals in the middle of non-stop gunfire. The Indians are doing the same, at the risk of their lives. However, this is the soft side of the story efforts to woo the Central Asian republics with humanitarian charm.

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Chinese President Hu Jintao met with his counterpart Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the G8 summit on Tuesday. The two leaders exchanged pleasantries and expressed their gratitude for the regions growing trade and strengthened ties. During the early morning meeting the leaders discussed common challenges such as climate change, energy and food security, major international and regional issues - developing a regional environment of peace and stability, equality and mutual trust, security and border issues as well as the Olympics, the Sichuan earthquake and the terrorist bomb blast on the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan Xinhua news agency reported.

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Obama would win unanimously. In a survey undertaken by the Asia Society, leaders from India, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and Japan polled only for the Indonesian raised U.S. president elect. In the video below, Asia says by voting for Obama, they are voting for change, for a more understanding U.S foreign affairs and for a multicultural president who will not side line Asia, but will support it. Click on the image below to view the video.

President Bush is in Asia for the G8 and plans to meet Asian heads of state of China, India, Japan and South Korea.

“The President looks forward to good discussions, not only with leaders of the G8 but also with those of so-called outreach group including India, China, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, South Korea and Indonesia, besides the seven African nations,” Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs at the White House, Dan Price, told the Hindustan Times on way to Chitose, Japan.

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