India and China's Battle Intensifies

India and China's battle for influence in Asia intensifies, as the Asian giant has hinted that it will set up a military base in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Beijing made the indication just a week after India signed a treaty with Seychelles in order to build military infrastructure on Assomption Island near the 'Horn of Africa'.

According to sources close to Beijing, the proposed move is aimed at countering terrorism. Sources also said that Chinese officials recently started discussing the issue with top Afghan officials. Kabul, too, has confirmed the news, with a senior Afghan official saying that the two countries would jointly build the base in Wakhan Corridor - a narrow strip of territory in north-eastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from Pakistan. The corridor is surrounded by mountains and a difficult place to live. The long war between...