In the wake of India's March 26 announcement that it intends to build its first indigenous aircraft carrier, and recent American overtures aimed at greater defense cooperation to help make India a "major power," speculation is rife as to the future geopolitical consequences for the Asian region and the world.
India's rise to greater military power may serve as a counterbalance to China in the Asian region.  China is interested in developing a free trade pact with India and has made overtures in that direction, which are under consideration in India.
Indeed, China's military might is also increasing at a rapid rate as that nation's government commits an ever-greater percentage of its budget to national defense.
Nonetheless, the two nations are seeking a free trade agreement (FTA), which some observers have declared as having the potential to be "the most significant event of this decade" for the Asian region.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
India may rise as regional power