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China and Pakistan’s ‘Iron Brotherhood’: The economic dimensions and their implications on US hegemony
Neighbourhood | Great Power Dynamics | China Foreign Policy Feb 07, 2019

China and Pakistan’s ‘Iron Brotherhood’: The economic dimensions and their implications on US hegemony

There was a time when the United States (US) was Pakistan’s most important ally. This paper argues that China has now overtaken the US in both economic footprint, and political influence in Pakistan.  Even in popular perception, China appears a more dependable ally than the ...

If space is ‘the province of mankind’, who owns its resources?
Space Jan 24, 2019

If space is ‘the province of mankind’, who owns its resources?

Half a century after the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the current debates are focused on new sets of challenges such as space mining, which used to belong only to the realm of science fiction.  This paper ...

Blue Economy in the Indian Ocean: Governance perspectives for sustainable development in the region
Climate Change Jan 18, 2019

Blue Economy in the Indian Ocean: Governance perspectives for sustainable development in the region

The Indian Ocean is vital to the economies, security and livelihoods of its littoral states. However, the economic and sustainable development issues in the rim are particularly challenging since the countries, with diverse political systems, development status and agendas, are home to one- third of ...

Beyond the ‘Lethal’ in lethal autonomous weapons: Applications of LAWS in theatres of conflict for middle powers
Media and Internet | Internet Governance Dec 21, 2018

Beyond the ‘Lethal’ in lethal autonomous weapons: Applications of LAWS in theatres of conflict for middle powers

Even as Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) promise to revolutionise the battlefield, very little analysis moves beyond the great powers to examine the interests that middle powers may have in these systems. Shaped by their own geostrategic contexts, demographic issues and geography challenges, countries like ...

RBI versus the government: Independence and accountability in a democracy
Domestic Politics and Governance | Economics and Finance | Economic Diplomacy Dec 07, 2018

RBI versus the government: Independence and accountability in a democracy

Conflicts between central banks and governments are embedded in the evolving discourse of every democracy. The recent discord between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is neither the first nor likely to be the last. Institutionally, once a disagreement ...

Community-based approaches to tackle open defecation in rural India: Theory, evidence and policies
Healthcare Dec 03, 2018

Community-based approaches to tackle open defecation in rural India: Theory, evidence and policies

Open defecation (OD), an age-old practice in India, impacts the health of individuals as well as their communities. To tackle the problem, the Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in 2014, aimed at making the country open-defecation free (ODF) by October 2019 ...

Decoding the ban on irrational fixed-dose combination drugs in India
Healthcare Nov 29, 2018

Decoding the ban on irrational fixed-dose combination drugs in India

In September this year, the Government of India banned the manufacture, sale and distribution of 328 Fixed-Dose Combination drugs (FDCs) after a protracted legal battle with manufacturers. The ban followed a report by a Supreme Court-mandated experts’ panel that not only was there no therapeutic ...

Building the resilience of India’s internal security apparatus
Domestic Politics and Governance Nov 26, 2018

Building the resilience of India’s internal security apparatus

26 November 2018 marked a decade since 10 Pakistan-based terrorists killed over 160 people in India’s financial capital of Mumbai. The city remained under siege for days, and security forces disjointedly struggled to improvise a response. The Mumbai tragedy was not the last terrorist attack ...

Is China’s loss, India’s gain? An examination of the US tariff war
Indian Economy | Economic Diplomacy | International Trade and Investment Nov 20, 2018

Is China’s loss, India’s gain? An examination of the US tariff war

The unilateral tariff imposition by the United States on various countries has started a trade war that threatens to adversely affect the world’s major economies. This paper finds that no country, including the US itself, is likely to benefit from a tariff war. In India, ...

Making climate action count: Mainstreaming gender in climate action to accelerate climate compatible development
Climate, Food and Environment | Climate Change Nov 06, 2018

Making climate action count: Mainstreaming gender in climate action to accelerate climate compatible development

The first universal, legally binding global climate accord signed at the 21st session of the Conference of Parties (COP) in Paris in 2015 committed to long-term goals for “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to ...

Contributors

Soumya Bhowmick

Soumya Bhowmick

Soumya Bhowmick is a Fellow and Lead, World Economies and Sustainability at the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy (CNED) at Observer Research Foundation (ORF). He is pursuing his PhD and holds a double master’s degree in economics from Jadavpur University, ...

Read More + Sreeparna Banerjee

Sreeparna Banerjee

Sreeparna Banerjee is an Associate Fellow in the Strategic Studies Programme. Her work focuses on the geopolitical and strategic affairs concerning two Southeast Asian countries, namely Myanmar and Thailand. Her primary focus is on the Rohingya issue within the Bay of ...

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