Recent Updates

US–Pakistan relations in the Trump era: Resetting the terms of engagement in Afghanistan
Neighbourhood Dec 24, 2017

US–Pakistan relations in the Trump era: Resetting the terms of engagement in Afghanistan

In a groundbreaking speech in August this year, US President Donald Trump laid out his government’s policy for South Asia, authorising more American troops to Afghanistan and insisting that Pakistan must either “do more” to restrain Islamist militants, or face consequences. Indian and Afghan governments ...

Copyright policy in India: Reconstructing the narrative
Indian Economy | Law and Justice Dec 22, 2017

Copyright policy in India: Reconstructing the narrative

Independent India’s copyright law has mostly centred around facilitating “access”. This is because India is a large country with a predominantly poor population, limited research facilities and budgets, and constrained access to knowledge-driven products and services. The politics of standard-setting in international copyright frameworks, however, ...

India and the global discourse on state-sponsored terrorism
Terrorism Dec 20, 2017

India and the global discourse on state-sponsored terrorism

India has had modest success in its efforts to internationally isolate Pakistan as a state-sponsor of terrorism. More effective in this regard has been Pakistan’s own duplicity vis-à-vis the West. Indian discourse has not resonated abroad because it relies too heavily on respect for vague ...

Competing imperatives of global governance and national interests within BRICS: An Indian perspective
BRICS Dec 20, 2017

Competing imperatives of global governance and national interests within BRICS: An Indian perspective

This paper revisits India’s contribution to institution building efforts in BRICS to suggest India’s keen interest in leveraging BRICS for fulfilling its national objectives on domestic economic growth and global governance. However, this paper notes, multiple competing imperatives of global governance and national interests within ...

Regionalism: SAARC and beyond
Indian Foreign Policy | Great Power Dynamics Dec 19, 2017

Regionalism: SAARC and beyond

One of the key issues debated today in assessing India’s rise is its role in global and regional governance. This paper attempts to assess India’s changing approach towards regionalism and argues that unlike the Nehruvian approach that overlooked South Asia in region building efforts, the ...

Towards public financing of elections and political parties in India: Lessons from global experiences
Domestic Politics and Governance | National Politics Nov 24, 2017

Towards public financing of elections and political parties in India: Lessons from global experiences

Democracy costs a lot of money. To fight elections and run their routine activities, political parties in India seek donations from all possible sources including ‘illegal’ and ‘interested’ money. This has serious ramifications in preserving the integrity of Indian democracy. An increasing number of countries, ...

Exports and e-commerce in India
Indian Economy | International Trade and Investment Oct 24, 2017

Exports and e-commerce in India

This paper attempts to make a contribution in the context of the recent push in making India an e-empowered economy for promoting exports. The study stems from the premise that exports respond significantly to the costs associated with breaking into foreign markets and sustaining in ...

China in Afghanistan: Security, regional standing, and status
Defence and Security | China Foreign Policy Oct 24, 2017

China in Afghanistan: Security, regional standing, and status

With the traditional liberal order appearing agile, new questions on international security and peacemaking have come to the fore. In the current context, global players are according Afghanistan greater strategic importance. As NATO troops continue to make headway in that region into the safe havens ...

Exploring new drivers in India-Russia cooperation
International Affairs | Indian Foreign Policy Oct 24, 2017

Exploring new drivers in India-Russia cooperation

The 70th anniversary of Russia-India relations is an opportune time to make a comprehensive assessment of the current state of their cooperation, keeping in mind the long history of friendship between the two countries. In the last few years, India and Russia have been struggling 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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