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PM Narendra Modi and SL President Wickremesinghe inaugurates UPI services:

Indian presence is already being felt across the South Asian region, more than in the past. The situation is still evolving. The question is: Should India allow things to continue taking the evolutionary route or jack-boot its way, which is neither des irable, nor workable - and hence unthinkable for New Delhi too!

The agenda for change is a large one. This list or any other can be multiplied several times and still come up short. But the compulsions of reform are urgent. With a bulging profile of young people, India is said to be on the cusp of a demographic dividend. But that dividend could well become a nightmare unless we are able to fix our politics, our governance system, economy, national security machinery.

How can we differentiate ourselves from China whilst dealing with Africa? Clearly the worst option would be to emulate the muscular Chinese style of economic diplomacy. For one we just don't have the firepower. For another the principle of comparative advantage advocates that everyone must play to their strengths.

Strikingly similar to the crisis that Iran faced at the IAEA Board meeting in Vienna last weekend, India too found itself in a tight spot in April 1994 at the United Nations Human Rights Commission's annual session in Geneva.

If Merkel's Berlin republic is discarding its many postwar political inhibitions and reconstituting the Eurasian landscape, Modi's putative "third republic" is looking beyond non-alignment to the idea of India as a "leading power". In their second summit in six months, Modi and Merkel may have decisively nudged India and Germany towards a goal that was first articulated 100 years ago.

Getting Pakistan to end the Kashmir conflict has been a difficult task, because Kashmir means many things to them. At one level, it is a cause that unites everyone in that country - the jihadis, the army and the civilian elite. At another, it provides it a means to maintain a hostile posture towards India, something necessary for its current sense of national identity.

In the coming Pakistan elections, the PPP cannot be written off because it has substantial pockets of support across various provinces. But it deserves some sympathy. Asif Zardari has not had an easy time with the media which had deemed him corrupt from day one or the judiciary and the military which have foiled all his efforts to come up with bold policies.

Modi has been ambivalent about the Lokpal, believing, presumably, that a revitalised administration will make this institution redundant. If so, he is wrong. At some point, he will have to take up the fight directly. This is the lesson we can learn from Xi Jinping. From the outset, Xi has been involved in a struggle against corruption.

Egypt is the fulcrum of the Arab world and developments there can have a profound impact in other Arab nations. That is why it is important to get things right. The immediate challenge for Egypt is to ensure that it does not degenerate into civil war.

It has been five years since General Pervez Musharraf came to power in Pakistan in a bloodless coup on October 12. One questionable referendum staged in April 2002, the less-than-credible parliamentary elections in October the same year, a controversial constitutional amendment and two changes of government this year later, Gen Musharraf is still the numero uno.

In a municipality of 55 members in Dhule, 16 are Muslims, affiliated to all the mainstream parties in Mumbai. These councillors are virtual middlemen for state leaders, in whose electoral interest they try to keep the local flock.

Compared to the increasing suicide attacks the world over, India has, by and large, remained safe from these assaults. The reason is that Indian Muslims have a strong sense of Indian identity. In both their grievances and aspirations they think like their fellow Indian citizens, rather through any religious or sectarian prism.

Where is the national leader of sufficient stature who can distil the message from the treaty of Hudaibiya and from Iqbal, and give it contemporary relevance? Or, in a more narrow focus: where is the Muslim leader to manage the post verdict mood? I believe the Congress has two or three but the nation has not seen them in the past week.

Friendly Indo-Bangla relations will play a major role in securing peace and prosperity in the South Asia and these can be achieved with sincere initiatives by the government in resolving outstanding issues. India's Bangla policy could be a for the new government in dealing with other countries in the Neighbourhood.

While Dr. Manmohan Singh must necessarily wait for Nawaz Sharif to determine the pace at which he might be comfortable moving forward with India, in the case of Bangladesh, the burden is entirely on Delhi to implement the historic agreements it had negotiated with Dhaka.

Hasina’s victory will likely put Delhi-Dhaka relations under more scrutiny -with the West expecting India to be vocal about the state of democracy in Bangladesh

Japan knows India is the best possible regional counter-weight to a rising China. At the same time, it has to work with China to counter global uncertainties.

As India, China, US and the European Union grapple with the need for equitable and meaningful climate action, strategies are also needed to address the differing needs and capabilities of the sub-national entities that make up these big players.

In India, the office of the foreign minister doesn't command nearly the sort of authority it should, or it did in the past. While foreign policy in other countries is influenced by domestic politics, in India it's being completely overshadowed by intra-party and intra-government feuds.

The issues in Afghanistan do not exhaust potential areas for India-US cooperation. For example, combating the drug trade, engaging China, Central Asian nations, Iran, and Russia. Successful coordination and collaboration will go a long way towards creating a post-2014 Afghan scenario amenable to both India and the US.

Prof Eiichi Katahara and Prof Marie Izuyama, two distinguished scholars from the National Institute for Defence Studies, Tokyo visited ORF on 11 March 2008 to initiate a seminar which was largely attended by scholars, journalists, diplomats, etc.

Though Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani described his Mohali discussions with Dr. Manmohan Singh as a win-win situation, the Pakistan foreign office spokesperson, Tehmina Janjua, described the situation as one of guarded optimism. So what are the ground realities in this exchange? asks Mr. T.V. Rajeswar.

Eminent Nepalese journalist Mr. Yubaraj Ghimire visited ORF and shared his insights on the situation in Nepal.

A Budget is an imperative or otherwise a government will drift aimlessly, though that often seems to be the case even with the most minutely specific Budget. Having said that, one must wonder why there is such a fuss each year when the Finance Minister of India is about to present the Budget?

The MH370 incident has occurred very close to our Tri-service Command at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which has three radar stations. Regardless of whether or not MH370 actually flew over or close to the Command, it would doubtless be useful to learn lessons from this and that switching off radars at night is a dangerous way to economise.

The state’s monopoly of violence is accepted only if it follows the rule of law; if it doesn’t, it justifies the breaking of its monopoly by individuals, mobs and insurgents.

In the urban-rural stereotyping, the phrase 'city girls' epitomises the impact of urban excesses on the apparent modesty and traditional aspect of femininity. City girls are assumed to be loud, to say the least, and of 'morally inappropriate character' on the extreme. Even within cities, this dilemma of how girls in cities ought to behave persists.

The poem, one of numerous written in that period, expresses admiration for the spell Nehru had cast by his deft navigation of foreign policy between the two blocs not for India alone but a whole group.

In the earthquake tragedy, India and Pakistan have a rare opportunity to forget past differences and bitterness, at least some of it to begin with, and forge a partnership of peace and development. Both the countries should shed past inhibitions and acrimony, and look for fresh opportunities to work together for a common cause: to rebuild Kashmir.

If we do not stand up and reclaim the space we have conceded to criminals and other low-life who now sit in judgment over us, it will be our children who will pay the price in the coming years

Telecom companies are stuck with falling ARPUs. Indian researchers from two unlikely companies show them new tricks of the trade

A final draft resolution at the United Nations, passed in July 2014, has focused on the UN General Assembly's review process of World Summit on the Information Society outcomes implementation.

There was more to Narendra Modi's visit to the US than the razzmatazz of Madison Square Garden and Central Park. He had gone to the US after three basic foreign policy initiatives, and was making a statement on the world stage beyond the confines of the UNGA.

India's relations with China and Pakistan are unlikely to see any major strategic change in the years ahead. It is imperative for India to think afresh without losing old friends especially at a time of international flux. A US-Japan-India partnership in the 21st century would need to be worked out.

The Government of Myanmar, in the past few weeks, has played host to a number of high-ranking foreign officials. These include the likes of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The construction of the India-US strategic partnership in the 2000s was an entirely unexpected political bonus. Making it work now is an absolute necessity for both Delhi and Washington as they struggle to cope with a challenging environment at home and abroad.

Antony figured the French were more likely to part with critical technologies needed to enhance India's defence aviation sector than any other country

The Democratic election nomination tussle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is going through an exciting time as Sanders' far-left economic agenda is increasingly becoming more appealing to the party's base.

Will the globalization of the economic relationship trump the geo-politics that is being played out in East and South East Asia? For the US, the dilemma is acute, for it cannot ignore the pleas of its allies in the region nor allow an incremental drift to take place in the relationship.

Now that the mood and methods have set in for three Provincial Council polls, the results would determine if the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa would want to go ahead with the process in five others before holding the first-ever elections.