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News and analyses from South Asia this week.

News and analyses from South Asia this week.

News and analyses from South Asia this week.

News and analyses from South Asia this week.

Whether Indians have great expectations from their new Prime Minister Narendra Modi or not, India's neighbours, who see in the emergence of Modi from a grassroots-level politician to become the Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy, seem to have expectations and aspirations unmatched in the recent past.

With hopes, if not indications, of an early revival of some form of consultative process on power-devolution in the air in Sri Lanka, there is an accompanying need for contextualising some of the well-entrenched political positions on arguments in the matter.

A healthy respect for China's power under Xi and an appreciation of what it means for international relations, rather than romantic notions about building an Eastern Bloc against the West, must guide Indian diplomacy in Durban.

The question of municipal leadership is of great significance in urban governance in India. There are various models of the position of chief executive of an urban local body (ULB), predominantly tilting towards the ‘strong mayor’ model either through ‘presidentialisation’ of the office or through a ‘mayor-in-council’[1] system. In India, it is the ‘state appointed municipal commissioner’ model that holds sway, sitting over a popu

This return to business as usual is reflective of the wariness on both sides to escalate the crisis further and prevent it from metastasising into a new front of conflict.

Subregional economic cooperation has become a prioritised agenda in India’s neighbourhood policy. Policymakers and scholars increasingly conceptualise subregions in the neighbourhood to promote economic and connectivity cooperation. However, the subregional notion is rarely discussed in the context of security cooperation. This raises an important question regarding the subregional approach, or its lack thereof, in building security cooperation

The best way for India to promote democracy is through best practices.

Your reflection published by Observer Research Foundation brings a complex view between food security, climate change, sustainable agriculture and land use. Is there awareness of this inseparable relationship?

Naxalites of the People¿s War Group (PWG) and the security forces (SF) continuously devise tactics and counter-tactics to defeat one another. In a latest move, the SFs formed Counter Action Teams (CAT) to target the Permanent Action Teams (PAT) of the PWG. The tactic achieved its first success in Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh (AP). On April 11, 2004 two prominent Naxalites were hunted down by a CAT in the district, after reportedly engaging

With the importance of space access growing, there is a clear recognition that both the public and private sector are critical to advancement.

The release of seven Afghan prisoners by Pakistan over the weekend has raised hopes, once again, for a formal dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban leaders under the protection of Pakistan.

Sadly, legislation, in democracies, is strongly influenced by political economy which dilutes technical good sense

Readers will recall the short history of corporate tax reductions under Modi 1.0.

Taxing someone who is earning in crores at a much higher rate than 30 per cent is quite justifiable in terms of equity and it is in accordance with the principle of progressive taxation.

As India’s landmark Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 completes its decadal anniversary, the country continues to grapple with the problem of poor learning outcomes in schools. This brief argues that the RTE Act must now move beyond “easy to measure” metrics and focus on the quality of learning. Moreover, since states across India have varying requirements, the law must work towards increasing the scope for decentralisation. The brief take

In March, a "matrix" between the two Sudans set conditionalities and dates both countries must respect. It was an insurance against political vagaries and deep deficit budgets. But with oil revenues falling into Machar's hands, the entire ambit of monies and transit fee from Juba could come unstuck one more time!

Inaugurating a workshop on 'Role of Universities in Public Policy-Making', hosted by Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, University Grants Commission Vice-Chairman Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, on April 19, 2005, urged Vice-Chancellors and educationists to recreate linkages between universities and Government, research organizations, administrators and society, in order to render universities more relevant and help in enacting effecti

The Mullahs have found a fresh issue on which to trap General Pervez Musharraf. It has both religious connotations and a real possibility of a confrontation in which the General is bound to capitulate. The issue deals with school textbooks in Pakistan. A section of the society in Pakistan feels that textbooks cleared by the Federal Education Ministry's Curriculum Wing are regressive in nature and run counter to the objective of a progressive nati

The border between India and Bangladesh—highly crucial to their bilateral relationship—has always been difficult to manage given, for one, its sheer length. The most important bilateral initiative between Bangladesh and India may yet be the attempt to resolve the longstanding border dispute that arose after the Partition of 1947, by means of the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) and the exchange of enclaves (chhitmahals) and adverse possessi

Taliban, Rawalpindi declared victory too soon. The game now depends on Trump’s calculations

The amendment of Article 370 in August 2019, which effectively nullified the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, was a watershed moment in the history of the region that went largely uncontested by the international community. Besides China and Pakistan, most countries were unwilling to openly criticise India’s actions in Kashmir. The limited international response to India’s actions largely focused on the humanitarian situation in t

Despite concerted efforts to improve urban public transport, the use of personal vehicles has increased across India. City administrations must consider promoting the use of paratransit vehicles, such as bike-taxis, that can provide ridership to more commuters than a private vehicle. While bike-taxis are prevalent in some Indian cities, their use is curtailed elsewhere in the country by state policy and statutes. Amid growing city congest

This study discusses three major mega free trade agreements (the TPP, TTIP and the RCEP) and attempts to develop a strategy for India to navigate the repercussions engendered by these groupings and thereby safeguard India?s trade and sustain its economic growth.

The failure of Beijing’s authoritarian approach to covid is a moment to emphasize why democracies meet aspirations better

Yemen is the cradle to the Arabs, Iraq their grave. So goes an Arab proverb. Since March 2003 Iraq has certainly been the grave of a great many Arabs ¿ men, women, and children caught in the crossfire of a conflict wantonly unleashed to sustain a misbegotten thesis.

‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ has made a noisy return, especially after the government’s action on Article 370 and Pakistan’s isolation in the international theatre.

The three synchronised Delhi blasts of October 29,2005, have proved¿¿if further proof was needed¿¿that the motivation and the morale of the pan-Islamic jihadi terrorists belonging to the International Islamic Front (IIF) formed by Osama bin Laden in 1998 continue to remain undamaged, despite the successes scored by our security agencies in neutralising many of their sleeper cells.

Modi’s abrupt return from Saudi Arabia only proved the strength of ties