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The annual gatherings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - at the ministerial level in July and summit level in November at the East Asia Summit - have become good indicators of Asia's volatile geopolitical temperature.

This report explores strategies to strengthen the relationships among Global South countries, with a focus on enhancing regional synergy between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation BIMSTEC. The report provides an overview of BIMSTEC’s rising significance as a link between South Asia and Southeast Asia, provides insights into the growing need fo

Asian concerns regarding a Space Code are important because future challenges to space cooperation may well come from Asia, not least because so many of the new space powers are emerging from this region. The EU was late in bringing India into the process.

India, which contributed a big part in shaping the outcomes of the two world wars, seems blissfully unaware of the importance of the two anniversaries. Turning a deaf ear to the nationalist passions in East Asia is not going to save India from the consequences of new Asian wars that now seem increasingly probable.

Security concerns in Asia are largely related to non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, piracy, disaster management and transnational crime. These threats are becoming more and more traditional as countries have to deal with them on a daily basis.

Success of Australia in Asia will be much of choice rather than chance, according to the Australian Consul-General at Chennai, Mr David Holly. He lists out the choices that Australians have to establish a cordial relation with the continent.

The emerging faultlines in the Indo-Pacific are clear: An illiberal China intent on shaping a unipolar Asia, pitted against a ‘concert of democracies’ who seek a multipolar and rules-based alternative.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Wednesday (June 27) released the new ORF publication, titled The New Asian Power Dynamic, edited by Mr. Maharajakrishna Rasgotra, Adviser to ORF Chairman and convenor of National Security Advisory Board (NSAB).

While the simultaneous rise of powers need not always result in a clash, the four major powers in Asia - established powers Russia and Japan, and newly rising China and India - have had troubled historical relations.

Considering India's immense infrastructural needs, the AIIB has opened a fresh window for financing in which there will hopefully be fewer conditions and hassles. All other less developing countries will also be able to access loans easily.

India and China should focus on maritime commonalities and challenges rather than incongruence. After all, the sea unites while the land divides.

Asia has been the fountain of the greatest and some of the most ancient civilizations and religions of the world and possesses enormous human and natural resources. However, in modern history, the continent has seldom been at the centre-stage of world politics. Indeed, unlike Africans, for example, Asian citizens have never really had a feeling of oneness.

Observer Research Foundation and Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung recently organised the Asian-European Policy Dialogue 2013. The theme of the dialogue was local level politics, related policy areas and the role of the state.

The 'old boys' network has given Asim Umar an extensive reach among the jihadi groups active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He can tap into the Taliban network with as much ease as he could work with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

A feature of the Syrian crisis which must please those ostensibly seeking the regime's ouster is that it is turning out to be a long drawn one. So long drawn, in fact, that the world is beginning to develop an amnesia about the Palestinian issue.

As extreme events are becoming the ‘new normal’ in an increasingly climate-constrained world, India’s critical infrastructure must be built to withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from the disruptions they cause

Legend has it that the nursery rhyme, 'Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush...on a cold and frosty morning', was first, sung by women incarcerated at the Wakefield Prison in England while they were doing their daily exercise around the mulberry tree in the prison compound.

In the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the picture remains unclear, with no party or no combination of parties being assured of forming the next government in March.

A lot of the things are hanging in the air because Indo-US relations are doing so as well. Given India's reticence in giving any kind of political shape to the partnership with the US, Washington is understandably stringing New Delhi along with promises. Modi's forthcoming visit to Washington DC could be an opportunity to move forward in some of the issues

Cyber-sanctions have emerged as a preferred tool for Western governments to deter cyberattacks emanating from their adversaries’ territories. As they implement such sanctions, however, these states face various challenges one of which is the difficulty in attribution. Moreover, the sanctions have only partially curbed the malicious cyber activities. Yet, the regime continues to expand, and many allies of the United States are emulating its prac

Climate change poses a significant risk to global food security. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and shifting precipitation patterns impact food production, disrupting food supply chains, increasing food prices, and diminishing food safety. These effects are particularly apparent in developing countries, where vulnerable populations struggle to access nutritious foods and small farmers face financial challenges. Tackling the impacts

In April, the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, merged the North, South, and East Delhi municipal corporations into a single urban local body (ULB) called the Delhi Municipal Corporation. The unification is expected to lead to better service delivery, greater financial strength, economies of scale, and eliminate administrative duplication. However, the Act does not outline the functional and financial domains of ULBs and aspects

Prior to the meteor hit in Russia and Asteroid 2012 DA 14's close miss, the Indian public and its policy makers likely could just not comprehend such a distant, seemingly un-real threat. Perhaps now, this will not be the case.

India's Navy has for too long been neglected when money has been allocated. The latest defence budget suggests that may be starting to change, though much of the new allocation will be used to pay off previously acquired expensive naval platforms.

As he packs his bags for the first foreign policy venture in the new year ¿ the annual summit of the South Asian nations in Dhaka ¿ Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has two options. The default one would be to let the foreign office bureaucracy work out an anodyne declaration of good intentions on future cooperation.

Curiosity drew me to the Yasukuni shrine during a recent trip to Tokyo. When I lived in Beijing in the Nineties, I had been struck by the close attention paid by the Chinese authorities to every visit by a Japanese minister to this Shinto place of worship.

The formation of AUKUS (a security alliance between Australia, the UK, and the US) and its likely forward momentum in the near- and medium-term is certain to redefine the security architecture in the eastern Indo-Pacific region. Given the twin objectives of maintaining the balance of power and ensuring deterrence against China, several new initiatives and defence agreements between the member countries are on the anvil. The interface of A

His Excellency's address to the ORF Faculty delivered on May 3, 2012.

Senator Chris Evans visited the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi on July 22 and spoke on the close cultural ties that have been forged between the two countries, the safety of Indian students in Australia and migration prospects in the future.

When the rest of the world was kept in a state of shivering suspense by North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard quietly undertook an important visit to China -- her second official visit to Beijing in about two years.

Australia would be holding a skills Expo in India next year which would inform prospective migrants about the employment and lifestyle opportunities available in Australia

Underlining the need to develop an India-US-Australia trilateral, Mr. Rory Medcalf of the Lowy Institute says the recent US pivot to Asia is an opportunity for this relationship to burgeon.

After the first trilateral dialogue between Australia, India and Japan in June 2015, another trilateral process immediately got underway. is paper makes an assessment of the prospects of this new formation in the light of history, contemporary coalescing interests, and the inadequacies of the existing trilaterals. While the conventional view is that this trilateral is merely an offshoot of US foreign policy and ranged against China, this paper ar

Ashok Malik sets the agenda for the upcoming Indian Ocean Region - Association for Regional Cooperation Dialogue, steered by the three nations.

Over the last three decades, Australia and China have established mutually beneficial economic ties. However, Australia’s decision to ask for an independent enquiry into the origins of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, has led to a backlash from China. This brief examines the more important developments since 2015 that persuaded Australia to take measures aimed at protecting both its open economy and its democratic polity against China’s sys

The relationship between Australia and India has reached a new maturity: that was key theme of a major bilateral dialogue convened from Sydney to Canberra to Melbourne, in early 2014.

The Australia-India Roundtable, the leading informal dialogue between the two countries, began in Sydney on Monday, 3 February.

Relations between Australia and India are poised at an historic moment. These two Indian Ocean democracies have struggled for decades to find political traction, but in recent years the ground has shifted in positive ways.

With India's annual inflation rate rising to a near four-year high on a point-to-point basis on the back of rising food prices, the search for policies to combat the price rise poses unusual challenges. The nature and causes of the current spiraling inflation in India has become a subject of intense debate, primarily because of the ostensible role of `imported inflation' in driving the domestic prices north. Issues like poor performance of the Pu

India need to do more to speed up its own financial sector reforms and make it stronger because the percentage of NPAs has reached a dangerous level of 4.45 per cent and could reach 6 per cent soon. Unless the banking system is strong, India cannot be on a higher trajectory of growth.

Approximately 73 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world finds itself in similar straightened circumstances as the US once again puts into motion steps to curb the rise of another Asian power — China.

 India at 75:  भारत के विकास (Development of India) की राह परंपरागत रूप से इस सोच के अनुरूप नहीं रही है. हालांकि, अब यह सोच बदल रही है. सरकार ने महामारी (Coronavirus Pandemic) की वजह से लगाई गई तालाबंदी (Lockdown in India) के �

The synchronised protest marches undertaken by Imran Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and cleric Tahir-ul Qadri, chairman of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), culminated in a combined sit-in outside the Parliament building in Islamabad.