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India has almost blinked to the King of Nepal on the question of arms supply. These supplies were put on hold on February 1, 2005, following King Gyanendra¿s coup against the democratic system and leadership.

The depth of the Congress's problems is evident from the party's inability to come to grips with the problem of party leadership. For structural reasons -- primarily the fact that it is a proprietorial entity -- this is the most critical problem for the party. This was evident from the reactions to P. Chidambaram's remark that a "non-Gandhi" could "someday" become president of the party.

The discussion on "Forthcoming Presidential Election" in India saw crucial issues impacting the election of the next Indian President being analysed and debated

This forward-looking brief examines India’s economic reforms over the past decade and argues that in his third term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would need to shift gears. Working to his advantage is the expectation of political and policy continuity. This must now be tempered by the slightly weaker political mandate. In the past 10 years, Modi moved the reforms needle with his dexterous stance; he now needs to work with a new idea—that of c

It is President Barak Obama's political requirement to have a calm Middle East so that he can keep a steady gaze on Afghanistan, the country on which the NATO Summit in Chicago must focus in May in ways that it is useful for his re election in November.

Japan wants to assist India to improve the investment climate to attract more FDI so that New Delhi can be linked more closely with Japan–ASEAN-based supply chains.

Dealing with Covid-19 is inflaming already fierce tensions between central governments and states globally.

Undernourished people with weak immune systems and those with co-morbidities are strongly linked to adverse COVID-19 outcomes.

Changes need to be made at the grassroot level so that water available is optimised for usage

At a workshop on responsible corporate governance at Observer Research Foundation, it was noted that corporate governance and business responsibility are no longer add-ons to markets; they are integral to them.

New Delhi would be well advised to look at the Pakistan situation with an open mind or risk being left out of the flow.

Social media platforms facilitate the sharing of information and enhance connectivity and civic engagement. At the same time, however, they are vulnerable to abuse by malicious actors who use the channels to spread misinformation and hateful and divisive content. Regulatory reforms must seek to align the utility of social media platforms with the welfare of citizens, while safeguarding the right to free speech. This paper explores the regulatory

It was New Delhi which first pointed out the drawbacks of the Chinese model.

A number of countries, including India, have either announced or are already implementing sustainable finance taxonomies that help mobilise capital for sustainable development and climate action. This brief examines the challenges to implementing sustainable finance taxonomies, including lack of harmonisation and standardisation, unavailability of data, lack of capacity, and financial burdens on companies applying these taxonomies. The brief prop

Obama's warning to Putin that there would be costs for the invasion of Crimea was not only empty, but the real cost in all this was to American credibility, once again. One can, therefore, expect both the US and Russia to assert their rights regardless of international law.

The challenge for agriculture is to meet rising demand for food while dealing with climate change and natural resource constraints. This paper takes the case of cereal production in the lower Indo-Gangetic plains in the state of West Bengal, India, and examines the implications of various crop-shifting scenarios on consumptive water demand and nutrient production. The analysis finds that by replacing summer crop (Boro rice) in each district with

Amidst the current climate of intense polarisation in the US, the bipartisan consensus on India has largely remained as a rare point of convergence between Republicans and Democrats. This paper discusses the seminal role of the US Congress in the cultivation of US–India ties, and how crucial legislations—led by the India caucuses in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate—have paved the way for greater strategic cooperation betwee

The nation-state will remain the fundamental unit of reckoning in the international system, but it will have to reckon, almost Brownian-motion-like, with other units and stakeholders in a fluid medium where disorder may have both permanence and legitimacy.

One of the questions that neither the Bush administration nor the Musharraf government has so far investigated is the involvement of Pakistan's military in the proliferation activities of nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Although it would not be entirely false to suggest that Maoists have managed to capture the imagination of a large section of Nepalese society because of the widespread poverty and continued neglect by successive monarchs and political leadership, there are quite a few other, equally valid, reasons why Maoists have had a run of the Nepalese countryside.

To arrest the spread of brutal Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the US must go in with a limited military mission, thus aiding the process of bringing stability in Iraq and the region at large. However, it should not look at staying in Iraq for a long haul.

The US Treasury Department's decision to designate the gangster based in Pakistan, Dawood Ibrahim, as a terrorist on October 16, 2003, was undoubtedly belated but could still prove to be a milestone in the War on Terrorism if Washington could arm-twist President General Pervez Musharraf to hand over the criminal to the interrogators for questioning about his links with al Qaida and other terrorist groups.

In the 21st century, civilised countries do not sentence spies to death except in war time.

Has all the carefully articulated outcome of Pompeo's Indian visit gone up in smoke after a Donald Trump tweet?

The reason why there has been a decline in marginal farmers is because of the overall low agricultural growth. It has been less than 2 per cent per annum in the decade of mid-1990s to mid-2000s.

While successfully balancing relations between Israel, Iran and Saudi Arabia power blocks, New Delhi’s affinity for this Gulf outreach is rooted in geopolitical and geo-economic realities

Was the cyber espionage an effort to access nuclear technology? Was it engineered by strategic rivals?

The political health of the US is important not just for the country itself, but the world, given its outsize influence as the foremost economic and military power.

China’s naval push is leading India and the United States to do a lot more together, especially in the seas.

There is need to re-prioritise the expensive items in the services' wish list in a manner that will not strain the economy, without necessarily increasing the vulnerability of the country.

An all inclusive Defexpo would not only add greater character but also help the Indian companies explore the markets through a comparative framework and in turn enhance their manufacturing capabilities in the long term.

The relative degree of success of President Barack Obama's visit to India will depend on the extent to which the tough US demands on defence trade be eased to accommodate India's strategic needs without compromising national interests from both sides.

As India reels from the economic fallout of Covid-19 despite the announcement of a relief package, calls for a more refined and demand-inducing stimulus have emerged. However, the bleak state of the government’s coffers has left limited fiscal space to act. This brief explains the plausibility of financing a demand-inducing stimulus using debt monetisation as a one-time policy measure. Outlining the criticisms against such proposals and how the