Search

The budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam falls short on climate action, failing to bridge the gap between ambition and execution for a sustainable future.

India’s potential sale of Brahmos missiles to Vietnam is not in violation of any MTCR rules or any commitments that India made when it became an MTCR member in June 2016.

US commitment to Asia-Pacific security is evident in the ‘Aukus pact’ that will see it share nuclear technology with Australia

The government is approaching the issue of declining sex ratio with a new commitment. It should be tackled with nuanced policy interventions. Instead of introducing more schemes, the existing schemes could be made more accessible and the loopholes could be confronted.

The visit of Mr. S Jaishankar, India's Foreign Secretary, to Kabul this week came at the fag end of his trip to all the other South Asian neighbouring countries. During this brief visit, he met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and reaffirmed India's commitment to stay the course in Afghanistan.

EU has reaffirmed its commitment to a renewed co-operation with African nations beyond 2020, with focus on eradicating poverty & other roundups from Africa

Indian Navy requires at least 30 submarines to fulfil its commitments. But the Navy currently has only 13 subs - that too fairly old diesel electric conventional submarines . Shockingly, only half of them are operational at any given time.

Trump’s attitude towards foreign commitments of America will have major impact on Japan, South Korea and everyone waits in anticipation for more clarity

Delhi must bite the bullet and make the political case for moving forward boldly with Islamabad and Dhaka. Nothing will demonstrate India's commitment to transforming its relations with its neighbours more than an early visit to Pakistan by the Prime Minister.

The global effort to meet the targets set by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals will depend crucially on reforming the structure of development finance. Mobilising private capital will be an essential part of this effort, and existing development finance institutions, led by the complex of multilateral development banks (MDBs), will have to re-orient their strategies and functioning to prioritise this mobi

The Biden administration’s climate agenda is a crucial plank to restore American commitments to climate actions and reinstate US leadership globally. However, the agenda has been slow on results. Although the climate fight has been linked to most other federal goals, such as economy, jobs, infrastructure, and procurements, the Biden administration faces both domestic and external challenges that continue to limit how much it can achieve

This brief discusses the climate change challenges facing the member states of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the initiatives taken by them to mitigate the effects. The South Asian countries within BIMSTEC are particularly vulnerable to global warming-induced weather variations that cause economic damage and loss of lives. At the same time, BIMSTEC economies have achieved impressiv

India’s power sector requires sustained efforts to achieve the power generating capacity target of approximately 1.2 terawatts by 2047. It needs such capacity to meet the demands of economic growth and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 7 of providing universal electricity access. At the same time, the country also needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to meet commitments to global climate action agreements. This paper revi

Both during times of normalcy and crises, governments depend on increasingly digitised identity systems. Such systems, however, have been considered controversial since the use of IBM machines to facilitate the Holocaust. Since then, more contemporary identity systems have tried to ensure that they do not violate citizens’ essential rights. This requires multi-stakeholder coordination, a network paradigm, a focus on open standards rather than s

While Quad’s agenda was expanded significantly under Biden, the extent of Trump’s commitment to non-security issues in Quad remains to be seen

Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook, released in April 2023, is a projection of its interests in the region, and a testament to its political nonalignment and commitment to economic development. Its focus on upholding the rule of law and maintaining regional stability makes it a conducive partner for neighbouring countries and major powers in the Indo-Pacific. Bangladesh enjoys close ties with China, Japan, and the US, and a special relationship

Digital adoption, hastened globally by the COVID-19 epidemic, brought along with it both benefits and threats, including concerns of safety and security of the cyberspace. Current geopolitical dynamics, ongoing strategic and economic disputes, as well as attempts by authoritarian regimes to preserve power have allowed companies with malicious intent—known as ‘cyber mercenaries’—to develop and deploy offensive cyber capabilities. The tools

As an emerging power in the current multipolar global order, India can use the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to protect, promote, and project its geostrategic and geoeconomic interests. The SCO is also a platform for India to reaffirm its commitment to revive and deepen its centuries-old civilisational, spiritual, and cultural ties with other member countries. This paper explores India's priorities at the SCO, chiefly connectivity, coun

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given enough reasons for President Pervez Musharraf to feel at ease. His unambiguous expression of not letting the peace process between the two countries flag should lay to rest speculations and allegations in Pakistan about India's commitment to peace in the region.

Trump's move is likely to be temporary, as he is keen to show that he has upheld his election commitments.

Climate change has emerged amongst India’s most formidable challenges to sustained GDP growth. To accelerate the implementation of the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement and advance its progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, finance is key. India needs to develop a comprehensive strategy and an integrated policy approach that aligns the country’s financial systems with the long-term needs of the economy while incor

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have all declared their commitment to climate action and the implementation of the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. This brief makes a case for BRICS, as a forum, to build a strategy for financing regenerative agriculture; key should be the creation of a joint fund. If implemented correctly, the brief argues, such a strategy of giving back to the land, instead of merel

The Mullaperiyar dam agreement commits only the waters of the reservoir to Tamil Nadu. It does not guarantee supplies if the dam fell into disuse. So, a new agreement with commitments from Kerala for fixed supplies would be in Tamil Nadu's interest too.

In 2015, the United Nations agreed to end hunger in all forms by 2030. While India has committed itself as a stakeholder in the 2030 agenda for development, its own record in reducing hunger has been less than satisfactory. Latest data from the National Family Health Survey-4 show an improvement in nutritional indicators of children under-five. However, there are huge differences across states and social groups. Nutrition should thus remain high

The Taliban, ably helped by Pakistan, the US’s frontline ally in its global war on terror, has badly dented the notion of US invincibility. Despite President Joe Biden’s efforts in recent months to reassure allies that “America is back”, there is a wariness about both US commitment and its competence.

Gender equality is a fundamental human right. This principle is also found in the SDG 2030 Agenda where its signatories, including India, reaffirmed their commitment to mainstreaming gender development and ensuring equal representation of women in political and economic decision-making. This paper outlines gender-budgeting norms for resource allocations as an essential prerequisite for India to achieve progress towards the SDG-5 on gender equalit

The recent terrorist attacks in China's Xinjiang and the involvement of terrorist camps operating in Waziristan and nearby areas have raised serious questions about Pakistan's commitment to battle terrorist groups.

It will, however, be an important platform to underscore the commitment of major powers for global economic stability

Clinton's India visit was only moderately successful with not much progress on nuclear liability issues and Afghanistan. But the good thing is that both countries are talking out their differences, showing their commitment to taking this mutually-beneficial partnership to a new high.

While many of the recent developments have been due to Russia’s apparent violation of its commitments, at least as the US maintains, the real reason is more likely the intensifying Sino-US competition and Washington’s determination not to tie its own hands.

New infrastructure built by India in Mauritius demonstrates New Delhi’s commitment to cementing its security presence in the IOR.

Apart from dispelling the sense of drift, Putin’s visit was a clear signal of the commitment to a multipolar global order and reinforced strategic balance as an enduring factor in ties

India has made significant strides in agricultural production since the days of green revolution and has valuable lessons to share with its development partners, including countries in the African continent. This paper argues that there is a strong rationale for India-Africa collaboration on food security, given their common challenges of hunger, undernutrition, and low productivity. The paper finds that India plays an important role in augmentin

The dynamics of the India-US relationship under the Trump administration bear significantly on the two countries’ security partnership. This relationship, however, is being challenged by President Donald Trump’s increasingly apparent transactional worldview. As witnessed in the case of the United States’ relations with its allies and partners across Europe and Asia, Trump has often linked US defence commitments and partner nations’ securi

In the last few years, there has been a change and a slew of defence reforms have been brought in. More than at any other time in post-Independence India, there is a commitment to change the way the Indian defence forces are organised

There are calls for India to declare a net-zero year and offset its carbon emissions by various processes of absorption and removal of greenhouse gases. For India, such calls are irrational; despite international pressure, it has avoided making pledges or setting hard targets beyond its commitments at the Paris climate conference in 2015. This brief argues that “net zero” is not possible with India’s current levels of reliance on coal. Its

Various vaccine trials across the world are showing highly promising efficacy, and multiple vaccines are getting approved across continents. The global vaccine race has now entered its second phase, where countries try and procure as many doses of Covid-19 vaccines as possible. India has put its faith primarily in the vaccines of Oxford-AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech-ICMR. It has also secured future stockpiles of Gamaleya and Novavax vaccines thr

Triangular cooperation aims to forge global partnerships and foster sustainable global development. In such a system, traditional donors provide financial and technical support to facilitate development activities between two developing countries in the South, i.e. one emerging donor country and a beneficiary. Triangular cooperation allows nations to learn from the mistakes of the pioneers of the development cooperation process, bringing about co

Though domestic politics will continue to pose challenges to Dr Manmohan Singh's image, his firm commitment to Indo-Pak engagement has put both countries on course for at least a manageable relationship, if not a cordial one, based on mutual interests rather than vicissitudes and emotions.

Viewed through the prism of recent difficulties in India-US engagement, the focus of PM Modi?s US visit was in the nature of the leadership of the two nations getting to know each other, as well as aimed at building trust and fostering commitment between them, says former Secretary in the MEA, Mr. M. Ganapathi.

India must honour its treaty commitments over a resource that everyday lives depend on.

From a non-proliferation perspective, the Iran nuclear deal is a good one provided it is complied with. A lot will depend on Iran?s adherence to the commitments under the deal but it is difficult to have much faith in Iranian commitments because of its repeated failures in the past. And, from a regional security perspective, the deal is disastrous.

Hillary Clinton has for the past year been exhorting "Assad to get out of the way". But Assad won't listen. He sits on a system quite as durable as the one Saddam Hussain supervised in neighbouring Iraq. Without the US commitment as in Iraq, Assad cannot be pushed out.

Trump's phone-call to Taiwanese President has led the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson issue a statement calling on the US to adhere to its one-China policy commitment

One concrete outcome of the bilateral talks between the visiting Japanese Prime Minister and the US President was that the US was able to get Japan closer to making a commitment to the Trans Pacific Cooperation Agreement which the US has been advocating since 2011.

The paper examines the role of political leaders, public and private agents (governments, private agencies, NGOs), and followers (public, citizens, community) in the war on COVID-19. It argues that the role of agents and followers is often underestimated; that while the leaders’ contributions are important and necessary, they are not sufficient. The success or failure of leaders will depend as much on these actors as on their own competence, co

BRICS countries have tried to move internet governance debates by taking strong stands at the global level. India too, has flirted with the idea, time and again. If nothing else, the biggest takeaway from this grouping needs to be the commitment to putting across new ideas to the global community.