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President Sarkozy's impending visit to India (December 4-6) should be seen in the larger perspective of India's rise and the external environment that has facilitated this.

Since August 2021 when the US withdrew from Afghanistan, ceasefire violations at the India-Pakistan Line of Control (LoC) and killings of minorities in J&K have been reported. Indeed, the fall of Kabul to the Taliban has bolstered the anti-India establishment and the terrorist groups in Pakistan—putting the February 2021 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan under stress. India's conventional military response of the type of the 'S

To supplement the still lagging Afghan and ISAF security capabilities, alternative structures have been used or created, especially in rural or hard-to-reach areas. Two important groups among these are private security contractors (PSCs) and 'community defence' organisations or local militias. This paper assesses the impact of these entities on Afghan stability. Beginning March 19, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq, drawing both material an

Smt. Sushma Swaraj was at her best in Parliament while she covered a wide terrain, from Pakistan, China West Asia to Indian diplomacy.

Reiterating that China should not be contained, Mr. Yukio Okamoto, adviser to former prime ministers, has underlined the need to foster cooperation between Japan and India, including in their efforts to be represented in the United Nation Security Council, with or without the veto powers.

The region need to response to the unfolding migrant crisis in the Andaman Sea. India and the Indian Navy must move quickly with other regional players to bring an end to the humanitarian crisis in the Bay of Bengal.

The battle lines in the Indo-Pacific are getting sharply defined

A roundtable at the ORF Campus at New Delhi held on 14 January made an attempt to look at the future of India and China in 2025. The session was chaired by Ambassador MK Rasgotra, President, ORF and moderated by Jim Yardley, New Delhi Bureau Chief of the New York Times.

Land use on floodplains needs better regulation so that rivers have space to flood and contribute ecosystem services

In many ways, Bangladesh seems an excellent place for al-Qaeda to find sanctuary in the decisive years ahead. It is an impoverished Islamic nation, politically weak and backward in its economic development. Its ports have been active hubs for transnational crime, including weapons running.

New Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's emphasis on political moderation and ending Iran's isolation is drawing attention to the potential reconciliation between Tehran and some of its Arab Gulf neighbours. He has also raised hopes for a productive engagement between Tehran and the West.

Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Berlin organised a conference on "Fragmentation in a Democracy: The Role of Social Movements and the Media". Here is a report.

The removal of Prof. Muhammad Yunus from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh has left a dent on the image of the Awami League Government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, both at home and overseas.

FOR all those following the developments in Nepal, the King¿s coup, has not come as a surprise. Notable, however, is the sweep and sting of the King¿s action.

With a new king in power, this paper looks at royal politics in Saudi Arabia and identifies topical domestic and regional challenges from the Saudi perspective.

Instead of shutting down its jihadi factories ten years ago, Pakistan's leaders nurtured them selectively and today, their proteges have come to haunt them. They can still be shut down, but will need an honest Pakistani appreciation of its predicament.

Russia's troubles are unlikely to vanish soon. With the Central Bank forecasting a 4.5 per cent drop in GDP in 2015, a downgrade is a certainty. The budget deficit, forecast to be larger than 0.6 per cent of GDP in 2015, will prove to be another cause of misery.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's official visit (May 11) to Russia is interesting especially as it occurred within a fortnight of the US raid in Abbottabad, killing Osama bin Laden.

Russia—the state with the longest Arctic coastline—is embarking on an ambitious plan to benefit from the vast natural resources of the region, while undertaking a military modernisation effort that had been stalled after the end of the Cold War. As one of the strongest players in the high north, Russia will be key in determining the future of the region, which is facing challenges brought about by global warming. This paper examines Russia’

What is interesting for Russia is how greater cooperation with Iran will affect its ties with other Middle Eastern nations, such as both Saudi Arabia and Israel, which has been a vocal opponent of a nuclear deal with Iran. Israel however does not occupy a special position in Russia's foreign relations as it does for the United States.

Russia is widely regarded as one of the major revisionist powers in the world, determined to upend the global liberal order. To be a global power, Russia must become a maritime power as well. Thus, it seeks to gain control in Eurasia and the region between the Black Sea and the Baltic region. The North European Plain and the river Danube hold strategic significance for Russia, the former being a gateway to Europe and the latter the economic lynch

As Russia embraces China to relieve the pressures from the West, India's room for geopolitical manoeuvre in Asia and beyond is bound to shrink. Earlier, though both India and Russia had begun to normalise bilateral relations with China in the 1980s, they remained wary about Beijing.

The war in Syria, the alleged use of chemical weapons by its President, Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally, has turned out to be a perfect opportunity for Putin to reassert the role of Russia, 21 years after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Despite efforts, Indo-Russian nuclear engagement has been limited, mainly because of two factors. One, there is an unstable status of legal framework for the transfer of nuclear technology and second, India's efforts to diversify nuclear partners have been a little upsetting for Russia.

The future of strategic arms control faces a host of problems, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s growing nuclear forces to the challenging geopolitical landscape.

Russia has been dealing with extremism within its borders for several years. So it is not exactly unprepared for whatever threat ISIL currently poses. However, there is a degree of complacency that has set in.

The development is the latest indicator that the bilateral relationship is getting stronger.

The end of the Cold War in 1991 presented Russia and the European Union (EU) with an opportunity to reorganise their bilateral relationship. For more than a decade, they did manage to nurture close ties. Beginning in the mid-2000s, however, the relationship steadily declined, reaching its lowest in 2014 in the aftermath of the Ukrainian crisis. As mutual grievances have accumulated since then, there has been an absence of a forward-looking agenda

While Russia is aware of Islamabad's role in fomenting international terrorism, it realises that any successful resolution of the problems associated with Afghanistan must involve Pakistan. A cancelled presidential visit cannot change the relevance of this, or of Russia's goal, in enhancing ties with Pakistan.

At a time when it is facing Western sanctions and a proxy war on oil prices, Russia sprang a huge surprise early this month by signing a gas deal with Turkey. The deal will enable Russia to pump natural gas into a Turkish hub, near the Turkey-Greece border and from there into the southern EU market.

The Syrian rebels are not back to square one, but to minus one. They have been outsmarted by the Assad regime, just as the Russians outsmarted the Americans.

While Russia has been very careful of not antagonising China, which has emerged as Moscow's second largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific, Beijing is uncomfortable by the nature of Moscow's involvement in Hanoi.

Humanity depends heavily on the various benefits that nature provides us. It's impossible to truly estimate its value. However, economists and environmental scientists have estimated in dollars what it would cost us to accomplish the services nature provides. Using multiple databases, they estimate that nature provides $33 trillion dollars worth of services every year¿that's nearly twice the annual Gross National Product (GNP) of all the countri

If the Indian government appropriately leverages Russia's goodwill, Russian Far East could turn out to be a growth area for Indian business. Innovatively implemented, India's ties with the Russian Far East could help cement Indo-Russian relations as well as bolster its ties with Central Asia and East Asia.

Given its vast coastline, Delhi should devote its attention for now to importing hydrocarbons by sea, investing in equity oil in Russia and other energy-rich countries, and concluding swap arrangements rather than grandiose transregional pipelines.

Demographic trends in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 have largely been unfavourable. Deaths exceeded births for the first time in 1992, and a period of negative growth followed which continued unabated until 2012 when marginal growth was achieved for the first time in two decades. This paper studies the demographic patterns in Russia since 1991, which are unique for several reasons. While population decline is common amo

Africa has become essential to Russia’s geostrategic posture as Moscow seeks to overcome the backlash to its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, in the face of isolation and a contracting economy, Russia has realised that cultivating an entry point in Africa through conventional means such as foreign direct investment (FDI), trade, development assistance, or cultural and educational exchanges may not be its best option. Instead, Mosc

This paper outlines the development of Russia’s relations with the countries of Southeast Asia, focusing on the years after 2014. As relations with the West reached a new post-Cold War low, Moscow has intensified its efforts at building stronger ties with the East. The paper deals with the impact of these developments on the state of its political, economic and defense engagement in Southeast Asia, both bilaterally and multilaterally. It will s

Russia has always been actively involved with European politics. Its genesis in Kiev—close to the European borders—allowed it to participate in the affairs of the continent. Although Russia’s geographic expanse has been more in Asia, Russian political elites have traditionally identified the country as a European entity. However, following attempts at integrating with the transatlantic economic and political system during the first decade o

The US wants to grab a major share of the Indian defence hardware market. But any imposition of sanctions will dampen chances of defence cooperation gaining further traction

It is not yet clear how the U.S. will respond to India’s receipt of Russia-made S-400 air defense systems.

SAARC conjures up an image of jamborees and no results. The South Asian Association of Regional cooperation with its seven members ( India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh) remains one of the most dysfunctional trade blocs and there is hardly any freedom of movement of goods, services and people. The next (13th) SAARC summit is going to be held in Dhaka in the beginning of January 2005.

India has said that the regional efforts to counter terrorism in South Asia continue to face significant challenges though there are various SAARC frameworks on suppression of terrorism since 1987.

The SAARC energy agreement signed may have given some hope for the realisation of energy cooperation in South Asia. But, it needs to be understood that an overarching agreement has little impact on project-based cooperation, owing to the centrality of India in the South Asian geography.