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India must learn to quickly indigenise defence production to cut out both dependence on external sources and corruption that is endemic to the system and to provide employment to Indians along with a sense of pride. This will not happen overnight and there will be obstructions by vested interests.

The Canadian government, instead of robustly standing up to extremism, has found it easier to pander to some of the most violent and aggressive groups. This is partly because of how these extremist groups have increased their influence over state institutions

Iran's standoff with neighbouring and Western nations does pose a problem for India which has to balance its relations with Iran against its interest in deepening relations with the US. Collaborating with US initiatives in Afghanistan that exclude Iran might persuade the latter to remove the preferential treatment given to India at Chabahar.

Iran is not an easy customer, and this has been proven time and again with India’s projects in the country.

It is likely that Indo-Israel ties will expand in the political, economic and strategic realms. Israel's Ambassador to India, Alon Ushpiz, stressed that the bilateral relationship has surpassed a "buyer-seller relationship," and Israel's long experience of working jointly with Narendra Modi has yielded tangible results.

Both India and Japan consider the visit of Emperor Akihito as a very significant landmark capable of giving further impetus to the growing partnership. The fact that the Imperial dignitaries make very rare visits overseas nowadays due to their health conditions, further heightens the importance of their forthcoming sojourn.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan visited New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders in the last week of April,2005. In interviews given before the visit, he did not characterise the emerging relationship between India and Japan as a strategic partnership. However, he spoke of a convergence of strategic interests.

Nepal's outgoing Ambassador in India, HE Mr Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, gave an impassioned call to all countries in the South Asian region to cooperate in curbing, if not eliminating, the culture of violence and fighting insurrectionists. 'Weapons do not respect sovereign borders'

That IPEF member countries have come so far since the group’s establishment a year ago suggests that there is a near unanimous view about supply chain vulnerabilities.

The process of rapprochement between India and Pakistan began during the SAARC summit at Islamabad in January 2004. The two estranged neighbors set aside the bitterness of the recent past and decided to work together for peace and stability. That such a beginning could be made is itself a major achievement.

Analyses and discussions in matters relating to Indo-Pakistan economic relations continue to be marked by considerable wishful-thinking, superficial analysis and illusions. This article, in the form of questions and answers, tries to project the problem in its proper perspective.

Since January, 2004, there has been a wind of change in Indo-Pak relations for which credit has to be equally shared by Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, the former Prime Minister, and Dr.Manmohan Singh, the present. Rhetoric has given place to seeming reason and confrontation to conviviality.

As part of the Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue process, the two countries will hold official-level talks in nuclear confidence building measures (CBMs) on June 19-20, 2004. This is a welcome development since the last round of such discussions was held at the ill-fated Lahore summit in February 1999, even though the CBMs agreed upon were rather general in nature and, at least in spirit, the Pakistan army was not a willing party to them.

The pressures to change in Pakistan are real. It is not inconceivable that over a period of time, Islamabad will recognise that there are alternatives for Pakistan to exercise regional influence.

There is very little doubt that there would be a change of Government in Delhi from June, 2014. It is also most likely that the new Government will be that of the National Democratic Alliance. The BJP is the largest single party among the NDA constituents who will present the new Prime Minister.

As a precursor to the wider project of energy cooperation between Central Asia and South Asia, India and Pakistan must take baby steps towards energy trading as part of their ongoing trade liberalisation. Petro-products delivered by Indian refineries in the north and west to Punjab and Sindh regions would save Pakistan at least $14 per barrel of oil.

A desire to find a solution to the conflict that plagues both India and Pakistan was the common thread that run through the discussion at ORF on the bilateral relations and the way forward between Indian experts and retired military officials from Pakistan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's vision of making borders with Pakistan irrelevant seems to have made a measured beginning on the ground.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's initiatives at Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt), Thimpu and Chandigarh to improve relations with Pakistan, viewed with much skepticism at the time, were far-sighted. It is time now for even bolder steps.

In a scenario, where there is virtually no interaction between dispassionate sections of the populace who have no vested interested in conflict and acrimony, it is not very tough to up the ante and exacerbate tensions on an issue that should actually encourage cooperation.

Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the fifty- five year old former Army General and the leader of the Partai Democrat (PD, Democratic Party) emerged as winner in the first-ever direct Presidential election held in Indonesia ( Revised election law of March 2003

Indonesia’s upcoming general elections will see a rematch between incumbent President Joko Widodo (commonly called ‘Jokowi’) and his long-time rival, retired lieutenant general Prabowo Subianto. This paper examines the potential impact of the elections on Indonesia’s foreign policy, especially on the country’s maritime relations with India and other major powers. In the 2014 elections, the Visi-Misi (or election manifesto) of the incumb

All insurgencies are political movements supported by the local population and can only be resolved through political means. The military establishment can only ensure that the rebel movement is sufficiently neutralised and violent action curtailed.

India and China have many similarities and the inequalities in incomes are clearly visible in China as in India, according to Mr. M.R. Sivaraman, former Revenue Secretary of the Government of India.

India is experiencing the fastest increase in prices among the big emerging market countries. The Reserve Bank raised interest rates 10 times since March 2010 to control inflation, and its adverse impact on the demand for goods and services, investment and corporate profits is already visible.

The UPA government's economic policy is insensitive to the woes of the common man whose share of heady GDP growth is only high prices and misery. The fires of rage now sweeping India was only to be expected.

Its future will be defined by how it responds to the crisis in Ukraine, and in the shadow of growing Russia-China ties

The moon and Mars initially will be mined for generating fuel and water, but permanent mines to extract helium-3 and other materials cannot be ruled out in the future. The costs are high and technology is still in the nascent stage, but these problems do not appear giant in the face of environmental degradation on Earth.

This brief analyses the regulatory, security and ethical challenges facing states and the international community regarding emerging technologies in biotechnology, focusing on the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system and artificial gene synthesis. It highlights the inadequacy of current mechanisms such as export control regimes to regulate these emerging technologies because of a fundamental shift in the nature of challenges posed and an altered globa

That there is massive change in the mindset of Pakistanis towards India is an impression that this writer got during a visit to Pakistan last August. This impression has got further strengthened during a recently concluded visit. The desire for peace with India is no longer limited to the usual suspects; rather it is to be found even in the quintessential establishment types who have traditionally thrived on India-baiting.

For an Indian journalist, meeting the jihadis in Pakistan always makes for a great story back home. But despite the omnipresence of the jihad factory in Pakistan, it has never been easy to get hold of important jihadi leaders. Post-9/11, and especially after the ban imposed on some jihadi organisations, setting up meetings with jihadis has become even more difficult. With Pakistan's famed ¿agencies¿ quite chary of the jihadis talking to journal

That there is massive change in the mindset of Pakistanis towards India is an impression that this writer got during a visit to Pakistan last August. This impression has got further strengthened during a recently concluded visit. The desire for peace with India is no longer limited to the usual suspects; rather it is to be found even in the quintessential establishment types who have traditionally thrived on India-baiting.

With U.S. domestic politics calling President Biden home early, the Quad capitalized on their visits to Hiroshima for the G-7 to meet on May 20.

At a roundtable on "Understanding Contemporary Bangladesh", attended by vice-chancellors from nine universities of Bangladesh, the consensus view was that regional integration is not only beneficial for Bangladesh but for all of South Asia.

China and India, sooner than later, must assume regional leadership, which must be inclusive, allowing for not just coopera-tion and collaboration but the accom-modation of all stakeholders in energy. Despite their burgeoning share in energy market, both countries remain price takers rather than price makers now.

Today's intelligence agencies operate in highly complex environments. Cold War definitions and understanding of threats have long become redundant. Threats are multiple, layered, networked, diffused and transcend social and spatial boundaries.

India has had to deal with terrorism and conventional threats but our capacities to watch these threats are minuscule compared to US abilities. In a way, threats to India from terrorism and hostile neighbours are far more immediate. There is now the added problem of involvement of Indian youth in the terrorism of ISIS.

Intelligence and the world of espionage are as old as history. Rameshwar Nath Kao, the first chief of R, used to say that his friend, Comte Alexandre de Marenches, the French chief of intelligence during the Seventies, described this world as the best. Marenches used to say that espionage was an unscrupulous game played by gentlemen.

There has been an intensified hunt for Osama bin Laden and other surviving leaders of Al Qaeda on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

In a reforms-minded India, where subsidies have become a 'bad word' for some policy-planners, questions will be asked on making a massive project on inter-linking of rivers to pay for itself, post facto.

India's North-East remains a challenge for the policy makers. Keeping together this diverse region, which is home to more than 250 tribes, speaking more than 190 languages and dialects, and addressing the long drawn conflicts to preserve ethnic identities and over land and other resources is an arduous task. Recent months have witnessed a lot of debate on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) introduced by the Central Government to counter

ORF organised an interaction on the extent and security risks of 5G spectrum technology and the role of Huawei as a provider of 5G technology and equipment. The discussion was led by Harold Furchtgott-Roth, chaired by Kanchan Gupta.