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India placed on the agenda the need for strengthening civil society organisations and think-tanks

Storm strikes are common in the Indian Sundarbans Delta on the northern Bay of Bengal and will only become more frequent and intense in this era of climate change. Every time a cyclone has hit the Sundarbans, the attempt has been to adapt in situ by creating protective infrastructure, and later return to the same conditions prevailing prior to the disaster. Such reliance on the notion of ‘resilience’ has become increasingly unsustainable and

India and Japan’s economic vision is that of an ‘Asia and Africa Growth Corridor’ (AAGC) empowering states to peacefully counter and constrain Chinese revisionism. However, a stable AAGC will depend on enhanced security cooperation and the current rules-based order upheld by the US-led security framework. While current Indian and Japanese engagements in Asia are conducive to successful cooperation, weaker economic and military engagements w

It is indeed tempting to wax eloquent about the shikaras full of tourists on the Dal Lake in Srinagar and the peace moves in the air between India and Pakistan. However, a pragmatic assessment of the military situation in the fifteenth year of insurgency reveals that a state of strategic stalemate now prevails in Jammu and Kashmir (J).

This paper examines India’s ‘two-front’ dilemma in view of its conflicts with China and Pakistan, and the possibility that these two adversaries could join forces. The author studies historical events that could help outline the strategies that have been undertaken by certain countries to combat the combined power of multiple adversaries, usually exceeding their own. These include the Napoleonic strategy and the Israeli experience. In analy

Compellence is a word derived from nuclear weapons theory.is being used in the conventional context in relation to India and Pakistan

Large numbers of people, most of them women, are trafficked in the Bay of Bengal region. Despite these countries having anti-trafficking laws in place in line with the United Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol, the incidence of the criminal activity continues unabated. This brief gives an overview of human trafficking in the Bay of Bengal region, particularly around the contiguous zone of India–Nepal–Bangladesh, which has become a hub of

With ever-expanding engagement, India and the United States develop their foreign policies, distinguishing priorities from irritants

The political mess in Nepal presents a very difficult challenge for India. Nepal is geo-politically too sensitive for India to detach itself from developments there. We have to be ever watchful of the inroads China makes.

While India is looking to the UN to manage the cyber challenges, America and China are exploring bilateral solutions that could eventually be imposed on the rest of the world. That is very similar to what happened in the nuclear arena five decades ago.

There is a natural affinity in political style that draws both leaders together.

Unlike the Indo-Pacific where the payoffs are limited, West Asia offers India vast energy resources that are vital for development and investment opportunities.

As a tool of diplomacy, forum summits have allowed countries to interact, exchange views, and work together to cooperate on issues of mutual interest. This is true for the African continent, where there is a recent surge in high-level summits involving heads of state, ministers, and civil society organisations. These ‘Africa+1’ summits have provided countries in the continent with an institutional platform to engage with both traditional and

While in politics, the consequences of loss tends to be temporary, the same cannot be said of in war.

Indian announcement of having conducted surgical strikes across the de-facto border with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir has major implications for deterrence-stability in South Asia. New Delhi has sought to devise a military strategy to respond to Pakistan’s sub-conventional war that does not lead to escalation of conflict to nuclear levels and collapse of nuclear deterrence. This paper analyses India’s surgical strikes of September 2016, thei

The statistics in the socio economic caste census is a stark reminder that most rural poor in India do not belong to the 'middle class' at all. It is important to face up to the stark reality. Emphasis and implementation of Digital India, Make in India, Smart cities' programmes ought to take into account the problems faced by the poor.

With multiple fires burning around India, what is astounding is not India’s seeming inability to manage those fires but its remarkable success in insulating itself from those flames

For both India and South Korea, cooperation in the civilian nuclear sphere is a subject of great importance. Both countries had signed an agreement in 2011 and since then, South Korea has been keen to sell its nuclear reactors to India but without success. Now, Seoul's interest has become stronger as it is competing with Japan.

The Observer Research Foundation and Saferworld, UK, with support from the UK Department of International Development, hosted a workshop in New Delhi in August 2014 with the objective of identifying priorities to help secure an inclusive agreement on the SDGs. This Policy Perspective presents a summary of key issues raised by participants from India, China, Brazil, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the African Union.

India can offer an alternative model aligned with the “open economy, freedom, democracy” matrix, if it can boost its tax to GDP ratio to generate the resources required for sharing growth.

After Sushma Swaraj's successful visit to Beijing, which managed to create a certain degree of 'warmth' in China's attitude towards India, now all eyes will be on Mr Modi's visit to China in May. But before that the border talks that are going to be held soon will play a key role in determining the course of events.

Having the Union Cabinet now accepted a new globally identifiable symbol for the Indian Rupee, designed by Udayakumar, New Delhi may need to consider ways to take the horse to where it should belong, if it, together with the cart, has to be a driving force.

Think20, Youth Engagement, Geopolitics, Multilateralism, G20, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, SDG, macroeconomics, India, G20 Presidency, RCEP, FTA, Trade, economic, infrastructure, diplomacy, Climate Change

When India liberalised its economy more than 25 years ago, many believed that the end of the ‘licence raj’ would reduce, if not eliminate, private and political corruption. However, this change did not occur, and corruption continues to haunt and define India’s political landscape.

The view from Dhaka was summed up in a journal thus: ¿The cumulative case against a dependable relationship between India and Bangladesh is a very strong one¿ since Bangladesh suffers from ¿a serious lack of bargaining power¿ and hence needs ¿a viable strategy of alliances with China, Burma, Nepal and Pakistan¿. Adventurism is its logical outcome.

Speculation was rife that the bilateral relationship had lost its strategic sheen and had become a transactional one, where Russia was just a convenient one-window stop for some military equipment.

The message to countries in East and Southeast Asia, as well as India, is clear: Be ready for Beijing’s military intimidation if its unilateral alterations in the status quo are resisted.

Taiwan is facing an existential identity crisis, one whose consequences can go well beyond the region. The island exists between two sovereignties: it has domestic sovereignty and is secure in its identity as a democracy and an economic powerhouse; at the same time, it has an uncertain international sovereignty and is insecure in a larger battle with China about that identity. From a traditional international-relations perspective, Taiwan meets e

Till now India has seen cyber-security only as a simple issue of a malware or a virus. But cyber-security is about protecting India's digital assets from cyber invaders, as India is rapidly turning into a digital society.

Cooperation between the United States, Japan, Australia, and India is here to stay.

Different states react differently to similar situations. When Israel is subjected to terrorist attacks, which is very often, the State reacts immediately and with force each time. In India, two days after Pakistan-backed terrorists kill innocent civilians in Srinagar, we send an official delegation to talk about cooperation in the war against terrorism with the sponsors of terrorism.

During Modi’s visit to Vladivostok, India should signal more willingness to invest in a less-developed part of Russia

Afghanistan and India enjoyed a “romantic relationship,” with close cultural ties.

Any realistic assessment would suggest that the Taliban holds the key to the Afghan peace process. An Indian engagement with the Taliban does not mean a political endorsement of its ideology or worldview. Finding a way to talk to the Taliban must necessarily be a part of Delhi's Afghan policy mix.

Don't provoke China has been the mantra behind New Delhi's recent "go slow" strategy with Japan. At the very moment when many Asian countries are frightened by the prospect of China's non-peaceful rise and are looking to Indian leadership in constructing a stable Asian balance of power, Delhi seems trapped in strategic hesitation.

In one of the most recent analytical pieces on this website it was very wisely quoted ¿Don't hear, listen. Listen to what is not being said¿ (sic) as regards the Indo ¿ Pakistan peace talks and their decision to hold a composite dialogue. Thus ironically while most peaceniks, in Pakistan and India are hailing this recent thaw in relations it remains advisable to be cautiously optimistic for the time being.

The first industrial estate zones in India came up during the 1960s when R. Venkatraman and C. Subramanian were ministers under Chief Minister K. Kamaraj.

Sadly, legislation, in democracies, is strongly influenced by political economy which dilutes technical good sense

BRICS was complicated from its inception, India must focus on its own priorities

The proposed TAPI pipeline goes through Kandahar, enters Balochistan, passes through Multan reaching India at Fazilka, Punjab. Given the nature of Pakistan-India relations one would have little confidence about the ability or even the intention of Pakistan to ensure uninterrupted supplies.

The quad -- India, Australia, Japan, and the United States -- should take care to prevent the possible dangers in China's rise from becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. It should use the wide menu of options for quadrilateral cooperation to bargain for diplomatic resolution of China's disputes with its neighbours.

Terrorism is rapidly striking deep roots in India, propelled in no less measure by external forces, namely Pakistan, and a few other countries that are willing to provide material support to agencies and forces inimical to India.

Ahead of the PM’s visit to Japan, hopes are high for a greater synergy on security and connectivity issues.

The emergence of the Tehrik-E-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) as the largest religious political party in the country has introduced a new, aggressive element in Pakistan’s polity. Although the TLP does not have an armed militant wing, it has demonstrated both its street power and the strength of its electoral base only six years since it was set up in 2015. Exploiting deeply emotional issues like the finality of Prophethood and Blasphemy against the Pr