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Indo-US relations that have witnessed a remarkable transformation in recent years, both in tenor and substance, are under intense scrutiny on the eve of US President Barack Obama's forthcoming visit to India. While relations between the two democracies have moved from one of 'estrangement' to a relationship of 'engagement' at many levels, there are outstanding issues that need to be addressed. This Issue Brief explores the prospects for cooperati

On the eve of his recent visit to India, in an interview to an Indian newspaper, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia remarked that "India should have an observer status in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference similar to that held by Russia." He added it would be "beneficial" if India's entry was proposed "by a nation like Pakistan."

With the risks for escalation and miscalculations growing in the Ukraine war, it is time to revisit the sobering lessons of 1962

Shoba Suri, Nimisha Chadha and Oommen C Kurian, The ORF SDGs Young Influencers Programme 2.0: Report from Three Workshops, October 2024, Observer Research Foundation.

If Narendra Modi becomes prime minister, he will join a select band of predecessors who can be called "outliers" - a scientific term used to describe phenomena which are outside the normal experience.

In the US presidential election, dominated by domestic issues and with little focus on foreign policy, outsourcing has emerged as a point of discussion. India is one of the top countries to which the US outsource work.

The Indian model of federalism may be one of the most interesting typologies in the world, characterised as it is by a paradox, to begin with: that of being a “centralised federalism.” This paper provides a temporal framework in the discourse on Indian federalism by outlining the history of the country’s federal structure in four different time periods, from the birth of the Indian republic to these contemporary times. It shows how the prev

The big paradox that the US confronts is the need to confront China and Russia at the same time. Clearly, even the mighty US does not have the energy and resources to do that. Beijing is, of course, quite self-confident because it is locked into the western economies and is, in that sense, sanctions proof.

There is an irony in the government's crackdown on Ford Foundation that seems to have escaped most observers. In the 1960s, the principal critics of the Foundation were the Indian Left. Now, the government and critics of foundations and NGOs fail to realise one thing. Now we are a self-confident, resilient society with institutions that have gained considerable depth. We are also a transparent and open society.

Education in India is compulsory and free for primary and middle school, yet about 20 percent of children aged 6-14 remain absent. Analysts offer various explanations for India’s continued challenges in ensuring universal basic education, including lack of access to schools and poor educational environment. In this context, an index measuring the health of the early education system can be a valuable tool. This paper devises a Performance, Infr

The top-down, rushed approach of the government in reaching out to farmers is likely to end in failure

In 2022, the Government of India is set to introduce the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) that will provide direction to the country's broader trade policy regime in the succeeding five years. This FTP will be more difficult to draft than the previous ones, for various reasons including the increased global pressure to address trade policy uncertainties, the need for alignment with the self-reliance mission, Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, and the tenu

Once Narendra Modi steps away from the minefield of Nepal's domestic discourse on the Hindu state, the Indian Prime Minister will find the shared Hindu and Buddhist heritage a solid foundation on which to build a new and lasting edifice of bilateral cooperation.

The global health landscape is undergoing dramatic shifts, none of which are conducive to mitigating urgent health issues that affect large populations across the globe. In particular, the United States (US) will likely slash its multibillion-dollar contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the international public-private platform that seeks to increase access to vaccination in low- and middle-income countries. This brief outlines the potentia

Strategists in New Delhi would have to factor in that a two front confrontation with Pakistan and China cannot be ruled out. US response in this case is an uncertainty. We need to remember that in the ultimate analysis, China is the resident power and the US is a distant power.

It is easy to criticise Nehru today. His priority then, as it remains that of our country today, is to take poor Indians out of poverty and protect the country's territorial integrity. Given the circumstances, he did not do a bad job, and he did it without murdering millions as was done in China, or overturning democracy, as was the case in many countries of the time.

The real American dilemma is to find allies in Islamabad who reduce and not multiply anti Americanism

The impact of the Kachin conflict should also be evaluated in terms of Myanmar?s ties with other nations, especially Japan ? a nation that is one of the principal aid providers and architects of Myanmar?s path to development.

His party claimed to be different from the effete government led by the Congress and its foreign policy therefore needs to be held to a higher standard.

The Modi government needs to break from traditional, statist methods of conducting water diplomacy and distinguish itself by including the concerns of basin inhabitants on both sides to find a lasting solution to the Teesta issue.

It is time to conduct a reality check on the India-Pakistan peace process. In fact, there is a particular urgency for it. For, the peace process seems to have got hijacked by secessionist elements in Kashmir and Pakistan who never had any stakes in it.

AI can be a force for good. It has emerged as one technology of particular importance because of its role as an accelerator, its versatility, and its wide applicability. But challenges include standards-setting, supply chain resilience, talent retention, and data policy

Qatar is creating a large footprint for itself in the West Asian Qpolitical landscape. The Gulf state was previously known primarily for its oil and gas reserves, and compliance with US interests in the region. However, Qatar has in the recent past made significant efforts to assert regional pre-eminence through an aggressive foreign policy. Emir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who recently handed over the reins of power to his son, Tamim bin

Growing space security threats are proving to be a challenge for existing global governance measures, but consensus on new rules is proving difficult.

It has overcome sceptics to widen its ambit of partnership and also set a focused strategic agenda

The group’s big challenge is to define the security dimension of its agenda more robustly even as economic talks get underway

The President of Pakistan had expected his handpicked Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, to perform his bidding and strengthen his position. But President Musharraf was disappointed. He, therefore, felt that a change was essential in order to secure his own place and keep the other power players content.

¿Arise, ye Arabs, and awake!¿ was the seditious 19th century slogan of Arab nationalism in its infancy. It aroused them against the Ottoman rule but did not hinder the subsequent imperial designs of Britain and France. The moment of liberation became the start of newer forms of dominance.

It is not just the art on offer that can be categorised as “political” — but also the platforms.

The proximate political failures in both these cases are greater than in 2012, and require a more robust political response

There is a growing clamor about India's decision to opt-out of the RCEP. While many experts say Indian SMEs stand to gain a lot if India signs the deal, others say it is likely to hurt Indian manufacturing.

By organising the two-day Lahore convention through Hafiz Sayeed and his Jihadi organizations of LeT and JuD, Pakistan wants to demonstrate that the people of Pakistan are not happy with the way the events have taken place in Kashmir.

It was evident at some of the various Track 2 dialogues a few years ago, where water from Kashmir was the issue that Pakistani delegates wanted to discuss saying that this could become the new flashpoint. Actually, water from rivers that flow through Kashmir has always been the real issue for Pakistan and not Kashmiris or their religion.

Once the US successfully built and used nuclear weapons to devastating effect to end the Second World War, other great powers of the time realized that the acquisition of nuclear weapons was essential to maintain their status. In 1970, after three decades of hectic developments,

The first part of this effort documented the various acts of omission and commission by the non-proliferation ayatollahs that led to the 1998 nuclear weapons testing of India, followed by Pakistan. However, the stark reality of the consequences of the dubious policies adopted by the NPAs towards Pakistani and Chinese proliferation came to light recently in the exposé of the Pakistan¿s ¿nuclear father¿ Dr.A.Q.Khan and his nuclear smuggling rin

Iraq is back in the headlines, loaded with euphoria. The electoral exercise has been undertaken; the results have yet to be announced. The running commentary on CNN on January 30 tended to suggest a near perfect exercise. No mention of course was made of the invasion, the occupation, the Iraqi dead, the reduction of Iraq to a stone-age condition, the falsehood of the pretext for war and the failure to find traces of weapons of mass destruction

Differences remain, but the gains on the positives and negatives of the ledger can be built upon

Geopolitics has split the world again and bloc-wise trade arrangements will have winners and losers

Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August last year and since then, serious security concerns have arisen for India. There is the spectre of terrorist groups in neighbouring countries gaining strength; there is also the threat of Indians travelling to Afghanistan to either live as civilians desiring a home under “Islamic rule”, or else fight alongside terrorist groups. Indeed, other South Asian countries such as Bangladesh are reporting that

In the 1990s, Taliban fighters aggravated the situation in Kashmir. Will they do it again? It depends on the extent of ISI control

The effective total emissions, social costs, higher electricity prices, and loss of energy caused by production, transport and storage of electricity need to be included in any calculation.

At some point in the near future, everyone will have a smart digital device. The new digital divide will be of those with access to interactive digital content and those without.