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Government’s headline management strategy has clearly gone awry

More than two years after the Government of Sri Lanka and the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) reached an agreement on a ceasefire in their military and para-military operations against each other, with Norway playing the role of a facilitator, and embarked on a process of negotiations in order to find a political solution to the demands of the LTTE for an independent

The continuing deadlock in the peace process and in the political equation between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe due to their failure to reach an accord on the ground rules for the smooth functioning of the co-habitation Government marked the political landscape in Sri Lanka during 2003.

The election of a new government in Colombo provides New Delhi a great opportunity to reset its relations with Sri Lanka. Both countries need to set aside the contentious past and see how they can construct a 21st century relationship based on economic ties and the awareness of the need to understand each other's security concerns.

Sri Lanka¿s worsening security situation under an undeclared war is most likely to persist. Both the LTTE and President Rajpakshe¿s government are violating the four-year-old ceasefire agreement, which, in fact, seldom was honoured seriously, but neither of them is in a position to formally break it and declare an open, all-out war. Both of them are under intense international pressure to desist from doing so.

Sri Lanka's poll results have shown that President-elect Sirisena's victory was made possible by the overwhelming vote of the minorities, particularly the Sri Lankan Tamils. However, the Indian concerns on ethnic issues will be addressed wholly only when the new government and its limited TNA underwriter arrive at a negotiated settlement.

Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's recent reminder that the Sri Lankan Government of the day alone had invited India to facilitate the peace process in the eighties should clarify a few points for Sri Lankans who harbour other views in the matter.

Not many in Sri Lanka, particularly on the Government side, had expected China to play evasive on the report of the panel appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on issues of accountability pertaining to the end-game of 'Eelam War IV'.

While the government wants early elections despite mixed reports about its handling of the COVID-19 crisis — the opposition wants the polls postponed.

It may be time for both the Centre and the Tamil Nadu Government to actively consider the alternate, 'deep-sea fishing', away from the Sri Lankan waters, if India's Palk Strait fishers and bilateral relations were not to run aground.

By declaring fresh intentions to revive GSP-Plus talks with the European Union (EU), and ensuring the withdrawal of anti-UN fast by incumbent Minister Wimal Weerawansa, the Sri Lankan Government seems to be now engaged in damage control on the global diplomatic front, whose results are as yet unpredictable.

'Competitive politics' in Tamil Nadu was only one element in India's vote for the US Resolution. But there has been a general sense of dissatisfaction across the State with the Sri Lankan Government's perceived unwillingness to stand by its war-time promises.

Independent of the media-hype on all 'controversial things' that the Tamil Nadu Government and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa may be saying on the 'fishing issue', they have also quietly initiated steps over the past couple of years.

The current impasse in the peace process in Sri Lanka should worry friends of the nation, including India. Starting haltingly in the post-war months, the negotiations between the Government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has been deadlocked...

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao's tour of the war-ravaged areas in the North and East of Sri Lanka has come as a perceptible first step towards the Indian Government repairing relations with the Tamil community in the island-nation.

No other dispute, including the sensitive 'ethnic row', impacts as much on India-Sri Lanka relations than the 'fishing issue', particularly over the medium and long terms. Much as the Government of India is keen on seeing a negotiated settlement to the ethnic issue, the political solution would still have to be thrashed out by the stake-holders in Sri Lanka.

Unknown to the world and unacknowledged by the international community, Sri Lanka may be running to a point of no-return, all over again. 'International intervention' in the form of UNHRC resolutions has made the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa more vulnerable in electoral terms ? or,

The end to ¿Karuna rebellion¿ inside the LTTE, as fast as it commenced in early March also marks the beginning of a new, rather revived pace in the Sri Lanka peace process. Within days of telling the world who was the boss in all the Tamil-speaking areas in the North and the East, the LTTE sat across the table with the Government team, facilitated again by the Norway-led Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM),

The moderate Tamil polity in Sri Lanka has been slow in delivering on the promises given to the Government side on the one hand, and to the international facilitator of any given time, on the other.

Overnight, there is more activity on the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora front than earlier. It is not only that the 'Trans-national government of Tamil Eelam' (TNGTE) has given itself a 'cabinet'with US-based Rudrakumaran as 'prime minister',

The increasing effort at marginalisation of Sri Lanka in the international arena, with hopes that a vote against the country at UNHRC could well shame the Government into taking pro-active measures at an early political solution are misplaced, at best.

The Sri Lankan Government's decision not to send a 'special delegation' for the 29th session of the UNHRC this month should be seen as an attempt to try and 'de-politicise' the engagement with the UN body.

By inviting SAARC Heads of Government for his inauguration, prime minister-designate Narendra Modi has demonstrated a firm grip over the emerging foreign policy scenario(s) and his vision of and for an India of the future.

Public posturing apart, moderate Tamils in Sri Lanka seem to want India to intercede on their behalf all over again and help arrive at a political settlement on the ethnic issue with their nation's government.

The Sri Lankan Government's current efforts at reviving the PSC process may have come a little too late in the day, but then it could claim that it was more focussed on conducting the Northern Provincial Council polls, as promised by President Rajapaksa, in September.

Several high-priority issues will need the new government¿s immediate attention as it assumes office. The Kashmir issue and its impact on the ongoing Indo-Pak entente should be one of them.

The ongoing challenge for the Indian and US governments is to define what exactly the "strategic relationship" is in form and function, in which context a defence relationship will mature.

This brief examines state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, taking the cases of India, Israel, Brazil, Hungary and the United States. It studies the language utilised by the government leaders in these countries and finds extensive war-time semantics. The brief explores the interrelationship of such rhetoric with the legitimisation of extreme measures through the construction of an issue as an “existential threat”— a process analysts call

As evolved in the US and the UK, an Integrated Defence Staff, in which 'army controls army', is the need of the hour for better implementation of required reforms. This weakness can be resolved only through a constitutional amendment or to the Rules of Business of the Government, or both, says Lt-Gen. S. Pattabhiraman (Retd).

In keeping the floor very low in the Wage Code Bill, the government seems to have succumbed to external pressure.

A year is a lifetime in an intensely contested, democratic polity. This is why the government must squeeze out the "fat" in the system whilst planning for the future. Given the head winds building up, it is critical for the government's longevity to redeem its compact with voters by delivering real, near-term, fiscally neutral improvements in consumer welfare.

The ¿steep fall¿ and the ¿smart recovery¿ of stock prices with every bit of new information, misinformation and disinformation, on government-formation at the Centre has once again proved the volatility of market sentiments, often not grounded in political realities or economic fundamentals.

The focus on the Henderson-Brooks report creates a bias in our minds that the failure of 1962 was that of the Army. Perhaps that is what the babus and politicians wanted. In fact, the real failure was of the Nehru government's China policy and the management of that policy.

Taking care of the urgent requirements, the new Cabinet Committee on Security of the Modi government should insist on a radical overhaul of the national security system before funding new acquisitions.

This brief tackles the crucial role of public diplomacy in enhancing India's global influence. It argues that India should exert effort to communicate its rich cultural heritage and economic growth story to foreign audiences, and recommends a roadmap that involves linking public diplomacy to national security, the establishment of a specialised public diplomacy agency, and creating the position of a chief public diplomat. A well-structured public

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the formal schooling system in India, as it has across the globe, causing massive pressure on the online education sector. This paper analyses the state of digitalised education in India. It outlines current government guidelines on digital-mode schooling, and uses the case of Maharashtra’s five-year-old efforts at digitalising government schools to gauge preparedness for implementing the guidelines. It highl

July 7, 2004, Wednesday, witnessed the first suicide attack in Sri Lanka since the signing of the Cease Fire Accord (CFA) between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Indian climate policy-making should 'mainstream' adaptation strategies into development planning to better address climate change. The Indian Government had formulated the National Action Plan on Climate Change in 2008.

A landmark judgment by the Supreme Court on Thursday is what the doctor ordered to galvanise India's moribund steel frame. Between the lines, the apex court tells a distraught citizenry, running from pillar to post even for basic delivery of services, that babus (government servants) needn't cower before the political master -- they can shape up.

No matter whether the stunning performance of AAP brings new politics or not, it has already impacted the old-style politics. With the union government indicating its willingness to pass the Ombudsman (Lokpal) bill in the current session of the Parliament, it would be too early to write the party off.

A city goes through several stages of evolution from being an aggregate of activities and population to developing its own identity as an economic and cultural hub. In the context of urban management, the evolution of a city is seen in its ability to think for itself in terms of resource sustainability and dynamic infrastructure needs. Coimbatore, the second-largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu, has gone through various stages of economic evol

Even before the hype over US President Barack Obama's visit to Delhi has died down, the Modi government is on the move to enhance its ties with China. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's ongoing China visit is an important part of this effort.

Many countries imposed stringent lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sweden, however, adopted a ‘soft’ approach of self-imposed social precautions without state regulation. This evoked extensive criticism within and outside the country, especially in view of its high death rates in comparison to its Nordic neighbours. The Swedish government, however, has been steadfast with its strategy. As countries emerge from lockdowns and begi

The decision of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Government to involve the representatives of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) as part of the dialogue process on Kashmir is strategic in principle. Though it may not be entirely wrong to question the extent of public support the Hurriyat leaders enjoy in Kashmir, it would be equally short-sighted to exclude them from any dialogue concerning Kashmir.

The findings of Working Group-III (WG-III) of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly highlight the global failure to scale-up mitigation actions to achieve the Paris Climate targets. Immediate and unprecedented action will now be needed to avoid catastrophic global warming in this century. The WG-III report details some of the policy actions needed at the global level to enable a sustai

In the past two years, India has been working not only to Look to its eastern neighbours but to Act with them, too. Indeed, the government's 'Act East Policy' has taken positive steps towards building closer relationships with India's partners. But how different has the policy been from its predecessor, the Look East Policy? This paper examines the motivations for launching the Act East Policy and what it has accomplished so far. It also describe

By declaring that his talks with Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri would produce nothing dramatic or drastic, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh might have robbed the event of the avoidable media hype, the like of which had attended on the ¿Agra summit¿ earlier. At the end of it, the two-day ministerial meeting in New Delhi was a cup that was not half-full. Nor was it half-empty. In turn, this indicated that the two Gover

Turkey, which had invested heavily in the success of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, was obviously agitated by the circumstances in which the Egyptian President had to go. The Turkish government had given them aid, advise and even garbage cans as a step towards improving the quality of governance.

The Nawaz Sharif government's offer of the olive branch to TTP seems more like an act of desperation than a serious attempt to bring about stability in the country. As the previous deals with militants have shown, the outcomes have favoured militants more than the governments.