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The Jammu and Kashmir problem has imposed heavy political, diplomatic and military costs on India for the last 63 years. It has excessively conditioned our external relations, with much of our diplomacy occupied over the years with explaining to other countries our position on J&K, warding off criticism,

Worse, by attacking the social fabric of the country, the Hindutva groups are laying the ground for greater insecurity in the future.

With India voting in favour of the anti-Sri Lanka resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, Delhi finds itself in a precarious position in Colombo vis-à-vis Beijing. Worse, it's likely to make the lives of Tamils more difficult in the island nation.

Beyond personalities and politics, there is one basic question we need to ask ourselves: Why even 66 years after independence, is New Delhi's influence in its region shrinking instead of expanding?

India simply cannot afford to alienate the government in Male given China's growing reach. The President of Maldives was in China in October last year when Beijing announced a $500-million economic assistance for it. New Delhi views Maldives as central to the emerging strategic landscape in the Indian Ocean.

India is quite advanced in refugee protection as compared to many signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention, according to chief of mission of the UNHCR, India. Even when refugee protection comes into odds with national security, India has managed to provide social security, education and medical security.

India's best course is the one that Prime Minister Modi is setting. This seeks to position India as a "swing state". On one hand, India has joined the New Development Bank, the AIIB and resisted American-led efforts to condemn Russia over Ukraine. On the other, it is actively wooing the US and its allies, Japan and Australia, in the Asia Pacific region.

For a decisive role in the region's future, India must accelerate its economic growth, build a stronger security partnership with Washington, contain the boundary dispute with China, and strengthen ties with key Asian middle powers.

A retreat from Afghanistan now would mean accepting the Chinese game of restricting our role to our national frontiers. The 21st Century belongs to Asia and we are an important part of that new Asia. Let us not choose a destiny that casts us aside.

India is faced with choices of being part of two regional blocs: BBIN and BCIM. In both blocs, India has Bangladesh as a common partner. The prime motives for being a member of the regional blocs are essentially economic, and strategically political.

Having indicated his intention to increase gas pipeline network infrastructure by 15,000 kilometers, making it almost double existing capacity, India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has certainly raised an intellectual argument among oil and gas stalwarts: What should be India's priority - gas or gas grid?

The fourth India-Bangladesh Security Dialogue, organised by ORF in association with the BEI, Dhaka, stressed on the need for the Indian government to be more proactive in the promotion of its ties with Bangladesh.

It would be difficult to graft something like the U.S. system on to the Indian system. Yet, clearly the time has come when Mizoram and Nagaland also have a say in India's Myanmar policy, instead of merely having to bear its consequences.

There is a need for a strong foreign policy, particularly with regard to the India's immediate neighbourhood, according to a former secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Absence of a national climate change adaptation strategy is hampering India's climate change mitigation efforts, opined experts and stakeholders while speaking at a seminar on 'Supporting Climate Resilient Development in India' in Kolkata on April 23.

Mr. Sanjay Bhattacharya, Joint Secretary (South), Ministry of External Affairs, says "the need of the hour is an enhanced Look East Policy that is more in time with the current global setting".

Security expert Ashley Tellis recommends upgrading India's aircraft carrier with US systems to counter the Chinese in the Indian Ocean. But does India face a credible enough Chinese threat and does it really need new systems?

Banking to be inclusive would require greater financial literacy and gender equality. All banks should include women, especially poorer ones, in their financial services. Perhaps later on, more banking licences would be granted, perhaps even to big industrial groups.

For formulating an effective China policy, India needs scholars well versed in Chinese language and culture who should be able to understand and appreciate the Chinese style of diplomacy to foster better synergy and cooperation between the two countries.

All of our neighbours run huge trade deficits with India which is not good for promoting harmonious relations. Basically, the whole South Asia is India-centric and instead of playing the big brother, India can afford to be generous. It will be beneficial to us in the long run to have peace and prosperity in the region.

As Myanmar moves forward, there is an opportunity for India to strengthen its traditional links, create new links and increase its presence. But to do this, India should "change its mindset" about Myanmar, says leading journalist Dr. Bharat Bhushan after a visit to the country.

India's economic cooperation with many of the African countries is booming but some parliamentarians from Africa think that to make the cooperation more constructive, India should try to make the local population also stake holders.

India, which has experienced a 4.6 per cent growth rate in 2013-14, requires higher public spending on infrastructure. More public services and goods are needed to bring relief to the lower income groups, especially health services, otherwise they are likely to slip into poverty.

Being friends with the United States is one thing, but leveraging it to your advantage is quite another. There are lessons that India needs to learn, ironically enough from our two adversaries - China and Pakistan - who have been very successful in using the US connection to their advantage.

India should be prepared to face the prospects of unending jihadi attacks not only in Kashmir but also in any part of the country. Eternal vigilance is the price India has to pay.

Among other things, India requires its neighbours to 'out-source' its larger geo-strategic security concerns in the shared Indian Ocean Neighbourhood - and otherwise, too.

As ICANN moves towards multi-stakeholder leadership, it must continue its efforts to become more global and more inclusive. In order for India to be a part of this transformation, it needs to refine its position on internet governance and include a wide range of perspectives, say experts.

Following the Wikileaks, now one can draw the conclusion that Pakistan would never give up supporting the terror groups like the LeT and would use them for creating problems for India, at least in Jammu and Kashmir.

On the anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, it is not surprising that the first thoughts that come to mind relate to the safety and security of the country. The obvious question to be posed here is: Are we safer today than we were five years ago? Sadly, the answer will be no.

Taking part in an interaction on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to China, Mr. Gautam Bambawale, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs, emphasised that India was not in a game of "catching up" with China vis-a-vis its relationship with other East Asian countries.

The India Poll 2013, prepared by the Lowy Institute for International Policy in partnership with Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne, provides stark and surprising insights into what the people of India think about their future and the world.

The biggest success for China insofar India is to derive maximum advantage from her emerging economy status while at the same time keeping India tied down in sub-continental squabbling. The Wen visit achieved just that.

With the year-old Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) not working as expected, the Government of India is planning to come up with a new policy soon. This was revealed by Mr. Amit Cowshish, Financial Advisor (Acquisition) and Additional Secretary, Department of Defence Finance.

After the initial fire and fury at the LoC, there is now a belief that the situation is relatively under control. This assumption may be misleading, unless the dynamics of the LoC and its violations are fully comprehended.

India's external balance is changing fast with new equations being worked out. We need to set our house in order - refurbish our political apparatus, rebuild the crumbling state of our institutions and reorient and revamp our governance capacities.

The new political leadership in Delhi has given a ray of hope for the prospect of regional cooperation. In this regard, it is very important for India to understand how it is perceived by neighbouring countries in the South Asian region, says Bangladesh's Deputy High Commissioner Mahbub Hasan Saleh.

Even as India engages China in a dialogue, or becomes a way station in the sea silk route, New Delhi needs to take some lessons from China and anchor its maritime policies on a strong navy. As of now, we can more than hold our own in the Indian Ocean against all but the US Navy. But, tomorrow is another day.

India is the second fastest growing economy in the world today. At a most basic understanding, an economy grows when goods -- agricultural and industrial -- are produced and bought and/or when the service industries are growing phenomenally. In India's case both sectors are performing very well.

In the beginning of the 90's, Argentina was the second richest country in the world, but now the country is in a shambles. India should be careful not to fall into such a situation, cautions former Union Revenue Secretary M.R. Sivaraman.

While India will spend around $200bn-plus in the next 10 years, future contracts like the MMRCA should pave the way for opportunities for Indian firms to upgrade their design, development, production and innovation capabilities. India must ensure that arms deals are not a one-way traffic for suppliers.

Export-oriented FDI has the potential to vault India into the league of industrial economies: a stage which it allegedly skipped on its way to becoming a post-industrial service-based economy. Export-oriented FDI is labour-- and employment --intensive. In China export obligation is mandatory for foreign investors. This should be done .