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The diversity of engagements planned during PM’s visit suggests that after a long hiatus, relations between two of the world’s oldest civilizations are on an upswing
Having played multiple roles - part comic, part tragic - in the Western mind, perhaps it's time for Iran to make its own Bollywood debut. And get to play a solid, character role.
The report prepared by National Investigating Agency (NIA) on David Coleman Headley, after interrogating him for 34 hours (June 3-9, 2010), show that he was not recruited by Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) but by ISI to help in planning the Mumbai attack.
The Fourth Finance Commission recommended devolution comes at a critical juncture of Centre-State fiscal relations that was looking increasingly unsustainable. Yet, with it, lies a different set of challenges and the Centre is expected to play an even greater role to aid States to spend money effectively while managing newer forms of inequality that are bound to emerge out of the new direction.
President Mohammed Morsi was ousted from power by the military on Wednesday and has now been placed under house arrest along with many members of the presidential team. This announcement was met by cheers from the public.
India is among the countries in the world that are most vulnerable to the consequences of global warming. While there are notable efforts for both mitigation and adaptation, these have failed to consider issues of gender equity even as evidence shows that women and girls bear the disproportionate burden of climate change. This is a gap that needs to be bridged, given the complex interlinkages between climate and gender that encompass livelihoods,
BRICS and SCO are two key non-Western multilateral platforms where India and Russia cooperate closely. In the past decade, both these countries have seen shifts in their foreign policies, which has also impacted their approach towards multilateralism. At the same time, BRICS and SCO have also seen their initial agendas widen to include a greater engagement with regional and global issues, including the creation of a multipolar world order. Along
The opening up of Myanmar has added a new strategic value to the Bay of Bengal. Isolated for decades, Myanmar is actively engaging the world's major players in redefining its geopolitical identity today. This has further encouraged naval exchanges, exploration of energy resources and development of connectivity infrastructure in a vital littoral of the Bay. Within this evolving context, this paper attempts to examine the implications of these cha
A delegation of Myanmar civil rights groups was of the view that civil society groups could be used as a catalyst for social change in their country. They hoped that the civil society would be able to play a critical role in further transforming the seemingly changing political system of the country.
The Kokang factor has long been a source of tension in China-Myanmar relations. The recent killing of Chinese farmers in Myanmar bombing has demonstrated that the role of the regional players needs to be brought to the fore, within the larger framework of international support in its peace process.
Myanmar's military chief General Min Aung Hlaing's recent India visit is another significant step in Myanmar's military diplomacy. Myanmar knows its interest lies in keeping a balanced military engagement with major powers and it would be the last that would want a strategic rivalry of the great powers be played out in its country.
The landslide victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in the November 8 elections is a harbinger of changing times in Myanmar. Winning clear majority, bagging more than 2/3rds of seats, the NLD has been placed in a position to steer reforms in the country.
The imposition of sanctions was intended to effect political change inside Myanmar, albeit unsuccessful, in the first place. And because the issue is how best to encourage change, perhaps, it is the right time to lift sanctions as incentive for change.
Later this year, the national elections will be due. The elections may be postponed because of the COVID-19 scenario.
No one knows what an Open Standard is. If we don't define it explicitly in time, India's ambitious digital governance plans will surely derail.
Maldives Dhivehi Rayyethunge Party (DRP) chief, Mr. Thasmeen Ali, has said that the first government under the new Constitution, the government of President Nasheed, did not display courage and patience to follow the path of democratic governance.
National security has always been a part of national politics. What has changed is only the way this issue is now playing out in the public domain.
You would say that Trudeau was ‘playing politics’ and that his remarks are really addressed to the Sikh community of Canada. So what’s the problem? After all, did not our Prime Minister undertake major political rallies in the US? In the Houston ‘Howdy Modi’ rally last year, US President Donald Trump himself participated, uncharacteristically playing second fiddle, all because he, like all democratic politicians, likes votes.
India faces a medium-term challenge from the Chinese PLA Navy, which has been active in terms of sending vessels on regular patrols in the Indian Ocean.
The NDA II government seems to be displaying a controlling streak rather early in its tenure. Across the land, the word 'ban' seems to have become the leitmotif of its governance style and its personnel seem determined to tell the citizen what he must eat and when, what he can watch, hear or study.
Victory in war requires not just sacrifice but also courage on our part and more importantly on the part of those occupying the highest levels of our political establishment
India needs to better integrate electronic and cyber warfare into its future defense planning.
Terror attacks cannot be avoided, whatever be the security grid. But repeated major attacks send a signal about our preparedness and abilities. Capabilities must be enhanced and sharpened to make the adversary pay a price. The army and security forces must introspect how such attacks take place.
International politics rather than law or policy will also play a key role in a future Modi visit to the US. There is certainly an element of the hyperbole in Obama's declaration that the American relationship with India is "a defining partnership of the century ahead". But it contains more than a grain of truth.
The National electronic Governance Plan (NeGP) has more or less got all the right ingredients. It just needs to be mixed in the right proportions.
Agriculture is one area in which the US wants a level-playing field. As the world is recovering from the financial crisis, new rules are being set for the benefit of those who have not done well. India and China have to watch out against the neo-protectionist policies of the West.
As the largest party in the Nepal Constituent Assembly, it is the responsibility of the Maoist party to furnish a clear roadmap for the peace process, acceptable to all the political players. And much of the onus lies on Prachanda.
Nepal, one of the youngest republics in the world, is in the midst of a political chaos and uncertainty these days. The chaotic uncertainty is primarily due to the lack of political will to build a consensus on some of the contentious issues plaguing the nation.
While the Chinese have kept us embroiled with their visa tactics in Arunachal, intrusions in Ladakh as part of an unsettled boundary issue, and nuclear plants to Pakistan, they have long endeavoured to seek access and presence south of the Himalayas. They appear to be succeeding in Nepal.
It is almost a year since fresh elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal took place for the formation of a new government and the writing of a new constitution that would, as was expected then, be a breath of fresh air for a country long engulfed in political and social unrest -- and political and constitutional instability afterward.
A recent study published in an American journal places Nepal at the 37th place in a list of 60 prospective failing states all over the world. The study must have been conducted a few months earlier. Today, Nepal must have moved up in the list.
The south Asian region has been a region of disjointed congruity for decades. Efforts at integrating the countries that make up the region have been in place through a variety of mechanisms such as diplomatic efforts, regional and sub-regional organisations.
India's flagship economic diplomacy programme, the grant of Lines of Credit (LOC), has had immense success in expanding the country's development cooperation around the world. In the African region, for instance, countries have found LOCs to be appropriate alternatives to traditional development assistance. LOCs are a popular tool among countries looking to fund their development goals. Closer to home, Nepal has received more than $1 billion in d
Was the new border clash ‘pre-planned’ & ‘carefully executed’? The use of Special Frontier Force is very telling.
With the South Korea-Japan spat escalating, it is unlikely that the US can play a mediatory role. The fallout of such dispute will affect the world economy
Emerging technologies have the potential to reshape our world. These innovations, also called disruptive technologies, have started to seep into the area of finding solutions for mobility. Is existing infrastructure prepared for such technological advancements? These and related themes were discussed in a roundtable organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on 8 February 2016. The roundtable, Urban Transportation and Disruptive Technologies
Nigeria voted on April 16th, 2011 for a new president. The result: political violence killing over 500 with the number only increasing and thousands of Nigerians injured and internally displaced.
Three years ago, when the Planning Commission was transformed into Niti Aayog, expectations were high.
In Afghanistan, ‘reconciliation’ means different things to different players and to different groups of Afghans
A 14th round of military talks ended with a joint statement but no real progress.
As the NDA government recalibrates India's Kashmir and Pakistan policies, Delhi must do a much better job explaining the logic behind the cancellation of the foreign secretary talks, widely seen as abrupt.It must let the international community, especially Pakistan's friends, including the US, China and Saudi Arabia, know India is not abandoning the peace process with Islamabad.
Tamil Nadu's river water cases may have relevance elsewhere in the country, now or later. Given the increasingly fragile nature of the federal structure as evidenced in this 'coalition era', effective measures need to be put in place lest the unity of the Union should be at stake.
A closer reading of the joint statement issued by Chinese President Xi Jinping after a meeting with the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych last month, suggested China was merely offering boiler plate assurances to Ukraine.
Countries like India are in the phase of a transition where the public policy challenges presented by overnutrition are in addition to those posed by undernutrition, instead of replacing traditional challenges of undernutrition.
India may be the world’s second largest producer of food, but it has its second largest undernourished population. Further, more than half of women in India suffer from anaemia, which is one of the reasons for the high rate of low-birth weight babies. An unbalanced diet and lack of food is directly linked to high rates of stunting, excessive weight, and death in children under five years of age. The Government of India has implemented programme
It might be an interesting detail for a US President who has come up the Civil Rights ladder. The role caste politics in India has played in boosting Indo-US ties in recent years.
Elderly women in India are disadvantaged by both gender and age. Currently, their population is estimated at 71 million, more than the total population of countries the size of the United Kingdom. A majority of them are illiterate and have no source of income. Awareness, coverage, and allocation for social pension schemes are low. Elderly women also have more morbidities than men and have higher unmet health needs. Though often regarded as a burd
Few days before the fourth anniversary of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) is planning a two-day training convention at Muridke (near Lahore), its former headquarters from where the terror attack was planned and executed.
The latest round of Trump tariffs got a tough response from Beijing. Chinese authorities declared that they would fight back against US plans at any cost.
Relaxation of China's One Child policy reform proposed in Third Plenum is not a full proof plan. President Xi Jinping has a perfect analogy with Deng Xiaoping in grappling with a compulsion of sorts. Deng was faced with a bulging population; Xi finds the challenge in ageing one.
