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While President Obama has been categorical that the new US defence strategy should not be seen as a drawdown of the U.S., the important question is how the proposed budget cuts are going to affect certain weapon platforms such as the F-35.

As two great civilizations and influential Asian powers, India and China share common responsibilities to ensure peace and stability in the region and the world at large.

Britain's former Chief Scientific Advisor and Head of the Government Office of Science, Sir David King, has said that both India and China should take a leadership role at the global platform for Climate Change.

India's ability to separate the Palestinian issue from Indo-Israeli relations could be tested in the future. As the security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories deteriorates and Israel faces greater international pressure to negotiate an end to the conflict, it may not be long before Tel Aviv turns to New Delhi for diplomatic support.

Common values and shared concerns provide a natural corollary for Indo-Israeli cooperation, according to experts. Highlighting the various avenues for cooperation, they especially pointed out defence and agriculture sector.

There is an increasing realisation in New Delhi about the cross-benefits available to the country on social, political, economic and strategic fronts from its neighbours as they are bound to benefit from healthy bilateral and multilateral arrangements encompassing the entire South Asian region.

On the strategic side of things, Japan's economic cooperation with India is also a hedge against a rising China which is a direct threat to Japan as also India, if to a lesser extent.

North Korea's nuclear weapons capability and cooperative ties with Pakistan is a cause of concern for India. Amid reports of North Korea-Myanmar missile nexus, it becomes important for India not only to take stock of the situation but also to engage more with this reticent state.

The First R K Mishra Memorial Lecture was delivered by Major General Mahmud Ali Durrani. He was Pakistan's National Security Adviser till January 2009. A former Ambassador to the United States, General Durrani has been closely associated with Mr RK Mishra, and Observer Research Foundation, in promoting peace and dialogue between India and Pakistan

As the decade long UPA tenure comes to a close, it is quite clear that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma have not been able to persuade the Congress Party to see the strategic virtues of trade liberalisation.

It has never been a better time and never before has India come with this much strength to the negotiating table. In the end, reaffirmation and recalibration of Russia' role in India's future was prominent and the short and successful summit was capped by perhaps another nuclear submarine for India and a doctorate for Prime Minister Singh.

The 4th India-Arab Partnership Conference, organised late last month as part of the Modi government's efforts to elevate the level of engagement between the two sides, echoed the new government's agenda of economic reforms and deeper economic engagement globally and regionally.

India should look at ways to become an active party in arms trade treaty debates if it has to prove its credentials in global governance. While advancing its global governance role, India will have to also ensure that its arms procurement is not adversely affected.

Prof. Arvind Panagariya of Columbia University argues that India has not actually emerged, as US President Barack Obama said during his visit to India, but it is in fact rising. He presented his assessment about India as a rising power during a discussion at ORF.

The kidnapping of Indians in Iraq in June this year and the increasing number of Indians reportedly joining the Islamic State (IS) has elevated the degree of threat to India posed by the Sunni insurgent group.

Sri Lanka¿s new Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, has indicated the importance, and relevance of India to the Sri Lankan context, by visiting New Delhi within days of his being sworn in. His visit to India even before the conclusion of the Indian electoral exercise was testimony to the mood in Colombo for increasing New Delhi¿s role and involvement in the Sri Lanka peace process.

India has decided to adopt a wait and watch approach to the ongoing negotiations that aim to revive the trans-Afghan gas Pipeline (TAP) project. The proposed US$ 2.5 billion gas pipeline project is expected to transfer of 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas

Narendra Modi has emphatically indicated that good and close relations with the US will form the core of his global policy. In the short time he has been in power, Modi has met Obama thrice. An indication of his thrust are the close ties that the Modi government is building with Japan and Australia.

Ignoring Chinese pressures, if both India and Vietnam stand firm, they could force Beijing to moderate its expansionist claims on the South China Sea and adopt a more conciliatory stance on other regional matters.

Nowhere else is the confusion and contradiction in Sri Lanka's foreign relations more palpable than in Sri Lanka's 'India policy'. The Government of the day has no problem acknowledging the silent but significant Indian support for 'Eelam War IV' despite domestic developments and international pressures on New Delhi.

Though the relationship between India and Bangladesh is at its best and the two countries currently share great warmth in their relations, India should take some more steps for the benefit of the people of Bangladesh to sustain the warmth, opined members of a delegation of journalists from Bangladesh.

India has asked scholars and experts from BRICS nations, attendng the Academic Forum meeting, to offer solutions and new ideas to meet global challenges.

State elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, scheduled from January end to March 3, with results becoming public on March 6, are some kind of mini general elections.

The international community's increased enthusiasm about leaving Afghanistan could have an adverse impact on the human rights situation in the country, according to human rights researcher Ms Heather Barr.

In Brazil, extreme poverty has reduced from 15% to 5%, poverty from 34% to 22% and Gini index from 69% to 54% in the period of 1999-2009. So, knowledge sharing between Brazil and India in matters related to public policy and welfare programmes is of high merit.

An International conference on "Emerging Security Concerns in West Asia" was organised by ORF at its Rouse Avenue campus on November 21-22, 2007 in partnership with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation of Germany.

Al-Qaida has put Pakistan at the top of its priorities. Its leaders judge Pakistan as the most vulnerable country for them to hijack, while independent estimates by security and intelligence officials suggest that Pakistan has the capability to add 8-10 China-model low-yield nuclear weapons in its kitty every year.

Elevating India's standing in world politics, it has been invited to the next week's Annapolis conference on West Asia, convened by the United States, and it would be taking part in the conference, the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India for West Asia and Middle East Peace Process, Mr. C.R. Gharekhan announced here today.

India must play a leadership role in the development of global Internet policy. The government needs to respond to the demands of its citizens and reset its position on international Internet governance issues, in line with the progressive developments that have occurred at home. In essence, India should be doing a better job at linking the local to the global.

Dr. Derek Chollet, Principal Deputy Director of the US Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff, visited Observer Research Foundation for an interaction with ORF faculty.

The visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had put relations on a higher plane and the overall situation in Bangladesh had turned for the better in 2006

India will gain very little by taking the lead in this venture. It already holds the rather envied position as the strongest economy within the region. SDB can hardly be expected to raise its global image or position.

India's online population is small as compared to its offline population - about 213 million users to 1.2 billion people - but it is growing. Though these figures expand and contract depending on whom you ask, we do know that 33 million are on Twitter and Facebook has hit the 100 million-user mark.