9574 results found
The government has announced an ambitious target of providing piped clean drinking water to all rural households by 2024. Although a worthy goal, it i
Recent developments signify an Afghanistan held hostage by competing interests of Russia and the United States.
As the Union Budget charts the pathway to development for the next 25 years, faltering consumption demand is still a concern
In aftermath of the Indian army’s ‘surgical-strikes’ on ‘terror launch-pads’ inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) has claimed it's first c
Making the correct trade-offs can support higher growth over the long term as can implementing a foundational reform agenda
On the job creation front, there is need for higher manufacturing growth and the creation of 'decent' jobs and not just menial jobs of security guards and peons as around 10 million people will be enter the job market each year over the next decade.
Technology is vital to enabling accelerated socio-economic growth, effective governance, and relief delivery at scale. Many economies are adopting and developing technology-first frameworks to strengthen their population’s social welfare net, and support economic growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed both the challenges and opportunities in India that can be addressed and driven by multidimensional technology frameworks. With the rebalancin
The Canadian government, instead of robustly standing up to extremism, has found it easier to pander to some of the most violent and aggressive groups. This is partly because of how these extremist groups have increased their influence over state institutions
Iran is not an easy customer, and this has been proven time and again with India’s projects in the country.
There is a fundamental transformation in the Japanese assessment of India's role in the shaping of new Asian security architecture. There has been a perceptible change in the nature of the bilateral partnership since the turn of the century. Rather than being centred on economic interactions. Indo-Japanese ties today cover a far wider spectrum of subjects...
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan visited New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders in the last week of April,2005. In interviews given before the visit, he did not characterise the emerging relationship between India and Japan as a strategic partnership. However, he spoke of a convergence of strategic interests.
The plight of the Nepali migrant labourers stuck in foreign countries like India advertently questions the interest of these labourers to travel abroa
Nepal's outgoing Ambassador in India, HE Mr Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, gave an impassioned call to all countries in the South Asian region to cooperate in curbing, if not eliminating, the culture of violence and fighting insurrectionists. 'Weapons do not respect sovereign borders'
That IPEF member countries have come so far since the group’s establishment a year ago suggests that there is a near unanimous view about supply chain vulnerabilities.
As part of the Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue process, the two countries will hold official-level talks in nuclear confidence building measures (CBMs) on June 19-20, 2004. This is a welcome development since the last round of such discussions was held at the ill-fated Lahore summit in February 1999, even though the CBMs agreed upon were rather general in nature and, at least in spirit, the Pakistan army was not a willing party to them.
As a precursor to the wider project of energy cooperation between Central Asia and South Asia, India and Pakistan must take baby steps towards energy trading as part of their ongoing trade liberalisation. Petro-products delivered by Indian refineries in the north and west to Punjab and Sindh regions would save Pakistan at least $14 per barrel of oil.
A desire to find a solution to the conflict that plagues both India and Pakistan was the common thread that run through the discussion at ORF on the bilateral relations and the way forward between Indian experts and retired military officials from Pakistan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's vision of making borders with Pakistan irrelevant seems to have made a measured beginning on the ground.
Though domestic politics will continue to pose challenges to Dr Manmohan Singh's image, his firm commitment to Indo-Pak engagement has put both countries on course for at least a manageable relationship, if not a cordial one, based on mutual interests rather than vicissitudes and emotions.
Identifying factors that have impaired the once-promising India-Russia relations
India and the US are poised to expand agricultural cooperation with the hope of bringing about a "Second Green Revolution" in India. Cooperation in this area would, however, need to take into account the interests of Indian farmers as well as issues related to bio-diversity and the environment.
The Observer Research Foundation hosted at round-table discussion on the Indo-US Nuclear Deal of July 18, 2005 to look at the hurdles that are being faced in its implementation. Since the agreement was signed, it has been the subject of intense debate and varied interpretation by interested groups in both the countries.
Much like the Indo-U.S. strategic partnership, Indo-U.S. cyber engagement appears to have plateaued and could benefit from a tailored reset. Adopting various measures to ensure trust in defence hardware is essential to both India and the United States, and should therefore be explored as a mechanism for deeper cooperation.
Though domestic politics have not always promoted closer US-India defence cooperation, changed geopolitical context, regional and global advances now pull India and America together, says the US co-chair of the DTTI, Frank Kendall. Even perceptions of security challenges of both the countries are increasingly converging.
Despite a few hiccups in the initial years of the Obama administration, relationship now stands at a comfortable juncture of increased confidence and a substantially high level of cooperation across a host of issues including Afghanistan where the US, despite some initial apprehensions, now increasingly see India's role as positive in nature and pivotal for the economic resurgence of the Afghan people.
Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with RAND organized a two-day Indo-US Strategic Dialogue at ORF Campus, New Delhi, on December 10 and 11, 2003.
Inducting BIMSTEC into BRICS talks was a good idea because it meant a wider awareness and participation with India’s neighbouring countries minus Pa
India must honour its treaty commitments over a resource that everyday lives depend on.
Examining the grounds for modification of the Treaty and its practical implications for both India and Pakistan
Given the dependence of Indus River on glacial melt, extensive joint studies on the complex and unique Himalayan systems must be conducted and data must be shared openly, suggested an international conference in Kathmandu organised by ORF, Stimson Center, USA, and Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan.
As part of the Digital India movement, we see several initiatives in e-governance that are bound to transform India into a digitally empowered society
India is experiencing the fastest increase in prices among the big emerging market countries. The Reserve Bank raised interest rates 10 times since March 2010 to control inflation, and its adverse impact on the demand for goods and services, investment and corporate profits is already visible.
Upward trends in crude oil prices and inflation have made a further increase in taxes on petroleum prices unlikely.
Its future will be defined by how it responds to the crisis in Ukraine, and in the shadow of growing Russia-China ties
To meet the SDG target of universal access to electricity and regain the lost momentum, off-grid solutions must be embraced in the short term
As Kashmiris stare at an uncertain future, mohalla schools have kept the lamp of education burning for the Valley’s children.
The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is one of several infrastructure megaprojects underway in India, intended to boost industrial modernisation and generate manufacturing employment for India’s young, largely unskilled workforce. Field research in DMIC investment sites in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh shows that its implementation is highly uneven across States and regions. The research, along with the literature, suggests that regional ind
This brief analyses the regulatory, security and ethical challenges facing states and the international community regarding emerging technologies in biotechnology, focusing on the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system and artificial gene synthesis. It highlights the inadequacy of current mechanisms such as export control regimes to regulate these emerging technologies because of a fundamental shift in the nature of challenges posed and an altered globa
Defence innovation, driven by the government — primarily though funding and hand holding — but executed by the private industry will bring togethe
Sri Lanka has remained a fractured country for the major portion of its existence due to the ethnic divide between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. Today, it is again at the crossroads as it awaits the results of the snap general elections, due on April 2, 2004, following the dissolution of Parliament on February 7, 2004 in the wake of seemingly irreconcilable differences between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister R
That there is massive change in the mindset of Pakistanis towards India is an impression that this writer got during a visit to Pakistan last August. This impression has got further strengthened during a recently concluded visit. The desire for peace with India is no longer limited to the usual suspects; rather it is to be found even in the quintessential establishment types who have traditionally thrived on India-baiting.
That there is massive change in the mindset of Pakistanis towards India is an impression that this writer got during a visit to Pakistan last August. This impression has got further strengthened during a recently concluded visit. The desire for peace with India is no longer limited to the usual suspects; rather it is to be found even in the quintessential establishment types who have traditionally thrived on India-baiting.
Amanullah Khan, chairman of the JKLF, is most unhappy with the peace process between India and Pakistan. For a man who knows what it means to be first used by a state and then unceremoniously disposed off after the state has achieved its purpose, Khan realizes that the peace process, if successful, is probably the end of the road for people like him. There was a time in the late 1980's and very early 1990's when Amanullah Khan was a really happen
Now that India has committed to achieve net zero targets by 2070, we have ample time to institutionalise the green policy pathways using a top-down ap
Although the current uprising PoJK is predominantly centred around economic issues, there is a deeper underpinning of issues of political economy and
Although the primary reason for the establishment of India’s Rocket Force is China’s rapidly expanding missile and nuclear forces, the IRF contras
At a roundtable on "Understanding Contemporary Bangladesh", attended by vice-chancellors from nine universities of Bangladesh, the consensus view was that regional integration is not only beneficial for Bangladesh but for all of South Asia.
China and India, sooner than later, must assume regional leadership, which must be inclusive, allowing for not just coopera-tion and collaboration but the accom-modation of all stakeholders in energy. Despite their burgeoning share in energy market, both countries remain price takers rather than price makers now.
Today's intelligence agencies operate in highly complex environments. Cold War definitions and understanding of threats have long become redundant. Threats are multiple, layered, networked, diffused and transcend social and spatial boundaries.
Under its International Terrorism Watch Project, the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) organised a one-day Workshop at New Delhi on October 20, 2004, on the theme: "Recent Intelligence Failures in the USA, the UK & Russia: Their Lessons for India".
