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The long-awaited military offensive in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, which began in mid-December, has raised questions about the overall objectives and intentions of the nation's army in fighting terrorism.

Throughout the Cold War - and afterwards - Russia's relations with Pakistan remained almost non-existent. However, with the United States and NATO pulling out its troops from Afghanistan in 2013,

During the recent crisis in Yemen, between the Houthis and the nine-nation military coalition led by the Saudis, a joint sitting of Pakistan's Parliament voted against joining the Saudi-led coalition.

The rapidly-approaching March 16 deadline for the dissolution of the Government led by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, ahead of scheduled May elections, is an occasion worthy of note and reflection for Pakistan.

Recent political moves by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Sindh reflect more desperation than confidence, while the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) is doing what every political party in Pakistan excels in - crying foul for having been deprived of effective power by a stronger adversary.

The relationship between the United States and Pakistan is one that grew exponentially in the first decade of the new millennia. However, following the post-US drawdown from Afghanistan, the United States' relationship with Pakistan has hit a roadblock of sorts.

The UPA government needs to inject some boldness into its Pakistan policy. A.B. Vajpayee, representing the "communal" BJP, visited Pakistan twice during his six-year tenure as PM. Manmohan Singh representing the "secular" Congress has been too timid to go across the border.

Of the many pressing challenges and crises facing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the one which is perhaps the most difficult to address is the sectarian blood-letting that has been tearing the social fabric of Pakistan for decades now.

Pakistan's first democratic transfer of power should have been a moment of hope and triumph. But, as it stands, widespread violence has marred the historic elections and all but halted the public campaigning by several prominent parties outside of Punjab.

Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary, who retired on December 12 after heading Pakistan's apex court for seven years, has left behind a contentious legacy of judicial activism, in many senses unprecedented and extraordinarily difficult to follow.

In the ongoing power game in Pakistan, the US would secretly back the Army despite all the ill feeling in recent weeks while publicly supporting the civilian government. Probably the US would prefer that the PPP government be sacrificed in an early election, something the Army would appreciate.

The on-going electricity crisis in Pakistan and the country-wide protests that followed have laid bare the weaknesses in the country's energy policy.

Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani's Independence Day address at Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, attracted widespread comments, mostly positive. In fact, Gen Kayani's speech eclipsed the standard presidential address on the occasion in the media.

Madrasas are Islamic religious seminaries, which were originally meant to train young persons, who wanted to take to religion as a profession. They wanted to work as clerics in mosques and as members of the staff in Islamic charitable institutions. In view of the limited career opportunities open to the students of the madrasas, only those who were keen to become religious clerics joined them. Till 1977,

Ever since a crestfallen Dr. A Q Khan admitted sheepishly on PTV that he had masterminded the sale of nuclear designs and materials to other countries, there has been a tirade of articles and letters to the editor berating Pakistan for nuclear proliferation. However, no real analysis has emerged about the implications for India, particularly of the likelihood of Pakistani nuclear warheads falling into Jihadi hands.

The revival of caste and community-based issues in Tamil Nadu (like in Paramakudi and Koodamkulam), the non-resolution of inter-State river water disputes and Sri Lanka-related concerns could added up to the problems of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

As an increasingly powerful China seeks to reorder Asia, Delhi must firmly locate China's Panchsheel campaign in a clinical assessment of Asia's rapidly evolving geopolitics and its consequences for Indian security. China is doing what rising powers, including the US, have done before. But Delhi appears a long way from developing an appropriate strategy to cope with Asia's new power play.

Paradiplomacy as it is conducted by sub-state governments introduces the idea of decentralisation of political power to make regional governments prominent actors in the international sphere. This paper examines the scope for subnational diplomacy in India, as the country seeks to appreciate the significance of federalism and regionalism in promoting local interests, as well as identity, in current international politics. Regional governments ope

The serial terror attacks in Paris on Friday was the third terror incident in recent times and by far the largest ever in France. These attacks were on the French or Western way of life, for its support to the US in Syria, and are meant to instil fear in the French.

Senate's recent decision to pass the 'National Commission on the Status of Women Bill, 2012' was a step forward for the women's rights movement in Pakistan.

India's interest lies in ratifying the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh because this would not only boost the image of the country but also establish India's reliability in delivering promises. Political parties need to rise above their narrow and short-term political interests and see the larger picture.

Although China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the second largest economy in the world and a rising power on the global stage, its approach to the current Syrian crisis has been nearly as passive as India's policy.

Whoever in India that says West Asia is Middle-East, Jammu and Kashmir is ¿Indian Kashmir¿ and painting the face with the national Tricolour at cricket stadia is the height of patriotism have got it all wrong. If anything, they are fast tracking towards a ¿patented one-world order¿, knowingly or otherwise, with India¿s soul and resilience of the past centuries being tormented, without trace or knowledge.

The concept of ‘gentrification’ has been studied extensively in urban agglomerations, specifically in tier-I and tier-II cities. ‘Gentrification’ is largely understood as the displacement of people belonging to certain classes in an area due to the influx of investment and affluent classes into that area. In India, settlements are based on religious and social vectors of caste, rather than economic vectors of class. With settlemen

Get away from the barter system of vote bank politics. Politicians need to rise above petty politics and show they haven't got feet of Vernacular clay. This will be the first step to prove to the world that we are a mature democracy.

A road or a highway will no longer be a 'dumb pathway'. It will be an intelligent network with its own inherent logic and sense of meaning derived from algorithms and predictive software. From the point of view of institutional arrangements, several ministries and departments will have to work together.

The survival of the Communist Party and its legitimacy depends on how seriously they understand the ground voices and act accordingly. The urgency to bring comprehensive judicial reforms may be a survival strategy.

It is time that India seriously consider "outsourcing" some aspects of its foreign policy to its border provinces. Encouragement of deeper cooperation between border states in both India and Pakistan -especially the two Punjabs, the two Kashmirs, and Rajasthan (India) and Sind (Pakistan) -- could be a good beginning for bettering relations.

Nothing, with the exception of the Kashmir issue, has been more debated, researched and written about in the context of Indo Pak relations than the issue of the Iran-Pakistan-India Natural Gas pipeline in the last decade. From Onshore to Offshore options and international consortia and guarantees to people to contact, almost everything and anything has been tossed around and evaluated, yet to no avail. The pipeline still remains a pipe dream.

The peace process in Nepal has been pushed to a corner and it has reached a very critical stage, after the postponement of the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections.

The demand for India¿s active engagement with the Sri Lankan peace process has been building up for the past couple of years following the gradual erosion in the credibility of Norway as an impartial ¿facilitator¿. With the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is in New Delhi this week, this demand has gained momentum; more so because of the fast deterioration in Sri Lanka¿s internal peace.

Pakistan created the Taliban in the first place to capture Afghanistan politically. It is Pakistan's dangerous, anti-Indian ambitions in Afghanistan that are recoiling on it today, with the Pakistani Taliban as an off shoot of the country's chosen tryst with its anti-Indian destiny.

The contours of the fledgling peace process with the People's War Group (PWG) Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh are gradually emerging. It is the second attempt in as many years. The Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh, K Jana Reddy, announced on June 29, 2004 that the government has requested S R Sankaran, a retired Secretary to Government and Andhra Pradesh-cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS),

The governments of the South Asian countries can cooperate to solve many of their problems, especially poverty alleviation and fighting corruption. It will bring about stability and good governance. Otherwise, when are people dissatisfied with their lives, they will demand change.

Interest of the people should take precedence in foreign policy formulations which have a direct impact on their lives. This was the overwhelming sentiment expressed by the people living on either side of the India-Bangladesh border during a field visit early May this year.

By directing the Centre to take up stalled works on the ¿Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal Project¿ (SYL) involving Punjab and Haryana recently, the Supreme Court may have re-established the supremacy of the higher judiciary in matters pertaining to inter-State river water disputes, among others. In doing so, Justices Ruma Pal and P Venkatarama Reddi may have also reversed the belief in certain quarters that a political solution may be the best way out

After much bonhomie in Beijing, PM Modi has moved on to raise India's strategic profile in two key states on China's periphery - Mongolia and South Korea. Although geography limits New Delhi's role in East Asia, Modi is betting India can win friends and partners through active engagement.

The Peshawar attack offers the Pakistan leadership a corner to turn around - it only needs to first define who is a terrorist? But is the military and civilian leadership of Pakistan capable, and willing, to take on the terrorist groups, especially TTP? The rhetoric and actions on the part of the leadership raise serious doubts about the will.

The Centre for Resources Management, ORF organised a focus group meeting on the need for reforms in pricing petroleum products on February 9, 2009 at its New Delhi campus.

Mitt Romney has already won the nomination race. This is when he needed to move towards appealing to the undecided voters and may be a few disgruntled democrats and liberals. Picking Paul Ryan is unlikely to help convince them.