Search

India and Pakistan need to begin a dialogue on economic and military relations. It will be a challenge for both countries to balance the provision of security for its populations with the need to create the enabling environment for economic and social development and growth.

The Modi government came to power in New Delhi pledging a muscular approach to relations with Islamabad. But now, the government has realised that while it can control the narrative at home, it cannot do so abroad. Most countries saw New Delhi's actions as somewhat over the top.

If Putin and Manmohan Singh want to capture some of the magic of the past, it is imperative to look beyond government-to-government ties and engage the private sector as well as civil society. The India-Russia relationship is not only about defence or nuclear issues but about people.

Both India and Russia need to start thinking strategically about the Central Asian region, not letting emotions guide their foreign policy decisions. This was the consensus reached at a conference organised recently in Delhi.

As hard-boiled realists, Modi and Putin must acknowledge the new dynamic around them, find ways to limit its impact on the bilateral relationship and move quickly towards expanding the scope of their commercial ties and revitalising their cooperation in energy, defence and high-technology sectors.

Countering China may be harder than India imagines. For one thing, regional countries aren’t willing to support any Indian moves to balance China in the Bay.

''The Centre will consider the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka and the overall relationship between India and its island-neighbour while formulating its stand on the US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC,''.

After the attacks, which killed more than 250 people, making it one of the most successful pro-ISIS attacks anywhere, information was leaked out to the Indian press that New Delhi shared intelligence with Colombo of an impending attack of similar nature.

India and Sri Lanka are now working on a comprehensive economic agreement following the success of the Free Trade Agreement of 1999. This was stated by Sri Lanka's Minister for Export Promotion and International Trade,

With Trump elected as President of the US, the waning economic order — WTO — is even more under threat and now resembles like the League of Nations of pre-war era.

Mr. Strobe Talbott, President of Brookings Institution and former US deputy secretary of state, said that the improvement in Indo-US relations is not as real as it should be. Mr. Talbott was delivering a talk at the ORF Mumbai University on February 10, 2005.

Whatever Modi may want to do in the coming years is circumscribed by the fact that India does not have too many cards in its hands. It is not an oil-rich country, or one with some ideology to export. It is a poor country whose primary goal is to transform the lives of its people.

PM Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Kabul and India's initiative to develop long-term strategic partnership will redefine India's relations with Afghanistan by giving it leverage in Kabul that it has not enjoyed in the past.

India-Africa science and technology cooperation offers a unique opportunity for agricultural growth in Africa. The case for greater agricultural cooperation between India and Africa is stronger because of the similar agro-climatic conditions in India and Africa. African agriculture suffers from low productivity and limited use of technology.

In an increasingly multi-polar world, Africa is an important partner for India on all global strategic issues. Africa is one of the fastest growing regions with huge natural resources. It offers not only resources to India's increasing needs but also a huge market for Indian firms for trade and investment.

With the upcoming 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) this month, Prime Minister Modi is set to prove a point to the country that he indeed follows a proactive foreign policy with exuberance and austerity. IAFS-III seems to be critical for reshaping and nourishing historical India-Africa ties and is considered as not just another diplomatic event.

It has been a cliché to refer to India and Africa as natural partners. With the recent India-Africa Summit in Delhi, there is a chance to make it a reality. But for this, concerted action is needed on the parts of the governments, private sectors, civil societies, think tanks, academics and the media on both sides.

India and Southeast Asia share a long cultural history, which over the years has helped shape economic and commercial relations between them. This partnership garnered an impetus following the launch of India’s ‘Look East Policy’ in the early 1990s, rechristened ‘Act East’ in 2015. This brief analyses the trade and investment relations between India and the member states of ASEAN. It highlights the various challenges in the relationship

With both the goods FTA and services FTA in place, India is well set on the path of a comprehensive economic partnership with ASEAN. India, whose services sector contributes about 55% to the country's GDP, has been keen to sign the services FTA with ASEAN as it will help the Indian companies tap the ASEAN markets easily.

The potential welfare gains arising from the services agreement appear to be in India's favour as well as for member economies of ASEAN. The policy focus of both ASEAN and the individual member nations has been on merchandise trade liberalisation, and on inducing foreign investment-led transfer of technology, which has so far resulted in low regional integration in services.

Amidst the challenges like less liberalised service sector of certain ASEAN members, there exists an opportunity for India to harness the gains from trade in services in the wake of the comparative advantage that it enjoys in certain services.

India holds a primary interest in the Freedom of Navigation through the South China Sea. It also has an economic interest in exploring hydrocarbon resources in the area. But how effective are India's role as the balancing actor that the ASEAN nations seek?

Experts at a seminar in Chennai felt that 'rogue Sates' like North Korea could alter the security architecture as well as the geo-strategic approach in Asia. And, in light of this uncertainty, evolving ties between nations like India, Japan, South Korea and Australia gain significance. It also stressed the need for Australia-India ties to be treated as a stand-alone development.

Deeper people-to-people and economic ties and shared strategic concerns are driving the cooperation

India and Australia’s relationship has progressed remarkably, underscoring shared concerns in the Indo-Pacific.

Keeping in mind the historical and civilisational ties of India and Bangladesh and their geographic proximity, ORF-Kolkata undertook a year-long study on India-Bangladesh connectivity, using extensive field visits and interviews with relevant stakeholders. The findings of the study were collated in a report, titled, India-Bangladesh Connectivity: Possibilities and Challenges, and released just before the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Participants at a Consultative International Workshop on India-Bangladesh Connectivity: Possibilities and Challenges, organised in Kolkata, emphasised the need for a common transport policy for the entire region.

At the release event of the report on India-Bangladesh Connectivity: Possibilities and Challenges, participants stressed the need for leveraging the positive political climate and emphasised pro-active role of state governments in cross-border connectivity.

This brief analyses the efforts of India and Bangladesh to strengthen their defence cooperation, in the context of the series of agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in April 2017. Some quarters in both countries are sceptical about the agreements, citing the ineffectual Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace—often referred to as a ‘defenc

The main objective of the Dialogue was to explore the security perspectives of India and Bangladesh, with special focus on the threat of terrorism in the region

Indian diplomacy seems to be drawing a blank when it comes to regional cooperation involving fine diplomacy and seasoned statecraft. The recent events relating to India's attempts towards getting natural gas from Bangladesh and Myanmar and the negative response from Bangladesh suggest that it is unlikely to obtain any gesture of

Considering the great improvement in India's relations with Bangladesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his visit to Dhaka, should unilaterally offer to convert half of the $1 billion soft loan given to Bangladesh earlier into a grant and make the rest interest-free as a gesture of goodwill and friendship.

Farooq Sobhan, President of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute and former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, addressed the ORF Faculty on March 12, 2008. In his speech, he stressed on building a strong relationship between India and Bangladesh by encouraging greater connectivity and investments. Both countries, he felt, should leave behind the baggage of mistrust and neglect and recognise that they can gain much through a closer relationship.

There have been several changes in the political landscape in the geography of Central Asia — with the entry of China as a major player in funding infrastructure projects in the region, and the weakening influence of USA in the markets, along with the independence from Soviet Union.

The use of past to pitch present-day India-China interaction is not a very helpful strategy because the situations, political entities were different and the role of Buddhism was more complex than acknowledged, according to Dr. Tansen Sen of the City University New York.

China and India need to do more than repeatedly declaring outcomes of meetings as 'successful' and 'positive'. Talking things out straight will no doubt lead to friction and diplomatic parleys but at least it will be an enterprise in reality.

India and China have recognised their comparative and cooperative strengths - even while acknowledging their shared concerns and competitive edge, vis-a-vis each other, and when pitted against the rest of the world. Not surprisingly, the strategic community, in general, and policy makers, in particular, have been keenly engaged in following the developments related to the countries over the part four decades.

India and China do differ radically on the kind of Asian layout for the future. India work at an inclusive approach as opposed to China's exclusivist approach which appears directed against India, US and Japan.

It is fashionable in China today to speak of a 'new model' of great power relations, indeed of international relations as a whole. Applying this approach to India-China relations offers some interesting insights. Both at an abstract and practical level, the three propositions that constitute this 'new model' appear unexceptionable.

After the April 27 meeting between the Indian and Chinese defense ministers, the two sides failed to issue a joint statement — a telling clue as to how the meeting went.

In the backdrop of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India, a roundtable discussion was organized by ORF on 1 December 2006 to assess the outcome of the visit and its impact on the relations between the two countries. The discussion focused on how India-China relationship will evolve in the wake of the visit.

India has seldom been demanding on strategic issues. At the strategic level, one requires a long memory and a longer foresight and vision. With China, we need to balance our strategic, security and economic relationships.

From the SCO and BRICS to the United Nations, the ongoing rivalry between India and China has expanded beyond their borders, posing new challenges