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Kerala is trying in a civilian court two Italian military men for actions they took in defence of their territories. Imagine trying a serving Indian soldier in a civil court for an incident resulting from discharge of duty in naxal-infested areas, the northeast or Kashmir.

Royal succession is considered to be the 'prickliest' problem facing the Saudi kingdom. It can bring about a fundamental change in Saudi politics and can have an overarching impact on Saudi society and its national and foreign policies.

Is former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress General Secretary, Mr. Digvijay Singh, living dangerously? Or is he on high wire act secure of a safety net below?

The Delhi government is in no mood for sparing the discoms and discoms on the other hand do not want to give up their inertia. The AAP promised tariff reduction and slashed the same by 50% after coming to power.

This paper explores how an individual's participation in higher education is dependent on her religious affiliations, socio-economic status and demographic characteristics.

Privacy and democracy have always had an uneasy relationship in India. However, now India has a unique opportunity to evolve a progressive and expansive legislation on privacy and protection of personal data. The report of the experts group chaired by Justice Ajit Prakash Shah is a good starting point.

Drumbeats on Pakistan¿s nuclear black-marketing are getting louder. The international community (read Washington) is alarmed and worried at the rapidly accumulating pile of evidence against Pakistan¿s top nuclear scientist, Dr AQ Khan, and a few of his associates for selling nuclear technology and materials to nations that are considered "rogue". (China is not the target yet and hence do not qualify to be a rogue despite overwhelming evidence).

Developing nations can forge new coalitions to champion the 2030 Agenda and fill the leadership void.

There is an element of Shakespeare in Bihar politics. It has over the last 40 years seen so many historical developments impacting national politics that the ongoing election will once again throw up a surprise.

Although the successful passing of the Budget deal by the US Senate and the signing of it by President Obama has lead to widespread relief in the country, the looming question of how the close to 15 trillion dollars in accumulated debt is ever going to be repaid still remains unanswered.

It is surprising that much of America and the rest of the world seems surprised at an election of Donald Trump as the next US President.

According to the Planning Commission, rural poverty has declined faster than urban poverty regardless. If this is true, it would definitely have got reflected in better housing and sanitation. It would also have meant a decline in malnourished children and maternal death. But the census figures show a different picture.

like the ISI, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba or the Indian Mujahideen, the al Qaeda will not meet much success in India because the Indian Muslims are happy with their lot in a secular, democratic country and even al Zawahiri understands that.

India’s potential sale of Brahmos missiles to Vietnam is not in violation of any MTCR rules or any commitments that India made when it became an MTCR member in June 2016.

Beijing knows that it cannot become a global power without friends. As the US has known, there is a limit to what you can do alone. The US with its network of friends, allies and partners is a case in point.

Beijing has been Africa’s largest trading partner since 2008.

The rising tempo of Chinese deployments in Tibet should be of concern to New Delhi.

The Citizens Grievance Redress Bill, despite its impressive provisions, is fraught with certain inadequacies that might not appreciate the grass-root realities of public grievances - like lack of a holistic interpretation of likely grievances.

Can Delhi go beyond diplomatic statements and help China's neighbours to stand up to Beijing? As the Philippines and Vietnam look to diversify their security partnerships and build national capabilities for deterrence against China, Manila and Hanoi would like to see Delhi be a little more forthcoming with its hard power.

Why was there no Big Bang change in the Budget? After all, the Modi government had the full mandate to do so. Why was the FM playing with Lego like blocks instead of huge building blocks? It could be because the time was short and the Budget was put together in a hurry.

One of the key reasons for TTP's survival has been Pakistan's policy of using terrorist groups as instruments of state policy. Pakistan Army's protection of the Haqqani Network and the Afghan Taliban as ' strategic assets' helped TTP to retain its sanctuary and its attack capabilities.

The strengthening of relations in the geopolitical sphere has also given a push to the India-Asean economic ties, with Asean now India's fourth-largest trading partner engaging in bilateral trade in 2019-20 worth $86.9 billion.

Europe has to come to grips with the fact that not even the USA is strong enough to create a new order anywhere in the world, neither in Afghanistan nor in the Middle East. Instead, anything that will increase the conflict without an achievable goal will play into the hands of the IS.

India has pulled ahead of China and United States as the most favoured destination for foreign direct investment. But is being number one good enough to make the Modi government's 'Make in India' productivity reform a success story and achieve its desired 8-8.5 per cent growth?

On December 20, 2003, a landmark in the history of modern India was achieved. The nation's forex reserves for the very first time crossed the $ 100 billion mark, to be precise clocked 100.048 billion. The high, coming just after a decade of reforms, remember 1990-91, could well be termed as the coming of age of India¿s liberalisation program.

The costs of a hot conflict in the Asia Pacific would be high and have difficult consequences. The challenge for US and its partners would be to deter Chinese aggressive posture without risking an escalation of conflict.

A legalistic position towards the Greek demand for reparations is neither sufficient nor politically wise. A generous gesture towards Athens would strengthen Germany's position as a country that is more than a leader by default in the EU.

The 2014 campaign was a pulsating and historic one but its essential architecture was unorthodox.

Any attempt by India to haul up Pakistan before the international community, including the UN, could prove counter productive. It could start with India itself 'internationalising' the issue, and formally allowing the rest of the world to tell us what we should do to Pakistan, and on the vexatious Kashmir issue.

The strategic advantage accruing to India in Siachen should not be given up for apparent short-term political gains. Giving up Siachen as a gesture of friendship would also mean that its recapture would be extremely expensive to India in men and material.

Giving huge amounts of cash subsidies in the developed countries also distorts market. Lowering the actual cost of production artificially, these countries have produced mountains and lakes of agricultural products which are then dumped in international markets which lower the prices.

The problem is less to do with ideology, and more about the clumsiness and coarseness with which the ideology is being spread.

India's objections to Pakistan's plan of holding an election in Gilgit-Baltistan region and New Delhi's protests to Chinese activity there need to seen in the wider context of Sino-Pak nexus.

Given our troubled relationship with Pakistan, we need to keep our security apparatus in a state of alert with state-of-the-art equipment. All bilateral issues with Pakistan -- political, military, economic -- will simply have to go on the back-burner till Pakistan decides it wants to live as a good neighbour.

The most urgent need is to upgrade India's physical infrastructure to encourage domestic and foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector. This will absorb the rural labor surplus that is migrating to the cities by providing employment in labor-intensive, less technology-intensive manufacturing, regulated by humane labor laws catering to the contemporary needs of the economy.

The idea of hotline, now stuck up on protocol issues, will play a role in reducing tensions between India and China.

Laying down the rules of the road is a task that should not be left until Space is highly weaponised. Aside from the political and strategic value, India has a huge financial stake given its investments and reliance in this regard.

India is located at such a prime position that it can't miss out the opportunity to be part of the MSR. Both the Marine Silk Road and the continental Silk Road --which is going to connect China with the central Asia -- are going to pass from India's periphery. India could gain a lot from being an active partner to the MSR. And, not joining it may isolate India.

As an aspiring global power, what India should take note of is that the TTIP will potentially contribute greatly to the evolution of rules of global trade, particularly in areas where multilateral-level consensus is still elusive. It is in India's interests to keep a close watch of the situation and make necessary interventions.

There are lessons we can learn from Pakistan unless we want to end up like them.