12563 results found
The group’s big challenge is to define the security dimension of its agenda more robustly even as economic talks get underway
The President of Pakistan had expected his handpicked Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, to perform his bidding and strengthen his position. But President Musharraf was disappointed. He, therefore, felt that a change was essential in order to secure his own place and keep the other power players content.
¿Arise, ye Arabs, and awake!¿ was the seditious 19th century slogan of Arab nationalism in its infancy. It aroused them against the Ottoman rule but did not hinder the subsequent imperial designs of Britain and France. The moment of liberation became the start of newer forms of dominance.
It is not just the art on offer that can be categorised as “political” — but also the platforms.
While we can all agree that harking back to a fascist past is decidedly a cure that is worse than the disease, is there not a case for contending that
The growing dependency on AI can have adverse impacts if adequate safeguards are not put in place
Gateway status depends on the type of business a company is looking to engage in and over what term horizon. It is important for each country to under
The proximate political failures in both these cases are greater than in 2012, and require a more robust political response
There is a growing clamor about India's decision to opt-out of the RCEP. While many experts say Indian SMEs stand to gain a lot if India signs the deal, others say it is likely to hurt Indian manufacturing.
By organising the two-day Lahore convention through Hafiz Sayeed and his Jihadi organizations of LeT and JuD, Pakistan wants to demonstrate that the people of Pakistan are not happy with the way the events have taken place in Kashmir.
It was evident at some of the various Track 2 dialogues a few years ago, where water from Kashmir was the issue that Pakistani delegates wanted to discuss saying that this could become the new flashpoint. Actually, water from rivers that flow through Kashmir has always been the real issue for Pakistan and not Kashmiris or their religion.
The growing influence of non-state militant actors in the global order needs to be scrutinised
Once the US successfully built and used nuclear weapons to devastating effect to end the Second World War, other great powers of the time realized that the acquisition of nuclear weapons was essential to maintain their status. In 1970, after three decades of hectic developments,
The first part of this effort documented the various acts of omission and commission by the non-proliferation ayatollahs that led to the 1998 nuclear weapons testing of India, followed by Pakistan. However, the stark reality of the consequences of the dubious policies adopted by the NPAs towards Pakistani and Chinese proliferation came to light recently in the exposé of the Pakistan¿s ¿nuclear father¿ Dr.A.Q.Khan and his nuclear smuggling rin
Iraq is back in the headlines, loaded with euphoria. The electoral exercise has been undertaken; the results have yet to be announced. The running commentary on CNN on January 30 tended to suggest a near perfect exercise. No mention of course was made of the invasion, the occupation, the Iraqi dead, the reduction of Iraq to a stone-age condition, the falsehood of the pretext for war and the failure to find traces of weapons of mass destruction
Differences remain, but the gains on the positives and negatives of the ledger can be built upon
Geopolitics has split the world again and bloc-wise trade arrangements will have winners and losers
Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August last year and since then, serious security concerns have arisen for India. There is the spectre of terrorist groups in neighbouring countries gaining strength; there is also the threat of Indians travelling to Afghanistan to either live as civilians desiring a home under “Islamic rule”, or else fight alongside terrorist groups. Indeed, other South Asian countries such as Bangladesh are reporting that
In the 1990s, Taliban fighters aggravated the situation in Kashmir. Will they do it again? It depends on the extent of ISI control
The effective total emissions, social costs, higher electricity prices, and loss of energy caused by production, transport and storage of electricity need to be included in any calculation.
At some point in the near future, everyone will have a smart digital device. The new digital divide will be of those with access to interactive digital content and those without.
Like the proverbial phoenix of Greek mythology that rose from its ashes, the Taliban is resurrecting in Afghanistan. The good news is that the ¿rising Taliban¿, on the one hand, is supposed to be moderate, and on the other hand, seems to have severed its links with Al Qaeda. The bad news is that it is still the Taliban.
South Asian nations are using anti-American rhetoric to push back against the US’s demands for internal reforms and signal their agency and increasi
‘Neighbourhood diplomacy’ has been prioritised for a long time by China, manifesting in the famous framework that big powers are the key; the peri
The Modi-led government is placing a strong accent on the use of soft power in India’s foreign policy. One of the more novel manifestations of these initiatives has been engagement in Buddhist diplomacy. The Buddhist faith, due to its emphasis on peaceful co-existence and its wide pan-Asian presence, lends itself well to soft-power diplomacy. This brief will examine India’s attempts at leveraging its historical and present-day associations wi
Germany activated the principle of universal jurisdiction enshrined in the German Code of Crimes, which allows it to prosecute international crimes no
The troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir is governed by two controversial laws – the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1990 and its predecessor, the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978. In the past few years, state security forces have been enforcing these two laws against suspected militants and insurgents with increasing severity. This paper argues that the combined enforcement of these two laws has s
The mass exodus of the Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017 has caused ramifications in the two countries’ bilateral relations. The underlying currents between the two nations have become more apparent following two failed repatriation efforts since the exodus. The public display of dissatisfaction and blame-game have only fuelled the tensions. This brief examines how far the Rohingya issue has affected the connectivity, trade and secur
This brief analyses the correlation between gender-based inequities and malnutrition. It highlights the case of South Asia, and uses as a backdrop the compounded challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors review existing literature on the subject and cull patterns, with the aim of outlining recommendations for countries in the region for bridging interrelated gaps in gender parity and nutrition.
India and Germany, on their own, are important countries in their respective regions. Together, they have developed and diversified their partnership since the end of the Cold War. Yet, popular perceptions have historically failed to match what the governments are doing. This paper argues for better perception-building between the two countries, given its proven role in nurturing international relations, especially for countries like Germany wher
The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread global economic impacts, and countries are gearing up for recovery. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be crucial. Given that the SDGs incorporate the four pillars of capital — human, social, natural and physical — these targets will be useful in the post-pandemic economic recovery process. This brief utilises econometric analysis to illustrate how the implementation of the SDGs is a stat
The role of the state is paramount in incentivising and facilitating a continental-scale indigenous technology and intellectual property development ecosystem in India. The world's two largest economies, US and China, have amply demonstrated the payoffs of this approach through tangible socio-economic development. This paper documents successful strategies from both economies that India can emulate in its own context. It argues that multi
Gender inequality is a major cause and effect of hunger and poverty, with women and girls comprising 60 percent of the global hungry. Women face multiple challenges (such as limited access to education and employment opportunities) that curtail their economic autonomy and weaken their bargaining position within the family, consequently impacting household food security. The pandemic has worsened this situation. It is crucial to apply a ge
Russia-China’s voting congruence at the UNSC on issues relating to Syria and North Korea sets a vexing precedent for cooperative multilateralism
Russia and Pakistan have never really had warm relations. Following Pakistan’s independence in 1947, then Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan was invited by both the Soviet Union and the US. He chose to visit the US, mainly because the US had 2 more capacity to help Pakistan economically.
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder has triggered a power struggle and the future of the ailing Saudi king and his overambitious son could be at stake.
For over seven decades the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took justifiable pride in the stability of its political system, the tranquility of its social scene, and the in the overall loyalty of its citizenry. The compelling simplicity of the Saudi flag reflected the cohesion. Occasional murmurs of discontent, and an eruption or two in recent decades, did not belie this judgment.
