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There is no doubt that International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans often come with a set of conditionalities that most countries find unfavourable to implement. With its ongoing economic crisis and complex multilateral debt negotiations between creditor nations, Sri Lanka is no exception.

The effect of the 15th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the expiry of several provisions of its WTO Accession Protocol was the object of heated debate between major trading partners in 2016. Yet the question of China’s graduation to the market-economy status, and its implications on the anti-dumping investigations in the importing countries, remains. This paper explores the divergent legal interpretat

Traditional development financing is proving insufficient to address overlapping global challenges, such as climate change and fragile contexts. This brief explores new thinking in development finance through two examples. The first is Islamic climate finance, which constitutes less than 2 percent of global Islamic finance. The brief identifies policy priorities and proposes dedicated Islamic climate-finance windows (e.g., in the Green Climate Fu

Following the Nirbhaya case of 2012 and the public outrage that it provoked, public safety for women has been increasingly deemed a political issue worthy of attention and concern, particularly in India’s cities. The government’s response has been to promote precautionary policies for women that, while may be well-meaning, tend to reinforce the prevalent social inclination to put the onus of their safety on women themselves, rather than addre

India now has an easier relationship with Kabul and Washington. An India-Pakistan-Afghanistan trialogue this year to try and dispel some of the suspicions Pakistan has over India's ambitions in Afghanistan may be the way forward.

Global growth is expected to experience an uptick this year due to renewed economic activity in the emerging and developing market economies. These economies have large investment requirements for infrastructure development and maintaining a sustainable level of economic growth—for which they are dependent on international credit markets. With the growing need of economies to borrow capital abroad, the role of credit rating agencies—most of t

President Obama recently outlined a re-oriented counter terrorism strategy that aimed at trimming down the predominance that counter-terrorism had occupied in US policymaking. The speech also made public Obama's intention to scale down the drone campaign, subject it to tighter scrutiny and oversight.

Two broad principles outlined by Jawaharlal Nehru must guide Delhi's current approach to the Asian power rivalry. One is to seek good relations with both China and Japan; and other is Nehru's insistence that postwar Japan should not be isolated or punished because of its imperial past.

The June 5 hartal, or shut down, brought back fears of the return of hartal politics which had been a bane of Bangladesh politics in the recent. Such shut downs often followed or preceded bouts of violence across the country, bringing the economy, and every thing else, to a grinding halt.

The full-fledged effort to resettle began last September which got stuck mainly because of the suspicions raised by the security forces regarding the presence of the LTTE sympathisers among the IDPs

The Donors conference this week attended by 60 Foreign Ministers and other leaders, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was, among other things, a demonstration by NATO and US led forces that they have the military muscle to host such a meet in Kabul.

There have been few significant changes in the basic parameters of the Indian economy in the last three months and in general, the economy is still on a relatively high annual growth path of around 7 per cent. The impact of drought that affected some parts of India during the last monsoons is yet to be severely felt on industry because it always

The current focus on ¿domestic issues¿ in the US presidential poll campaign may have a lesson or two for India, where economic reforms, and introducing a ¿human face¿ to the process have been drawing as much attention. In a way, Senator John Kerry, the Democratic challenger to Republican President George Bush,

In Jammu and Kashmir, AFSPA has enabled us to create conditions wherein we could hold free and fair elections and allow the state to be run by its elected representatives. And what if such military operations had not been possible or successful?

India's old formulaic discourse is no longer capable of dealing with the multiple tragedies and manifold transformations playing out in the Middle East. India will have to approach the Middle East on the basis of its own internal dynamics rather than preconceived ideas and preferences.

Even as Russia explores new vistas of growth and opportunity via the OECD, she must not loose sight of her leadership and moral responsibility at BRICS, of which she is not just a founding member but the foremost proponent.

India will have to diligently craft its strategy when engaging with the U.S. on ICT matters. Any such strategy will have to be in sync with its economic interests (the outsourcing sector as well as the other domestic sectors) and national security interests.

The government should establish a price regulation mechanism for the Assam silk weavers so that the small traders are not exploited. This can be done by setting up a Silk Auction Board on the lines of the Tea Auction Board. This will also make Assam silk a large global brand like the tea industry and transform it into a modern industry ensuing competition at the global level.

Enron Corp's Dabhol Power Station project, worth over-$3 billion, has, arguably, been India's most talked about project since the beginning of the "economic reforms" in the early 1990s. The 2,184 MW power project was acclaimed as the flagship project of the LPG regime that was ushered-in in 1991,

Although both India and Egypt are distracted by domestic political concerns, establishing a strong institutional links between the two military establishments will benefit both countries.

The revival of South Western Silk Road would promote connectivity as well as enhance economic ties between India, Nepal and China, according to experts who participated in a discussion at ORF.

The mantra of Net Neutrality would require the user to pay for new capacity since telcos then become mere managers of "dumb pipes" conveying data as it comes and recovering costs from users. No one, least of all Netizens, can stomach an increase in Net usage charges.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist), or CPI-Maoist, is the most lethal Naxalite group in the country. On September 21, 2004, the People's War (PW), popularly known as the PWG, and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) merged to form the CPI-Maoist.

It's time economics replaced politics as the key driving force of the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral. The Big 3 of Asia has a major opportunity to create and drive an Asian Trading Region.

Given the increasing investment climate in post-war Sri Lanka and the growing Indian economy, the mood and climate are now just right for India-Sri Lanka relations to move forward even more, according to the outgoing Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka.

Army's decision to acknowledge a mistake in the killing of two young men in Budgam earlier this month, and the sentence to the Rajput regiment personnel, are an important first step. The people know that we cannot turn back time or get back their loved ones, but an acknowledgement of the truth of what happened helps in the healing process.

Pakistan is now more focussed on its internal issues and this gives India more space to reach a compromise with its neighbour. Pakistan is also no longer in the same competitive position as it was in the 1990, says Dr. Moeed Yusuf, Head of the South Asia Studies Programme at the United States Institute of Peace.

India does not have a privacy law in place right now, although what should be in the law has attracted considerable debate. Therefore, the contours of privacy in the RTI gambit have resulted from various decisions and court orders given over the years.

The Rio+20 agreed text of the document can best be called a compromise in the backdrop of the global economic slowdown and the Eurozone crisis which prevented many European leaders to participate in the summit.

With the rise of China as an economic and military superpower, the significance of Myanmar in the geo-politics of the region has assumed new dimensions. India therefore cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the country where till recently Chinese influence was allowed to grow unchallenged.

The Observer Research Foundation and the ROSA Luxemburg Foundation, Germany organized a two day International Conference in Delhi on Nov 23-24, 2006. The Conference was on Rise of China: Asian and European Perspective.

“The more the number of people, the stronger we are” Mao Zedong In recent years microblogs have emerged as a serious challenge for the Chinese government as they have become an effective means for common citizens to voice their opinions. With more and more citizens joining this new and still emerging media, the Chinese State is doing all it can to curtail freedom of expression. Although the government is trying to have absolute control over

The rise of new powers in Asia and the changing power distribution in the region is equally challenging for both the United States and its allies in the Asia Pacific region, according to Mr. Abraham M. Denmark, Vice President for Political and Security Affairs at The National Bureau of Asian Research.

It is now clear that Aam Aadmi Party will be the major contender in the Lok Sabha elections in the first quarter of 2014 and would give all other veteran parties like the Congress and the BJP a real challenge. The AAP could even halt the march of Narendra Modi towards Delhi.

The recent European Parliamentary election shows the rise of the extreme right wing parties. This is something that would hurt Indians living in Europe and UK. Some of these parties are strongly nationalist and anti immigration (racists), free trade and outsourcing.

President Sarkozy's impending visit to India (December 4-6) should be seen in the larger perspective of India's rise and the external environment that has facilitated this.

While the world remains engrossed in the debates triggered by Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine and the countersanctions, a serious humanitarian crisis is building up in Ukraine which needs international attention and help.

Since August 2021 when the US withdrew from Afghanistan, ceasefire violations at the India-Pakistan Line of Control (LoC) and killings of minorities in J&K have been reported. Indeed, the fall of Kabul to the Taliban has bolstered the anti-India establishment and the terrorist groups in Pakistan—putting the February 2021 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan under stress. India's conventional military response of the type of the 'S

To supplement the still lagging Afghan and ISAF security capabilities, alternative structures have been used or created, especially in rural or hard-to-reach areas. Two important groups among these are private security contractors (PSCs) and 'community defence' organisations or local militias. This paper assesses the impact of these entities on Afghan stability. Beginning March 19, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq, drawing both material an

Reiterating that China should not be contained, Mr. Yukio Okamoto, adviser to former prime ministers, has underlined the need to foster cooperation between Japan and India, including in their efforts to be represented in the United Nation Security Council, with or without the veto powers.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar underlined the need to make the Iran-India pipeline through Pakistan a reality as early as possible to enhance India¿s energy security. He was speaking at the release function of an Observer Research Foundation book ¿India¿s Energy Security Prospects--which deals with the issue of India¿s energy security and the prospects for cooperation with its extended neighbourhood

The region need to response to the unfolding migrant crisis in the Andaman Sea. India and the Indian Navy must move quickly with other regional players to bring an end to the humanitarian crisis in the Bay of Bengal.