8688 results found
Notwithstanding the euphoria, Alexei Navalny is unlikely to be the catalyst that will lead to ‘regime change’ in Russia
Beijing’s position paper, on its policy in Afghanistan, is reflective of its recent efforts to present China as a nation that is now heavily invested in addressing ‘international hot button issues’
During the meeting between the home secretaries of India and Bangladesh held in October this year, Bangladesh agreed to sign an extradition treaty and there has been major progress on this regard.
The first few weeks of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's tenure has seen a flurry of diplomatic activity. The steps taken by him in the foreign policy domain give a clear indication of the new government's priorities.
The unspeakable tragedy of the floods in Pakistan, on a scale unknown to man, has dwarfed much else in the region: 100 shot dead in three days of political, ethnic and sectarian violence in Karachi,
This paper outlines the responses of the US Congress and European Union (EU) parliament to the Indian government’s abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and the surrounding events, including the communications lockdown in Kashmir. It notes contrasting responses: the US Congress showed a binary reaction of moderate and extreme calls to action, and the EU parliament honed a more expansive approach to address India’s apparent “democrat
Most central banks across the globe are today seized with the idea of cryptocurrency, with countries like Sweden and China already embarking on their pilot projects. This paper argues that most of the proposed architectures for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) are not designed to mimic the paper currency in its digital form. It proposes an architecture that largely retains all the properties of a paper currency, with only one limitation—i
Evidence from several countries suggests that last-mile connectivity solutions—the transport options available to commuters from the origin of their journey to the point of accessing a public transit system—enhance citizens’ mobility and increase metro rail ridership. This brief evaluates India’s operational metro rail transit systems to identify the missing links in the provision and effective implementation of last-mile connecti
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic hastened the widespread adoption of digitaltechnologies across the globe. The pace of digitalisation—from the micro levels ofeducation and e-commerce to the macro levels of supply chains and productionnetworks—has galvanised governments to advance digital regulations. Thetightrope walk of creating policies that enable digital innovation and ensureregulations are in the larger public interest have led to inte
Russia's response to new missile defence plans of the US points to Moscow's continued distrust of Washington. However, Moscow and Washington have announced a meeting to discuss the new missile deployment plans in Moscow in late May this year. Perhaps, a breakthrough is still possible.
India presents more immediate potential for the "top line" obsessed Silicon entrepreneur. But Asian companies from Japan, China, and Korea in sunset industries, are better placed to be responsive to the fragmented Indian market than a Fortune 500 corporate, which survive on scale not agility.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's address to the nation on July 22 - as the people of London reeled from a second series of blasts at underground train stations - betrayed a sense of anxiety, a clear shift to address the Islamic community and an unwitting admission of failure in the war on terrorism.Wilson John
This critique on the Draft Report on Integrated Energy Policy was serialised in Volume II, Issue 43-46, 50 of ORF Energy News Monitor. It has three sections, first, Concept level issues- identifies the gaps in the Planning Commission's draft report, second, Action plan- for filling those gaps and lastly, Conclusions.
Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) are highly vulnerable to disasters emanating from the impacts of climate change, geopolitical tensions, and fluctuations in global energy markets. To overcome this, the PSIDS have committed to ambitious carbon reduction targets, and to adopting renewable energy and low carbon emission initiatives. However, they must contend with critical barriers, such as the lack of finance, capacity, and te
The European Union (EU) stands at a critical junction in its institutional evolution. The European sovereign debt crisis in 2009, the Brexit decision in 2016, and the success of anti-European populist parties in many member states have triggered intense discussions about necessary reforms in the Union, which only intensified after Emmanuel Macron became president of France in 2017. His vehemently pro-European outlook and ambitious suggestions for
For Beijing, the coronavirus outbreak is more than a health crisis; it is a credibility challenge, domestically and globally.
US President Barack Obama's latest strategy will seek to responsibly end the longest foreign war that the US has ever fought. At the same time, the strategy calls for building an enduring partnership with a sovereign Afghanistan. Obama's message to the Afghan people is a simple one: "as you stand up, you will not stand alone."
What is the measure of success for the Space Code of Conduct, or more substantially what is different about this Code effort that distinguishes it from the last? If the Code of Conduct fails to attract signatures of key players will its success be taken into question?
Iran is being treated more like North Korea, even though it is one of the world's great civilisations, with major historical and scientific achievements. And, as anyone who has deeply analysed the personalities of Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong Un knows, they don't look like one another. Or like one another.
For the first time in 30 years, Elections-2014 has thrown up a decisive Parliament. The Treasury Bench does not have to do number-crunching all the time, to push policy initiatives, legislative initiatives and even budgets - which have more often than not been passed in the midst of din and dust.
The speculation regarding General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's possible extension came to an end last week. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in a rather dramatic fashion announced a full term extension for General Kayani on national television.
The Interim Budget presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram was a strange one. It contained much praise for the ruling coalition UPA's entire tenure, peppered with some disappointments.
Iranian civilisation is heresy-prone. Heresy is indicative of a questioning mind. Throughout history, individuals and movements have emerged in Iran to invoke the moral imperative and disrupt the status quo. The most recent events sustain this characteristic of the Iranian personality. Paradoxes abound in the vote in the June presidential election: it was anti-establishment, not anti-regime, anti-clerical but affirmative of the principles of the
The two countries’ geopolitical compulsions, especially regarding containing china in the indo-pacific, have translated into closer trade ties
At a time when Rahul Gandhi and his team are wondering how to win friends and influence people, the Sufis offer an excellent model. For the model to gain traction, the first requirement is a message which can be simply put across.
Manoj Joshi, “A Survey of India-US Defence Cooperation,” ORF Special Report No. 224, March 2024, Observer Research Foundation.
India has been witnessing rapid urbanisation in the last decade, particularly in its large and medium-size cities. As more and more people move towards cities and towns, it is imperative to build an understanding of how cities are geared in terms of growth and inclusion. In what ways do India's marginalised communities get excluded from the country's growing urban spaces? This paper studies how individuals and groups are included inor exclude
Last week India hosted two important visitors – Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, and the US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry. These were routine visits, one to lay the groundwork for a potential Russian presidential visit to India and the other to assess Indian intentions on climate
Saudi Arabia recently extended an invitation to Iranian Foreign Minister, indicating towards a possible thaw in relations. Is this shift in Riyadh's stand because of a change in US-Iran relations and the positive reception of Iran's overtures by the other GCC States?
India must accept its own exceptionalism. It must thereafter understand how to establish it. India is in a position to shape cyberspace debates, but for that it will need to be flexible, propositional and present everywhere that internet governance is debated. Its strong and diverse contingent at The Hague is a good beginning.
The Arms Trade Treaty being an instrument impacting many countries, it is important for it to come into being through consensus. A treaty without support from major exporting and importing countries would undermine its very purpose.
A lack of legitimacy of the new leadership in Kabul in the eyes of the Afghan public could pose potential problems for it at a time when it is confronted with a number of challenges. This could be exploited by the Taliban as well.
India, today, has the heft to influence the geopolitical dynamic around it. In pushing for improved relations with one, India's ability to enhance ties with the other two will significantly improve. Masterly inactivity, on the other hand, would surely make India lose ground with all the three.
Dr.A. Q. Khan, the self-styled father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, is back in the headlines following a statement disseminated by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a group opposed to the present regime in Teheran, on November 17, 2004, that between 1994 and 1996 (Mrs.Benazir Bhutto was then in power) Dr. Khan gave Iran a Chinese-developed nuclear warhead design.
The Aam Aadmi Party's victory in 67 out of 70 Delhi Assembly seats has simply blown the established parties like the BJP and the Congress out of the water. It has inflicted by far the most crushing defeat to its opposition in independent India's electoral history.
There has clearly been a Modi effect in the assembly polls, but but whether or not there is a Modi wave in 2014 will depend on just how the BJP uses the momentum it has now gathered. And the stunning performance of AAP in Delhi signals the arrival of the urban discourse into national politics and the breakdown of identity politics of yore.
The trends emerging from Odisha and Chhattisgarh following the latest kidnappings of popular officials confirm to a certain global pattern - desperation leads to unpopular acts. These measures suggest they become considerably weaker and are making desperate attempts to wage easy propaganda.
In inviting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to be the chief guest of this year's Republic Day celebrations, Delhi has underlined the special importance it attaches to East Asia. Abe is the fourth East Asian leader to be part of the annual event in the last five years.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe believes that his country needs quicker and more decisive responses to China's increasing maritime ambitions in waters near Japan, according to two Japanese security experts, Dr Marie Izuyama and Dr Hikaru Yamashita.
At the beginning of the year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a trip to Africa. His renewed engagement in Africa is seen as a part of his broader effort to put an assertive stamp on Japan's foreign policy. Will his African Safari pay off? Can Japan have the same amount of influence in the continent as its arch rival China?
The idea of a united Indo-Pacific put forward by t he Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is becoming increasingly concurrent with the foreign policy initiatives of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the Ambassador of Japan to India, Mr. Takeshi Yagi.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent decision to reinterpret the Japanese constitution to exercise the right of collective self-defence is truly significant and could mark a turning point in Japan's security policy in the coming years.
It's not often that one sees leaders take risks in the pursuit of a political conviction. Abe, a rare exception, has been steadfast in his determination to remove the extraordinary restraints on Japan's military imposed by its post-war constitution. Abe wants Japan to be a "normal" power, 70 years after World War II.
In an era of Asian strategic uncertainties and global power transition, India-Japan defence and security linkages have become particularly significant.
Despite most parties having differences over the EU, India could benefit from a stronger German engagement with Europe.
