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The IOR tour was not just about declarations and MOUs, proof of this is that New Delhi has put down money through Lines of Credit for infrastructure development in various island states. The challenge now is to ensure that it is effectively utilised.

Delhi's foreign policy discourse continues to be dominated by the metaphor of "non-alignment" and the mindset of a weak state. Are there other ways of thinking about India's grand strategy? Delhi could turn to classical geopolitics in understanding the global power shift.

Enabling a stable Asian strategic framework to the mutual benefit of both New Delhi and Tokyo should be a compelling factor for both prime ministers, Mr Narendra Modi and Mr Shinzo Abe.

Modi needs a credible domestic strategy to ramp up India's maritime infrastructure. A strategy of seeking multiple partners for India's maritime development would help Modi end New Delhi's current defensiveness on China's Maritime Silk Road initiative.

As he swings across the Indian Ocean this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's biggest challenge is not about countering China. His real problem is in Delhi, afflicted by a condition called continentalism, which has proved rather difficult to overcome.

New Delhi can't really expect that the Americans can or will solve India's problems with Pakistan. India can better leverage support from the US and other international partners only when it has a strong and sustainable engagement of its own with Pakistan.

New Indian Prime Minister and Sri Lankan President should attempt to take forward the fishers' talks, promised to be continued/revived by their respective Heads of Government at their Delhi meeting, and then have their officials create the structures and super-structures aimed at implementing those decisions.

New Delhi has ambitious plans to bolster its armed forces with French procurements, but it is unclear how these deals are to be delivered

Canberra and New Delhi look at each other as vital partners playing critical roles in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

The visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in New Delhi this week offers an opportunity to PM Modi to recalibrate India's Afghan policy towards greater realism and more modest goals. Modi must reassure Ghani that Delhi is in a "standby" mode, ready to extend, whatever support Kabul wants and feels comfortable with.

Mohammad Akhlaq's horrific killing in Dadri, in western Uttar Pradesh, just outside Delhi, is an act of infamy. Whatever the circumstances or the alleged provocation, it ceases to matter when a person is done to death with such barbarism.

Myanmar's top military general, Than Shwe, would use his India visit to convey the message to New Delhi that his country's relationship with India remains strong and undiluted in the backdrop of the recent events.

The Observer Research Foundation organized a round table discussion on Climate Change on August 26, 2009 at its New Delhi campus. The theme speaker was Mr. Owen Jenkins, Counsellor for Climate Change and Energy, British High Commission and the DFID.

This Special Report is based on some of the most important ideas shared amongst participants in ORF's roundtable on Changing Geoeconomic Landscapes, held on 21 December 2015 in New Delhi. The discussion examined current patterns in world economy, initiatives being taken by the Indian leadership to steer domestic economy, and the need for the country to carefully integrate its domestic economic priorities, including those of reforms, with its fore

Nawaz Sharif's return as the Prime Minister of Pakistan in early June this year marks a signpost from where a more meaningful relationship between India and Pakistan could be forged. The bilateral relationship had of late been mired in mistrust and often meaningless rhetoric. The previous civilian government in Pakistan was paralysed by its own ineptitude. An equally incoherent position in New Delhi has allowed the crucial relationship to drift.

The very day a trial court in India, New Delhi to be precise, denied bail to the accused in the 2-G scam case, another in distant London was awarding sentences to three Pakistani cricketers for match-fixing at the end of an equally much-publicised trial.

It may be useful if the post-poll political dispensation in New Delhi reviews the relevance of the office of the National Security Advisor in contemporary Indian context, and recasts the role, if its continued need was found to be justified.

New Delhi did well to respond decisively when tragedy struck Nepal. While the media and cameras, which have now flooded Kathmandu, will soon leave Nepal, the world's attention will turn to the next crisis. But India must stick around for the long haul.

As Delhi waits for specific proposals from Kathmandu, it on its own must imagine and debate the contours of a new strategic partnership agreement with Nepal that is rooted in the principle of sovereign equality and deepens security and economic cooperation between the two countries on a pragmatic basis.

Nepal's Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai will make an important visit to New Delhi starting October 20. Given the strain in relationship between his own party, the UCPN (Maoist), and India on multiple issues during the tenure of his party President Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda as the premier.

Nepal President Dr Ram Baran Yadav's India visit last week helped to bring some clarity on New Delhi's current position vis-a-vis the political developments in Nepal. Although the visit came at the height of political tensions back home,

As Nepal sees rising tensions on the political front, New Delhi cannot design temporary solutions which can hardly bring lasting peace in the country.

This paper analyses the debate surrounding federal restructuring in Nepal and the position taken by various political stakeholders. It argues that an early political consensus on federalism is imperative; otherwise, the country may slip into greater ethnic conflict. Nepal is currently experiencing perhaps one of the most turbulent phases in its contemporary political history. In 2008, Nthe 240-year-old institution of monarchy—for long seen a

Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) is not talking about foreign policies yet. But when it will, it might not be in the best interests of New Delhi.

India and Saudi Arabia are re-defining their foreign policy priorities: For New Delhi, Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf states are becoming key interlocutors in the Middle East. For Riyadh, India is one of the eight major powers with which it wants to forge strategic partnerships as part of its Vision 2030.

If there ever was a moment for India to stick by the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other nations, this is it in the Middle East. The region is in the throes of a difficult political transition and Delhi must deal with the governments of the day, irrespective of their internal orientation.

Despite the severity of the attack and the pressure for action, New Delhi’s choices are much more limited than they may initially appear.

As India and the ASEAN celebrate 25 years of their partnership, it is a politically opportune moment to upgrade India’s regional profile.

Just because China now seems to be in a hurry to move on the border issue should not be cause for New Delhi to reciprocate. We need to weigh the issues carefully and see what serves our interest the best. Anyway, we are not likely to see a final resolution of the border issue in a hurry

As the NDA government recalibrates India's Kashmir and Pakistan policies, Delhi must do a much better job explaining the logic behind the cancellation of the foreign secretary talks, widely seen as abrupt.It must let the international community, especially Pakistan's friends, including the US, China and Saudi Arabia, know India is not abandoning the peace process with Islamabad.

What Delhi needs is a strategy that will generate some influence for India in shaping the future of the critical northwest sub-region. Such a strategy will necessarily involve sustained dialogue with Pakistan, a recalibration of the Afghan policy, encouragement to the peace talks between Kabul and Rawalpindi and the readiness to engage all powers who have a stake in the region's stability.

India is commonly — and rightly — considered as a reluctant democracy promoter. But while sceptical about the motives behind Western attempts to promote democracy and about the effects of their democracy promotion efforts, India has since the mid-2000s moved warily to involve itself in “democracy assistance”. This article argues that New Delhi has engaged in these activities in the context of a wider shift in strategy, in parallel with t

What is new is the fact that Delhi under Modi is no longer coy about affirming its position in conjunction with the US. A self-assured Modi is injecting a measure of pragmatism and openness into India's positions.

For two reasons, no big ticket items or headline-grabbing news came out of this year's third Indo-US Annual Strategic Dialogue. For one, the US is in election mode; the second reason is the policy paralysis in New Delhi.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Delhi, NSA A.K. Doval said there is a need for collective response by countries to tackle terrorism as it will be very difficult for countries individually to fight terror effectively. He called for a Comprehensive United Nations Convention against Terrorism.

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 29: The Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board and President of the Centre for International Affairs of Observer Research Foundation, Mr. Maharajakrishna Rosgotra here today called for concerted efforts to find alternative sources of energy, especially solar energy.

Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, hosted a talk on Monday, September 18, 2006, by Brookings Institution President Strobe Talbott on "US Foreign Policy in the Presidential Election Season".

This paper examines Indian policies and decisions on Iran's nuclear programme and reveals a number of critical factors which have influenced New Delhi on this matter in varying degrees.

New Delhi's knee-jerk political protestations against Barack Obama's remarks on the stalled economic reforms in India have missed out on far more important comments from the President of the United States about Jammu and Kashmir.

There will be no respite from rising international oil prices, according to internationally renowned oil expert Dr. A.F. Alhajji. Delivering a lecture at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, on July 26, 2005,

While New Delhi wants the boundary issue to be resolved first, China wants to focus on other areas of cooperation and is in no hurry to move forward on the contentious issue

Delhi’s positions on these issues reflect its world view. But domestic economic and political challenges remain.

This is the time for Delhi to use years of goodwill and investments in Kabul. We must remember, there is never anything constant in Afghanistan where every change presents us with an opportunity.

The Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi and the Experimental Creativity Centre, Moscow have initiated a collaborative research project on Radical Islam. The first meeting under this project took place in Moscow on the 8th and 9th of October, 2009.

Lt. Gen. Nirbhay Sharma (Retd), Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, has been appointed the new Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, a strategic border State in the North East.

As part of the worldwide launch of the Global Go To Think Tank Index Report 2014, an event was organised at ORF in Delhi on Thursday. According to the Report, ORF has been placed at 8th position amongst the Top 10 think tanks in Asia.

The seminar on Status of India Studies in the United States is co-sponsored by Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi and India Studies Program of Indiana University. The seminar is scheduled for September 15 and 16, 2004 at Indiana Memorial Union Hotel, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Experts from the BRICS countries and Germany discussed in Delhi 'Supply Side Economics and the Need for Energy Diversification'; 'The Future of Global Energy Systems'; 'Industrial Efficiency and Business Responsibility' and 'Energy Access in BRICS Nations'.

The March 16-visit of US Secretary of State Condeleza Rice to New Delhi is an unprecedented, landmark visit at the most opportune time', said the Indian Foreign Secretary, Mr Shyam Saran, while Inaugurating the ORF-Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Dialogue on East and South East Asia, at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), on March 17, 2005.

Twenty-four undergraduate students, studying history, journalism, economics, political science, and commerce, in different DU colleges, such as Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Hansraj, Hindu, Indraprastha, LSR, Miranda House, Ramjas, and Sri Venkateswara, took part in the workshop.