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Across Asia, there is a great demand for India to play a more active role, one befitting its size and interests. But, whenever push comes to shove, we run up against two problems-first, our economy that lacks heft and second, our military which unable to play a role outside our borders.

The successful Agni V test adds to the incremental steps that India has been taking to enhance its strategic deterrent capabilities. This has been marked earlier this year by the commencement of the sea trials of the Arihant, nuclear propelled ballistic missile firing submarine.

The recently announced Agnipath scheme merits a proper analysis, weighing both the positives and the negatives of this military programme.

From Agra to air-link, it has been one long U-turn for the Pakistani leadership of President Pervez Musharaff. Today, he readily agrees to address peripheral issues affecting relations with India, and has even ¿unilaterally¿ announced the restoration of over-flights for Indian craft. Going a step further, he has mooted the conferment of Nishan-e-Pakistan, the nation¿s highest civilian title on Prime Minister Vajpayee, if and when the latter ma

India and Bangladesh relations got a major boost following the signing of two agreements, an extradition treaty and a liberalised visa agreement between the two neighbouring countries.

The viability and dynamism of the developing world's agriculture sector remains essential to secure success in the developing world's poverty alleviation strategies. The next ministerial at Bali in December must ensure pressure remains on developed nations to meet the aspirations of developing countries with regards to the global agriculture trade.

A lot will depend on how the TNA and the NPC proceed during the upcoming fishers' talks in Colombo. For any fishers-negotiated solution to be effective, it has to have the cooperation of the Tamil Nadu and Northern Province Governments across the Palk Straits.

India-US defence ties are driven not only by business and commercial interests, but by the logic of geopolitics. Sustained bipartisan support in favour of burgeoning India-US ties is necessary.

The new foreign trade policy (2015-20) announced by the Commerce Minister recently is aimed at doubling India's exports from $465.9 billion in 2013-14 to $900 billion in 2020. However, for this, India has to gain the reputation of producing good quality, zero-defect products which can compete in international markets. To achieve this goal, much needs to be done.

The government should immediately stop this aviation pricing strategy if it wants to remain being seen as serious about raising investor confidence. One wonders, if the move by Air India has the prior approval and blessing from the Civil Aviation Ministry.

India and the US face a growing anti-access challenge. By working together to mitigate A2/AD threats, both the countries may come to a better mutual understanding on major security issues in Asia.

The al Qaeda video showing its current head Ayman al-Zawahari declaring a renewed bout of jihad in the Indian subcontinent has triggered widespread alarm in the region, especially in India. The alarm over a video may seem exaggerated but there are enough reasons for India to worry.

Remember the Kremlin Watchers of yore during the height of the cold war and their best-sellers on the Evil Empire? And the scary stories on communism they used to disseminate? And how the newspaper columns of those days were filled with their analyses? And the so-called classified documents of the Soviet State and Communist Party to which they managed to have access and which they used liberally in their writings and books?

Sections of the Spanish media, quoting the authorities investigating the Madrid blasts of March 11,2004, have reported that the terrorists, who orchestrated the blasts, had used the mobile telephones as timers for the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along with copper detonators, different from the aluminium detonators used in the past by the ETA, the Basque terrorist organisation. According to one report, the IEDs had the alarms set for 7-39

There are two epicentres of terrorism today. One is in the AfPak region, a byproduct of the Cold War. Another epicentre which has risen in the recent times is in West Asia, which in some ways represents the first post-Cold War conflict between various competing forces.

Following the ideology of global Jihadism and maintaining links with Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab is emerging as a lethal organisation in Africa, posing a strategic challenge to the United States besides Somalia and its neighbours.

Today the two biggest countries in the world - the US and China - are playing in the world arena on their own terms. Jobs are, indeed, something to be worried about because not only is there a threat of a deflationary spiral in the US but there is also a huge fiscal deficit. This means austerity (decline in demand) and job losses.

There are only two ways to look at the recent decision of the US administration to arm Pakistan with new weapons. First, as the Bush administration officials have been trying, rather hard, to convince the international community, particularly India, that the weapons they are selling to President Pervez Musharraf¿s Pakistan are meant to fight terrorism.

The tremors from the convulsions wracking the Arab world are being felt in India too, in the amplitude that the Hazare drama is acquiring. This may not be grasped immediately as independent India has an autonomous record of organising non-violent political and social protests

At the end of a French delegation's visit to Pakistan recently, the Pakistan Foreign Office put out its usual statement. It referred to Pakistan as an anchor of peace in the region and said that the leader of the French delegation, former Premier Senator (Francois) Poncet, had commended Pakistan's role in promoting peace and stability.

Even assuming that Gaddafi is gone for good, Libya's future still looks uncertain. If Libya becomes unstable, violent, or a fertile ground for radicals, it will raise questions about the wisdom of the entire enterprise.

Delhi must bite the bullet and make the political case for moving forward boldly with Islamabad and Dhaka. Nothing will demonstrate India's commitment to transforming its relations with its neighbours more than an early visit to Pakistan by the Prime Minister.

At first glance, the July 18 India-US joint statement promises a giant leap forward in bilateral relations and a paradigm shift in the US policy towards India. The agreement undoubtedly is a testimony to the growing trust and meaningful strategic partnership between New Delhi and Washington.

The US needs to have a more practical approach combating the Islamic State, and it needs to collaborate with partner countries to end Islamic radicalism, according to a scholar from the Center for American Progress.

One grieving mother camping outside the ranch where President Bush is on vacation has made her countrymen sit up and introspect about the war the US is waging in Iraq. Cindy Sheehan, mother of army specialist Casey Sheehan who died in the Sadr City section of Baghdad on April 4, 2004, and other family members who too have lost their loved ones, have become the new face of opposition to the war in Iraq.

Describing the US's 'Pivot to Asia' as "rhetoric without reassurance", Chatham House scholar on US foreign policy says it is a great strategy, but it has been badly implemented.

At a decisive meeting on the future of LAWS, countries such as Pakistan and Cuba have called for a pre-emptive ban, while others like US, Germany and Russia disagree.

The Al Qaeda in Iraq, headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is of Jordanian origin, has reportedly claimed responsibility for the blasts directed at three hotels in Amman on November 9,2005, in which about 60 innocent civilians, the majority of them Jordanian nationals, were killed. There is no valid reason for doubting the claim.

We can turn blue in the face discussing the importance of the rule of law but more than its imposition, isn’t it the responsibility of every citizen to follow the law, both in letter and spirit?

If the U.S. partners with India for more efficient industrialisation and supports an "India exception" in global climate talks, it could be the kind of investment that cements ties between these two countries. From the perspective of a stable international order, it would be a big deal; from the perspective of climate talks, it is the only realistic path forward.

By announcing the American decision to ¿nominate¿ Pakistan as a ¿major non-NATO ally¿, US Secretary of State Colin Powell may have done a calculated disservice to the ongoing peace process between Islamabad and New Delhi. His reference to greater military-to-military cooperation with Islamabad may have stirred,

While Kremlin may be playing to a Russian audience by blocking the West, broader interests, namely, geopolitics, multilateralism, regional stability, and doubts about the feasibility of UNSC resolutions drive its actions in Syria.

The Modi government should recognise the advantages of a defence diplomacy that mobilises external partnerships to accelerate India's defence modernisation, shapes its regional strategic environment and helps Delhi emerge as an indispensable element of a new balance of power system in the Indo-Pacific.

India should work more closely with the members of the US Congress in order to strengthen the strategic relationship between the two largest democracies in the world.

The US Congressional Staff was pointed out that though Pakistan's political machinery is willing to work with all parties, including India, on Afghanistan, the army apparatus and the ISI still remains a liability. These factors must be taken into account while US deals with Pakistan.

By entering the scene though a little late in the day, SLMC president Rauff Hakeem on the one hand, and the People's Front of Liberation Tigers (PFLT), the latter the political outfit floated by the LTTE as far back as 1989, have made the 10 May polls to the Provincial Council high profile and interesting at the same time.

Al Quds al Arabi is a respected daily and the opinion of its editor, Abdul Bari Atwan, carries weight. For this reason, his op-ed on September 7 on "Talabani and Arabness of Iraq" is to be taken note of. The point of departure is Iraq's isolation in the Arab world and Mr. Atwan,

Hamburg wants to go completely car free in the next ten years, and it wants to achieve it by networking all its green Space creating a new paradigm of walkable and cycleable urbanity.

Former NDA prime minister Vajpayee kept the professional hawks in the national security establishment and the conservatives in his own party BJP at bay in the making of India's foreign policy. It is not clear if Narendra Modi can sustain a similar freedom of action for his government.

After decades of being on the backburner, the 9-11 terrorist attacks forced America to take a fresh look at the South Asian region. The last time the US had focused on this region was immediately following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which required US policymakers to structure their policies to fit the Cold War paradigm.

The sharpest and the most explicit critique of the US in Ufa Delcaration is its failure to ratify the IMF 2010 reform package. The second major criticism is over the on-going furore over governance of the internet. The BRICS countries see the ICT sector as a critical platform they can leverage in their transition from emerging to developed economies.

The Andhra crisis illustrates the inability of the UPA government to arrive at a decision in respect of the Telangana problem. This attitude of drift has been noticed for well over 50 years. And the Centre has shown little understanding while handling with socio-political issues of Telugu speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras Presidency.

The Indian Army and the much-vilified social media is coming to the rescue of hapless victims of unprecedented flood in J&K. The use of social media for malicious purposes is proven. The use of the medium to incite and radicalise is also rampant. Yet it is a force for good as we saw this past week. Challenge and vilify the user, do not condemn the tool.