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With panchayats emerging as front warriors in the collective fight against COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister’s address to key members of rural self-
The demand for India¿s active engagement with the Sri Lankan peace process has been building up for the past couple of years following the gradual erosion in the credibility of Norway as an impartial ¿facilitator¿. With the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is in New Delhi this week, this demand has gained momentum; more so because of the fast deterioration in Sri Lanka¿s internal peace.
During a recent discussion on Indo-US relations, a former senior adviser to the Government of India, who retired some years ago, expressed his surprise that the community of non-governmental strategic analysts in New Delhi had failed to forewarn the policy-makers of the Government of India over the likelihood of opposition from the US to the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran through Pakistan till the Indian border to sell gas to Pakistan a
In New Delhi, the US Secretary of State will push for the prioritisation of long-term strategic potentialities over near-term economic upsets.
Attention has to be focussed on Saudi Arabia as it enters a period of transition and uncertainty in the wake of reports about a deterioration in the health of King Fahd, who has been admitted in hospital. In the absence of authentic reports on his health, rumours are rife that his end may be near.
This paper evaluates the impact of various policy reforms, including the economic reforms of the 1990s, on India’s manufacturing sector. Covering the priority sectors relevant to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the paper analyses the productivity of registered manufacturing units from 1974-75 to 2012-13. It offers empirical evidence on the growth of productivity in the organised manufacturing sector through an inter-tem
In the recently inked sustainable development goals (SDG's) which identify international cooperation priorities and set the paradigm for global cooperation, India would be a key contributor laying emphasis on south-south development cooperation as an important pillar of the SDG's post 2015.
When more than a third of the world's population does not live to see 40 on average, it is clear that securing the right to life for these people should be the only priority of global developmental processes. Can there ever be any shared values, if there is no agreement on the fundamental right to life?
For more than a decade now, the Armed Forces, especially the senior hierarchy, finds itself besieged by all manners of unprecedented challenges, both from within the establishment and outside. There is critical shortage of weapoins, ammunition and manpower. The blame for this should be shared by political and military leadership.
The democratic transition in Pakistan has coincided with the last year of the UPA government's second term in India. As the government battles one controversy after another, the looming elections in 2014 may act as a distraction wherein improving relations with Pakistan may not be a priority for the government at present.
The responsibility for bringing in reforms and change cannot be outsourced to bureaucrats and technocrats as reforms, in essence, is a political enterprise, says former union minister and senior Congress leader Mr. Jairam Ramesh.
The Indo-Pacific region is experiencing profound geo-strategic re-alignments. Post-war norms are being challenged by a rising China that is unconstrained by the established legal, economic and diplomatic order. These changes come at a time of growing uncertainty over US commitments to both its regional allies and a liberal international trade regime. In the absence of American leadership, the only formidable and practical alternative is the emerg
India must remain invested in strengthening democratic institutions in the Maldives
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
The India-France-Australia trilateral is only the latest of the many minilaterals that are taking shape in the Indo-Pacific region.
It is important that Berlin and Moscow take steps to address the deterioration in bilateral ties. There exist mutual areas of cooperation that need th
Safeguarding people’s health has been the global priority amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In Bhutan, emerging lessons show how nutrition and other aspects of health are intricately related to the management of food security during the current crisis, and beyond. The country’s leaders have used moral suasion alongside policy measures to demonstrate that good nutrition need not be a luxury.
Within a fortnight of the death of Osama bin Laden, news came of the appointment of a senior al Qaeda leader, Saif Al-'Adl, as the interim chief, indicating clearly an internal tussle for the leadership of the global terrorist group, raising, in the process,
In yet another bizarre turn to the Sankararaman murder case, the Tamil Nadu police have arrested Mutt manager Sundaresa Iyer and junior pontiffs brother Raghu under the anti-drugs law. They have now been charged with conspiring to murder construction contractor Ravi Subramaniam, who has turned approver in the Sankararaman murder case,
The NDA government has not devoted sufficient attention to the Middle East in 2014. As New Delhi turns to the Gulf in 2015 and tends to its high stakes in the region, an intensive engagement with Saudi Arabia must be at the top of PM Narendra Modi's diplomatic priorities.
The SCO is critical for India to advance its priorities for peace and prosperity in its northern periphery and broader Eurasia.
वर्तमान बहुध्रुवीय वैश्विक व्यवस्था में एक उभरती हुई शक्ति के रूप में भारत अपने भू-रणनीतिक और भू-आर्थिक हितों की रक्षा, प्रचार और उन्हें व्यक्त करने के लिए शंघाई सहयोग संग�
The Sony hack is a textbook example of the fog of cyberwar. The whole incident is a telling manifestation of the many aspects of cybersecurity: the question of state behavior in cyberspace; the threat to business advancing public-private cooperation in combating such attacks; and the question of motive
Senior opposition leaders, particularly of the BJP, have been sharply critical of the government¿s reported moves to demilitarise Siachen. While their stridency could be put down in part to the need to sound overtly patriotic during election time, it is indeed surprising that none of the leaders of the Congress Party or the UPA alliance thought it fit to respond.
The rise of Islamic State does pose a strategic threat to South Asia, although the influence might not be direct, according to Prof. Stephen Tankel of American University. He says since the decline of the Al Qaeda senior leadership in Pakistan, the IS has emerged a source of new leadership.
As the government flip flops between opening and closing schools, children are suffering from the confusion in policy directives
In Sri Lanka, everybody is uncertain about the future. Nobody knows what happens next. Take for instance, the victory march of Sri Lankan Army (SLA) which was once again bogged down by the LTTE's resurgence. Though the week started with the forward march of the Sri Lanka defence forces after the killing of the three senior female LTTE leaders at sea including Lt. Colonel Kalai Arasi,
Blaming the ruling Awami League government for the deteriorating condition of power, water and law and order of the country, Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) launched a month-long agitation against the government.
The International Monetary Fund has cleared a standby facility of US $2.6 billion to Sri Lanka. This clearance comes despite criticism from various quarters over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions.
The new chief of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP, was arrested in Thailand on August 6. Thai authorities claimed that KP was arrested by the Malaysian Police after he had gone to Malaysia to meet with senior LTTE cadres to discuss his "new policies".
Sri Lanka ordered a senior United Nations official James Elder to leave the country with immediate effect. Elder was the spokesperson of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
Taliban has restarted secret talks with government representatives in Doha, Qatar, according to senior sources and other roundups
The alternative for India would and should be to shed the post-Cold War past here and now — re-look at the South Asian priorities.
New Delhi must avoid getting caught up in tired existing machinations and instead forge a new path for itself that prioritises Indian strategic intere
With the U.S. having shut down one of its major Space situational awareness networks, major Spacefaring powers need to make it a priority to contemplate possible solutions to track satellites and orbital debris on a continued basis.
To offset risks and disruptions, it should now become a priority for ISRO to pursue pre-launch automation with greater vigour.
Space, as a true global commons, must be protected for safe, secure and uninterrupted access. India and China, along with other Spacefaring powers, must therefore utilise every opportunity to push for developing norms of responsible behavior, including strengthening measures in the area of active debris removal and on-orbit satellite servicing.
New Delhi must stop viewing its foreign relations with Colombo from the Chennai prism alone just as it was a mistake to view our relations with Bangladesh through Kolkata's priorities. Tamil aspirations in Sri Lanka are important but there are other abiding interests too.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's choice of Russia for his maiden foreign visit after re-election has outlined the new set of priorities for post-war Sri Lanka
A delegation of senior journalists from Sri Lanka and Maldives visited Observer Research Foundation and held interaction with its faculty on July 5, 2011. The interaction, chaired by Mr. H.H.S. Viswanathan, Distinguished Fellow, ORF and a former ambassador.
The current crisis in Sri Lanka presents an opportunity for India to cement its position as Sri Lanka’s strategic all-weather ally and ameliorate it
Several high-priority issues will need the new government¿s immediate attention as it assumes office. The Kashmir issue and its impact on the ongoing Indo-Pak entente should be one of them.
Dr. Ashley J. Tellis, Senior Associate Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC, spoke to Rahul Mukand, Junior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, in New Delhi recently. This interview was conducted before the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007.
The central challenge in DAMH is the misalignment between the goals of recipients and the priorities of donors
The priority of the international community should be to broker peace and end the Ukraine war before it takes a turn for the worse.
Storm strikes are common in the Indian Sundarbans Delta on the northern Bay of Bengal and will only become more frequent and intense in this era of climate change. Every time a cyclone has hit the Sundarbans, the attempt has been to adapt in situ by creating protective infrastructure, and later return to the same conditions prevailing prior to the disaster. Such reliance on the notion of ‘resilience’ has become increasingly unsustainable and
With ever-expanding engagement, India and the United States develop their foreign policies, distinguishing priorities from irritants
At the heart of Italy’s Indo-Pacific vision lies the understanding of this region as the neighbourhood of its strategic Mediterranean Sea.
