27855 results found
Does this “new direction” in the United States Afghan strategy mean that India should start to re-evaluate its approach on Afghanistan and take a more active role?
In its bid to dodge the American economic bullet, Uganda is seeking new strategic and trade partnerships beyond Beijing. In India, it may see one such opportunity
India’s relationships with Bangladesh, Myanmar and China hang in the balance.
The most important feature of the 17th SAARC Summit was the one pertaining to the promotion of maritime and rail connectivity among three of the region's eight countries.
India is developing appropriate capabilities to tackle the new and emerging space security challenges in outer space.
China¿s decision in the 1980's to supply to Pakistan nuclear weapons technology and missiles capable of delivering nukes over long distances was intended to bind India down in a south Asian strategic impasse and constrict India's larger role in Asia and the world. China achieved only partial success in that objective.
The national identity of Pakistan is rooted in the ‘two-nation theory’—the very basis of the creation of the country—which says that the Hindus and Muslims of the subcontinent were two different nations and therefore, the Muslims were entitled to a separate homeland where Islam would be practiced as state religion. Does Pakistan’s quest for identity, however, mean neglecting the non-Islamic culture present in the country? This brief cal
The recent New Delhi visit of Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations, was very much fruitful to give a boost to Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj's 5s vision and enhance the skill development and cultural ties between the countries.
Despite being the ‘factory of the world,’ many of China’s industrial sectors are energy-intensive and have low value-add. At the same time, global firms are increasingly moving towards sophisticated low-cost manufacturing techniques for higher productivity gains. As a result, the Chinese Communist Party is keen to upgrade the country’s industrial base to compete in the more advanced segments, such as information technology, through the �
India’s border dispute with China, which goes back to the 1950s, primarily owes to the absence of an internationally accepted boundary between them, and of an agreement on where runs the Line of Actual Control. The border, as a result, is patrolled and managed by the military forces of both sides. After initial efforts to resolve the dispute failed, the two sides signed a set of agreements aimed at stabilising the LAC and normalising their rela
Myanmar remains hugely important for India. The naval visit last week again focused attention on the role of India and China in the Southeast Asian state, even though New Delhi’s weakness lies more in non-security realms.
In the ongoing contest between China and India for influence, New Delhi has made some gains in the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
As competition intensifies in the Indian Ocean Region, India loses touch with Sri Lanka and solidifies relations with the Maldives.
The already tenuous effort by both sides to manage their ties has been further complicated by contemporary developments.
Despite a long speech there were no magic bullets presented to kickstart a virtuous cycle of investment, growth and jobs.
China’s growing economic might and its aggressive military posturing have provided India, Singapore and Thailand strategic rationale to combine their efforts.
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.
Lt Gen (retd.) David Barno, Director, Center for North-East and South Asia (NESA) at the National Defense University, Washington, D.C. along with Col (retd.) Jack Gill, also of the same center, visited ORF on 18 April 2008. LTG Barno made a presentation on "Situation in Afghanistan in the Context of Insurgency and Changing Nature of War".
With every day inching closer to the penultimate battle of 2014, the lines ar e being drawn and rules of the game getting clear. Political leaders are maki ng their preferences clear about PM candidates. And with every announceme nt, any chances of Na-rendra Modi making it to 7RCR are receding.
A collusive relationship between politicians and Naxalites or the People's War (PW) and Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI), which have merged on September 21, 2004, to form the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), is clearly visible in Bihar, as in several other parts of the country.
There are now three strands to Pakistan's strategy. One, to keep the pressure on Afghanistan through increased Taliban terrorist attacks; two, take over the dialogue process with the help of China, and; three, tie all this up with an ISI-NDS deal.
Meetings have been taking place, but if China seeks to use the lack of precision of the Line of Actual Control to keep India off balance, little will change
India’s robust economy has tremendous potential. But for sustained economic growth, it needs direct access to the Eurasian markets, backed by reliable, resilient, and diversified supply chains. Indeed, enhanced connectivity with Central Asia and the wider Eurasia is essential to promote regional stability and unlock economic opportunities for all countries in the region. This paper analyses the status of the key connectivity projects in the reg
The visit of External Affairs Minister SM Krishna to Dhaka early July underlines the importance of Bangladesh in India's strategic thinking. The visit was also crucial as it laid out the agenda for the all-important visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh later this year.
Of all the non-conventional renewable energy sources, small hydro represents highest density resource and stands in the first place in generation of electricity from such sources world-wide. It is also the most cost-effective energy technology to be considered for rural electrification and under the climate change scenarios.
Over four billion people do not have access to Internet; that makes a huge two-thirds of the global population. In India, around four of every five people lack this basic resource. Various access technologies are being developed in different parts of the world to bridge the digital divide. Amongst these technologies, the emergence of small satellites carries immense promise. These satellites are used for applications ranging from remote sensing t
The past decade has witnessed the proliferation of small satellite technology in various domains including the military, academe and commerce. is paper explores the idea of utilising small satellites technology (of the order weighing less than 150kg) for specic aspects of India's space security interests. It will describe some of the programmes and missions of global leaders in space security, and examine specic applications of small satellite te
In 2017, India launched a record 104 satellites into space. Barring one, the rest of the satellites that were launched were small satellites.
Building one hundred smart cities, towns or townships will not change India's urban landscape much. India needs an overall smart, well-discussed, thought-out, and lastly effective and efficiently implemented urban development strategy in a holistic urban policy framework. Now is the time to shape it.
As India starts moving on its path of making its hundred odd cities 'smart', it could take a few cues from the experience of China, another developing country and India's immediate neighbour. Though in many parameters, the Chinese cities do quite well, they too have shortcomings, when looked from some indicators.
Fixers aka political managers abound because they thrive in an artificially scare economy where votes are a premium
The recent US decision to blackball People¿s War (PW) and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) may have revived interest in the naxalite movements, nearer home in India. While there can be no two ways about the State and the society fighting militancy, insurgency or terrorism, there is need to study the social causes and implications of such a trend. That way, we can reduce such incidents and instances, if not totally eliminate them.
Dr. V Krishna Ananth, political scientist and author, initiated an interaction on the 'Emerging scenario of coalition politics in India' at the ORF Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation, on 12 January 2008.
Politicians have always used the media to communicate with the electorate. What makes social media unique is the scale, speed, and minimal cost at which leaders can do this task. This paper analyses the relationship between political leaders and the microblogging site, Twitter. It provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the use of Twitter by two contemporary Indian political leaders—Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. It describ
ORF hosted a panel discussion on "Social Media and Politics", based on Shaili Chopra's book, The Big Connect: Politics in the Age of Social Media.
Irrespective of whether AAP delivers on all its promises or is somehow muscled out of office in a few months, it has proven something to all Indian media watchers. Social media buzz has helped in shaping the agenda for India's largest and most important city, making a newly formed political party into a serious player in just over a year.
