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The Mumbai blasts were an act of war against the Indian state; it would be naïve to term it as anything else. It was an act of terror to kill as many Indians as possible. It was an act enabled, to a large measure, by a growing perception among the terrorist groups, especially those operating from Pakistan, that the Indian state was soft and indolent.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trip to America will show if there is any political energy left in the UPA government for purposeful international engagement. If the answer is in the negative, the rest of the world will simply wait for stronger leadership to re-emerge in Delhi. India might pay a price for the wasted moments, but the ruling party may not much care, having grown rather comfortable with a do-nothing foreign policy.
Hillary Clinton has for the past year been exhorting "Assad to get out of the way". But Assad won't listen. He sits on a system quite as durable as the one Saddam Hussain supervised in neighbouring Iraq. Without the US commitment as in Iraq, Assad cannot be pushed out.
Polarisation over Kashmir and Jadhav, and the rise of rhetoric in India and Pakistan, only serves to feed into the narrative of aggressive nationalism that’s taken centre stage in India’s political discourse.
Going by the Sri Lanka-related events and developments on the global arena, it looks as if the international community has not learnt any lessons from the recent past in and of the country. Be it the Indian neighbour, or the distant Norway, or whoever had attempted to help resolve the ethnic issue, had to give up after a point.
I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like . This 35-year old rock hymn from "Queen" might evolve to the protest song of those cyclists in Kolkata who were recently banned to use their own means of transport in any of the city's 174 busiest streets.
While India’s diplomatic and political outreach with West Asia has been a success story over the past decade, the geopolitics of technology has the potential to offer a challenge.
It is the unease arising from China's domestic, political and economic considerations at a time of the ascendancy of a new political leadership in Beijing that could contribute to Chinese adventurism and recourse to hyper-nationalism.
Many see China to be practicing a new form of imperialism in Africa as it imports primary goods from Africa and exports manufacturing goods to Africa, without transferring skills to the continent. And China-Africa ties are not free from challenges. There is also immense potential.
The unilateral tariff imposition by the United States on various countries has started a trade war that threatens to adversely affect the world’s major economies. This paper finds that no country, including the US itself, is likely to benefit from a tariff war. In India, some analysts had expected that the country’s export penetration in the US and elsewhere will increase, as China loses out. An analysis of trade data, however, shows that whi
There is at least a temporary decoupling of consumption and GDP, with investment picking up pace and acquiring a greater share of domestic output
The eviction of Muslim Brotherhood from power in Cairo may have significant implications on the course of the civil war in Syria too. The shape of regional politics has definitely taken a new turn.
A divided domestic telecoms industry, disagreement within the central government, and a desire for India to develop its own systems have made the country’s calculations on 5G all the more complicated.
The country has good reason to want first-strike capabilities. But the actual state of its arsenal suggests that it won’t get them.
Manmohan Singh is sometimes accused of focusing too much on Pakistan. Perhaps he could try paying a visit. Also consider visiting towns outside Islamabad and Lahore, such as his own ancestral village, which is waiting with open arms to welcome its prodigal son.
India will have to decide what the TPP means for its domestic reforms agenda. India need foreign markets to grow and it cannot presume that the size of its domestic market will force others to come to its terms.
With the ongoing multi-polarisation of global politics, new powers would emerge which would in turn increase global insecurity and lead to a greater demand for nuclear weapons even by the countries that as of now do not possess them, cautioned Prof. Rajesh Rajagopalan during an ORF roundtable on nuclear non proliferation.
This report discusses India's economic resilience, investment opportunities, and growth amidst global turmoil, highlighting foreign investment, sectoral reforms, and geopolitical factors influencing India's status as a top emerging market.
As 2012 draws to a close, the question uppermost in the minds of Maldives watchers is if the country was moving away from the strategic sphere of Indian influence, and has begun tilting towards China.
Islamic State (IS), metaphorically a "baby" of al-Qaeda, may not survive for a long time when public fascination with it wanes, says Dr. Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern Studies and director of the Institute for Transregional Study, Princeton University, USA.
The Organisation of Islamic Conference, often called (inappropriately though) the Islamic UNO, had, ironically, never visualized its purported role as the defender of the faith. Over the years, so diffused had its role become that several disillusioned leaders, like Libya¿s Colonel Gaddafi, termed it a Dead Horse, a nomenclature that describes the conference aptly even today.
On November 3, the White House turned red once more.When the men, and women, in blue were finally convinced that George W Bush was going to reoccupy the most powerful chair in the world, a chunk of the deeply divided America groaned loudly. Joining them in their crib was, apparently, the rest of the world.
People have thought in the past that a three-party system can achieve maximum stability in Pakistan. Observers will be keen to look at how the Pakistani military will be factored into the new dynamic.
In defeating Irom Sharmila, the voters of Manipur have demonstrated their opposition to her call for the revocation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from the State. It also exposes human rights activists of all hues
General Rawat seems to revel in making these politically loaded remarks. One conclusion of this is that he is not being adequately supervised by the government of the day. The other is that he is pushing the envelope with an eye on a post-retirement political career.
Whether South Korea builds a nuclear bomb on its own or not, nuclear weapons are gaining greater importance in the national security thinking of many states in the Indo-Pacific.
Who used chemical weapons against whom? Is Assad regime guilty? We may never know. What is certain is that one more country in the Middle East will be reduced to an ungovernable territory. Welcome home Al-Qaeda!
The killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was a crippling blow to the global terrorist group and its violent agenda. The manner in which US special forces took him out in his protected lair will seriously undermine the morale of terrorist groups and their sympathisers across the world.
If Barack Obama can match his oratorical skills with decisive action and emulate Roosevelt's bold economic measures and the Star Wars programme of Ronald Reagan, America can well embark on the path to economic recovery at home and overcome the strategic challenges that threaten its once pre-eminent global position.
For the BJP's electoral constituents across India – most of whom only conceive of Kashmir through the constant consumption of propaganda – Modi has scored a huge political win.
The Dalai Lama had visited Arunachal Pradesh six times before this. But he was not as old then.
China’s refusal to resolve the border dispute, and force Delhi to accept Beijing’s primacy, cannot be acceptable to India
If hydro power potential of 150,000 MW is to be realised by the end of 2030 as assumed in the Integrated Energy Policy 2006, the government must ensure that policies address the crucial stumbling block of regulatory, social and environmental instability.
The usual shady politicking ensures that it doesn’t take a psephologist to figure out who will win the Pakistan elections.
Whatever be the truth about Tipu Sultan, the one fact on which there can be little debate is that he fought against British occupation till the very end. If we are to look at our history through the lens of religious bigotry, the first war of independence in 1857, for example, would be of little significance.
USA solar industry got a setback with almost three solar companies, including Solyandra Inc., declaring suspension of their operations and plans. Criticising China's role in the failure of the U.S solar companies may come as a natural defence mechanism, but then China can't be completely held responsible.
The United States (US)-led global economic order has survived crises through structural adjustments and institutional flexibility. Yet, even as it may withstand the disruptions of Donald Trump’s presidency, more fundamental shifts are underway. This brief examines whether recent developments in US trade and monetary policies are temporary disturbances or signals of structural transformations. Early signs suggest that while dollar centrality end
Trump’s “toned down” stance on the South China Sea issue, his emphasis on “America first” policy and his soft attitude towards China have made many Japanese leaders suspect that the US is retreating from Asia.
The problem for the US in assuring an orderly withdrawal and to decide on how much force to leave behind is the utter lack of trust between Afghanistan, Pakistan and itself. It is difficult to accurately anticipate how the situation will evolve in 2015 after the Americans go home, but whatever it is, it will not be a simple uncomplicated situation and may not be all that warm and friendly for Pakistan.
Pakistan, with its innumerable terrorist organisations, some of them now working on their own, would provide enough fertile ground for organisations like ISIS to thrive within and spread outwards from here. It must be remembered that Al Qaeda leadership is still based in the FATA of Pakistan from where it continues to give directions.
The attacks in Jammu and Kashmir are so few that correlating them with demonetisation would be a tricky exercise.
Shakespeare wondered what was in a name, but then again, it was a time before Top Level Domains, global brands with billions of dollars riding on them, and internet governance bodies like ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) existed.
