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The Observer Research Foundation's programme on Defence Procurement Reforms, following a seminar organised in May, 2012, has now moved to the second stage of identifying initiatives that can be taken in the executive and legislative branches. This Paper presents practical recommendations to improve capacities and decision-making methodologies in India's arms procurement system.
Delhi is aware that the Pak army continues to wield a veto over cooperation with India and the room for manoeuvre is limited for the civilian leaders. Yet India must encourage the leaders of the Punjab to intensify their engagement. Delhi must also strive to improve coordination and consultation with the state leadership in Punjab.
The day after External Affairs Minister, S.M. Krishna, left for Islamabad front-page headlines in mainstream English language dailies had set their preferred theme: "Krishna to nail Pak using Headley: In Islamabad Foreign Minister says he will harp on Headley revelation of ISI links to 26/11".
The demand for cash that all political parties have to contest elections has been the fountainhead that has created a bureaucratic, military and defence decision-making structure which ensures that we keep running at the same place when it comes to creating a vibrant military industry complex in the country.
The mantra in Washington is that no deal is better than a bad deal. Realisation will soon dawn that the current situation only permits North Korea’s stockpile to grow as there is zero likelihood for Chinese and Russian support for further tightening of sanctions.
When the Indian establishment serenades Governor of China¿s Xinjiang province Ismail Tiliwaldi in the capital next week, it will revive deeply embedded memories from the past¿and hold a promise to a bold new future.
It would be folly to treat the threat issued to the Indian cricket team by a terrorist organisation based in Bangladesh as posing danger only to the players. The threat issued by Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) poses a direct and serious danger to India because, despite denials by the Bangladesh Government, it is clearly an indication that terrorist groups affiliated to the Al Qaeda have made Bangladesh an operational base. The
New Delhi must now accelerate the transformative governance changes it has initiated in the North East
The US must balance its economic ambitions with environmental responsibility. With advancements in carbon capture and renewable energy, the scope of a balanced approach exists
he return of the Taliban had been in the making for a decade. Convinced that they have come to power through military means, the Taliban do not feel the need to form an inclusive government. Unlike other neighbouring countries, India had been hesitant in exploring engagement with the Taliban and ended up withdrawing from the country. However, it has legitimate interest in the stability of Afghanistan and enjoys goodwill among all communities.
Democratic multi-stakeholderism has the potential to mitigate the genuine concerns of sovereign nations in terms of protection of their cyber resources and infrastructure - not only from anonymous hackers and non-state actors, but also from the overarching surveillance mounted by the US and its allies.
The first round of boundary talks with China under the Narendra Modi government, taking place this week, is an opportunity for New Delhi to explore the territorial compromises necessary to resolve the longstanding dispute. With strong leaders at the helm in Delhi and Beijing, there are rising expectations that the two special representatives - Ajit Doval and Yang Jiechi - will be able to find an early breakthrough on the boundary dispute.
India and Latin America have never been more economically relevant to each other than they are today, with trade reaching an all-time high of US$50 billion in 2022. Key to improved economic ties in the recent few years is the heightened political will on both sides. Today there is a sense of optimism that India and the countries of Latin America can continue on this upward trajectory in the coming years of the 21st century. While the private sect
REE क्षेत्राला उद्योजकांसाठी पायाची बनवायचे असेल तर धोरणात्मक हस्तक्षेपासह स्ट्रॅटेजिक सेक्टर म्हणून मान्यता देण्याची गरज आहे.
Colby’s visit underscores a growing comfort in New Delhi with its recalibrated partnership with the US. India is no longer approaching the US with the hesitations that once defined its engagement. Nor is it seeking validation through alignment
The government has been successful in maintaining harmony with the military and preventing it from reacting violently in the aftermath of Bangladesh Rifle's mutiny.
This brief examines the transformative impact of India's ‘Startup India’ initiative, launched in 2016, on the country’s entrepreneurial landscape. Driven by the presence of digital infrastructure and government support, India's startup ecosystem has seen exponential growth in the recent years. Today, the country has some 159,000 startups and a notable number of unicorns, positioning India in third place in the global startup ecosystem. Star
India aspires to be a developed country by 2047 which may or may not be possible. For the present, vigorous reforms will be needed.
The silo-driven, ad hoc approach has meant that issues like threat perception and force structure are not managed via a centralized and authoritative overview
More than a year ago, the Vice President of India, Mr. M. Hamid Ansari, pointed out in a speech the lack of good governance that plagued intelligence agencies in India, and a subsequent need for a parliamentary oversight committee to provide democratic accountability to these agencies.
For some years now, the trading system based on the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been showing signs of strain. The old binaries that informed the debates and decisions at the WTO are being challenged as the global economic landscape is changing. This brief discusses some of the most persistent issues around the WTO: among them, the ‘developing country’ status that countries self-declare; the dispute resolution system; and the understand
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.
As the conversations around internet governance become trapped in confrontational language, it is time to move the emphasis back to decision making that works for all
The threat to regional security is mainly from pan-Islamic jihadi terrorist organisations and not from ideological or ethnic terrorist groups.
India will have to carefully navigate the emerging regional geopolitics in BIMSTEC
The paradox of the African continent is that it is resource-rich but remains poor in many parts. Has regional integration improved economic performance and does it pave the way to a better future? This paper examines West African integration--its evolution, the successes it has scored and the challenges that remain.
The need for regional integration is now BIMSTEC countries to make up for the deficit created by a crippled SAARC in South Asia
The ever increasing importance of States in foreign policy - which is traditionally a preserve of the Centre - is not restricted to India, but in fact has become an important matter of debate in international relations.
Former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Hussain Haqqani, has urged regional powers to begin dialogue to prevent Afghanistan from slipping into a civil war situation after the US pullout later this year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced nation states to shut down borders and to look decidedly inwards. In this newly emerging and highly tenuous global political economic landscape, a question that is being widely debated is what globalisation will look like in a post-pandemic world. This brief ponders the question in the context of India and its neighbourhood. Revisiting theoretical insights from ‘New Regionalism’, this analysis examines whether
One of the key issues debated today in assessing India’s rise is its role in global and regional governance. This paper attempts to assess India’s changing approach towards regionalism and argues that unlike the Nehruvian approach that overlooked South Asia in region building efforts, the new regional approach gives equal emphasis to South Asia regionalism and the wider Indo-Pacific regionalism. The paper asserts that India’s new leadership
This brief examines the education crisis that has affected close to 250 million children in India due to school closures implemented as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It underlines that the switch to remote learning has created a “regression in learning” that, while cutting across the entire socio-economic spectrum, has disproportionately affected the poor, and among them, the girls. This pandemic-induced education divide and learning l
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly proliferating the healthcare landscape and has immense promise for improving health outcomes in a resource-constrained setting like India. With emerging technology still finding its footing in the healthcare industry in the country, there are systemic roadblocks to hurdle before AI can be made transformative up to the last mile of public health. AI also carries immense challenges for India’s mostly t
This brief discusses Thailand’s Over-the-Top (OTT) industry, focusing on production, consumption and impact. It analyses the rise of online audio-visual business in the country, and the implications for traditional broadcasters. In the context of existing international practices and Thailand’s domestic situation, the brief discusses the current and future regulatory requirements of the OTT industry. It also makes recommendations for a regulat
This report tracks the changes to India’s business regulatory framework in the first 40 days of the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 virus. The Union and state governments have been highly proactive in creating spaces for doing business while managing the ongoing health crisis. The governments have attempted to modify the business-related legal infrastructure within the confines imposed through the lockdown. While under normal circumstan
In August 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its final guidelines for a regulatory sandbox for fintech firms.[1] Technology innovations are disrupting the traditional financial sector, and the RBI’s regulatory sandbox exercise is an attempt to be more agile and absorb some of this disruption. ‘Sandboxes’ give regulators a chance to work with fintech innovators, mitigate potential risks and develop evidence-based policy, while fi
Chinese President Xi Ginping, who came calling in India recently, has been considered to be the strongest leader of rising China since Deng Xiaoping. But a spate of events has raised questions as to how powerful is he and if he is really in control of the vast PLA.
With the BRICS summit, India has tried to re-imagine the multilateral forum to serve its larger strategic ends in the world order
Central business districts (CBDs) dominate economic activity in large cities. In India’s capital, New Delhi, for example, Connaught Place is a CBD. Firms relocate to CBDs due to the ease of doing business in such areas owing to retail agglomeration, functional grouping, labour pooling, and the ability to attract talent. However, recent phenomenon such as an increase in remote working, the rise in real estate costs, and the expansion of city lim
The 21st-century governance challenge is to manage globalisation while preserving the sanctity of individual pathways that humans may choose to follow in pursuit of their dreams.
As the current government in India completes its second stint in power, the timing is opportune to reflect on the trajectory that the bilateral relationship has taken up in the past decade
