Search

The Observer Research Foundation’s first Tech Huddle was held on 23 November 2023 and focused on the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) in India, highlighting the rapid growth and adoption of AI as well as the complexities associated with developing regulatory frameworks for it. AI governance is in its infancy, both globally and in India, and grapples with issues such as the explainability of AI systems as well as the embedded biases, s

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.

Making the NSA the chairman of the Strategic Policy Group of the National Security Council could be part of an effort to paper over the real problems relating to the dysfunctional defence system.

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.

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.

The visit demonstrated the diversified and comprehensive nature of the India-Australia partnership.

India’s engagements in the Indian Ocean reveal a tactically proactive but strategically defensive mindset

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

It has historically been assumed that while the nature of war remains the same—i.e., violence inflicted on the adversary to bend them to one’s will—the character of warfare changes with technology, organisation, politics and culture. This notion has changed. Over the past decade, the nature of war has also changed, with increased use of non-contact and non-kinetic modes of warfare expanding the battlefield spatially and temporally.

We will see the rise of a New World Order driven by national interest, reliability of partners, and of course, economic factors. India has to use a “Gated Globalisation” framework to negotiate this change.

The budget growth, clearly aimed at countering the challenge along the Sino-Indian border, is still marginal.

New Delhi and Canberra are likely to conclude the much-awaited Mutual Logistics Sharing Pact — as well as other agreements covering science and technology and public administration.

India’s imperatives in the East and West are not the same. But, both are important.

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.

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.

India’s desire to reconfigure the global balance of power is predicated on its ability to become an indispensable element in the global economic order. Thus, it is not surprising that the new foreign trade policy seems to shed the reticence of the past.

Narendra Modi has much work ahead.

India’s endeavour to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a well-defined and time-bound manner is critical for national and global development. This paper examines India’s data availability to assess the SDGs related to health and nutrition. While India is still facing severe challenges of generating disaggregated information on mortality and cause-specific deaths, the desired data on nutrition and healthcare utilisation are la

In the backdrop of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India, a roundtable discussion was organized by Observer Research Foundation on December 1, 2006 to assess the outcome of the visit and its impact on relations between the two countries. The discussion focused on how the India-China relationship would evolve in the wake of the visit.

This paper explores the impact of India’s federal architecture, particularly its tax-sharing structure and system of fiscal transfers, on the state of the country’s healthcare. It examines the existing system of intergovernmental transfers and pays particular attention to the Fourteenth Finance Commission’s new devolution framework that has enhanced the previously constrained fiscal spaces of states. This, in turn, will likely have implicat

The phenomenon of individuals leaving their home country and making their way to conflict zones to join terror and insurgent groups is not new. In the past few years, however, the numbers of these “foreign fighters” have increased: thousands of people from more than 80 countries have made their way to Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and other battle zones. As countries in the West struggled to deal with these intra-geographic threats from radicalis

India began investing in Space science and technologies in the 1960s, putting in place an administrative structure similar to that for Atomic Energy. However, unlike the atomic energy domain which came under the 1948 Atomic Energy Act (revised in 1962), the country’s space activities are yet to be regulated by specific legislation. India’s space agency, ISRO, has historically viewed space technology applications primarily for societal develop

A comprehensive guide to the history of India’s agriculture policy in the context of the recently enacted Farm Laws.

India’s aspirations to become the third largest economy in the world by 2027, and a developed country by 2047, need to be backed by a liquid, deep, and well-functioning debt market—something that the country does not have. Banks in India typically lack the ability to sponsor long-term projects because their liabilities are of a relatively shorter tenure. An efficient Indian corporate bond market with lower costs and faster issuances could pro

The authors propose an 'India exception' in global climate talks as the only realistic pathway to a global climate deal, which could also be a key tool in cementing stronger ties between India and the US, two critical actors in the evolving international order.

Pakistan cannot afford to turn off its terrorism tap.

The strategic location of these islands demands New Delhi’s full attention as it can open new vistas for India’s maritime strategy

New Delhi’s engagement after America’s exit must build on its resonating vision of a stable and plural Afghanistan

Anti-India sentiments have gone viral in rural Nepal and unless urgent steps are not taken, this could lead to a widening gap between India and Nepal, according to former Minister of Water Resources of Nepal, Dr. Dipak Gyawali.

The 'Arab Spring' has given an opportunity to India to present itself as a model to other countries, feels Prof Gawdat Bhagat of the Near-East and South Asia Centre for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, Washington DC.

India-US defence ties have been improving significantly.

It seems unlikely that the bilateral relations will improve significantly — there are a couple of indicators of the slight improvement in the relations.

Despite their growing usage in armed conflict, artificially intelligent unmanned combat systems raise questions of law, ethics and accountability

India has been proactive in the Arms Trade Treaty debate and has submitted its views on the issue. Currently, the debate is shifting towards the content of the treaty. Differences continue to exist, but India feels the final treaty should emerge by consensus.

The broader convergence of strategic interests between India and Singapore is the driving factor for these engagements.

In India, 600 million people face acute water shortages, and the demand for domestic water has risen by some 20 percent since COVID-19, as awareness about hygiene increased. The use of treated wastewater is among the strategies that can be employed to address the shortage. This brief makes an economic case for using treated water to plug the increasing demand-supply gap by comparing key learnings from successful global models and highlighting how

At the congress of the Communist Party of China last week, Xi Jinping announced reforms for the People’s Liberation Army.

Logistics is meaningless if it cannot do what is central to war—fighting. In order to bolster the logistical capabilities of all the major service branches of the Chinese military—including the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), PLA Air Force (PLAAF), and the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF)—the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under President Xi Jinping established a Joint Logistic Support Force (JLSF) in 2016. To what extent does the JLSF

The India-Japan strategic partnership has been growing stronger, and this also extends to their cooperation on matters of outer space.

China is showing Nepal that the Himalayas may not be a trade barrier for rail-based trade with Asia or Europe or even maritime trade through the South China Sea. The landlocked country is now actively considering the use of alternative routes from India’s sea ports to China’s, once its roads and rails log into the BRI. This brief examines three learnings from Nepal’s growing engagement with China through the Belt and Road International Trad