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Before India can reap any real economic benefits, it should take cognizance that social challenges prevailing euphoria over BBIN, has gone unnoticed.

The intensity with which India is trying to focus on the aspect of subregional affinity — in the geopolitical and geostrategic realms — finds expression in the BBIN interaction.

A lively and frank debate on India-Pakistan relationship marked the meeting between a high-powered delegation from Pakistan led by former Prime Minister Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain and an Indian team of senior diplomats, strategic analysts, commentators and policy makers led by former Indian Foreign Secretary M Rasgotra, who is presently, International Affairs Adviser, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, at ORF, Campus on March 31, 2005.

The Modi government must now attempt to transition India's economic engagements towards a more deliberate, durable and definitional framework. Well-administered LoCs offer a great avenue to do this -- and therefore must be given commensurate strategic priority and attention.

The state of the bilateral relationship between India and China has gotten rockier since the two leaders last met.

In Beijing, Mr Manmohan Singh repeated what he has long believed -- that India and China were not destined to clash and that they had enough room to grow together. This was an oblique comment on fears in China that India could join a US-led containment of China, and similar fears in India that China was creating a "string of pearls".

India must recognize that even as there may be areas that India and China cooperate occasionally, Beijing will take every opportunity to deny India any strategic advancement.

As Germany makes an important outreach to India, New Delhi will carefully watch how Berlin deals with its economic entanglement with China.

Many reform movements are active in India and have the patronage of politicians bereft of any aesthetics. But in Pakistan, the movements have declared Jehad on the soft Islam, soaked in sub continental Sufism. That is why Mr. Asif Zaradari deserves every one's best wishes for his journey to Ajmer.

Financial health of Indian banks deserves scrutiny. The RBI should strike a careful balance in its policy objectives. Tighter lending norms are unlikely to be a panacea. It must resist the temptation to resort to such short-term fixes.

Sundarbans is facing twin challenges of increased population pressure in the north and rising sea levels in the south, occasionally teamed with cyclones from the Bay of Bengal.

While there is no doubt that Modi’s outreach has paid us rich dividends, it takes two to tango. The UAE leadership has taken a pragmatic and forward-looking view of the rise of India. It also sees a convergence of interests in standing against religious extremism. As the IPL kicks off, it is important to shed our own stereotypes, to update perspectives and take a fresh look at a country that has emerged as such a vital partner in such a short s

The European Union (EU) had been lurching from one crisis to the next even before a majority of British voters expressed their desire to leave it. While staying away from the Brexit debate itself, its implications for UK and EU, and the politics and motivations in the run-up to the vote, this paper argues that at the very least the referendum is a wake-up call for Europe to begin to address some of its structural and operational shortcomings in a

China aims at a world order in which India is firmly established as a subordinate power.

This paper presents a status report of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) on two crucial development parameters—inequality and poverty—that have a significant bearing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; especially SDG-1 and SDG-10). The paper tracks the origins and movements of absolute and relative poverty, and income and wealth inequality in the BRICS economies over time, highlights the associated cha

Chinese leaders, ever so adept at power politics, do not find it difficult to understand where Modi is coming from. If Modi has surprised the world with his enthusiasm for China, Beijing is also pulling out all the stops to woo the Indian PM.

The legacy cross-border payment infrastructure is replete with issues of high costs, limited access, low speed, and opaque structures, which have limited the potential of cross-border payments to enhance international trade and foster economic growth in emerging economies. The increased demand for transparent, accessible, faster and cheaper solutions in the financial sector has pushed the private and public sectors to accelerate investments in in

It has been a few weeks since the ¿momentous¿ Islamabad declaration by Indian PM Vajpayee and Pakistani leader Gen.Musharraf. The full effects of the declaration may not be known for a few months at least, but there have been enough clues coming out of South Asia for prognosticators to decipher. But first one must look at the declaration itself.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been raising the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh for a long time now, identifying itself with the “anti-foreigners agitation” in Assam in the 1980s. The party has recently amplified its position, twin-tagging the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh with a promise to update the National Register of Citizens, and amend the Citizenship Act to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs

Even as Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) promise to revolutionise the battlefield, very little analysis moves beyond the great powers to examine the interests that middle powers may have in these systems. Shaped by their own geostrategic contexts, demographic issues and geography challenges, countries like India, South Korea, Indonesia or the Philippines may find utility in LAWS for improving the efficiency of their forces, reducing both

For a country as self conscious of its past as India, culture and civilization are alluring themes. In recent weeks two themes have surfaced which may attract attention. One idea has been placed in the public square by Justice Markandey Katju.

Emotion, rather than substance, had been the vehicle of the BJP for spreading its reach. But times are changing and it would have been better if the party was talking of a new vision of India which lays out a roadmap for eliminating poverty and squalor.

The landlocked Kingdom of Bhutan, which borders two Asian giants--China in the north and India to the south-- is some sort of a misfit in this tightly enclosed geographic space. Its two neighbours when compared to Bhutan are a world apart,

Ties of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan with Nepal, Bangladesh and India stand to be boosted. Trade ties with Bangladesh are expected to be intensified with India allowing transit to Bangladesh for trade with Bhutan.

The small Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, surrounded by two giant regional superpowers, India and China, is showing the world that simple resolve and strong political will can pave way for a huge change.

America needs a strong India in the Indo-Pacific as a partner. And India, too, needs an America that can sort its internal challenges to be able to pay attention to strategic realities

As far as India’s domestic affairs go, the Modi government will not get the free ride it has got so far even if the Biden administration will not allow its activist impulses to override US strategic interests.

Given the criticality of this partnership for ensuring a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific region, India will be keenly watching the Biden-Xi meeting.

Biden has a long list of policy decisions taken by Trump during his term that he will have to work on correcting. Not all of them will be easy to reverse

During a roundtable with a delegation of EU Members of Parliament, the ORF Director pointed out the great chance the international community has today in setting up electricity generating plants in India with green technology.

Former Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Mr. M Ganapathi, has emphasised the importance of the Indian Ocean in global developments in the 21st Century and the importance now given to the region by the government.

Bangladesh and India are standing at a take-off stage in their relationship despite anti-Indian groups and political parties trying to find fault with Hasina's moves. The Chinese and Pakistani lobbies are unhappy with this growing engagement.

Mr. Manish Tewari, Member of Parliament, has introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to regulate the functioning and use of power by the Indian intelligence agencies within and outside India and to provide for the coordination, control and oversight of such agencies.

The Bay of Bengal is highly prone to extreme weather events, many of which result in massive disaster. The sub-regional grouping, BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral and Technical Cooperation), took a long time to begin nurturing their collective capabilities in disaster mitigation. It was only after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which caused overwhelming devastation in the region, that BIMSTEC identified the area of ‘Envir

As the Bay of Bengal region continues to rise as an economic and strategic hub, there is increasing awareness of the role to be played by the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in promoting growth, development and stability in the region. Having kept a low profile in its 20 years of existence, BIMSTEC is now being seen as a potential driver of integration between South Asia and Southeast As

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has gained more importance recently because of the many hurdles that have come in the way of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) since 2016, mainly due to issues between India and Pakistan. This brief explores the possibilities of stronger trade and investment ties between the BIMSTEC nations by expediting the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (F

Two decades since its inception, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has yet to truly succeed as an instrument of regional integration. The primary reason for the group’s slow progress is general inertia, or lack of interest amongst its members. There have also been more pressing national and regional issues that have overtaken the group’s development. This is set to change under the im

As BIMSTEC pushes for transport connectivity, it stands to gain from other, complementary transport connectivity projects that are emerging in the region. BIMSTEC can also take advantage of extant policy designs, and aligning its projects with the various national, bilateral and multilateral projects either ongoing or being planned. Given India’s key role in BIMSTEC — owing not only to its geographical location but also its capabilities — i

Severe inequality in the allocation of public finance is a primary reason for rural impoverishment.

If the BJP stands by its leader Arun Jaitley's illogic, it must necessarily oppose any negotiation of India's land boundary disputes with any of its neighbours, including China, Pakistan and Nepal. If this is a considered position of a party that is in striking distance of power, one shudders to think what the foreign policy of a BJP government might look like.

If Modi is a strong leader who is bringing greater purposefulness to India's China policy, Xi is even more powerful at home. He has conveyed a strong interest in transforming relations with New Delhi and is willing to explore opportunities with Modi.

As IndiaChain, the Indian government’s blockchain initiative remains in beta stage, private companies like BanQu are demonstrating small-scale successes in linking blockchain technology with the agriculture industry. Blockchain technology connects buyers and sellers and allows farmers, especially those without access to formal financial institutions–who tend to be female–the opportunity to create digital identities and build credit historie

Blue economy’ is the integration of ocean economy development with values of social inclusion and environmental sustainability, along with dynamic and innovative business models. For India, however, blue economy extends beyond being merely an economic and environmental proposition. It presents India with an unprecedented opportunity to meet its national objectives, strengthen connectivity with neighbours, and exert influence in the surrounding

The slow pace of rail track construction in India is a total contrast to the development across the border. China has already built a 1142 km-long electrified railway line from Golmud to Lhasa. Now it has plans to extend it to Shigatze and Yatung, reaching almost Nathu La pass.

After the successful operation into Myanmar against Naga insurgents, it is natural for all Indians to feel thrilled at the valour and skill of our forces and show it. But, it is not so natural for a government to beat the drum in this fashion.

Unlike many other countries where China is making risky investments, Delhi is a more credible long-term economic partner for Beijing. If China is ready for a genuine consultative approach with India and is willing to facilitate serious tie-ups between companies in both countries, Modi should embrace President Xi Jinping's Silk Road initiative.

Under the Vibrant Villages Programme nearly 3,000 villages selected along the 3,400-km-long border are set to get better infrastructure facilities