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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit, his sixth bilateral summit with the U.S. leader in nine years in office, will not be of great significance because the circumstances of what go into a successful summit do not exist. That has to do with the paralysis of governance in New Delhi, but equally the distemper that afflicts Washington.

In New Delhi, the US Secretary of State will push for the prioritisation of long-term strategic potentialities over near-term economic upsets.

The split in the PDP is inevitable. So far, there is no evidence that New Delhi is engineering split within PDP.

Delhi must pay close attention to several pioneering initiatives undertaken by a number of Indian states to address service delivery challenges.

Given its unique position, the politics and governance of J&K have always depended on the good relations between the governments in New Delhi and Srinagar. When they have been disrupted, as happened in the 1983-87 period, it was disastrous for the state and the country.

Sri Lanka is considering a power-sharing mechanism at the Centre, said Prof. G.L. Peiris, Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister, while delivering the second R.K. Mishra Memorial Lecture in New Delhi.

As a new government led by Maithripala Sirisena takes charge in Colombo, New Delhi has a valuable opportunity to arrest the drift in bilateral relations over the last few years. The Modi government, less constrained internally than the UPA government, is in a good position to rebuild the partnership with Sri Lanka that occupies a vital position on India's maritime frontiers to the south.

The Indian President's presence at the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II in Russia on May 9 is in part about extending New Delhi's solidarity with Moscow at a time when many Western leaders have decided not to show up in protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin's policy in Ukraine.

The US has placed India in the category of 'closest partners' for defence cooperation. The official spin was that New Delhi would now be on the same footing as the closest allies of the US such as Britain. That may be the endpoint that New Delhi and Washington have decided upon, but it is far from the current reality. Both sides would need to do an enormous amount of work to attain that goal.

New Delhi and Islamabad dominated dialogue have failed to come up with any solution to vexed issues like Kashmir. May be sub-regions like Punjab and other border provinces like Rajasthan-Sind.

A close look at the pattern of violence perpetrated by criminal elements establishes beyond doubt that the violence had spread because of the failure

The Third R. K. Mishra Memorial Lecture was delivered by His Excellency Mr. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, on October 5, 2011 in New Delhi. Outlining his vision for a peaceful and stable South Asia, President Karzai stressed that all the regional players would have to work together towards achieving this goal. This is the text of the lecture and proceedings of the event.

PM Modi's decision not to join RCEP is an admission that even the prospect of joining a massive regional trade agreement isn't incentive enough for New Delhi to launch deep economic reforms.

This paper follows the proceedings of a workshop organised by ORF in August 2014 to re-examine India's nuclear doctrine. The workshop explored the challenges posed to India by Pakistan's introduction of battlefield nuclear weapons or Tactical Nuclear Weapons (TNWs), New Delhi's interest in acquiring a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system, and the growing threat perception from China.

The renewed hopes on India-China relations comes in the midst of a possible new thaw in New Delhi’s bilateral ties with Pakistan.

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.

The report is based on the key recommendations that emerged out of the deliberations at National Conclave on India's Energy Security: Major Challenges held in New Delhi on 14-15 February 2006. The recommendations emerging out of the Conclave have been compiled in this Report for consideration by the Government

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

President Bill Clinton's five-day visit to India in 2000 followed by a five-hour stopover in Islamabad convinced New Delhi that the world order had changed. Relationships were to be shaped by the new post cold war realities, not old loyalties.

There needs to be quiet dialogue to resolve their many differences, with New Delhi needing to be sensitive and generous

The middle powers are taking the middle path to dealing with the US and China, which may lead to significant challenges if New Delhi chooses to build

A roundtable at the ORF Campus at New Delhi held on 14 January made an attempt to look at the future of India and China in 2025. The session was chaired by Ambassador MK Rasgotra, President, ORF and moderated by Jim Yardley, New Delhi Bureau Chief of the New York Times.

Will the course and the outcome of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war alter New Delhi's foreign policy towards Moscow?

With King Salman expected to visit India later this year, New Delhi should be prepared to offer a smooth transition for Saudi investment into the Indi

The NDA government has not devoted sufficient attention to the Middle East in 2014. As New Delhi turns to the Gulf in 2015 and tends to its high stakes in the region, an intensive engagement with Saudi Arabia must be at the top of PM Narendra Modi's diplomatic priorities.

Recongnising the pivotal role of technology in ensuring India?s emergence as a global player, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, has launched a ?Technology Initiative?. As the first event, a one-day workshop on ?Science & Technology Challenges for India? is being hosted on May 7, 2005. The workshop brings together renowned professionals to evolve collective, cohesive thinking on issues of significance to India?s S&T performance and as

After its successful maiden meeting last year, the Asian Forum on Global Governance will be organised again in New Delhi from October 14 - 24 this year. The nomination and application process is going on since March 15. The last date for submission of applications is June 1.

India cannot afford to be a mere bystander to developments in its immediate Neighbourhood. A failure to assist Afghanistan at this crucial juncture would not only undermine India's long term security interests but would reflect poorly on New Delhi's reliance as a friendly partner in troubled times.

Why did Assumption Island project cause a furore in Seychelles? What are the main concerns of the Seychelles government, opposition and Seychellois pe

India and South Korea stand as important middle powers whose influence in the Indo-Pacific region is expanding in their own ways. At the same time, their bilateral partnership today has even bigger potential to serve as a stabilising factor amid shifting regional geopolitical equations. The current year—the 50th since the two countries established formal diplomatic ties—is an opportune moment for harnessing their converging interests. This br

A Pakistani nuclear deal would suggest that the US is determined to maintain good ties with both India and Pakistan. Those in India, who expected that Washington's unhappiness with Islamabad would result in undivided attention to New Delhi, will be disappointed. But, the US is following the logic of its geopolitical interests.

As China reconfigures India's Neighbourhood through its active promotion of new silk routes ?over the Great Himalayas and across the Indian Ocean ?New Delhi must make up its mind on how best to respond.

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.

Given the state of bilateral relations between India and China, New Delhi is doubling down on its efforts regarding strategic border infrastructure.

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.

A strong European Union is in the interest of India, New Delhi can do its bit to support this process.

As signaled by the Myanmar operations against militants, the policy shift in New Delhi must be taken seriously. One can hope that it does have a salutary effect on the extremist elements within the Pakistani establishment and the jihadi organisations located in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir also.

New Delhi must avoid getting caught up in tired existing machinations and instead forge a new path for itself that prioritises Indian strategic intere

Precisely because India has an interest in the normative process and institutionalising a space code, it is important for New Delhi to sit on the high table as an active party shaping the debate.

The election of a new government in Colombo provides New Delhi a great opportunity to reset its relations with Sri Lanka. Both countries need to set aside the contentious past and see how they can construct a 21st century relationship based on economic ties and the awareness of the need to understand each other's security concerns.

New Delhi must stop viewing its foreign relations with Colombo from the Chennai prism alone just as it was a mistake to view our relations with Bangladesh through Kolkata's priorities. Tamil aspirations in Sri Lanka are important but there are other abiding interests too.

While Colombo and New Delhi may carry historic baggage with each other on various issues, fighting ISIS is something that barely interjects with those

Reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping had proposed trilateral talks involving the shared Indian neighbour at a meeting with visiting Sri Lankan counterpart Maithripala Sirisena should make New Delhi sit up and take notice.

Though the Delhi visit of President Rajapaksa was CW Games-centric, it also caused raising of eyebrows in the strategic community in New Delhi, wondering if the re-elected President, who is scheduled to visit China later this month, is seeking to strike a parity in bilateral relations with the two Asian giants.

Since the BBC Channel IV film director has indicated that one purpose of the controversial film on the Sri Lankan war may have been to act in a particular way at the UNHRC session in Geneva next month, New Delhi has to be wary of efforts to influence its decision.

In a masterly stroke aimed at improving bilateral economic relations on the one hand, and job opportunities for the Tamil victims of the ethnic war, New Delhi and Colombo have agreed to set up Special Economic Zones (SEZ) for Indian engineering.

Dr. Ashley J. Tellis, Senior Associate Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC, spoke to Rahul Mukand, Junior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, in New Delhi recently. This interview was conducted before the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007.

Sino-Indian relations have entered uncharted territory as New Delhi seeks to engage Beijing strictly on reciprocity.