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Rather than allowing events to drift towards a political or even military showdown, Maldivian President Mohammed "Anni" Nasheed has shown great fidelity to democratic principles in a country where none existed before him by stepping down from office with grace and poise.

One can see the problem of illicit financial flow in a narrow view in terms of loss of tax revenue, but the more often missed out perspective is that these illicit flows create imbalances in the global economy that upset the efficiency of capital. Illicit financial flows cannot be curtailed without the collaborative effort of both developing as well as developed countries

In less than a week, more than 100 people have been killed by terror group Boko Haram in the northern part of Nigeria. This brutal Islamic group remains a significant problem confronting the democratic government of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Brazilian economy is in a new period of transition. Its challenges today are of tax incentives in order to steer foreign investments towards the domestic shores and curbing rising inequality and urban-rural divide.

The politics of Centre-State relations has been a powerful force in shaping India's foreign policy. India's rapid economic growth has furthermore given a new found influence to regional parties, leading to their disproportionate influence over the formulation of foreign policy.

Tamil Nadu has a history of Dalit-centric violence, which has erupted independently in the southern districts, and also the western Dharmapuri belt, where Naxalites have thrived and revived from time to time.

Both India and China seem to be fixated on a "status quo plus" option, in that each side wants something more than the current LAC. Clearly, much more work needs to be done. For the moment, incremental progress is better than no progress at all.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, which is threatened by the formation of the Narendra Modi government in Delhi, have been reactivating networks of LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad in Kashmir since May/June 2013.

Is the United States in the process of creating a brand new Muslim bloc? If that be the case, it would know that the execution of the plan necessarily involves the cessation of Kosovo from Serbia in the name of "Self-Determination". This, Russia will not allow at any cost. Belgrade is Moscow's Slav ally. And, in a complex way, the Albanian-Serb and the Washington-Moscow stand-off links up with the global scramble for energy source

An independent country for the Kashmiris is impossible and can remain only as a dream, said Sardar Mohd. Abdul Qayyum Khan, former President and former Prime Minister of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), while delivering an address at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, on September 26, 2005.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist), which came into existence on September 21,2004, through the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist--People's War ) ,

China has a somewhat limited aim to keep India as a neutral in their real battle that for pre-eminence in East Asia, where they are pitted against the Japan-US combine. India has no real stakes in the conflict, and it is not as if Japan supports the Indian position on our borders with China or Jammu & Kashmir. Yet, New Delhi needs to handle the issue with a great deal of care.

While President Obama has been categorical that the new US defence strategy should not be seen as a drawdown of the U.S., the important question is how the proposed budget cuts are going to affect certain weapon platforms such as the F-35.

As two great civilizations and influential Asian powers, India and China share common responsibilities to ensure peace and stability in the region and the world at large.

Britain's former Chief Scientific Advisor and Head of the Government Office of Science, Sir David King, has said that both India and China should take a leadership role at the global platform for Climate Change.

India's ability to separate the Palestinian issue from Indo-Israeli relations could be tested in the future. As the security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories deteriorates and Israel faces greater international pressure to negotiate an end to the conflict, it may not be long before Tel Aviv turns to New Delhi for diplomatic support.

Common values and shared concerns provide a natural corollary for Indo-Israeli cooperation, according to experts. Highlighting the various avenues for cooperation, they especially pointed out defence and agriculture sector.

There is an increasing realisation in New Delhi about the cross-benefits available to the country on social, political, economic and strategic fronts from its neighbours as they are bound to benefit from healthy bilateral and multilateral arrangements encompassing the entire South Asian region.

On the strategic side of things, Japan's economic cooperation with India is also a hedge against a rising China which is a direct threat to Japan as also India, if to a lesser extent.

North Korea's nuclear weapons capability and cooperative ties with Pakistan is a cause of concern for India. Amid reports of North Korea-Myanmar missile nexus, it becomes important for India not only to take stock of the situation but also to engage more with this reticent state.

The First R K Mishra Memorial Lecture was delivered by Major General Mahmud Ali Durrani. He was Pakistan's National Security Adviser till January 2009. A former Ambassador to the United States, General Durrani has been closely associated with Mr RK Mishra, and Observer Research Foundation, in promoting peace and dialogue between India and Pakistan

As the decade long UPA tenure comes to a close, it is quite clear that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma have not been able to persuade the Congress Party to see the strategic virtues of trade liberalisation.

It has never been a better time and never before has India come with this much strength to the negotiating table. In the end, reaffirmation and recalibration of Russia' role in India's future was prominent and the short and successful summit was capped by perhaps another nuclear submarine for India and a doctorate for Prime Minister Singh.

The 4th India-Arab Partnership Conference, organised late last month as part of the Modi government's efforts to elevate the level of engagement between the two sides, echoed the new government's agenda of economic reforms and deeper economic engagement globally and regionally.

India should look at ways to become an active party in arms trade treaty debates if it has to prove its credentials in global governance. While advancing its global governance role, India will have to also ensure that its arms procurement is not adversely affected.

Prof. Arvind Panagariya of Columbia University argues that India has not actually emerged, as US President Barack Obama said during his visit to India, but it is in fact rising. He presented his assessment about India as a rising power during a discussion at ORF.

The kidnapping of Indians in Iraq in June this year and the increasing number of Indians reportedly joining the Islamic State (IS) has elevated the degree of threat to India posed by the Sunni insurgent group.

Sri Lanka¿s new Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, has indicated the importance, and relevance of India to the Sri Lankan context, by visiting New Delhi within days of his being sworn in. His visit to India even before the conclusion of the Indian electoral exercise was testimony to the mood in Colombo for increasing New Delhi¿s role and involvement in the Sri Lanka peace process.

India has decided to adopt a wait and watch approach to the ongoing negotiations that aim to revive the trans-Afghan gas Pipeline (TAP) project. The proposed US$ 2.5 billion gas pipeline project is expected to transfer of 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas

Narendra Modi has emphatically indicated that good and close relations with the US will form the core of his global policy. In the short time he has been in power, Modi has met Obama thrice. An indication of his thrust are the close ties that the Modi government is building with Japan and Australia.

Ignoring Chinese pressures, if both India and Vietnam stand firm, they could force Beijing to moderate its expansionist claims on the South China Sea and adopt a more conciliatory stance on other regional matters.

Nowhere else is the confusion and contradiction in Sri Lanka's foreign relations more palpable than in Sri Lanka's 'India policy'. The Government of the day has no problem acknowledging the silent but significant Indian support for 'Eelam War IV' despite domestic developments and international pressures on New Delhi.

Though the relationship between India and Bangladesh is at its best and the two countries currently share great warmth in their relations, India should take some more steps for the benefit of the people of Bangladesh to sustain the warmth, opined members of a delegation of journalists from Bangladesh.

India has asked scholars and experts from BRICS nations, attendng the Academic Forum meeting, to offer solutions and new ideas to meet global challenges.

State elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, scheduled from January end to March 3, with results becoming public on March 6, are some kind of mini general elections.

The international community's increased enthusiasm about leaving Afghanistan could have an adverse impact on the human rights situation in the country, according to human rights researcher Ms Heather Barr.

In Brazil, extreme poverty has reduced from 15% to 5%, poverty from 34% to 22% and Gini index from 69% to 54% in the period of 1999-2009. So, knowledge sharing between Brazil and India in matters related to public policy and welfare programmes is of high merit.