2479 results found
Due to various policy initiatives undertaken by the Rwandan government, Kigali has now emerged as the cleanest city in Africa.
When the United Kingdom (UK) releases the highly anticipated integrated review of its foreign, defence, security and development policy in March, it will mark the first formal iteration of the UK’s Indo-Pacific strategy. This brief explores the dynamics that are driving the UK’s tilt to the Indo-Pacific. It identifies three key drivers that are prompting the shift: a reappraisal of China, the economic fallout of Brexit, and the UK’s close t
How have multiple domestic and foreign policy factors influenced the United Arab Emirates’ recent stance against Russia in the UNGA meeting?
Afghanistan has eroded US power and credibility. A transactional America will now encounter transactional friends
With the India–US dynamic and bilateral strategic engagements with West Asian powers increasing significantly, direct policy outcomes will become mo
America’s leader has signalled the continuity of its China policy but Indo-Pacific countries aren’t yet sure of it
In our dealings with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, we have often appeared defensive, occasionally apologetic, leading to a bleeding heart syndrome among some of us. This approach ignores that Pakistan has cynically used violence, and the world has allowed it to do so, as an instrument of foreign policy. This attitude also mixes sympathy and concern for the innocent with that for the terrorist.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is seeking to promote a political model with centralisation and one-party rule at the core to achieve economic growth and stability. This brief assesses the extent to which the CCP’s policymaking mechanisms and internal politics have influenced China’s strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The virtual summit between Biden and China might define the new policy shift that will govern US-China relations in the coming days
The T20 engagement group of the G20 will address key areas of policy focus—from Digital Public Infrastructure and Macroeconomics to Climate Finance
In embracing the metaverse, data-driven smart cities can unlock transformative possibilities for urban life quality for building new planning models
India's Afghanistan policy has for long been hos tage to the vagaries of policy making in Washington and the enormous baggage of myths and wishful thinking which burden its strategic outlook.
A politically, geographically and economically integrated Central Asia is important for India to achieve its goal of ‘connecting’ with the region.
A gradual development has tasked think tanks with the responsibility of shaping contemporary narratives around economics, security, politics, nuclear arrangements, among others.
Among India's neighbours, Bangladesh occupies a special position not only because of India's role in its liberation but because geographically, too, it surrounds Bangladesh from three sides. The beginning of close economic relations between the two countries can be traced back to 1971. After its independence, Bangladesh's requirements of consumer goods, especially food, came from India. Over the years, the country has sought easier access to Indi
The Modi government appears to have abandoned the multi-pronged policy of its predecessor of simultaneously engaging Islamabad and dealing with cross-border terrorism. This government made a surprise beginning with the idea of promoting South Asian unity . But since then it has been fixated on countering terrorism at the cost of everything else, though Pakistani covert activity in India has seen a sharp decline since 2008.
The 2021 Conference of Parties 26 (COP26) propelled nations to ramp up their climate targets and the concomitant Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. However, the updated NDCs and the announced pledges for 2030 remain insufficient and poorly aligned with the targets of the Paris Agreement. The reduction in projected 2030 emissions is estimated to be 7.5 percent—far lower than the 30 percent requi
In recent years, India has become a hot investment destination for Chinese companies. While Chinese investments in India have come under greater scrutiny following the 2020 Galwan incident, this has done little to reverse Chinese enterprises’ strong appetite for the Indian market. At the same time, Beijing is increasingly concerned that in their rush to capitalise on the Indian market, Chinese companies are embracing the ‘Make in India’ pol
Whether or not a military intervention in Male would have restored democracy without harming India’s credibility in the region is uncertain. That it would not have limited Beijing’s growing profile is unquestionable.
Narendra Modi's view of foreign affairs is likely to be shaped by the outlook of his contacts in the world of commerce. This is not a bad thing, because, the key to any "tough" or decisive policy rests on the state of the Indian economy. But toughness as policy is fraught with all manner of danger, like Nehru's "tough" policy with China in 1962.
The Bay of Bengal region links South Asia and Southeast Asia, with the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) serving as a platform of trans-border cooperation. The BIMSTEC’s prime assets are the historical and cultural links between the nations, and their spirit of community. However, the lack of both a robust decision-making mechanism and a set of common rules have slowed down the growth of th
Although Germany’s China strategy and the UK report didn’t meet the desired expectations, they still indicate Europe’s recalibration of its Chin
In an effort to facilitate the digitisation of the country’s healthcare systems, India released a National Digital Health Blueprint in January 2020, which provides a detailed framework for a “Federated National Health Information System.” This brief makes a case for expanding the scope of the blueprint to include digital therapeutics, digital diagnostics, and telemedicine. It proposes a “National Digital Health Blueprint 2.0,” with dive
India’s hill cities are unique poles of development. While they have managed to record some degree of economic growth, increasing urban population and unfavourable topography have also made such growth haphazard and unsustainable. In turn, this has threatened the quality of the built environment and of urban life in these cities. This report studies the case of the hill city of Aizawl, the administrative capital of Mizoram, which is part of the
Grasslands that provide a variety of ecosystem services for humans—including carbon storage, which is important to mitigating climate change—are among the world’s most threatened habitats. In India, grassy ecosystems are not accorded any legal protection. Vast acres of these grasslands are converted for revenue-generating use, altering their ecological dynamics and threatening the livelihoods and cultures of pastoral and agrarian communitie
Executed properly, Aadhaar could become a central pillar of India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy.
This paper examines the environmental and policy-level challenges to the actualisation of US-India counterterrorism cooperation. Indeed, despite their seeming convergence on the imperative of effective counterterrorism, there has been limited cooperation between the two countries. While the US’ sense of “American exceptionalism” and its hegemon status purports a utilitarian notion of the adversary, India’s regional power status makes its
In 2019, the Indian Railways (IR) recorded zero fatalities from accidents caused by operational errors. However, many people continue to meet with train-related mishaps that are beyond the IR’s control; many of these accidents result in death. The IR’s experience in preventing deaths in accidents caused by operational errors (technically called “consequential accidents”) offers lessons on minimising all railways-related fatalities. This p
This paper creates an index to track the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation) across India’s states. The SDG 6 index incorporates both supply-side indicators and demand management variables, as well as institutional interventions. In this paper, state-wise indices are constructed to identify their respective performances in the domains of access to clean water and provision of sanitation facilitie
Three main issues were discussed in the 40th Munich Conference on Security Policy held on 6-8 February 2004: prospects of transatlantic relations, future of NATO, and future developments in the Middle East. As usual, several Defence and Foreign Ministers, representatives of think tanks, academia, media and the defence industry attended the conference.
The most important reform that needs to be introduced is to permit the use of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) across the entire State and not ju
The successful implementation of the PLI scheme will be crucial in realising India's vision of becoming a leading manufacturing hub on the world stage
त्रिकोणीय साझेदारियां ना सिर्फ़ आज के दौर की प्रमुख चुनौ
Obama has had to modify his China policy in response to a more aggressive China. But present challengers are set for big changes in America's Asia policy
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s phone call to President-Elect Donald Trump last week triggered uproar in foreign policy circles of China, US & beyon
The generational shift in American policy will have three critical consequences for the Middle Kingdom and its ambitions for leadership in the fourth
US President Donald Trump’s new Afghanistan strategy for America’s longest war has potential to drastically alter existing regional relations. The policy, announced after an exhaustive eight-month-long review process, attempts to give a new direction for future US involvement in Afghanistan. Becoming president at a time when old alignments are undergoing transition, Trump’s task has not been easy. Given the constraints, however, Trump’s A
The US aims to promote music diplomacy to promote global peace and democracy, as part of its larger foreign policy goals
The upcoming Turkish elections could reconfigure Türkiye’s domestic policy and shape the long-term foreign policy course of this critical middle po
After demonstrating a sharp sense of deeper engagement with the neighbours, from the day of the swearing in, it was widely expected that Modi would exercise a more muscular foreign policy. Surprisingly, our official response to events in Male has been timid and even that has been rebuffed by the Foreign Minister of Maldives.
The centre of gravity of India's foreign policy seems to rest in Pakistan. India has not been able to overcome this psychological vulnerability, despite the growing strategic separation between India and Pakistan. It gets a lot worse when it comes to Pakistan's relations with America.
Whilst Canada has adopted a similar stance to that of the US on Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Mexico's neutral stance on it points to the coun
An approach to building a child’s creative intelligence and skill development through real life roles, and building a strong sense of self and commu
The criticism of Sultan al Jaber's appointment as COP28 president might be well-meaning but the rush to judgement reflects an incomplete understanding of both the host country and the individual.
Since cities have little control over automobile policy, they must accommodate more automobiles within their geographical limits by employing better p
