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China is a new entrant into the Indian Ocean, and there is a lot of concern over its development of ports and infrastructure and links with various countries. India must not overstate China's significance.

India and the US may have policy differences on Russia and Iran, but keep big-picture focus on defense cooperation

The Smart Cities Mission (SCM), launched in 2015, seeks to improve the quality of life in 100 cities and towns of India. Overall, its progress has been uneven, with many cities yet to achieve the desired levels of transformation. This report evaluates the first five years of the Mission, and draws lessons from its successes and failures. It discusses the physical and financial status of the projects taken up so far, and identifies the mos

The security dimension of Chabahar is based on a preferential approach towards Indian interests rather than one based on exclusivity by Iran

Greater engagement with the Taliban will create new possibilities for India as other regional players such as China, Russia and Iran look for ways to step up their engagement

This paper projects the nationwide and state-wise size of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) market under various GDP growth scenarios. The market sizes under these scenarios are expressed in monetary values at the scale of both sub-national units and the Indian economy as a whole. With the help of transactions and market share data from Phonepe, a UPI company, the paper estimates the national and state-wise base case scenario market volu

India’s emerging urban moment is caught between two realities: inadequate systems in public transportation, housing, waste management, and access to sanitation and health; and a burgeoning ecosystem of enterprising individuals, communities and start-ups pushing innovative solutions to these very same civic issues. This paper examines India’s urban picture and understands how the urban narrative of crumbling systems and inadequate infrastructu

This paper explains Russian co-option of India into the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) at a high level of participation in September 2019 and the range of agreements involved. It argues that the co-option was the result of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dissatisfaction with the economic outcomes so far for the Russian Far East of “northeast Asian regional cooperation.” Moscow related this behaviour to skewed priorities of East Asia’s �

There is a fundamental transformation in the Japanese assessment of India's role in the shaping of new Asian security architecture. There has been a perceptible change in the nature of the bilateral partnership since the turn of the century. Rather than being centred on economic interactions. Indo-Japanese ties today cover a far wider spectrum of subjects...

The process of rapprochement between India and Pakistan began during the SAARC summit at Islamabad in January 2004. The two estranged neighbors set aside the bitterness of the recent past and decided to work together for peace and stability. That such a beginning could be made is itself a major achievement.

Though domestic politics have not always promoted closer US-India defence cooperation, changed geopolitical context, regional and global advances now pull India and America together, says the US co-chair of the DTTI, Frank Kendall. Even perceptions of security challenges of both the countries are increasingly converging.

Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with RAND organized a two-day Indo-US Strategic Dialogue at ORF Campus, New Delhi, on December 10 and 11, 2003.

India must honour its treaty commitments over a resource that everyday lives depend on.

Though infiltration from Pakistan is of great concern, those from Bangladesh in the form of illegal migrants pose a more serious threat to the nation, according to Lt-Gen (Retd) Anand Verma, former Director-General of Military Operations.

This brief probes the role of the current 116th US Congress in strengthening India-US relations in the realm of defence trade and technology transfers. The analysis is done in the context of the Trump administration’s relaxation of arms export policies, as well as a rise in conservative nationalism which abhors arming partner nations that prolong US conflicts overseas. Furthermore, as the Democrat-majority House of Representatives appropriates

Today's intelligence agencies operate in highly complex environments. Cold War definitions and understanding of threats have long become redundant. Threats are multiple, layered, networked, diffused and transcend social and spatial boundaries.

India has been a major beneficiary of the decision of the Bush Administration to transfer the responsibility for the compilation and analysis of statistical data relating to significant international terrorist attacks from the Counter-Terrorism Division of the State Department to the newly-created National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) presently headed by John Brennan as the acting Director.

Union Defence Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee stressed the need for the corporate sector to adopt a greater role in India¿s defence sector. He was delivering the first annual lecture of the ORF Mumbai Chapter of Observer Research Foundation (ORF), on March 12, 2005.

In response to their experience of western colonialism, countries like China and India have sought to develop their own, indigenous and autonomous technology base. China, in the last 30 years, has succeeded in this endeavour, becoming a major manufacturing power and adopting policies to develop and market its own technologies. Such success, however, is not without critics. Developed countries, especially the US which is its principal trading part

Mainstream debates on European investment in India do not consider the full and diverse impact of investment on economic and social life, and therefore narrow the terrain for crafting richer, alternative investment policies and strategies. This paper examines three misguided—and recurring—ideas that arise in investment debates: (1) consumption growth as an inevitable effect of investment liberalisation; (2) efficiency in fresh food retail as

A decade ago this month, the United States and its British auxiliaries abused international law by invading Iraq. India looked on helplessly then, but is it in a position to affect another unjust invasion, this time directed at Iran?

It may not be the story that Paul Bremer or Iyyad Allawi would want to muse over for their grandchildren: ¿I was among the handful there...¿ Yet, that¿s truth about power-transfer in Iraq, America¿s testing-ground for western democracy in the feudalistic Gulf Arab region living in a decadent past.

Police and Army are perceived to be low . The mercenaries of the Iraqi members of the governing council such as Ahmed Chalabi are better paid. The staff of the Iraqi Police and Army were till recently not entitled to the war hazard allowance. A proposal to grant that allowance even to them was under consideration.

The wide ramparts of Delhi’s historic Red Fort have set the stage for prime ministers to grandstand every year since 1947.

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like . This 35-year old rock hymn from "Queen" might evolve to the protest song of those cyclists in Kolkata who were recently banned to use their own means of transport in any of the city's 174 busiest streets.

Many see China to be practicing a new form of imperialism in Africa as it imports primary goods from Africa and exports manufacturing goods to Africa, without transferring skills to the continent. And China-Africa ties are not free from challenges. There is also immense potential.

Promising a more inclusive and transparent development model, New Delhi is looking to become the region’s biggest partner.

Modi and Bolsonaro might be the leaders to transform this stagnant relationship.

The Taliban today undoubtedly has a stronger hold over how the US militarily plans to withdraw from the conflict in Afghanistan. This raises questions about the continuing challenges to security in South Asia—in particular, the influence of IS Khorasan (IS-K), the group’s Afghanistan avatar, and its rise both as an ISIS-aligned entity and a big-tent brand for various jihadist groups in the country. As the ‘Khorasan’ project of ISIS gets m

Islamic State (IS), metaphorically a "baby" of al-Qaeda, may not survive for a long time when public fascination with it wanes, says Dr. Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern Studies and director of the Institute for Transregional Study, Princeton University, USA.

Imran has announced that the onus is on India now to take further steps and create an enabling environment for peace.

Besides a life insurance policy, a piece of land or a house is the first large investment that every Indian makes--sometimes, nowadays, as early as at 25 years of age. Against the backdrop of this changing psyche of the Indian consumer, this Issue Brief analyses the Indian demographics and how, correspondingly, the housing finance sector has evolved.

Shakespeare wondered what was in a name, but then again, it was a time before Top Level Domains, global brands with billions of dollars riding on them, and internet governance bodies like ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) existed.

Trump's phone-call to Taiwanese President has led the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson issue a statement calling on the US to adhere to its one-China policy commitment

The terror-cadres who have returned home pose a serious threat to India, as they might serve as potential recruiters for the Syrian rebels and start sending young fighters to Syria, says media-veteran-turned-academic, Dr. Sridhar Krishnaswami.

Although Nouri al-Maliki's government might be able retake the towns overrun by the IS and the tribes with the help of Iran, United States and Russia, it might not be able to bring peace and stability to the country until an exclusive and effective policy is introduced.

Islam had reached Punjab along with the invasion of Muhammad Bin Qasim in the 8th Century. It spread in the province through the efforts of an array of Sufi saints who arrived in the province in the centuries that followed. Naturally, that meant that Islam in Punjab was deeply influenced by Sufi traditions. Today, both sides of the divided province are dotted with Sufi shrines or dargahs. The Sufi saints of Punjab have been venerated through the

Now that Pakistan has admitted that its scientists were involved in the transfer of nuclear technology,1 three major issues/questions need to be studied and analyzed. Is the problem over for General Musharraf or is it a new beginning of another round of problems? How will the Opposition react? What would be the US response?

Until 2009, India was regarded as one of the most stringent opponents of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) norm; it was, historically, a staunch advocate of a state-centred Westphalian system. But India's position has always been more complex and nuanced in all respects. Since 2009, the fundamental change that has taken place is also quite remarkable. This change can partly be accounted for by India’s noteworthy, but still ongoing trans

There is little doubt that the Lalit Modi controversy has hurt the image of the Narendra Modi Government. Mr Lalit Modi is an infamous and notorious character, who ran his businesses, including the Indian Premier League cricket, like a bucket shop.

The recent killings of minorities, migrant workers, and local police officers in the Kashmir Valley have led to an impression that the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir is once again becoming uncontrollable. On ground, however, the situation is said to be firmly under the control of the Indian State. This does not mean that terrorism has been eliminated; small terrorist groups continue to operate and attack soft targets, heightening the sen

One concrete outcome of the bilateral talks between the visiting Japanese Prime Minister and the US President was that the US was able to get Japan closer to making a commitment to the Trans Pacific Cooperation Agreement which the US has been advocating since 2011.

As I was driven into the heart of Jakarta from its international airport, I could hardly believe I was in the capital of a Muslim country, with the world's largest Muslim population. I noticed very few external signs of the Islamic character of the country in the form of mosques, calls to prayers over powerful loudspeakers, quotations from the Holy Koran written on the walls, men with beard and a white cap and women with their heads covered .

India joins the regime at a time when export regulation of dual-use technology items have become increasingly complex.

The Judicial Accountability Bill, looked at in a holistic manner, is indeed a step ahead to restore some of the fundamental values in the judicial bodies of the government -- integrity of the judges, transparency and independence of judiciary.

Many military veterans have returned the medals awarded to them for gallantry and fighting wars to the President, a sure sign of frustration and feeling of neglect.

Nawaz Sharif may have made friendly noises towards India, but two years of relative tranquility that the two countries have enjoyed along with Kashmir is threatening to become a casualty of the big power game. Some interested powers have begun to show inordinate interest in the Kashmir dispute all over again.