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Mr. Brajesh Mishra, former National Security Advisor and now Trustee of Observer Research Foundation, recently gave an interview to Mr. Karan Thapar. The interview was televised by CNN-IBN. Given below is the text of the interview"

The current refugee crisis in Europe is unlikely to end soon as one third of Syria's 20 million population are potential migrants, if the situation in the country itself will not change, says Jakob von Weizsaecker, Member of the European Parliament.

The intolerant liberal in India considers all alternative opinion to be moronic and the right-wing ideologue describes opposition to their stated position as blasphemy. Both are unwilling to listen to the other, much less understand and accept a civilised debate. Consequently, both are equally dangerous.

The advancements that North Korea has made in terms of miniaturization of the nuclear device may be significant, particularly in the backdrop of long-range delivery vehicles. Having tested the longer-range missiles in recent months, threat to even the US has increased.

Around 300 million people in India’s villages are still without power.

A nuclear doctrine states how a nuclear weapon state would employ its nuclear weapons both during peace and war.

A closer reading of the joint statement issued by Chinese President Xi Jinping after a meeting with the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych last month, suggested China was merely offering boiler plate assurances to Ukraine.

India’s young women, now more educated and healthier than ever, are entering a phase of significant socio-economic progress. Many of these women also aspire to become social innovators. With gender parity in education and an increasing number of women in STEM fields, they have increased potential for social innovation. However, barriers such as gendered social norms, domestic and care responsibilities, the digital divide, safety concerns, limit

The world is experiencing a crucial shift; a new industrial revolution. This time, the colour is green, and the aim is a cleaner, more livable world for future generations. This industrial revolution will require unprecedented access to critical minerals like graphite, cobalt, lithium, and copper, used for some of the most advanced technologies of our time. Many of these minerals are scattered around the globe, and states that do not have the nat

Countries like India are in the phase of a transition where the public policy challenges presented by overnutrition are in addition to those posed by undernutrition, instead of replacing traditional challenges of undernutrition.

What India needs badly is FDI with it technology transfer and hopefully that would come after Obama's India visit. The inflows have already raised India's reserves to $322 billion recently. Also, the stock market has been on the roll before and after Obama's visit, though because of reasons other than the visit.

The President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has earned the ire of the world by his much publicised remarks about the Holocaust. His logic is convoluted; his indiscretion has not gone un-noticed in Iran and in the world at large. A debate has also surfaced about the language used, its syntax and context.

Tax heavens will exist as long as corrupt corporations and looting dictators do. The only way in which tax heavens can be countered is through technological development, and systems like Swift, which increase transparency of transactions, suggested noted investment analyst Mr. K. Arunachalam.

The COVID-19 pandemic has once again highlighted the increasing frequency of spillover of infectious disease from wild animals into humans. The SARS coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) almost certainly “jumped” into humans from bats, evolved towards efficient human-to-human transmission, and caused a global pandemic. Ecological changes such as deforestation, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change are important drivers of disease

The coming together of cognitive computing, digital devices with capabilities to touch, feel, smell and hear and super-speed Internet is poised to transform telemedicine.

The multiple ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the lockdowns imposed by countries as a response, are being felt in sectors ranging from agriculture to healthcare. The global community must now hurdle massive obstacles to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To correctly assess the impact of the pandemic on global sustainability-driven concerns, it is important to understand not only the inter-linkages between the SDGs,

The concept of ‘intelligence’ immediately brings to mind a covert world of spies, secrets, and classified documents. That might have been true in the past, but in the current age, Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) is gaining prominence. OSINT is intelligence based on information that is publicly available and processed by any interested party, and complements traditional intelligence while providing greater situational awareness to a range of

Blue Economy is fast becoming an area of huge interest for African policymakers. Has the rhetoric translated to concrete developmental outcomes? This brief examines the question of how the concept of ‘Blue economy’ should be operationalised nationally and regionally in Africa. It highlights strategic entry points that should be driven by both public and private sectors and supported by South-South cooperation: the development of ports, promot

The March 16-visit of US Secretary of State Condeleza Rice to New Delhi is an unprecedented, landmark visit at the most opportune time', said the Indian Foreign Secretary, Mr Shyam Saran, while Inaugurating the ORF-Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Dialogue on East and South East Asia, at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), on March 17, 2005.

Twenty-four undergraduate students, studying history, journalism, economics, political science, and commerce, in different DU colleges, such as Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Hansraj, Hindu, Indraprastha, LSR, Miranda House, Ramjas, and Sri Venkateswara, took part in the workshop.

ORF and Hammurabi & Solomon, a law firm, have submitted a memorandum to Justice Verma Committee, detaling suggestions in the law and the government setup to provide for speedier justice and enhance safety and security of women.

Lebanon backed by Britain and France introduced the UN resolution on Libya, supported by the US. What next? Not quite clear except that a huge question mark has been placed on the future of east Libyan oil reserves, rather like the one on Kirkuk in Iraq's Kurdish north.

What is required is a complete transformation of the system including steps like appointing of a Chief of Defence Staff as a single point military advisor, establishment of joint theatre headquarters, and actual integration of the military into the Ministry of Defence.

The Modi Government is reportedly trying to bring a legislation which will overhaul the antiquated bankruptcy law. Now whether the government will succeed or face the same obdurate tyranny of numbers as recent other reform bills remains a matter of conjecture.

As expected, President General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan announced a major reshuffle of the senior officers of the Pakistan Army of the rank of Generals and Lts.General on October 2 and 3, 2004.

There is only one way in which Pakistan can survive as a nation-state. That is, the Pakistan Army will have to confine itself to being an armed force and not usurp the powers and responsibilities of the legislature and executive branch of the government. The mission objective of an armed force is to safeguard the integrity and sovereignty of the country and not run it. The people of Pakistan have a choice here.

Pakistan Army is in the throes of a dramatic transformation both in its profile and approach but is no where near relinquishing its stranglehold over the political and corporate landscape of Pakistan. The office-cadre is much more conservative but not radical,

Waziristan last month ostensibly to hunt down al Qaida and Talibanelements has been a visible failure which could dramatically alterthe already existing fault lines in the force divided betweenloyalty to Musharraf, nation and religion.South Waziristan is one of the seven areas -Khyber, Kurram,Orakzai, Mohmand, Bajaur, North and South Waziristan - which wereclubbed together as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)by the British who wanted

It is strange that the operation took place on the edge of India's exclusive economic zone, 365 km from Porbandar. It would have made more sense to have allowed the suspect boat to come into our territorial waters where we could have legally boarded it forcibly? Even if it was sunk, you could have then recovered the evidence in the shallower waters.

This brief examines the expanding China-Pakistan strategic alliance in the domain of grey-zone warfare, defined as the space between neither full-scale war nor peace. The analysis draws on 4th-century BCE statesman, Kautilya’s concept of Tushnim Yuddha (silent war) to contextualise the grey-zone approach within an indigenous framework. It examines how Pakistan utilises state-backed proxies, information warfare, and other tools of grey-zone warf

Pakistan, over the past six decades, has been the recipient of repeated bailout packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The 2024 IMF programme is the country’s 24th. While the loan provided temporary financial relief, Pakistan failed to use the opportunity to implement structural reforms, such as expanding the tax base and addressing chronic political instability. Austerity measures, as required in the IMF bailout plan, have only e

Pakistan Army Chief आइए जानते हैं कि आखिर ले. अजहर अब्‍बास कौन है. सेना प्रमुख के लिए उनकी दावेदारी क्‍यों मजबूत मानी जा रही थी. क्‍या पाकिस्‍तान सरकार ने सेना प्रमुख की नियुक्ति में निय

n July 2018, Pakistanis voted in what was the third consecutive transfer of power from one civilian government to another in the country’s 71-year history. The elections may be called a success in that winners had been declared. However, the months leading up to the elections demonstrated the power of the military, and its ability to influence election outcomes and control sections of the media. As Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan see

The outcome of Pakistan's elections has not been particularly surprising. Nawaz Sharief's PML-N is likely to form government soon. Having a trusted hand like Sharif at the helm is a plus point, but he would have to undertake a herculean labour to transform Pakistan's condition. If he fails, there will only be despair.

Although Pakistan does definitely have stability concerns, it was able. And, although the government and the institutions have generally weak legitimacy within the population, this does not necessarily translate in the rejection of the idea of Pakistan as a national entity.

With Saudi Arabia now so fearful of a rising Iran, it is quite clearly Pakistan's payback time. And Yemen could mark the beginning of a new and more significant phase in Pakistan's involvement in the security politics of the Gulf.

The superciliousness of western media is surpassed only by Pakistan's unabashed statements on CAA and preaching secularism to India.

Some years ago when Karan Thapar interviewed Pervez Musharraf, the general was self-assured and voluble. That was before 9/11 but after Kargil. Last fortnight, he was once again voluble, and when not talking about himself, he was talking about Kashmir. But his body language showed nervousness, impatience, an edginess and even tiredness. And Thapar drove a hard bargain.

Pakistan is likely to see a stable but fragile government, and the opposition will try its best to render it dysfunctional.

Saudi Arabia's recent $1.5 billion grant to Pakistan re-affirms the depth of the relationship that the two countries share. It has also brought into focus their expanding defence ties and raised concerns about Pakistan's possible role in the Syrian civil war.

Pakistan has alleged harassment of their mission's staff. Its reaction may have something to do with the internal domestic scene and the forthcoming elections.

Pakistan's first democratic transfer of power should have been a moment of hope and triumph. But, as it stands, widespread violence has marred the historic elections and all but halted the public campaigning by several prominent parties outside of Punjab.

People have voted against the military’s political favourites but General Munir still gets to cook up the next coalition government

Pakistan’s new Prime Minister, Imran Khan, faces formidable challenges. For now, the most difficult one may yet be mollifying his restive fellow Pashtuns who have suffered grievously in the Army’s anti-terror operations in the country’s tribal regions.

After Operation Sindoor, India has established new conditions for dialogue with Pakistan, focusing solely on terrorism and PoK. As a strategic partner, New Delhi expects Washington to acknowledge these conditions and avoid hyphenating India with Pakistan

India is wise to emphasise the costs to Islamabad of its obstructionism. Pakistan cannot hold the future of South Asia hostage to its India paranoia.

Islamabad will deploy all political and diplomatic tools to lobby in the West. But it senses failure