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India, Iran and Russia have decided to begin using the part-ready International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal network of sea, rail and road routes between India, Iran, Central Asia and Russia. As the broader politics in the region undergo new configurations that may put to question the project’s prospects, and the evolving security situation demands continuous appraisal, it is time to refocus discussion on the economics o

Development partnerships between countries are crucial in addressing policy challenges in the developing world. Cooperation between countries in the Global South, in particular—such as those that India engages in, under its Development Partnership Administration (DPA)—is heightening conversations around the demands of sustainability. Yet, India continues to lack an appropriate framework by which to assess its development partnerships

As usual there is speculation about the normalcy of the monsoons. A deficient monsoon this year will certainly aggravate the stress of farmers who suffered losses due to the unseasonal rains in the last winter season. It will also dent the high growth profile that India is currently enjoying. Such a situation will test Modi's ability to manage crisis.

President Moon’s visit came at a time when both countries are well poised to expand their security and economic engagements.

The visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in New Delhi this week offers an opportunity to PM Modi to recalibrate India's Afghan policy towards greater realism and more modest goals. Modi must reassure Ghani that Delhi is in a "standby" mode, ready to extend, whatever support Kabul wants and feels comfortable with.

The report prepared by National Investigating Agency (NIA) on David Coleman Headley, after interrogating him for 34 hours (June 3-9, 2010), show that he was not recruited by Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) but by ISI to help in planning the Mumbai attack.

read5 January 2005

Pakistan is grappling with multiple challenges currently and perhaps the only silver lining on the horizon is the possibility of a deeper economic relationship with India. There were more questions than answers about the situation inside Pakistan.

The occupier observed from the sidelines. The occupied were summoned to be handed yet another promissory note, and a sustenance allowance ¿ on condition of good behaviour. The ritual was enacted, appropriately enough, in London (on March 1) where it all began nine decades earlier; it was consecrated by the august presence of United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice,

The Fourth Finance Commission recommended devolution comes at a critical juncture of Centre-State fiscal relations that was looking increasingly unsustainable. Yet, with it, lies a different set of challenges and the Centre is expected to play an even greater role to aid States to spend money effectively while managing newer forms of inequality that are bound to emerge out of the new direction.

PM Modi's 'Make in India' is a grand idea to reboot the ailing manufacturing sector. But the success of this programme will largely depend on creating an enabling ecosystem for manufacturing. This would require serious reforms in taxation.

The biggest challenge in dealing with terrorism is the 'double-standard' approach that many nations, including the US, at the policy-level internationally, according to Dr K V S Gopalakrishnan, former Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

BRICS is surely much more than merely catchy acronym. While countries across the globe share a number of common interests, the order of priorities differs. Today, BRICS nations find that their order of priorities on a number of external and internal issues which affect their domestic environments is relatively similar.

President Mohammed Morsi was ousted from power by the military on Wednesday and has now been placed under house arrest along with many members of the presidential team. This announcement was met by cheers from the public.

As India reconfigures its China policy with the Indo-Pacific at its core, India-Russia ties won’t be able to escape this strategic reality

The relative calm in the major Russian cities was broken last November when a bombing attack derailed the Nevsky Express -- a high-speed train plying between Moscow and St Petersburg

In agreeing to explore with Pakistan a final settlement of the Kashmir question as part of a normalisation of bilateral relations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pushed the India-Pakistan dialogue into what could be an exciting, if not decisive, phase.

The India-Japan partnership has matured into an important component of the new security and economic architecture of the Indo-Pacific region. For a long time, the partnership was centered on economic matters. But it has diversified to cover a wide spectrum of interests including security, counter terrorism, sea-lanes, UN reforms, energy security and climate change.

A study undertaken by ORF on the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) found that there is a need to work on the loopholes of the scheme and take corrective measures for its better implementation.

The Indian parliamentary delegation's visit to Sri Lanka was not expected to fast-track a solution to the ethnic issue. Yet, it has facilitated continued Indian engagement on the subject with various stake-holders, the Government, the TNA and the UNP Opposition.

US President Donald Trump is desperate to pull American troops out of the war-torn country, even if it means clearing the way for the Taliban's ascent to power in Kabul

To those gathered in Marrakech to respond to what is inarguably one of the most important political and economic challenges of our times—climate change

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is popularly known as Bangabandhu or Friend of Bengal. He became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 1972. He was a close friend of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Jordan, Palestine and Israel in October was different for its content and long-term implications. A careful analysis of his statements and speeches in Amman, Ramallah and Jerusalem indicates a new Indian template for its engagement with the Middle East. While some of his observations were a reiteration of the traditional Indian positions since the early 20th century, they also signal a more nuanced approach t

Mullah Omar's latest statement shows that despite his amicability to the reconciliation process, the prospects for the new Afghan president to achieve a breakthrough with the Taliban are quite remote.

Instead of dealing with the Mullaperiyar dam controversy as a geo-political conflict, it should be tackled as an institutional, legal and administrative failure in the region. Equitable distribution of the benefits of the shared resource is not an impossible task to achieve.

It makes more sense to enable domestic multi-brand retailers to become strong and see how they develop the village infrastructure and supply chains. It would be risky to usher in oligopolistic global retailers without any strings attached and allowing them to take a big slice of India's huge retail market.

New security challenges confront India today. Newer areas of conflict and contestation are emerging on the horizon. These challenges call for dynamic and autonomous response mechanisms.

As the Pakistani People's Party (PPP) Government struggles to get the Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) passed into legislation, an international team of IMF experts are scheduled to meet with political parties this week to be the mediators for a much-needed consensus.

BRICS and SCO are two key non-Western multilateral platforms where India and Russia cooperate closely. In the past decade, both these countries have seen shifts in their foreign policies, which has also impacted their approach towards multilateralism. At the same time, BRICS and SCO have also seen their initial agendas widen to include a greater engagement with regional and global issues, including the creation of a multipolar world order. Along

The future of the internet is by no means simple, and that the deeper the analysis became, the more complicated it would be, according to Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google.

For long we have been fed lies. Mumbai has no scarcity of houses and the key to the truth lies in using digital technology to unlock the city's housing potential.

The coordinated serial bombings in Mumbai on July 13, 2011, have raised serious questions about India's counter-terrorism (CT) policies which rely more on technology enablers and not as much on robust intelligence gathering and analysis at the local as well as national level.

While the railways deserve much of the blame for their apathetic manner of functioning, it appears that they have also been made convenient scapegoats for all our ills since we cannot blame fate alone for all our troubles. We need to inculcate self-discipline and civic responsibility if we want to prosper

Terrorism follows no rules and is not likely to disappear suddenly. Counter-terrorism can be harsh but is required to follow some rules. We need state-of-the-art intelligence but we need the freedoms. It is always going to be a difficult choice.

The demolition man has been halted. It seems that Mumbai will have to wait for that gleaming, polished look. Its dream to look in the mirror and say Shanghai has been abruptly broken.

Mumbai still continues to enjoy its position as the country's commercial capital thanks largely to the infrastructure advantage it is blessed with, which was progressively built since the days of the British Raj keeping in mind the future expansion of the city as India's trade and business hub.

Municipal governance has once again taken centre stage in Indian polity. There is a current re-shaping of narratives within the national government to make local governance effective. It is realised that deficit in the delivery of urban services results in chaos, which forms the basis for citizens doubting the functioning of the local government.

A toxic vision for Pakistan has reignited conflict with India

Mohammad Akhlaq's horrific killing in Dadri, in western Uttar Pradesh, just outside Delhi, is an act of infamy. Whatever the circumstances or the alleged provocation, it ceases to matter when a person is done to death with such barbarism.

The process of reforms in the electoral system to ensure electoral integrity has began, but much remains to be achieved. Ultimately, electoral integrity could be restored only by the will of the people and it is in people's power to do so.

India and Pakistan are currently engaged in a war of attrition through the use of the soft power of the electronic media and skilful psychological warfare in the hope of thereby making each other's traditional position on the Kashmir issue increasingly untenable and thus making possible a forward movement in their bilateral negotiations on the subject.

When Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf speaks, he gets lots of attention in Washington DC and other capitals in the western world. For the past three years, he has been saying that he was determined to root out terrorism from the world. He was quickly dubbed as a staunch ally by the Bush administration.

Not only is former President Pervez Musharraf likely to face trial for treason but also are others who abetted the crime - suspending the Constitution. This could draw in Army chief Kayani himself into the trial, if not as a co-accused but as a prosecution witness.

President Pervez Musharraf¿s recent trans-national tour¿four western nations and three African nations¿has significant implications for him, and Pakistan.

Disappointed at the lack of progress in resolving the Kashmir issue through the Indo-Pak composite dialogue, Gen Pervez Musharraf is reported to have said, ¿Let me give another bombshell, I propose, one way of moving forward.... Take three towns, Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramula. Let all the military move out of the cities to the outskirts. (We) will ensure there is no militancy inside....