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Besides Osama bin Laden, Pakistan Army and ISI have been hand in glove with the Taliban for over 10 years, helping them with safe houses, recruitment bases, training and weapons. Their alliances have been effectively documented not only by the Indian security agencies but also by different western security and intelligence agencies.

Now, we have single party majority government at the Centre and in Delhi. For both BJP and AAP winning the election was the easy part, relatively. The hard part to fulfill promises, to give least government and maximum governance has just begun.

While the domestic economic situation needs various corrective steps to bring back an increase in private investment, the external situation needs to be addressed with right export-boosting policies. Raising export growth seems to be the only alternative.

The new NSS survey clearly shows that 8 per cent GDP growth of the last five years has not translated into a higher level of job creation. There was a dramatic deceleration in total employment growth. And this means that India has been experiencing jobless growth during the last five years.

It is time to think of the role of women in uniform beyond being merely the 'sobering/civilising force' on their male counterpart. With the same training and opportunities, it is time to imbue the phrase 'femme fatale' with a new meaning.

India is now extending 'visa on arrival' to tourists from 180 countries to encourage tourism. But budget tourists, who aim at staying in small hotels/guest houses and not five-star hotels, face problems in finding clean and safe accommodation.

Beijing’s aggression has made India’s diffidence about alignment obsolete

For those who see the India-China relationship as one of the key partnerships of this century, what is most disappointing is the lack of ambition in the agenda for the conversations. The two countries now need to be bold and creative in what they do together.

His arrival created controversy and so did his departure. For nothing was becoming either about Porter Goss¿s arrival at Langley to replace George Tenet, or about his departure on May 5. He was brought in to head a sullen and demoralised force and when he was unceremoniously dropped, the CIA was a much-diminished organisation.

An interest burden growing faster than GDP growth by 2.5 percentage points is not a comforting signal for fiscal stability.

So far, Iran’s response to U.S. provocation has been rhetorical but President Rouhani has little room for manoeuvre

Fines and presumption of guilt in case an individual is found drinking is a feature of Nitish Kumar government’s prohibition regime.

If the rest of India was ¿shocked¿ over the Tamil Nadu police arresting the Kanchi Sankaracharya in a murder case, it was equally surprised over the passivity of the people in the State, whom they expected would have taken to the streets in protest.

The four-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is yet choose between General Sarath Fonseka and incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa

The Tamil National Alliance, heading an elected Government in Sri Lanka's Northern Province, have shocked well-wishers in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, with its tough stand on the fishers' issue between Colombo and Chennai.

The private sector, through its technical expertise, sector-specific knowledge and ability to design unique, cutting-edge innovations, can devise effective long-term solutions to two of the major challenges government is faced with — lack of technological solutions and large-scale monitoring

Great or stronger relationship between India and the US under a new President will depend on the real substance of the engagement

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.

Irrespective of how the 'Afghan Endgame' unravels in the coming months, it is safe to argue that stabilizing the war torn country will take decades, and much international help.

With the Delhi Durbar at its dysfunctional worst, power is flowing away from Delhi to State capitals, where some strong men and women are ruling. India's external partners tend to see this with much greater clarity than the domestic observers of Delhi's current listlessness.

Call it a game of good-cop-and-bad-cop being played out by President Musharaff and Prime Minister Jamali, yet Pakistan¿s willingness to ¿keep aside¿ the UN resolution on plebiscite in Kashmir should come as a welcome turn, if not relief, for India, and all those hoping for permanent peace in South Asia.

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 a grim, status quoist scenario, Rahul Gandhi has a task to keep himself in the reckoning.

Pakistan has shown inadequate political will to act against the Mumbai conspirators and has found tactical refuge in legal niceties to take minimum action

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.

Where India’s relations with individual EU nations have progressed dramatically over the last few years and the EU’s focus on India has grown, it has become imperative for the two to give each other a serious look.

Talking about how minority tokenism is hurting the real cause, Saeed Naqvi says a non Muslim with a secular image in the Ministry of Minority Affairs would be able to chart out an agenda for minorities which is free of the odour of tokenism, which would really enthuse the community, not bluff it.

India, which hosts Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations later this month, must come to terms, like the rest of the region, with Tokyo's determination to shape the Asian security order. After he returned to power a year ago, Abe has set about transforming Japan's military strategy.

Situated in the northwest part of Pakistan, along the Afghanistan border, the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas or FATA is one of the most dangerous places in the world and has been the home-base for jihad and terrorism in South Asia. Governed by colonial era laws, and damaged by militancy and military operations, FATA residents remain second-class citizens, treated differently from the rest of Pakistan. This paper looks at the government’s

The turbulent history of the civil aviation sector and the threat of a bumpy future given its current situation are not good for the economy or the image of India as a rising economic power through private entrepreneurship.

A detailed report by the US Senate Intelligence Committee recently has told us once again that torture doesn?t work. India should aspire to become a civilised democracy by putting an immediate legislative ban on torture. It will give our security organisations incentive to develop the interrogation and forensic skills, which are far more efficacious in countering terrorism.

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.

Hit by violent ethnic clashes, the Otunbayeva government faces a tough challenge to bring Kyrgyzstan out of the present crisis. One of the main challenges would be to conduct an impartial probe into the violence and punish the guilty to regain the confidence of the minorities.

Amidst increasing global connectivity and accelerating global change, the global security framework has become insufficient, contributing to a crippling dysfunctionality in international cooperation. The current security framework, focused almost exclusively on a narrow notion of military security, is insufficient to address escalating ‘threats without enemy,’ such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, which increasingly endang

The Indian Ocean, a vast maritime expanse, features diverse social, spatial, and topographical characteristics. This diversity is evident in the various actors operating independently, with minimal synergy, political unity, and distinct challenges, across its sub-regions. In this context, what does the maritime security architecture in the region look like? This brief finds that it remains fragmented, and makes a case for nurturing its cohesivene

Public transportation (PT) planning in Indian cities has historically focused on private vehicles and rail-based systems while neglecting bus-based transit. Such planning has led to fragmented urban mobility solutions. This study evaluates the effectiveness of PT systems planning in India by assessing the present state of these systems and analysing planning practices. It summarises the characteristics of various PT modes and the expert guideline

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

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

While India’s malnutrition rates have dropped dramatically, the country is still home to the largest number of stunted and wasted children in the world. Owing to the cultural and geographical variance across states, combatting malnutrition requires a granular approach. POSHAN Abhiyaan, the government’s national nutrition mission launched in 2017, aims to provide a convergence mechanism for the country’s response to malnutrition. This specia

A number of important treaties of immense strategic significance have been signed during Prime Minister Vajpayee's first ever visit to Tajikistan on November 14. The agreements signed were related to setting up a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, a bilateral extradition treaty and military ties.

When the stimulus package was announced in May 2020, many raised questions on the immediate viability of the measures in the current economic scenario.

The need for integrated water resource management (IWRM) has been explored and articulated by many water professionals over the recent years. Today, such a holistic approach to the management of water systems has become even more imperative in the context of the global crisis in water for which no easy solution is yet in sight. This brief calls for the development and institutionalisation of the interdisciplinary approach of integrated water syst

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

In April 2023, the Supreme Court of India advocated for the government to establish a "uniform national policy" on menstrual health and hygiene (MHH), spotlighting the need for comprehensive measures on a significant public health issue. This brief traces India's path to promoting MHH, highlighting key policy initiatives and their impact on period product usage. Using secondary data from the National Family Health Survey-5, this brief introduces

The Blue Economy (BE) is a resonant theme among Bay of Bengal states. Despite recent efforts by governments in the region to promote blue growth, however, there is yet no comprehensive, region-wide agenda for marine governance. This brief looks at ways in which Bay states can harmonise their BE approaches to develop an integrated strategy. By collectively investing in technology, innovation, and governance systems, the governments of these littor

Text of the keynote address delivered by Prof. K. V. Kesavan in the symposium Changing Perception of Japan in South Asia in the New Asian Era: State of Japanese Studies in India and other SAARC Countries

It appears that the Modi government is beginning to recognise the need for greater synchronisation between the different arms of the government and appreciate the need for better space utilisation in the realm of foreign policy and national security. This new approach needs to be strengthened and sustained for India to tap its full potential in outer space.