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While the world remains engrossed in the debates triggered by Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine and the countersanctions, a serious humanitarian crisis is building up in Ukraine which needs international attention and help.

Since August 2021 when the US withdrew from Afghanistan, ceasefire violations at the India-Pakistan Line of Control (LoC) and killings of minorities in J&K have been reported. Indeed, the fall of Kabul to the Taliban has bolstered the anti-India establishment and the terrorist groups in Pakistan—putting the February 2021 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan under stress. India's conventional military response of the type of the 'S

It is not inconceivable that by the 2040s, much of the fighting will be done by the robots, with their human masters kept well behind harm’s way.

Reiterating that China should not be contained, Mr. Yukio Okamoto, adviser to former prime ministers, has underlined the need to foster cooperation between Japan and India, including in their efforts to be represented in the United Nation Security Council, with or without the veto powers.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar underlined the need to make the Iran-India pipeline through Pakistan a reality as early as possible to enhance India¿s energy security. He was speaking at the release function of an Observer Research Foundation book ¿India¿s Energy Security Prospects--which deals with the issue of India¿s energy security and the prospects for cooperation with its extended neighbourhood

Myanmar and Bangladesh are active partners in India’s Act-east policy, projects envisaging connectivity between the Southeast with South Asia and countering insurgency in north-east

The region need to response to the unfolding migrant crisis in the Andaman Sea. India and the Indian Navy must move quickly with other regional players to bring an end to the humanitarian crisis in the Bay of Bengal.

The battle lines in the Indo-Pacific are getting sharply defined

In the initial phase, to mobilise the necessary capital to make Green Hydrogen bankable, the role of the government and multilateral funding agencies

Donald Trump's defiant performance in the tawdry second debate on Sunday has turned it into a rollercoaster

A roundtable at the ORF Campus at New Delhi held on 14 January made an attempt to look at the future of India and China in 2025. The session was chaired by Ambassador MK Rasgotra, President, ORF and moderated by Jim Yardley, New Delhi Bureau Chief of the New York Times.

In many ways, Bangladesh seems an excellent place for al-Qaeda to find sanctuary in the decisive years ahead. It is an impoverished Islamic nation, politically weak and backward in its economic development. Its ports have been active hubs for transnational crime, including weapons running.

Establishing itself as a strong player in Latin America, Russia’s policy in the region also focuses on undermining US interests, where possible.

The removal of Prof. Muhammad Yunus from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh has left a dent on the image of the Awami League Government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, both at home and overseas.

The new RRRD scheme introduced to improve the discom sector seems to be yet another scheme in the long list of reforms that has failed to take in acco

The Rules-Based Order (RBO) underpins the global maritime trading and security system. A subject of growing discussion and debate in strategic studies circles, it is seen by many as a prerequisite for seaborne trade and commerce, and a crucial factor in formulating national security policy. While many Asian powers have a shared understanding of the principles of maritime conduct, regional states have tended to situate the RBO within the framework

It is vital that the Naga leadership fully comprehend the situation and look towards the issues they wish to safeguard under the provisions of Article

The purpose of this paper is to reopen policy debates on the role of agricultural mechanisation in rural development. The paper examines very different and diverse patterns of agricultural mechanisation in some South Asian countries over the last 30 years

Russia's troubles are unlikely to vanish soon. With the Central Bank forecasting a 4.5 per cent drop in GDP in 2015, a downgrade is a certainty. The budget deficit, forecast to be larger than 0.6 per cent of GDP in 2015, will prove to be another cause of misery.

Since significant linkages between armed conflict and terrorism have been established, a question mark hangs on the ability of Russia and Eurasia to s

Russia—the state with the longest Arctic coastline—is embarking on an ambitious plan to benefit from the vast natural resources of the region, while undertaking a military modernisation effort that had been stalled after the end of the Cold War. As one of the strongest players in the high north, Russia will be key in determining the future of the region, which is facing challenges brought about by global warming. This paper examines Russia’

What is interesting for Russia is how greater cooperation with Iran will affect its ties with other Middle Eastern nations, such as both Saudi Arabia and Israel, which has been a vocal opponent of a nuclear deal with Iran. Israel however does not occupy a special position in Russia's foreign relations as it does for the United States.

As Russia embraces China to relieve the pressures from the West, India's room for geopolitical manoeuvre in Asia and beyond is bound to shrink. Earlier, though both India and Russia had begun to normalise bilateral relations with China in the 1980s, they remained wary about Beijing.

There is a danger that by focusing entirely on the pandemic Russia and the international community might get distracted from addressing fundamental pr

The war in Syria, the alleged use of chemical weapons by its President, Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally, has turned out to be a perfect opportunity for Putin to reassert the role of Russia, 21 years after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Desperate to get around international isolation and seeking to co-opt new ‘friendly states’, Moscow seems ready to make allowance for the region�

Despite efforts, Indo-Russian nuclear engagement has been limited, mainly because of two factors. One, there is an unstable status of legal framework for the transfer of nuclear technology and second, India's efforts to diversify nuclear partners have been a little upsetting for Russia.

संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद में यूक्रेन पर हमले के निं

संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद में यूक्रेन पर हमले के निं

As Russia prepares to vote, steps have been taken to maintain the status quo

Russia has been dealing with extremism within its borders for several years. So it is not exactly unprepared for whatever threat ISIL currently poses. However, there is a degree of complacency that has set in.

Russia has its own Eurasian Economic Union plan, but as of now it appears that China is leading the game.

The end of the Cold War in 1991 presented Russia and the European Union (EU) with an opportunity to reorganise their bilateral relationship. For more than a decade, they did manage to nurture close ties. Beginning in the mid-2000s, however, the relationship steadily declined, reaching its lowest in 2014 in the aftermath of the Ukrainian crisis. As mutual grievances have accumulated since then, there has been an absence of a forward-looking agenda

United States and India must ensure their current trade and tariff issues do not lead to serious strategic disagreement. The two cannot afford to miss the emerging geopolitical realities driven by China’s growing power.

रूस और यूक्रेन के बीच जारीwar को समाप्त करने और शांति स्थाप�

While Russia has been very careful of not antagonising China, which has emerged as Moscow's second largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific, Beijing is uncomfortable by the nature of Moscow's involvement in Hanoi.

Humanity depends heavily on the various benefits that nature provides us. It's impossible to truly estimate its value. However, economists and environmental scientists have estimated in dollars what it would cost us to accomplish the services nature provides. Using multiple databases, they estimate that nature provides $33 trillion dollars worth of services every year¿that's nearly twice the annual Gross National Product (GNP) of all the countri

Although Russia plays an important role in Africa, it still falls short of exercising a wider influence

Given its vast coastline, Delhi should devote its attention for now to importing hydrocarbons by sea, investing in equity oil in Russia and other energy-rich countries, and concluding swap arrangements rather than grandiose transregional pipelines.

At a time when the global system is in flux, BRICS members have found it relevant to continue to explore areas of cooperation, especially as the new w

Demographic trends in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 have largely been unfavourable. Deaths exceeded births for the first time in 1992, and a period of negative growth followed which continued unabated until 2012 when marginal growth was achieved for the first time in two decades. This paper studies the demographic patterns in Russia since 1991, which are unique for several reasons. While population decline is common amo

Africa has become essential to Russia’s geostrategic posture as Moscow seeks to overcome the backlash to its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, in the face of isolation and a contracting economy, Russia has realised that cultivating an entry point in Africa through conventional means such as foreign direct investment (FDI), trade, development assistance, or cultural and educational exchanges may not be its best option. Instead, Mosc

In the face of sanctions imposed by the West, Russia and Belarus look towards developing and maintaining economic and geopolitical partnerships with c

This paper outlines the development of Russia’s relations with the countries of Southeast Asia, focusing on the years after 2014. As relations with the West reached a new post-Cold War low, Moscow has intensified its efforts at building stronger ties with the East. The paper deals with the impact of these developments on the state of its political, economic and defense engagement in Southeast Asia, both bilaterally and multilaterally. It will s

SAARC conjures up an image of jamborees and no results. The South Asian Association of Regional cooperation with its seven members ( India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh) remains one of the most dysfunctional trade blocs and there is hardly any freedom of movement of goods, services and people. The next (13th) SAARC summit is going to be held in Dhaka in the beginning of January 2005.

The SAARC energy agreement signed may have given some hope for the realisation of energy cooperation in South Asia. But, it needs to be understood that an overarching agreement has little impact on project-based cooperation, owing to the centrality of India in the South Asian geography.

Amb M Rasgotra, International Affairs Adviser, Observer Research Foundation, and former Foreign Secretary of India, was invited as Chief Guest at the Convocation of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lnaka, held on June 23, 2005. The complete text of his Convocation Address is reproduced below: