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The Ithai Barrage impounds the Manipur River just below the confluence of the Imphal River and the Tuitha River south of Loktak Lake, and is part of the Loktak Hydroelectric project that supplies hydropower to the seven Northeast states. Over time, the dam has affected the hydrology of the lake and caused harm to the ecology and economy of the region. The Manipur government is now urging the Centre to consider decommissioning the barrage. This br

One must avoid an over-interpretation and an over-assessment of the suspected car bomb explosion outside the Australian Embassy at Jakarta on September 9,2004, which caused the death of nine persons and injuries to over a hundred others, most of them innocent civilians.

What has happened in the interregnum to see an uncharacteristic rapid change in attitude?

In the run-up to the crucial Diet session, Japanese Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko has effected a cabinet reshuffle, bringing in key changes. But will it produce the desired results as the government needs the support of the LDP-New Komeito combination for parliamentary approval of its reforms?

Ukraine and the US alike see opportunity in the Global South’s multipolarity, because the so-called ‘Global South’ is presenting itself as one

The India-Pakistan peace process, punctuated with -uctuating waves of optimism and anxiety, has completed three years, and it is appropriate, and timely, to review whether the primary On April 22, 2003 the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, told the Indian Parliament that India was unilaterally opening “the doors for talks” with Pakistan. The offer was based on two simple premises: one, that Pakistan would stop cross-border in

Irrespective of an Afghan- US security pact, India should prepare itself for a scenario where it may have to look after its interests by itself. Kabul and New Delhi should also be looking at developing an understanding through which India can directly and independently engage with Pashtun tribal elders, provincial governors and even regional warlords to protect its investments.

This brief examines the Kashmir conflict from the perspective of the young population who have grown up in tumultuous times in the Valley. It builds on findings of field surveys conducted by the author across the Kashmir Valley over the last two years, covering issues that remain unanswered three decades since the start of the insurgency. These topics include Kashmiriyat, the exodus of pandits, governance and administration, the post-2016 unrest

If India wants to show the world Kashmir is back to normal, the downed shutters, empty schoolyards and unpicked fruit will make sure it hears a differ

Since 1947, parts of Jammu and Kashmir have been under Pakistan’s illegal occupation, with India referring to the area as ‘Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)’. The stolen region comprises two ethnically and linguistically different regions: what Pakistan calls, ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ or AJK, which includes parts of Kashmir and Jammu; and Gilgit Baltistan, which is the northern most tip of Kashmir and covers parts of Ladakh. While Gilgit

This paper dissects the history and politics of Gilgit-Baltistan, a part of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), from the 1980s to the present day. It analyses the policies implemented by Pakistani leaders in the region and how successive political parties have attempted to justify Pakistan’s administrative control of it while disregarding any democratic, secular or moral principles in the ruling of its supposed subjects. The pap

The lack of political violence during the recent elections in Kenya spells progress for the East African country.

There has been speculation galore regarding Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of the Al Qaeda in Iraq, ever since the US Marines carried out a flushing-out operation to smoke out foreign terrorists allegedly operating from the Sunni stronghold of Qaim, which is located in a desert area where the Euphrates river crosses from Syria into Iraq.

In light of the growing focus on the Pacific region, South Korea, alongside other nations, has ramped up bilateral ties with PICs by boosting developm

In West Asia, regional powers increasingly fear that the external dynamics of the regional political landscape coupled with the restive internal dynamics of Turkey, Syria and Iraq could potentially unify fractured Kurdish movements and destabilise the region at large.

Land acquisition remains at the centre of many controversies and public policy paralysis in India. There are very few public policy issues in India that rival land acquisition in terms of its complexity, challenges and significance to country's growth and transition to more urbanised and industrialised status.

The US election is just two weeks away. While it is still unpredictable, the probability of Trump winning is getting lower due to a variety of reasons

Narendra Modi's emphasis on Vajpayee's foreign policy legacy is politically significant for a number of reasons. It has offered much-needed reassurance all around that India will not abandon its traditional nuclear restraint, continue to seek peace with neighbours and promote regional prosperity through the economic integration of the subcontinent.

There are clear limits to informal summitry, as India has found out since Wuhan. Despite all the rhetoric and symbolism on display at Mamallapuram, the substantive outcome remains clouded in mystery.

Israel believes that the use of force is essential to stopping Iran from making the nuclear bomb. A vocal section of the strategic affairs community in the United States agrees with the proposition. This brief argues that military means are unlikely to sabotage the nuclear weapons programme of an advanced-stage bomb-seeker like Iran. Moreover, use of force could be counterproductive as it can incentivise Iran’s pursuit of the bomb, and it may e

The wide array of economic sectors covered under the PGII’s Lobito Corridor is aimed at countering Chinese presence in African countries

There are fundamental structural changes shaping the security landscape in Europe and they are also casting their shadow on Indian foreign policy and national security.

The Russia-Ukraine war has confounded observers, as much as it did the Russians themselves. Since erupting in late February, the war has not shown signs of abating any time soon. This brief argues that by its very nature, the war has lessons not just for the adversaries, but also the NATO alliance that is backing Ukraine, and even geographically distant China and India. For one, the war has both elements of the old eras—such as the mass

The Haqqani Network, operating out of Pakistan's North Waziristan, with vast training and material resources at its disposal, is likely to step in as a 'service provider' to the groups re-launching terrorist activities in Kashmir.

The various incidents involving the LTTE during 2003, its continued confrontationist attitude and the demand for the recognition of its ¿Sea Tigers¿ wing as a de facto navy showed that the LTTE continued to attach importance to maintaining its military capability unimpaired and was unwilling to renounce its military option while continuing to adhere to the cease-fire.

The Madrid Bombings is a clear indication of how horribly skewed and wrong the War on Terrorism has been. It would be convenient to accuse the United States for the manner in which the War was planned and executed as a personal agenda of an American President whose sole footnote in history has been to sow the seeds of a global religious divide.

Mr Narendra Modi's decision to invite the Head of Governments of India's neighbouring countries for his swearing-in was appreciated by Dr Sanjaya Baru, former Media Advisor of Dr Manmohan Singh. Modi's emphasis on the economy was also noted.

Under the PAT scheme, the market based mechanism created for achieving energy efficiency seems to be inherently flawed. While the market for energy efficiency is about 74,000 crores, it is unlikely that this potential can be tapped by the mechanism envisioned.

As India’s industrial sector grows, creating a regular and stable supply of clean energy will be essential for meeting the country’s climate targe

Solutions to the problem are pretty obvious. The first step is to set the policy right. Governments have to begin by scrapping the rent laws as they s

How did Ukraine’s presence influence the Vilnius summit? Why did Turkey lift its opposition against Sweden?

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush proclaimed that the victory in the Gulf war presented an extraordinary opportunity to settle the Middle East conflict. This led to the Madrid conference, secret parleys between Israeli and PLO negotiators in Norway and then to signing of what came to be known as the Oslo accords in a grand ceremony at the White House in 1993.

The Covid-19 pandemic has upended several long-held paradigms.

With strong convergences of strategic interests, military-security cooperation looks promising between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

Vasili Mitrokhin was born on March 3, 1922 in Yurasovo, in Central Russia. After completing his school education, he entered an artillery school of the Soviet army. While serving in the Army, he joined a university in Kazakhstan and graduated in History and Law.

By opposing 'unilateralism in international affairs' and evincing a 'common interest' in the evolution of a multipolar world based on 'cooperative security order' while in Moscow this week, Prime Minister Vajpayee has addressed issues going beyond bilateral ties and regional politics in South Asia. To the extent, Vajpayee and India have been consistently focussing on multipolarism, particularly after the US war in Afghanistan, and on Iraq.

The Modi government’s fragmented approach has remained at the canopy and has not been able to achieve foundational improvements in budgeting at the

Modi himself is on record saying that it would take him 5-7 years to fulfil his agenda. That is a reasonable amount of time. The issue, however, is not how much time he deserves, but how much he will actually get, and no one can forecast that.

The Chinese understanding about the border has changed many times and while a swap agreement would be a feasible solution to the issue, the Chinese have asked for more concessions on the East, says Dr. Manoj Joshi

The cries to repeal AFSPA have grown louder in the wake of the recent Nagaland massacre. Will it finally be reality?

A shortage of staff and funds and an outdated municipal governance system weigh the ULBs down, disabling them from properly executing their duties

There are many factors making the 2019 general elections a bit tricky, open and unpredictable. Muslim voting pattern is one such factor.

A lookback at Angela Merkel’s 16-year leadership of Germany

In government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to disrupt the lethargy of the Lutyens communication machinery by introducing some of his young campaign team into the mix. He needs to reinvent and revitalise #NaMo in his new role as PM.

The National Rural Livelihoods Mission was launched in June 2011 to create institutional platforms for the rural poor, enabling them to increase household incomes through livelihood support and access to financial services. This brief evaluates the achievements of the programme in its first 10 years. It finds that the Mission has met with some successes in improving the lives of rural women, who are the backbone of the programme, and consequently

Policymakers and practitioners are leading the emerging consensus on the need to fundamentally reassess assumptions

With the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal announcing its final award, water, in general, and inter-State river water issues, in particular, are once again in the national focus. There are varying concerns about the socio-political fallout of the Tribunal award in the riparian States, with Karnataka and Kerala expressing unhappiness to differing degrees, and Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, respectively, expressing 'relief' and 'satisfaction'.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) must account for the possibility of interstate migration, rapid urbanisation and possible changes in the social fabric as populations react to new job opportunities.

The NEST division is a significant development and underscores the importance of emerging technologies to India’s expanding digital landscape and do