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India's agriculture has not grown fast enough to support the growing rural population and there has been a continuous exodus of people migrating from villages to towns in search of jobs

Moscow seems to stop halfway when it comes to providing political support for Delhi’s case, steering clear of making any critical remarks towards Islamabad

Iran represents a complex policy challenge that needs to be carefully weighed. Any assessment will need to look not only at the benefits but also the costs of not changing course on Iran. But fence-sitting and procrastination might be an unsustainable and expensive choice.

A recent sale to the Philippines is a major win, but India faces obstacles to its big ambitions.

When tempers have cooled down, and the plateau regained, we should rethink IBDH, enforce strict set of "Devyani Guidelines," and derisk an entire gamut of ties - sadly, the US one being the only legacy Manmohan Singh might have had!

Australia's Murray-Darling example is not a panacea for the basin-wide river management of the Ganga. And it is not through lack of international role models that a genuinely holistic, basin-wide approach has not been applied to the Ganga; it is through a lack of domestic political will to do so.

AUKUS adds another layer of deterrence against China. The group is likely to strengthen the military dimension, contrary to the belief that it undercuts Quad.

Russia's military intervention in Syria in September, 2015, is a new gambit by its president, Vladimir Putin. It could change the course of history, and even geography, in that region or bog down Russia in a West Asian quagmire.

A common enemy does often become a powerful uniting force, but the fact that the US has so many friends and not a single ally to fight the Islamic State speaks volumes about its foreign and defence policies in Wes Asia.

US’ expected policy shift favouring Moscow aligns with its renewed focus on the Indo-Pacific.

Can good sense prevail in Washington once again? Military action in Libya will generate anti Americanism, which will swell the ranks of Al Qaeda and cause the "Arab Youth" bulge to find a frightening outlet.

Accusing the US and the EU of practising double-standards, Russian Consul General in Chennai, Dr Nikolay A Listopadov, has said the interests of the EU and the US would be accepted as long as they did not come in the way of Russia's.

From two ends of the Pacific, our nations have a shared interest in contributing to the rise and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region. Yet new threats stand in the way of achieving this potential

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Canada this week should help rejuvenate an important relationship that has long been neglected in New Delhi. If real political differences alienated India and Canada during the Cold War, it is Delhi that has not been sufficiently attentive to the possibilities with Canada in recent years.

This report demonstrates how the Ukraine war has catalysed exceptional growth in the United States (US) defence-industrial base, evident in record exports and orders, valuations, and profits, as well as an ecosystem expansion unprecedented in recent decades. It argues that this revitalisation has given renewed potency to the US military-industrial complex, whose structural reliance on sustained demand will shape political decision-making and ince

Trump Tantrum: US sanctions on Iran threaten to hit India’s strategic interests in West Asia

This issue brief assesses the enduring political influence of the military in Pakistan. It delves into the historical, social, and geopolitical factors that have propelled the military's rise in the nation's governance structure. The brief also examines the military-bureaucratic nexus and its role in perpetuating military dominance, and the implications of a weak civil society and its constrained ability to counterbalance military power.

Process on to rejig forces to meet the Chinese challenge

State of play in India-US relations after the SCO summit

The media in India enjoys a great deal of freedom and when it is threatened, the response is vociferous. Nevertheless, there is the need to maintain a balance between free expression and other community and individual rights; this responsibility should not be borne by the judiciary alone, but by all those who enjoy these rights.  

Politics of appeasement must be done away with and New Delhi should extend all the anti-corruption laws of India, especially the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, in Jammu and Kashmir.

The United States has revoked a key sanctions exemption for Iran's Chabahar Port. This decision could hinder India's connectivity projects in Eurasia. The port is vital for India's trade with Central Asia and Afghanistan. It also serves as a counter to China's growing influence in the region. The move raises concerns about the future of regional cooperation and stability.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's problem is the sheer scale of the challenges he confronts. He has to juggle several balls at the same time, and though he may vary the juggling routine, he cannot afford to let any of the balls drop.

While mandating CSR operations for large companies was a more justifiable social policy programme by the UPA-II than others, some of its provisions and recommendations reflect a lack of understanding of the Indian social and economic environment and of the real needs on the ground.

Iran's cancellation of $500 million funding to Pakistan for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline indicates Iran's clout in regional energy affairs. It is unclear why Iran took this sudden step. Is President Rouhani merely fine-tuning some of the policies of his predecessor? But there is certainly more to this than meets the eye.

The relationship is more robust than ever before. But deepening ties will bring its set of challenges

President Pervez Musharraf has a number of reasons to be unhappy with India. It took only a few hours for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to dismiss the General's seemingly well-crafted and cleverly worded war-game plans for Greater Kashmir. The General's idea was simple.

Chennai may have lost out on the petroleum, petro-chemicals, pharmaceutical, and biotech fields, but it still remains the home-base of several solid market leaders from myriad industries.

China has avoided taking up regional and global responsibilities despite the United States' basic policy and efforts to make it a responsible stakeholder in the international community and help it take its rightful place as a global power, according to US scholar Dr Michael Auslin.

After years of calculated relationship between China and the Taliban, the strategic Wakhan Corridor has become a focal point of tension between them. Beijing would like to use the corridor to expand its political and economic influence over Afghanistan, while the Taliban seeks to control it to ensure its own stability and Afghanistan’s development. The new generation of the Taliban, often referred to as Taliban 2.0, regards this corridor as vit

There was a time when the United States (US) was Pakistan’s most important ally. This paper argues that China has now overtaken the US in both economic footprint, and political influence in Pakistan.  Even in popular perception, China appears a more dependable ally than the perfidious one that is the US. The paper examines data on arms transfers, loans and credit, grants, trade, and foreign direct investments, to show how deeply embedded China

China and Russia both seek closer ties with the Taliban in Kabul, even as they have refrained from fully recognising the regime. This brief explores China’s and Russia’s converging interests in Afghanistan, and argues that their primary concern is a shared existential threat of terrorism from Afghanistan. Beijing and Moscow regard Afghanistan as a potential source of trans-regional instability, and they are adopting a pragmatic approa

Beijing's expanding footprint in this oil-rich region has set the stage for a competition with Washington

It is unlikely that the trust deficit between Afghanistan and Pakistan will reduce in the near future despite Chinese mediation.

US crackdown on economic espionage could hurt research and innovation

With the traditional liberal order appearing agile, new questions on international security and peacemaking have come to the fore. In the current context, global players are according Afghanistan greater strategic importance. As NATO troops continue to make headway in that region into the safe havens of ISIS, and with US posturing purportedly getting more robust, China’s role in Afghanistan merits scrutiny. Even though China’s involvement, mi

China, a late entrant in Latin America, has now emerged as the region’s major economic partner. Bilateral trade between the two stands today at more than USD 200 billion. By augmenting investments and trade in Latin America, Beijing has managed to project itself as an alternative to the United States, which had previously enjoyed overarching influence in the region. The US’ inability to lead Latin America into a path of sustainable econ

China has clearly made very significant strides in its Space capability. However, it is still a long way short of matching U.S. capabilities and alarm bells need not ring just yet. It will need to undertake significant reforms before it supplants the U.S. as the world's leading Space power.

India has seen a huge jump in screen time by 25 per cent (4.9 hours pre-COVID to 6.9 hours) during the pandemic.

Given the past Sino-Russian relations the longevity of their entente is moot. Clearly, India is not entirely without options in this geopolitical competition, the only problem is to get New Delhi to play the game.

China will continue to shield Pakistan. The Wuhan spirit, if it ever existed, is gasping for breath — and New Delhi will have to firm up its response to China.

As the gap between its power and that of China grows, India needs the US to balance China in the South Asia-Indian Ocean Region. The Indian contribution, military or economic, towards a strong American Indo-Pacific strategy appears more nebulous. This is an asymmetry which cannot but have real-life consequences. India should not assume that antipathy to China alone will be the over-riding factor in the US global policy.