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Several developments over the last few months have made clear that the Army modernisation programme, at least, is turning into a train wreck. This is not to say that all is well with the modernisation of the Air Force and the Navy, but just that the Army modernisation programme stands on far shakier ground, with minimal scope for results.

Three top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders -- amir Motiur Rahman Nizami, general secretary Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, and naib amir Delwar Hossain Sayedee -- were arrested on June 29. The Jamaat leaders were charged with war crimes of 1971 and hurting popular religious sentiments.

As the Sangh and its affiliates continue to push their toxic religious and cultural agenda, irrespective of the domestic and international audiences' deep sense of revulsion, it is clear as daylight that there are two Indias.

The use of America’s movie industry, or Hollywood, to advance an agenda is not new. This paper explores how China has expanded its financial footprint in Hollywood and consequently is able to use films for propaganda. It engages with the importance of propaganda and censorship in China, and how China has historically used mass media and other cultural tools to serve its political interests. It underlines the symbiotic nature of the rela

Article 370 is a burden on the people of Jammu and Kashmir which has been misused by successive State governments to stall the delivery of several public welfare initiatives of the Central Government, according to dean of Jammu Central University.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can improve various aspects of healthcare. It can help reduce annual expenditure,[1] allow early detection of diseases, provide round-the-clock monitoring for chronic disorders, and help limit the exposure of healthcare professionals in contagious environments. The use of AI in healthcare systems in Africa, in particular, can eliminate inefficiencies such as misdiagnosis, shortage in healthcare workers, and wait and

The AI-climate change link is understudied, not least because the largest companies working in this space are neither transparent nor meaningfully committed to understanding it

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has led to a fundamental shift in the human-machine interface, with massive implications for the future. AI today has known applications across multiple domains—including agriculture, defence, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and nuclear energy—and the potential appears limitless. Justifiably then, the discourse surrounding AI is becoming increasingly more vibrant. Yet, the inner workings of AI are often shroud

If China were to shape a world order that might be bereft of some of the universally accepted principles, it may be problematic for many countries, including India.

China is showing Nepal that the Himalayas may not be a trade barrier for rail-based trade with Asia or Europe or even maritime trade through the South China Sea. The landlocked country is now actively considering the use of alternative routes from India’s sea ports to China’s, once its roads and rails log into the BRI. This brief examines three learnings from Nepal’s growing engagement with China through the Belt and Road International Trad

Now that BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi is approaching what could possibly be the pinnacle of his career, the last thing he wants is to box himself in by his own rhetoric. It is for this reason that in his Haryana speech, he also invoked Atal Bihari Vajpayee's policy, which used the Kargil crisis to get the world community to pin down Pakistan on avoiding the use of violence in relation to Kashmir.

While the FCC and TRAI chairmen may share similar goals, India’s telecom regulator should pick and choose what it wants to take away from the US debate.

India requires a “consensus” — a new proposition that will not only guide its own trajectory for the better part of the 21st century, but one that appeals to communities around the world.

Given the Indian government's taste for pushing unilateral mechanisms for governing the internet at an international level, and Indian civil society, which for the most part seems to vocally support a multistakeholder approach, the Indian elections might bring about a new opportunity for both sides to find clarity.

India being the closest neighbour with high stakes in the stability of Maldives, President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom's India visit from January 1 to 4 would be keenly watched, nearer home in the two countries, and afar.

Whichever way the conflict ends, one outcome is clear: Nuclear weapons are here to stay and any prospects for nuclear arms control and nuclear disarmament have receded further.

India has been at the forefront of helping its neighbors in times of crises

When it comes to Asean, the challenge for India is to scale up trade and investment. While ease of doing business is improving and projections by the IMF are all positive, there is long way to go to tackle corruption, energise the bureaucracy and cut through bureaucratic red tape that deters business and trade

The annual gatherings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - at the ministerial level in July and summit level in November at the East Asia Summit - have become good indicators of Asia's volatile geopolitical temperature.

This report explores strategies to strengthen the relationships among Global South countries, with a focus on enhancing regional synergy between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation BIMSTEC. The report provides an overview of BIMSTEC’s rising significance as a link between South Asia and Southeast Asia, provides insights into the growing need fo

Asian concerns regarding a Space Code are important because future challenges to space cooperation may well come from Asia, not least because so many of the new space powers are emerging from this region. The EU was late in bringing India into the process.

India, which contributed a big part in shaping the outcomes of the two world wars, seems blissfully unaware of the importance of the two anniversaries. Turning a deaf ear to the nationalist passions in East Asia is not going to save India from the consequences of new Asian wars that now seem increasingly probable.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Wednesday (June 27) released the new ORF publication, titled The New Asian Power Dynamic, edited by Mr. Maharajakrishna Rasgotra, Adviser to ORF Chairman and convenor of National Security Advisory Board (NSAB).

While the simultaneous rise of powers need not always result in a clash, the four major powers in Asia - established powers Russia and Japan, and newly rising China and India - have had troubled historical relations.

Considering India's immense infrastructural needs, the AIIB has opened a fresh window for financing in which there will hopefully be fewer conditions and hassles. All other less developing countries will also be able to access loans easily.

India and China should focus on maritime commonalities and challenges rather than incongruence. After all, the sea unites while the land divides.

Asia has been the fountain of the greatest and some of the most ancient civilizations and religions of the world and possesses enormous human and natural resources. However, in modern history, the continent has seldom been at the centre-stage of world politics. Indeed, unlike Africans, for example, Asian citizens have never really had a feeling of oneness.

Observer Research Foundation and Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung recently organised the Asian-European Policy Dialogue 2013. The theme of the dialogue was local level politics, related policy areas and the role of the state.

The 'old boys' network has given Asim Umar an extensive reach among the jihadi groups active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He can tap into the Taliban network with as much ease as he could work with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

A feature of the Syrian crisis which must please those ostensibly seeking the regime's ouster is that it is turning out to be a long drawn one. So long drawn, in fact, that the world is beginning to develop an amnesia about the Palestinian issue.

As extreme events are becoming the ‘new normal’ in an increasingly climate-constrained world, India’s critical infrastructure must be built to withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from the disruptions they cause

Legend has it that the nursery rhyme, 'Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush...on a cold and frosty morning', was first, sung by women incarcerated at the Wakefield Prison in England while they were doing their daily exercise around the mulberry tree in the prison compound.

Assembly Elections 2023: There is justice in the poll promises that political parties are making to women voters, whose assertion at the polling booth in terms of turnout and independent choices is only too evident to these parties.

In the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the picture remains unclear, with no party or no combination of parties being assured of forming the next government in March.

The Biden administration’s climate agenda is a crucial plank to restore American commitments to climate actions and reinstate US leadership globally. However, the agenda has been slow on results. Although the climate fight has been linked to most other federal goals, such as economy, jobs, infrastructure, and procurements, the Biden administration faces both domestic and external challenges that continue to limit how much it can achieve

While it cannot match the Indian Navy’s strength, the Pakistan Navy’s focus on asymmetric capabilities & growing synergy with the PLAN pose a significant challenge for New Delhi.

The European Union’s (EU) and India’s paths towards becoming “cyber powers” could hardly be more different. The EU has a long tradition of protecting personal privacy rights and patents, while urging to enhance multilateral norms on cyberspace. India’s thinking on cybersecurity has continuously been boosted by the cyber threats emerging from China and Pakistan. It has further been shaped by India’s domestic Information Technology indu

The U.K. proposal emphasizes a bottom-up approach and stresses trust-building. It’s a critical first step.

Climate change poses a significant risk to global food security. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and shifting precipitation patterns impact food production, disrupting food supply chains, increasing food prices, and diminishing food safety. These effects are particularly apparent in developing countries, where vulnerable populations struggle to access nutritious foods and small farmers face financial challenges. Tackling the impacts

Prior to the meteor hit in Russia and Asteroid 2012 DA 14's close miss, the Indian public and its policy makers likely could just not comprehend such a distant, seemingly un-real threat. Perhaps now, this will not be the case.

As he packs his bags for the first foreign policy venture in the new year ¿ the annual summit of the South Asian nations in Dhaka ¿ Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has two options. The default one would be to let the foreign office bureaucracy work out an anodyne declaration of good intentions on future cooperation.

Russia and China have been concerned about the US’s growing technological lead particularly in missile defence and conventional global precision-strike capabilities.