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Against the backdrop of near failure of the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round, the FTAs with Asean in goods as well as in services and investment is expected to further help the integration of the Indian economy into the global economy. The pact with Asean also presents India with an opportunity to revive its own GDP growth.

The day after External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna left for Islamabad, front-page headlines in mainstream English language dailies had set their preferred theme: "Krishna to nail Pak using Headley: In Islamabad Foreign Minister says he will harp on Headley revelation of ISI links to 26/11".

Observer Research Foundation and ORF Chennai-based business magazine Industrial Economist organised a one-day seminar on 23 July 2007 titled SEZs - Prospects & Challenges.

Iran has indicated that it is willing to call it quits, but will respond strongly if Israel retaliates

It is amazing how the US investigating agencies have taken more than a year to figure out that Dr AQ Khan could not have set up his network of nuclear smugglers without the help of a whole lot of people than thought earlier. According to recent news leaks appearing in some major US newspapers, the investigating agencies are reportedly discovering missing links in Khan's network.

Many of the phenomena go back to the financial crisis of 2008, the biggest shock to the global economic system since the 1929. Nine years after 1929, a nervous, pessimistic and Hobbesian world was plunged into war. 2017 is nine years after 2008.

The Shahbagh protests could become a defining moment in Bangladesh's history, bringing back secularism in to the midst of political debate in the country.

Sri Lanka should understand the nuances of diplomatic existence, survival and self-assertion, appreciate them where possible, accept them where needed. India and others may be blamed for Sri Lanka losing the vote but it should rather shake up Colombo to look into what had gone wrong with its foreign policy strategy, instead.

India enter the New Year with a somewhat strengthened diplomatic hand with more international responsiveness to our concerns. However, 2011 will not produce any major breakthroughs in resolving our outstanding problems.

In the pushback against China, strategic cooperation between India, Italy and Japan can ensure a free Indo-Pacific

Oslo killer Anders Breivik is the creature of the Murdoch press which has throttled the Murrows of this world. His mind set would synchronize perfectly with Bill O'Reilly's the famous anchor of Fox News. The coverage of American military action in Afghanistan in November 2001 would have been orgasmic for Breivik.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar made two intelligent moves this month. The timing is perfect, but the move can go in any direction. It may either mark the decline of the NCP or contribute to spreading of his party beyond Maharashtra.

This is an edited version of the talk given by Prof. Sudharshan Seneviratne, a well known historian and archaeologist from Sri Lanka, at ORF on April 9, 2012. Prof Seneviratne, currently Professor of Archaeology at the University of Peradeniya, Colombo, has carried out pioneering research in the field of archaeology and is a widely respected speaker on the subject.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to the ISI HQ at Aabpara, Islamabad, on July 11 has raised eyebrows over its timing and content. Sharif and his ministerial colleagues stayed at the ISI HQ for five hours and were briefed by the chiefs of the Army and the ISI.

Talking about the challenges confronting the Nawaz Sharif government in Pakistan and the implications of the political transition on the region, Dr. Frederic Grare said the problems facing his government are huge, which cannot be resolved overnight and need long-term solutions.

Going by the frequency and nature of the TTP attacks, the militant group seems to be playing a larger game aimed at drawing the armed forces deeper into a protracted conflict in the tribal areas with the US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in mind. For the Nawaz Sharif government, and the military, the options are fast running out.

Powerful private interests will collude with the most powerful state to safeguard their mutual energy interest or the private sector may actually end up suggesting and implementing a joint framework agreement.

Dr. Gary LaFree of the University of Maryland says in his studies of the data gathered by his department, he has noticed that in recent years, terrorist attacks have become deadlier with advances in technological knowhow. However, attacks using high technology, radiological, chemical and biological attacks, made up only a meager percentage of the total number of attacks.

Despite some setbacks, the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to China and her meetings with top leaders were quite successful and fruitful, underlying the fact that China has become a time tested friend.

Doval’s Riyadh visit and I2U2’s steady progress demonstrate a nimble, pragmatic and business-like foreign policy.

Tensions are on the rise again on the Horn of Africa, as Egypt, Somalia, and Eritrea discuss a potential collective security alliance against Ethiopia. This heightening of hostility could spawn proxy conflicts reminiscent of the Cold War

Soft power's importance has increased in the context of globalisation and the growing disquiet over the use of military power for achieving foreign policy objectives. This paper focuses specifically on soft power in India's foreign policy

US wants out and so, the attraction for a Chinese presence in the region has been growing

A performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General in 2010-2011 revealed that while shipyards in the US, France, South Korea and Russia took between 66-84 months from the award of contract to the construction of a ship, in India, it took 116 to 120 months.

The tragic accident of Sindhurakshak should serve as a clarion call for the Navy and the higher defence establishment for introspection over the institutional inadequacies and the need for re-evaluating policy decisions.

The tragic accident of Sindhurakshak should serve as a clarion call for the Navy and the higher defence establishment for introspection over the institutional inadequacies and the need for re-evaluating policy decisions. A refocused attempt to rectify the growing lack of underwater platforms and warship inventory is the dire need of the hour.

The current debate around euthanasia and assisted death brings in spotlight what technological possibilities of the future may end up achieving for humanity.

Pakistan is facing an imminent energy crisis. Hydroelectric projects like Kalabagh, or coal-based ones like the Thar have failed to address the nation's growing energy needs adequately.

Terrorism and the use of nuclear weapons could be taken up for consideration for inclusion in the International Criminal Court's purview. Effective participation by India, even as an observer, could influence the evolution of the ICC in the course of such discussions.

If one really wishes to get a better appreciation of how the Indian Navy plans for an upsurge in naval rivalry with Beijing, the best thing to do is to carefully parse the refreshingly sanguine words of India's naval chiefs on the matter.

It is now a well-known fact that how Pakistani terrorists and ISI operatives exploited the visas in plotting terror attacks against India. And, it is a matter of serious concern that there are 7,000 Pakistanis still in India after their visas had expired.

India lacks an institutional infrastructure for advancing the cause of democracy as a soft power.

US President Barack Obama should go to Sochi and send out the message to the world that despite differences, the two countries are together on the issue of terrorism. This would be a diplomatic win for him and resurrect the position of US in the international arena.

New Indian Ambassadors to a host of key countries have recently been appointed. Also a new Permanent Representative to the UN. These appointments reflected the stamp of the Foreign Secretary. Will the government do the same kind of tweaking in the case of domestic bureaucracy too?.

The message in the murder is the obvious one. Kashmir’s terrain has changed, all the past verities no longer prevail. In the new situation, you are either for us, or against us, there is no middle ground.

Greece is having unprecedented economic problems and so is Spain which is seeing the rise of a new party Podemos. France too is in economic trouble and Germany is facing flattening out of exports and slower growth prospects.

Sidhu has claimed that Pakistan was waiting for India to respond to their ‘offer’ — but the reality is that there was no formal offer or official communication from Pakistan on the issue of the Kartarpur corridor.

After the US withdrawal in 2014, the Taliban, with the help of Pakistan, could plan a low-key but protracted military push towards Kabul. Taliban's attacks in Kabul this year are an indication of this strategy which will push the region towards greater instability in the next one year.

The report of a Chinese hypersonic missile vehicle test is yet another signal that the People's Republic of China intends to contest the hegemony of the United States across the spectrum.

China has considerably increased its investments in Pakistan. Given Pakistan's fragile IMF dependent economy, the idea of an economic rationale behind the substantial Chinese investments seems far-fetched.

The most important feature of the 17th SAARC Summit was the one pertaining to the promotion of maritime and rail connectivity among three of the region's eight countries.

China¿s decision in the 1980's to supply to Pakistan nuclear weapons technology and missiles capable of delivering nukes over long distances was intended to bind India down in a south Asian strategic impasse and constrict India's larger role in Asia and the world. China achieved only partial success in that objective.

There will soon be two important changes in the Nepal and India diplomacy, which are of significant importance to both the countries. Nepal's ambassador to India, Rukma Shumsher Rana, has been recalled while the Indian envoy to Nepal Rakesh Sood will be replaced by another career diplomat.