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Although India has confirmed it will sign the FTA with EEU, it now needs to take forward the negotiations quickly. The FTA is not just significant from the economic viewpoint but also to counter the growing influence of China in the central Asian region.

Though the decision itself may not have been surprising, the consequences could be serious for New Delhi’s security.

A majority of young Indians trust the Maldives.

PM Narendra Modi and SL President Wickremesinghe inaugurates UPI services:

It's time to ensure that India-­US ties stay course — reaffirmed at the meeting — without the whim of Modi and Trump coming in the way.

Indian presence is already being felt across the South Asian region, more than in the past. The situation is still evolving. The question is: Should India allow things to continue taking the evolutionary route or jack-boot its way, which is neither des irable, nor workable - and hence unthinkable for New Delhi too!

The agenda for change is a large one. This list or any other can be multiplied several times and still come up short. But the compulsions of reform are urgent. With a bulging profile of young people, India is said to be on the cusp of a demographic dividend. But that dividend could well become a nightmare unless we are able to fix our politics, our governance system, economy, national security machinery.

How can we differentiate ourselves from China whilst dealing with Africa? Clearly the worst option would be to emulate the muscular Chinese style of economic diplomacy. For one we just don't have the firepower. For another the principle of comparative advantage advocates that everyone must play to their strengths.

Strikingly similar to the crisis that Iran faced at the IAEA Board meeting in Vienna last weekend, India too found itself in a tight spot in April 1994 at the United Nations Human Rights Commission's annual session in Geneva.

If Merkel's Berlin republic is discarding its many postwar political inhibitions and reconstituting the Eurasian landscape, Modi's putative "third republic" is looking beyond non-alignment to the idea of India as a "leading power". In their second summit in six months, Modi and Merkel may have decisively nudged India and Germany towards a goal that was first articulated 100 years ago.

Getting Pakistan to end the Kashmir conflict has been a difficult task, because Kashmir means many things to them. At one level, it is a cause that unites everyone in that country - the jihadis, the army and the civilian elite. At another, it provides it a means to maintain a hostile posture towards India, something necessary for its current sense of national identity.

With tectonic and technological challenges causing disruptions, the neat correlation of a big economy with big power that bears big responsibilities is under scrutiny.

In the coming Pakistan elections, the PPP cannot be written off because it has substantial pockets of support across various provinces. But it deserves some sympathy. Asif Zardari has not had an easy time with the media which had deemed him corrupt from day one or the judiciary and the military which have foiled all his efforts to come up with bold policies.

Modi has been ambivalent about the Lokpal, believing, presumably, that a revitalised administration will make this institution redundant. If so, he is wrong. At some point, he will have to take up the fight directly. This is the lesson we can learn from Xi Jinping. From the outset, Xi has been involved in a struggle against corruption.

Indian counter-terror thinking needs strengthening from the ground up without care of international levers, FATF, and other multilateral security mechanisms

In a municipality of 55 members in Dhule, 16 are Muslims, affiliated to all the mainstream parties in Mumbai. These councillors are virtual middlemen for state leaders, in whose electoral interest they try to keep the local flock.

Compared to the increasing suicide attacks the world over, India has, by and large, remained safe from these assaults. The reason is that Indian Muslims have a strong sense of Indian identity. In both their grievances and aspirations they think like their fellow Indian citizens, rather through any religious or sectarian prism.

With his killing, the US has entered an area of unknowns. Iran cannot be underestimated

The US cannot be seen to be losing the war in a re-election year, and so the US withdrawal needs repackaging as a peace process for Afghanistan. The problem is that nobody really knows what the Taliban wants and reconciling an emirate — and Shariat-based system with the existing constitution — is not easy.

Against the contemporary background of strong systemic shocks to the global economy, the Group of Twenty (G20) must address the stagnation in developmental priorities and spur economic growth. As the current steward of the rotating presidency within the G20, India has acquired a unique podium to spearhead discussions on pivotal global challenges.

Hasina’s victory will likely put Delhi-Dhaka relations under more scrutiny -with the West expecting India to be vocal about the state of democracy in Bangladesh

Japan knows India is the best possible regional counter-weight to a rising China. At the same time, it has to work with China to counter global uncertainties.

As India, China, US and the European Union grapple with the need for equitable and meaningful climate action, strategies are also needed to address the differing needs and capabilities of the sub-national entities that make up these big players.

Despite pressure from the United States, India-Russia ties are neither likely to significantly expand nor diminish.

India, in the new report, falls squarely in the “opportunity” category, rather than in that of “threats” or even “competition” for the US.

In India, the office of the foreign minister doesn't command nearly the sort of authority it should, or it did in the past. While foreign policy in other countries is influenced by domestic politics, in India it's being completely overshadowed by intra-party and intra-government feuds.

Prof Eiichi Katahara and Prof Marie Izuyama, two distinguished scholars from the National Institute for Defence Studies, Tokyo visited ORF on 11 March 2008 to initiate a seminar which was largely attended by scholars, journalists, diplomats, etc.

Settle the border with India. With increasing US pressure, it is in China’s interest.

Though Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani described his Mohali discussions with Dr. Manmohan Singh as a win-win situation, the Pakistan foreign office spokesperson, Tehmina Janjua, described the situation as one of guarded optimism. So what are the ground realities in this exchange? asks Mr. T.V. Rajeswar.

Eminent Nepalese journalist Mr. Yubaraj Ghimire visited ORF and shared his insights on the situation in Nepal.

A Budget is an imperative or otherwise a government will drift aimlessly, though that often seems to be the case even with the most minutely specific Budget. Having said that, one must wonder why there is such a fuss each year when the Finance Minister of India is about to present the Budget?

The world’s fourth-largest economy, with a hugely successful Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), can surely find the resources and technical solutions to care for the bezubaan (voiceless) denizens of Delhi and beyond

The MH370 incident has occurred very close to our Tri-service Command at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which has three radar stations. Regardless of whether or not MH370 actually flew over or close to the Command, it would doubtless be useful to learn lessons from this and that switching off radars at night is a dangerous way to economise.

The state’s monopoly of violence is accepted only if it follows the rule of law; if it doesn’t, it justifies the breaking of its monopoly by individuals, mobs and insurgents.

India is closely watching the evolving Trump-Xi dynamic

While the impetus for closer alignment is clear, much work remains to be done on the security side and within the wider bilateral relationship.

In the urban-rural stereotyping, the phrase 'city girls' epitomises the impact of urban excesses on the apparent modesty and traditional aspect of femininity. City girls are assumed to be loud, to say the least, and of 'morally inappropriate character' on the extreme. Even within cities, this dilemma of how girls in cities ought to behave persists.

The poem, one of numerous written in that period, expresses admiration for the spell Nehru had cast by his deft navigation of foreign policy between the two blocs not for India alone but a whole group.

In the earthquake tragedy, India and Pakistan have a rare opportunity to forget past differences and bitterness, at least some of it to begin with, and forge a partnership of peace and development. Both the countries should shed past inhibitions and acrimony, and look for fresh opportunities to work together for a common cause: to rebuild Kashmir.

If we do not stand up and reclaim the space we have conceded to criminals and other low-life who now sit in judgment over us, it will be our children who will pay the price in the coming years

A final draft resolution at the United Nations, passed in July 2014, has focused on the UN General Assembly's review process of World Summit on the Information Society outcomes implementation.

For all its flaws, liberalism still has a future—it just may look different from what we are used to.

Everybody agrees that these weapons are enormously destructive and should not be used but the ministers ''personal opinion" has just outdone everything