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Pakistan’s strategy of ‘bleeding India by a thousand cuts’ has been implemented by exploiting religious sentiments and whipping up passions on c

With two huge technology and infrastructure advances — cheap high-quality smartphones and almost free data — the internet is quickly becoming an e

China's assessment of its threat environment has evolved under President Xi Jinping, who underscores the imperative of bolstering traditional and non-traditional security. The Chinese Communist Party believes that inimical forces will attempt to overthrow it by penetrating the ideological sphere. Additionally, following the tumultuous presidential succession in the US in 2021, China has sought to cast doubts on the virtues of democracy, and is le

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking an enormous toll on health systems across the world. A growing concern is that efforts to manage the pandemic are undermining care for serious non-Covid illnesses such as cancer. In the UK and US, for example, it is estimated that delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment due to COVID-19 will lead to excess cancer deaths in the range of tens of thousands within a year. In India, where health systems are weak, it is

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) placed itself in a highly embarrassing situation with its decision to ban the usage of 'obscene' words in text messages. Stiff resistance from users,

The chance of an all-out two-front war with nuclear-armed Pakistan and China are near zero; local skirmishes are always possible. The difference between planning for all-out war and a limited one is hundreds of thousands of crores of the taxpayer's precious money .

The mantra of Net Neutrality would require the user to pay for new capacity since telcos then become mere managers of "dumb pipes" conveying data as it comes and recovering costs from users. No one, least of all Netizens, can stomach an increase in Net usage charges.

रूस और यूक्रेन के बीच जारीwar को समाप्त करने और शांति स्थाप�

The election of Trump in 2016 struck yet another blow to an already struggling US-Russia relationship, which has today reached the lowest point since

SCO सम्मेलन में पीएम मोदी जिनपिंग-शाहबाज ऐसे समय एक मंच साझा कर रहे हैं जब दोनों देशों के साथ भारत के बेहतर संबंध नहीं है. सीमा विवाद को लेकर चीन के साथ संबंध तनाव है वहीं आतंकव�

Countries such as India and Australia are redefining their Indo-Pacific policies amidst the growing belligerence of China in the region. The two have a common interest in stability, while standing firmly against any militarisation. Their willingness to partner closely with like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific lays the foundation for stronger defence and security cooperation between the two middle-power democracies and Indian Ocean li

Several thousand Tamil refugees have started seeking asylum in Australia and Canada. Both the countries, however, are wary of accepting the asylum seekers for security reasons.

USAID pledges $791 million in fresh aid to Afghanistan to support Afghan-led development programmes and other roundups

This brief argues that the understanding of city-level air quality could be strengthened if residents who live in spaces where industries are present, are able to access information about industrial emissions in their areas. Indeed, even as there are some 4,000 OCEMS (online continuous emissions/effluents monitoring systems) in place in different pollutive industries across the country, the data they collect—inarguably vital for public health�

The emergence of the Tehrik-E-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) as the largest religious political party in the country has introduced a new, aggressive element in Pakistan’s polity. Although the TLP does not have an armed militant wing, it has demonstrated both its street power and the strength of its electoral base only six years since it was set up in 2015. Exploiting deeply emotional issues like the finality of Prophethood and Blasphemy against the Pr

The U.S. and Iran are muddying the waters with accusations and counter-accusations

ACT 1: March 2002. Abu Zubaidah, a Palestinian member of Al Qaeda, was arrested in Faislabad in Pakistani Punjab by the Pakistani authorities and handed over to the USA's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was the operational chief of Al Qaeda; his arrest was a major breakthrough, we were told. This is hardly supported by the report of the 9/11 Commission.

Saeed Naqvi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, traveled to Bahrain, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Baghdad, Najaf, Amman, Cairo, Jerusalem and Ramallah after the Arab Spring broke out. Earlier, he visited Tunisia, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Western Sahara and Libya. In this paper, he shares his first-hand experiences and discussions with leaders and diplomats, many of whom have requested anonymity. This paper follows

The Syrian conflict has now been raging for over half a decade, with hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced.

This paper analyses the domestic compulsions in Australia, India, Japan and the US that are influencing their positions on the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). The paper notes that as the four countries are becoming increasingly aware of the risks posed by China’s rise over the last few years, they have sought to converge to the Quad. For Australia, the concerns are over trade dependency on China, and China’s sharp power projection and

China is touting its vision of linking two Indian projects (Mausam and Spice Route) with its One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. China's main goal is to coordinate regional policy so that each country's economic development plan becomes part of a larger regional vision.

A raging pandemic — which originated in China — has had very little adverse effect, allowing the Chinese to insulate their space programme from th

In the last two decades, the world has witnessed disease outbreaks that have resulted in massive loss of lives and economic disruptions.[1]  The current pandemic of the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, might still not be the last of the pandemics that the world will suffer in the years to come—as long as human activities that use natural resources beyond their capacities, resulting in the spread of viruses, continue unab

Thinking about the future of global food systems has now become more critical than ever. Climate change impacts—among them, shifts in soil quality, precipitation, pest regimes, seasonal growth patterns, along with land degradation and reduction in biodiversity—have impacted agricultural and aquatic food production systems across the world. Indeed, the causal links between climate change and food security are manifesting more clearly, particul

Since the terrorist strikes of September 11, 2001, in the USA, at least ten taped messages attributed to Osama bin Laden have been telecast by the Al Jazeera TV channel.

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

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.

Could the refusal of Chinese banks to process payments in Rubles or China's reliance on alternative trade routes that circumvent Russia be considered

Indo-US relations that have witnessed a remarkable transformation in recent years, both in tenor and substance, are under intense scrutiny on the eve of US President Barack Obama's forthcoming visit to India. While relations between the two democracies have moved from one of 'estrangement' to a relationship of 'engagement' at many levels, there are outstanding issues that need to be addressed. This Issue Brief explores the prospects for cooperati

With the risks for escalation and miscalculations growing in the Ukraine war, it is time to revisit the sobering lessons of 1962

Republicans could well end up with a nominee who might have been convicted more than once

The role of the state is paramount in incentivising and facilitating a continental-scale indigenous technology and intellectual property development ecosystem in India. The world's two largest economies, US and China, have amply demonstrated the payoffs of this approach through tangible socio-economic development. This paper documents successful strategies from both economies that India can emulate in its own context. It argues that multi

The technology revolution of the 20th century minimised the importance of geographical, economic, social and political barriers and reduced transaction and information costs thus boosting productivity and growth, making governance more transparent and empowering the citizen. It propelled not only democracy, but also the market economy. Its impact on social relations, especially on gender relations, was significant, with the commodification of lab

States are not ready to commit to a global regulatory regime for AI. At best, they may be willing to enter into bilateral or minilateral regimes to re

The ‘crown jewel’ of the World Trade Organization (WTO) — the dispute resolution mechanism — is facing a crisis. The US obstruction to new appointments in the WTO’s Appellate Body (AB) has frozen the appeals process and brought the mechanism to a halt. Until such crisis is resolved, New Delhi will need to explore other means for resolving its current and future trade disputes. This paper outlines interim solutions that India can emplo

In April 2023, the Supreme Court of India advocated for the government to establish a "uniform national policy" on menstrual health and hygiene (MHH), spotlighting the need for comprehensive measures on a significant public health issue. This brief traces India's path to promoting MHH, highlighting key policy initiatives and their impact on period product usage. Using secondary data from the National Family Health Survey-5, this brief introduces

This paper examines the environmental and policy-level challenges to the actualisation of US-India counterterrorism cooperation. Indeed, despite their seeming convergence on the imperative of effective counterterrorism, there has been limited cooperation between the two countries. While the US’ sense of “American exceptionalism” and its hegemon status purports a utilitarian notion of the adversary, India’s regional power status makes its

The lack of Indian Foreign Fighters is hetero-causal encompassing historic, community based, bureaucratic and government factors.

High-density urban agglomerations may be sustainable in terms of the economies of scale their populations provide. Yet, as proven by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, these same urban spaces are nearly defenceless in times of unprecedented disease outbreaks. A pandemic poses many risks to the millions who live in dense megacities, whether in wealthy countries or developing ones. The sheer density of the population of these cities provides an ideal e

Questions about the utility of globalisation are not new. Could the COVID-19 outbreak be the final nail on the coffin for an idea that drove the world economy in the past three decades?  In theory, countries would produce what they specialised in, leaving it to the market to ensure everyone got a better price for it. As 2020 began, the pandemic spread from one province of China and soon disrupted production across the world. Countries banned the

There is no dearth in analyses that sound the alarm on the current United States (US) administration’s policy in the Indo-Pacific. This paper conducts an evaluation of the US’ engagement in the region, and finds it to be contrary to alarmist predictions. President Donald Trump’s administration has reaffirmed commitments towards traditional allies, built on the predecessor president’s courtship of nascent partners, and encouraged partners

अमेरिका में मध्यावधि चुनाव के नतीज़ों के बाद लगता है कि ड�

Joe Biden help Ukraine यूक्रेन की मदद को लेकर बाइडन प्रशासन की बड़ी चिंता क्‍या थी. ट्रंप समर्थकों ने बाइडन को यूक्रेन में दी जा रही मदद को लेकर को क्‍या कहा. क्‍या अब बाइडन यूक्रेन को दी ज�

अमेरिका (America) की राष्ट्रीय रक्षा रणनीति का बजट (National Defence Strategy Budg

The benefits that India enjoyed for many years under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme of the United States was withdrawn, effective 5 June 2018. India was the largest beneficiary of the programme, of which it has been part since its inception in 1974. This paper evaluates the impact of the withdrawal on specific sectors of Indian exports. For comparison, the paper uses the Harmonized System Code (HS Code) Commodity Classifica