11958 results found
India and Bangladesh’s relationship has been growing steadily over the past few years, especially since Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power in January 2009. In 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the relationship as being in its “golden era (Sonali Adhyay).” Indeed, Bangladesh is at the centre of India’s flagship ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies, and has been crucial in ensuring peace
The Indian Ocean region is yet again witnessing another phase of strategic rivalries, with global powers including the US, China and India competing to create their own zones of power. The Indian Ocean has historical signicance as a key corridor for both trade and energy resources from the oil-rich Middle East to the big economies of East Asia. The nature of challenges facing the region are evolving. Economically, the Indian Ocean has become more
Indian decision makers face two hard choices: either reduce the size of the Indian Army or significantly expand the defence budget.
Following a tip off, the Colombian Police have chanced upon an indigenously built mini submarine in the port of Tumaco, near the Colombian border with Ecuador. Reportedly, the vessel can carry up to 10 tonnes of cocaine valued at about $US200 million in the international market. According to Eduardo Fernandez, head of the Administrative Security Department (DAS), a detective force, ¿They started building the submarine about six months ago, using
The multilateral frameworks that were established following the Second World War paved the way to strengthening global governance and international cooperation. Over the decades, however, the ability of these multilateral forums to take collective action has been hobbled by institutional inertia, vested interests, and challenges to decision-making. Minilaterals are thus being seen as an alternative route to form partnerships and coalitions “of
No one expects the MoD's current leadership - both political and bureaucratic - to take bold new initiatives towards ASEAN. What surprises southeast Asia is the passive incoherence of the MoD's participation in the various defence forums of ASEAN - neither ready to lead nor willing to respond.
This report is part of the Observer Research Foundation’s “Financing Green Transitions” series which aims to find potential linkages between private capital, in all its forms, and climate action projects. The series will primarily examine domestic and international barriers to private capital entry for mitigation oriented climate projects, while also examining potential avenues for private capital flow entry towards adaptation and resilienc
Nature-based solutions (NbS) harness the benefits of nature to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation while creating pathways for sustainable development. While NbS could generate substantial economic benefits, current private finance flows remain insufficient due to market and information failures. This brief makes a case for increased private investments in NbS, highlighting their cost-effectiveness and sustainability.
Analysts attribute the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021 to various factors. These include geopolitical shifts, and the Taliban’s tactics of warfare. However, fewer attempts have been made to understand the Taliban’s victory through internal mobilisation. This brief attempts to fill the gap, and examines the role of identity, grievance, and greed in the Taliban’s mobilisation and its contribution to a successful insurgency. It out
This brief explores four scenarios of climate action for India using a systems dynamics model called the Energy Policy Simulator for India. It investigates policy trade-offs and co-benefits and estimates the costs of climate action. It finds that deep decarbonisation in the Indian economy is possible while also boosting jobs and GDP and avoiding millions of premature deaths due to harmful air pollution. The low-carbon transition will require mass
The evolving contours of modern geopolitics is still in a state of flux, and there is wisdom in accepting the notion that the end result is perhaps indeterminable. The age of disruption is here, countries that thrive on disorder may do well in the short term, while nations who invest in stability may well define the future of globalisation and, indeed, the new world order
India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions for climate action emphasises the creation of an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to three billion tonnes by 2030 by increasing the country’s green cover. At the same time, however, harmful human activities such as legal and illegal logging, as well as deforestation for development purposes seem poised to negate the impact of these climate-action plans. While steps are being taken to prevent t
This Special Report reviews the path towards the commercialisation of coal mining in India, in the context of the auctions of blocks held in the last two years, and makes an assessment of the challenges facing the sector in view of global events. It builds on discussions raised during ORF's roundtables on the subject.
Export orientation is a quality and time conscious eco-system which hinges on becoming part of global supply chains.
PM Modi’s first term was about expanding political power. This term is about instituting governance.
In an apparent turnaround for Indian foreign policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London in April underscores a change of approach towards a forum generally considered as a non-entity in Indian strategic circles. As a rising power, India is looking at engaging in avenues where its status is recognised, especially during this period of unprecedented global structural ch
Both Modi and Hasina will be in power for the next four years and have the historic opportunity to further strengthen bilateral ties for which the Modi visit has contributed in no small measure. The next generation of Bangladeshis and Indians expect no less.
New Delhi is yet to get its defence engagement with Jakarta in shape. Through the decade-long UPA rule, Delhi and Jakarta had been talking about expanding bilateral defence cooperation. But progress had been rather slow thanks to the government's dysfunctional defence policies.
The Modi factor disturbed the Congress party also to some extent. Though Jairam Ramesh had called Modi as "India's first authentic fascist", his description that Modi might prove a challenge to the Congress in 2014 did not go well with a Congress veteran who went to the extent of saying that if Ramesh felt so, he might as well resign and join Modi.
PM Modi has made another high decibel visit to the US, once again holding out hope that India is ready to do business. However, unfortunately not much has changed back home between his last trip and the ongoing one. Rules, laws and regulations remain inflexible.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes the first year in office, his greatest momentum has been in foreign policy. But the external opportunities he has successfully created for India could be undermined by potential domestic failures.
The flop black money amnesty scheme is a huge setback for a government which was committed to bringing back black money. What is worrisome is that other nations have succeeded while India has failed abysmally in this exercise.
The Modi government's real challenge in Nepal is not China. It is the tragic failure of Delhi's own engagement with Kathmandu. Despite geographic proximity, cultural intimacy, economic interdependence and shared political values, India has stumbled in Nepal.
On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, M. Ganapathi, former High Commissioner of India to Mauritius, analyses India-Mauritius ties and suggests areas of cooperation to further strengthen the relationship.
Given its proximity to India and its importance in global value chains, ASEAN is in a vital zone of India’s strategic interests.
Six months in office, Narendra Modi has set a scorching pace, but mainly in the area of foreign policy. He has undertaken eight foreign trips, of which six were to the Asia-Pacific region. And, there can be little doubt that the subtext of his visits to nine countries has been China.
When Modi meets Xi, he will be talking to a leader positioning himself and his country as a global power. It is important for India to be in some of the calculations, just as much it is necessary for India not to overstretch by wanting to be seen everywhere.
Narendra Modi came to power with an unexceptional agenda: push economic growth; transform the infrastructure; bring about a social transformation. But this agenda appears to be in danger of being drowned out by a cacophony of voices from Hindutva organisations.
No longer just a balancer, the prime minister wants to make India a major power in its own right. And his cabinet pick shows he’s serious about doing so.
EGoMs were a useful device that helped decide many contentious issues in India in the past. It was pioneered by the Vajpayee government. It may be useful for the Modi Govt to note that 18 "leading small groups", four presided by President Xi Jinping, exist in the Chinese system as well.
Modi government has stirred a hornet’s nest in imposing a one-day ban on NDTV India on clearly specious grounds that need to be looked into
Experience has shown us that governmental systems run by bureaucrats cannot be reformed by them. Reform and restructuring is something only the political class can bring. But the Modi government has sought to rely on the bureaucracy. The result is a seriously underperforming government.
Under Modi, India must find the right balance between a strong national leadership, popular expectations for change and an optimistic vision of progress. Change can certainly be achieved, but Indians need more than just the will of a strong leader.
Is it realistic to expect the new Prime Minister and his team to bring about a turnaround when some of the key economic indicators have been stagnating for so long? He struck the right note at his inaugural speech by asking people to build a developed and inclusive India.
For the next government, tough rhetoric on the boundary question is no substitute for coping with the multiple challenges arising from China's new status as a first-rate power. With China emerging as the second-largest economy in the world, comprehensive commercial cooperation with Beijing is an imperative that no Indian government can ignore.
A decade of far-reaching defence reforms under Modi has transformed the Indian military’s reputation and capabilities
Other than neighbouring countries, any future Indian government's principal focus will be on the vast swathe that begins in Sri Lanka and ends in Sydney, and can be described under a variety of rubrics: Look East, Indian Ocean Region, the Indo-Pacific. Countries such as Japan, Indonesia and Singapore present India big windows as it strives to become an economic and maritime power.
To improve South Asian regional cooperation, Modi has three options. The first is to focus on a two-speed Saarc. The second is to build on transregional institutions like the BIMSTEC. However, it is the third way -- unilateral action -- that offers Modi the greatest opportunity. For example, Modi has already proposed to build a Saarc satellite for use by its neighbours.
For a bilateral visit at the highest-level after an undesirable and inexplicable gap of 28 long years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day tour of Sri Lanka was noted as much for what it achieved as for the optics.
New Delhi can't really expect that the Americans can or will solve India's problems with Pakistan. India can better leverage support from the US and other international partners only when it has a strong and sustainable engagement of its own with Pakistan.
The expected meeting has seen a focus on what both sides could agree to on the defense side.
To characterise the Modi-Sharif meeting and joint statement in Ufa as a "breakthrough" would be a gross exaggeration. It is another move - a positive move, but only one small move in the larger reckoning - in the elaborate chess game of India-Pakistan relations.
We need to restructure government and administration in each of India's 568 districts. The District Collector/Deputy Commissioner, like his ICS predecessor, must become the executive head of the district with all branches of government subject to his/her authority and power. This must particularly include the police.
India, Iran and Russia have decided to begin using the part-ready International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal network of sea, rail and road routes between India, Iran, Central Asia and Russia. As the broader politics in the region undergo new configurations that may put to question the project’s prospects, and the evolving security situation demands continuous appraisal, it is time to refocus discussion on the economics o
Development partnerships between countries are crucial in addressing policy challenges in the developing world. Cooperation between countries in the Global South, in particular—such as those that India engages in, under its Development Partnership Administration (DPA)—is heightening conversations around the demands of sustainability. Yet, India continues to lack an appropriate framework by which to assess its development partnerships
President Moon’s visit came at a time when both countries are well poised to expand their security and economic engagements.
The visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in New Delhi this week offers an opportunity to PM Modi to recalibrate India's Afghan policy towards greater realism and more modest goals. Modi must reassure Ghani that Delhi is in a "standby" mode, ready to extend, whatever support Kabul wants and feels comfortable with.
The relative calm in the major Russian cities was broken last November when a bombing attack derailed the Nevsky Express -- a high-speed train plying between Moscow and St Petersburg
For Mongolia, Russian investments & cooperation between the two nations create a more competitive market in Mongolia & reduce its dependence on Chinese exports
In agreeing to explore with Pakistan a final settlement of the Kashmir question as part of a normalisation of bilateral relations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pushed the India-Pakistan dialogue into what could be an exciting, if not decisive, phase.
