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The stakes — who gets to construct the legal, economic, and military architecture of an integrated Indo-Pacific region — are enormous.
A World Bank report on 'State of Social Safety Nets' paints an overall positive picture, with over one billion people worldwide being included under at least one safety net initiative. But the reality is that more than two-thirds of the world's 1.2 billion poorest are not covered.
Charlie Kirk’s visits to Seoul and Tokyo just before his killing shone a spotlight on the growing relations between movements on both sides of the Pacific
The 1971 victory was significant on many counts.
Child-friendly cities’ is an emerging concept in the urban management sector in many countries across the globe, including India, where it complements government schemes that aim to develop India’s urban spaces as centres of human capital development, knowledge hubs, and drivers of growth and prosperity. These flagship missions include, for example, the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMR
The situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate.
While the civic agencies responsible for daily cleaning of streets and removal of garbage are not demonstrating the desired level of efficiency, many urban residents do not follow any of the waste disposal rules, making waste management increasingly difficult.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have had a long history globally and in India. While the Indian government supports this partnership model, PPPs have experienced little success in delivering municipal infrastructure and services. This is despite the demands of a rapidly growing urban population for local services, which the municipal bodies are often unequipped to deliver. Indeed, in many cities across the world, there is an emerging push for
India’s recent efforts build on its previous commitments. Since 2021, it has offered over $4.5 billion in aid
The political landscape of Europe is steadily changing, and the sheen of Right-wing populism seems here to stay.
Bangladesh roping in China on Teesta project a challenge for India
The Brazilian economy is in a new period of transition. Its challenges today are of tax incentives in order to steer foreign investments towards the domestic shores and curbing rising inequality and urban-rural divide.
Is the United States in the process of creating a brand new Muslim bloc? If that be the case, it would know that the execution of the plan necessarily involves the cessation of Kosovo from Serbia in the name of "Self-Determination". This, Russia will not allow at any cost. Belgrade is Moscow's Slav ally. And, in a complex way, the Albanian-Serb and the Washington-Moscow stand-off links up with the global scramble for energy source
Since the toppling of the Taliban government in 2001, India and Afghanistan have witnessed a significant strengthening of their bilateral ties. As Afghanistan's stability is important for India's own, New Delhi has readily supported the growth of democracy in its neighbour, battered as it is by many years of conflict and instability. This paper maps out the nature of India's relationship with Afghanistan, focusing on the two nations' economic, po
Even as India has had a long-running debate about many aspects of its nuclear doctrine, most importantly, its No First Use (NFU) policy, the country continues to maintain the NFU. This paper makes a critical assessment of recent arguments made by Christopher Clary and Vipin Narang that India may be reconsidering its NFU policy because of counterforce “temptations”. The paper dissects the evidence they present—statements made by mostly retir
Over the years, sanctions have emerged as a preferred foreign-policy tool for many States, especially in the West. Sanctions serve a number of purposes, including the application of economic and political pressure on specific governments with a view to change their stance on a particular issue. International organisations, throughout the 20th century, used sanctions to impose their positions. The League of Nations first imposed sanctions in 1921
This Issue Brief focuses on the reasons for the need to have sub-regional integration and cooperation between the four South Asian countries of BBIN--Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. It also looks at previous attempts made at sub-regional cooperation by countries in the region and the areas of potential cooperation.
India’s fertility rates have dropped below replacement levels, and the nation faces the prospect of ageing before it becomes rich and escapes the middle-income trap. Vectors like shifting family dynamics and consumer demands, narrowing workforce window with a strain on state capacity, divergent regional trajectories, and urbanisation with new demands, converge into the need to migrate national growth models to productivity-driven frameworks—w
India has a range of interests to protect in Afghanistan. For far too long New Delhi’s reliance on Washington’s role as a security provider has been its major vulnerability.
Long sidelined by Islamabad, Moscow, and Beijing, New Delhi is finally taking a seat at the table.
India's best course is the one that Prime Minister Modi is setting. This seeks to position India as a "swing state". On one hand, India has joined the New Development Bank, the AIIB and resisted American-led efforts to condemn Russia over Ukraine. On the other, it is actively wooing the US and its allies, Japan and Australia, in the Asia Pacific region.
In Bangladesh, there is a growing perception of misrule by the AL government even though Hasina has done a lot for the economic and infrastructural development of the nation.
India is faced with choices of being part of two regional blocs: BBIN and BCIM. In both blocs, India has Bangladesh as a common partner. The prime motives for being a member of the regional blocs are essentially economic, and strategically political.
With Xi becoming first Chinese head of state to set foot in Dhaka after 30 years. Growing Bangladesh-China bonhomie is being keenly watched in Indian media
India should know that the OBOR scheme is not about CPEC and Pakistan; but in fact its primary goal is to integrate the rich European economy with that of China’s.
Proximity changes the priorities for India in a conflict on the doorstep.
India’s regional relations are almost all in states of distress. That’s a big problem for New Delhi.
There is a blithe assumption in India that national construction will happen on its own. That is simply not true. The states and the Union government need ever closer cooperation and coordination in a host of issues. Sadly, what we are confronted by are leaders who are busy shoring up their vote banks, a sure recipe for a crisis somewhere down the line.
New Delhi should become more proactively involved in the peace process and not shy away from drawing its own red-lines
India’s G20 Presidency has identified the mandate for the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) as thus: “capacity building of the ecosystem for financing sustainable development.” The aim is to scale up efforts in mobilising large pools of global capital for sustainable projects, particularly in emerging and developing economies. Under the aegis of the Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG), the G20 proposes the developmen
India's Hits and Misses in the Neighbourhood in 2025
While India is preparing to give up one of the blocks it has been drilling in, it has no intention of abandoning its search for oil and natural gas in the South China Sea.
While India has been mature in assuaging the concerns of Bangladesh on issues like the shooting of Bangladeshis by the BSF, policymakers should still reach out to other political actors so as to ensure that there's a genuine and sustainable improvement in bilateral relations.
Narendra Modi seems serious about building 100 smart cities. Just look at how the port city of Dholera in Gujarat is shaping up. It's might as well become an emblematic talisman of how a few handpicked men and women can build a new urban India at breakneck speed.
In June 2015 the Modi government launched the Smart Cities Mission, a major urban development initiative designed to improve living conditions and achieve higher economic growth in 100 cities across the country. The Mission offers the State and city governments yet another opportunity to think creatively and work towards the betterment of their cities. Will India succeed in this venture, and would the future 'smart cities' be equitable and sustai
India needs to embrace the idea of soft power, and abandon the misconception that 'soft' power somehow equates to a soft country, says Ms Mira Kamdar, a noted author. She believes there is hope, since the Indian people are not taking injustices lying down.
The World Bank shares a lot of the optimism that prevails in India today¿, said Michael Carter, World Bank Country Director for India, in his opening remarks at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
India-Israel relations in promoting unilateral action in regulation, innovation and information-sharing.
India may exceed the growth forecasts of the IMF and the World Bank but the task ahead is not easy, especially with 10 million jobs to be created, so much cleaning up to be done and so many disasters to be tackled.
New Delhi requires partners both outside and inside Afghanistan to protect its presence and interests in the war-torn country.
Instead, on Sunday, US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad left Qatar, where the US-Taliban talks were being held, the September 1 deadline having been crossed without any final agreement.
Anulekha Nandi, Basu Chandola, Anirban Sarma, Eds., India’s AI Imperative Building National Competencies in a New World Order, January 2025, Observer Research Foundation.
Despite being knocked off its feet by the collapse of the Ghani government of Afghanistan in mid-August 2021, New Delhi has quickly re-established its presence in the new Taliban-led Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has launched many reforms under the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives to strengthen India’s moribund defence industry. These reforms have led to some visible improvements, as evidenced by increased defence production and exports, and a large bank of in-principle government approvals for future domestic production. However, several challenges persist that require urgent attenti
India’s G20 Presidency has identified the mandate for the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) as thus: “capacity building of the ecosystem for financing sustainable development.” The aim is to scale up efforts in mobilising large pools of global capital for sustainable projects, particularly in emerging and developing economies. Under the aegis of the Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG), the G20 proposes the developmen
