Search

India and France must start looking together at the region and the world. A Franco-Indian vision document could be a vital first step towards developing a cooperative framework for stability and security in the region. And the relationship must be purposeful, nimble and creative.

The elimination of nuclear weapons is a pre-condition for peace in the 21st century. This was the key message delivered by the Hon'ble Senator Douglas Roche, renowned campaigner for nuclear disarmament in his address to Indian experts at the ORF campus in New Delhi.

Bangladesh was one of the few countries in the world to sustain a positive economic growth rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, however, it is experiencing symptoms that could stall such impressive record: rising divergences in the government’s fiscal balance; the precarious Balance of Payments situation; rapidly declining foreign exchange reserves; demand-supply gaps in the energy markets; and inflationary tendencies. The exogenous shocks

Narendra Modi is a post-Partition Prime Minister who has no family history linking him directly to the event. This could work to his advantage if he chooses to take a less emotional and more logical approach to the Indo-Pak relationship.

We really do not understand inflation stickiness in India since 2010. However, the silver lining is that oil prices may not rise any further following the shale gas revolution in the US. The Finance Minister can certainly do something about growth and possibly pray for lower inflation.

By leveraging India’s strengths in pharmaceuticals and combining them with Africa’s dynamic potential and demand, the two can jointly build resilient, equitable healthcare systems

The Indian Himalayan Region, spanning 12 Indian states, has long been absent from the centre stage of Indian policy.

The more the communal picture changes since the demolition of the Babri Masjid 20 years ago this week, the more it remains the same. Possibly with one variation: the political insecurity of the Muslim grows with each turn.

The Nigerian presidential election on March 28 was nothing short of a historic turning point in the rather fragile democracy. An incumbent Nigerian President was voted out in a general election which was, on the whole, free and fair barring a few technical glitches.

The Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh will strengthen cooperation on border management. The two countries should not only cooperate with each other in controlling cross-border crimes, but also work on improving the lives of the people on the border by encouraging cross-border trade.

Certainly, the Government of India should vehemently object to Lakhvi's release, as it has rightly done. But to expect that such objections will have any substantive impact on Pakistan, is silly. India must keep its guard up.

When talking about Intelligence agencies, the first thing that comes to mind is secrecy ? the services must, it is widely concurred, operate in secret so as to be highly effective.

What is astonishing is the sheer incompetence with which the ground realities are being dealt with by the State machinery.

Finally, Mr Biden made waves when he appeared to confirm American military involvement in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan

PM Modi's official visit to the UK is unexceptional. This is despite the hype and hoopla that accompany any Modi tour. However, what was different was that for the first time Modi had to respond to issues like Gujarat 2002 riots and the climate of intolerance back home.

A three-day conference on India-Myanmar relations generated a lively dialogue over questions surrounding the possible challenges and opportunities that India would face while redesigning her Myanmar relations and the Look East policies.

Pakistan has no option but to respond to public outrage. Blocking of the two NATO supply routes to Afghanistan and denying the use of a Baloch airfield to the CIA is actually a low risk retaliation when Iran, Hezbullah, Syria are much more in the eye of a huge, global storm.

One proposal that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could offer to President Pervez Musharraf, when they meet this week in New York on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, is cooperation in the reconstruction in Afghanistan.

The closing months of the year 2003 saw a change in the language of the discourse emanating from the Pakistani establishment in general and its military dictator Gen.Pervez Musharraf in particular

It can be very tempting to not be overly optimistic following the recent meeting between Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in Ufa, Russia. There is a sense of familiarity to the manner in which India-Pakistan relations unfold.

A strong alignment between India and Indonesia holds the key to Delhi's much-vaunted "strategic autonomy" and Jakarta's quest for a "dynamic equilibrium" in Asia. It will also set the template for India's security cooperation with other regional powers in Asia.

JD Vance’s visit speeds up the recalibration of India-US ties

Elections-2004 has thrown up a question without addressing it, leave alone answering it. By drumming up on the Vajpayee leadership, the BJP-NDA may have kept the nation¿s focus away from the obvious question, but the latter does remain, however much in the background as they may deem fair: After Vajpayee, Who?

Liberalisation has given birth to two Indias. One which is prosperous and living first world lifestyles and the 'other' in which people are living without human dignity and suffering multiple deprivation. Regional disparities have also led to disparate standards of living.

With the UNHRC vote only days away, it was not a total give-away by India. The Prime Minister's statement in the Parliament implied that the tinkered second draft of the US Resolution too did not meet Indian expectations.

The coincidence is striking. The US ¿ban¿ on ¿non-participants¿ in the ¿international coalition¿ to participate in $ 18-billions worth of ¿works contract¿ for Iraq¿s reconstruction, and also the follow-up talks on the deadlocked WTO negotiations at Cancun. Between them, the two may have begun designing a new course for politics and cooperation in the international arena, where economy now has a major say.

The Munich Security Conference Core Group Meeting is beginning in New Delhi from Tuesday. Around 70 senior decision-makers from politics, business, media and civil society from India, as well as the Euro-Atlantic, Asian and the Middle East region will discuss key issues of international security policy.

Pragmatism has finally taken root in Delhi and Kathmandu — project implementation will be the test

It will be its second foreign military base, after Djibouti, which was set up in August 2017. China clearly is looking at the longer term.

Non-alignment, strategic autonomy and Asian solidarity might be attractive slogans for some, but offer no guidance for the conduct of Indian Foreign Policy in East Asia and the Middle East. To cope with the new geopolitical imperatives, India must learn to deal with Asia on its own terms and stop imposing its ideological preferences on the region.

The US and India no longer seem diffident about joining hands to counter the rising influence of China

In February 2004, President George Bush outlined his new nuclear non-proliferation approach, in his ¿seven points¿ speech at the National Defense University. It include the setting up of proliferation security initiative which will control and monitor not only shipments and nuclear transfer of material/technology but also will be empowered to take direct action against the violators of the law.

China's renewed engagement with the Southeast Asian neighbours seems to be a policy of the new leadership. However, it must follow up on these successful visits by its efforts and actions. For now, maintaining good relations with ASEAN members seems to be Beijing's new strategy to ease tensions in the SCS.

New realities confront New Delhi and Beijing.

After the scheduled western forces drawdown from Afghanistan in 2014, one viable option that would assist Afghan economic development is the US-driven New Silk Road Strategy. But, China, Russia, and Iran have specific visions of a viable NSRS, and these do not necessarily sit well with the US strategy.

The US is entering its trickiest phase in the Af-Pak region, where elections are due in both, Pakistan and Afghanistan just around the time Washington has set for its troops to depart. Can troops depart without an overt or covert understanding with Iran which has a long border with Afghanistan?

As India redefines its priorities vis-a-vis China, its policymakers will have to be bolder in articulating the need for robust partnerships

Prime Minister Modi’s outreach to Europe has injected pragmatism in a relationship which was adrift for some time. Now the proverbial ball is in Europe’s court.

The Central Asian states are looking for a larger and more independent Indian role in the region. In responding to Central Asia's quest to diversify its strategic partnerships, Modi must signal an important departure from the UPA government's approach to the region. He needs to have a long term strategy and plan.