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A parliamentary delegation from the tiny Himalayan kingdom witnessed the log-jam in Indian Parliament on 10 August. The combined Opposition's Rajya Sabha tirade against the government over allegations of corruption involving ruling BJP's ministers was the main reason for the log-jam in the Indian Parliament.

A new leadership has assumed office in Bhutan defying all pre-poll surveys that were predicting an adverse result for the country's opposition party. The People's Democratic Party (PDP), led by Tshering Tobgay won the elections by winning 32 seats out of 47.

The launching of the Nu. 1.2 billion CSI and startup flagship has been a major initiative undertaken by the present government that has professed the motto of “Narrowing the Gap.”

As Bhutan prepares for its second general elections this year, the political landscape of the nation has yet to undergo significant change from the first one. While being active, democracy in the Himalayan Kingdom is still State-centric,

Bhutan, the tiny South Asian country, is a power-house literally. Power constitutes the country's single largest export item. The Himalayan kingdom is located in one of the fastest growing regions of the world.

Since time immemorial, the land that is now Bhutan has been a nation that has limited its interaction with the outside world and discouraged immigrants. This to some extend could be attributed to the nation's tie and linkages with Tibet.

Ties of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan with Nepal, Bangladesh and India stand to be boosted. Trade ties with Bangladesh are expected to be intensified with India allowing transit to Bangladesh for trade with Bhutan.

The small Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, surrounded by two giant regional superpowers, India and China, is showing the world that simple resolve and strong political will can pave way for a huge change.

The little Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, owing to its strategic geographic location, is turning out to be the new hub for regional cooperation in South Asia. Bhutan's hydro-power prospects are no secret.

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck's address to the nation on the 106th National Day function held on 17 December 2013 came as a ready-reckoner for the new government at the helm of the Bhutan's affairs, when the king heavily criticised the poor implementation of policies.

The tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan has completed 25 years of energy cooperation with India. The idea was/is for Bhutan to facilitate Indian funding for setting up hydro-power projects in the country,

'Election fever' has descended on the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, but it is not inspired by the political class and the masses but by the State. The notification of the Election Commission on limiting the role of religion.

America needs a strong India in the Indo-Pacific as a partner. And India, too, needs an America that can sort its internal challenges to be able to pay attention to strategic realities

This paper assesses United States (US) presidents Donald J. Trump’s (2017-21) and Joe Biden’s (2021-present) respective records on the India-US technology partnership. During the Trump years, this domain of bilateral cooperation saw the finalisation of foundational agreements, including those on force interoperability, and new precedents on US arms export designations for India. While these agreements pertained mostly to defence technology, t

As far as India’s domestic affairs go, the Modi government will not get the free ride it has got so far even if the Biden administration will not allow its activist impulses to override US strategic interests.

Focus will be on making US more competitive, rather than blackballing the Dragon

The US has chosen to install a terror group as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and as a departing gift, offered them an estimated $212 million worth of military aircraft, vehicles and ammunition.

U.S. defense cooperation with India is one thing Democratic and Republican administrations agree on.

The US is stuck in the Cold War-era thinking on Russia and lacks a road-map on China. Partners will be concerned

Biden has a long list of policy decisions taken by Trump during his term that he will have to work on correcting. Not all of them will be easy to reverse

The government’s promises on jobs and farmers’ incomes have fallen flat, so it may look to fill the gap with ‘sound and fury’.

During a roundtable with a delegation of EU Members of Parliament, the ORF Director pointed out the great chance the international community has today in setting up electricity generating plants in India with green technology.

The crucial unknown in the high-stakes diplomacy is Donald Trump’s idea of what an acceptable ‘deal’ is

In 2023, a decade after inaugurating the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese President Xi Jinping convened the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (third BRF) in Beijing. In his Chair’s Statement, he pledged reforms and institutionalisation to address the connectivity initiative’s myriad problems and international criticisms. The third BRF focused on practical cooperation, multimodal connectivity, globalisation of trad

Nitish Kumar is already playing with one hand tied behind his back, by the RJD. Till very recently Kumar and the BJP developed Bihar in collaboration. They are, in fact, conjoined brothers in development. Modi must rise above his personal feelings and go all out to support Kumar.

That the Muslims in Bihar turned to Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal (United) despite his alliance with the BJP could well be another turning point in the country's political history. This confirms the extent of Muslim exasperation with the Congress. Nitish Kumar harnessed this disgust deftly.

Former Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Mr. M Ganapathi, has emphasised the importance of the Indian Ocean in global developments in the 21st Century and the importance now given to the region by the government.

Bangladesh and India are standing at a take-off stage in their relationship despite anti-Indian groups and political parties trying to find fault with Hasina's moves. The Chinese and Pakistani lobbies are unhappy with this growing engagement.

Mr. Manish Tewari, Member of Parliament, has introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to regulate the functioning and use of power by the Indian intelligence agencies within and outside India and to provide for the coordination, control and oversight of such agencies.

The winter session of the Parliament, which has just commenced, is of critical significance to the country and its economy. While some may link the importance of this session to the much awaited Lokpal bill.

The BIMSTEC region is among the most vulnerable in the world from increased threat due to climate change. In the foreseeable future, climate change is projected to affect each BIMSTEC member country with greater severity and frequency, thereby impeding their response capacity significantly. This brief explores the vulnerability of the region from climate change and the BIMSTEC-level initiatives that have taken place to address the issue. Although

This brief is an experienced journalist’s view of how the media should regard the relevance of BIMSTEC, or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation; and, in turn, how BIMSTEC can utilise the media in making its issues known to the public and the policymakers, in its immediate region and beyond. The brief argues that if BIMSTEC is to become an effective forum for regional cooperation, it should be more o

As BIMSTEC pushes for transport connectivity, it stands to gain from other, complementary transport connectivity projects that are emerging in the region. BIMSTEC can also take advantage of extant policy designs, and aligning its projects with the various national, bilateral and multilateral projects either ongoing or being planned. Given India’s key role in BIMSTEC — owing not only to its geographical location but also its capabilities — i

An audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden was aired on the Arabic network Al-Jazeera on January 3,2004. This is the third message exclusively relating to Iraq attributed to him since before the US-led invasion of Iraq by the coalition forces. The first, called a special message to the Iraqi people, was aired on February 11,2003, and the second

There was a massacre of hundreds of Shias of Gilgit in the Northern Areas (NA) of Pakistan (before 1947 called the Northern Areas of Jammu & Kashmir) in 1988 following a demand raised by them for the creation of an autonomous Shia state to be called the Karakoram State, consisting of the Shia majority areas of the NA, Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

India's 16th general elections, billed as the most expensive elections ever, are witnessing an unprecedented flow of black money into country's electoral process. Analysts claim that a mammoth 400 billion rupees, roughly 0.35 percent of India's GDP, has been pumped into the democratic process.

Nepali political leaders have missed a self-imposed deadline for promulgation of the country's new Constitution. Last year, in the wake of the election to the second Constituent Assembly (CA), the lawmakers had kept January 22 as the deadline.

Intelligence is the first line of defence in any war, be it a conventional war or a war against terrorism. The American security apparatus has readjusted itself well, in almost all the areas of modern warfare in the post cold war era. However, the recent American failures indicate that still much needs to be done in of the areas of modern day warfare, and that is intelligence gathering.

At least two people were killed and 50 others injured in a series of 300 simultaneous small bomb blasts in 50 cities and towns, including Dhaka, the capital, across Bangladesh on August 17,2005.

After Independence, none of the national parties - the Congress, the Janata Dal, leave alone the BJP - have ever had anyone other than a Hindu as their supreme political leader. The only recent exception is Sonia Gandhi of the Congress. But even her links into politics are exceptionally pucca, upper caste Hindu.

Terrorism, like almost every other human activity that involves production and creation of goods and services, needs money. Described by experts like Raymond Baker as Gross Criminal Product, this included illegal capital flight, narcotics trade, smuggling of arms and other goods, human trafficking, counterfeiting and computer crimes.

A constitutional court must not outsource its judgement on freedom of expression online to an industry association even if it convenes others to help make this decision. It must also avoid allowing the executive to take over this role, determining without any transparency what content is blocked.

The Indian Ocean is vital to the economies, security and livelihoods of its littoral states. However, the economic and sustainable development issues in the rim are particularly challenging since the countries, with diverse political systems, development status and agendas, are home to one- third of the world’s population that rely extensively on the marine resources for sustenance, thereby subjecting the ocean’s resources to pressures from p

Once a niche term, Blue Economy (BE) has matured into a popular concept in marine governance discussions in the Indo-Pacific region. As land resources reach their limits, governments in the region are keen to harness the ocean’s wealth for economic projects. Policymakers widely believe the blue paradigm allows marine activities to be earth-friendly and sustainable, and thereby guaranteeing a more equitable future. Recent developments, however,