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Though the decision itself may not have been surprising, the consequences could be serious for New Delhi’s security.

The trip produced a mixed outlook for New Delhi’s perceptions of Beijing’s inroads in the wider Indo-Pacific.

A majority of young Indians trust the Maldives.

Indian presence is already being felt across the South Asian region, more than in the past. The situation is still evolving. The question is: Should India allow things to continue taking the evolutionary route or jack-boot its way, which is neither des irable, nor workable - and hence unthinkable for New Delhi too!

The agenda for change is a large one. This list or any other can be multiplied several times and still come up short. But the compulsions of reform are urgent. With a bulging profile of young people, India is said to be on the cusp of a demographic dividend. But that dividend could well become a nightmare unless we are able to fix our politics, our governance system, economy, national security machinery.

While Indian officials have participated in events where the Taliban have been present, India has been content to let others take the lead. We have, therefore, been unable to plan options for ensuring security of both the Indian nationals working in Afghanistan as well the diplomats at our embassy in Kabul, and this remains the primary responsibility at the moment.

How can we differentiate ourselves from China whilst dealing with Africa? Clearly the worst option would be to emulate the muscular Chinese style of economic diplomacy. For one we just don't have the firepower. For another the principle of comparative advantage advocates that everyone must play to their strengths.

Strikingly similar to the crisis that Iran faced at the IAEA Board meeting in Vienna last weekend, India too found itself in a tight spot in April 1994 at the United Nations Human Rights Commission's annual session in Geneva.

If Merkel's Berlin republic is discarding its many postwar political inhibitions and reconstituting the Eurasian landscape, Modi's putative "third republic" is looking beyond non-alignment to the idea of India as a "leading power". In their second summit in six months, Modi and Merkel may have decisively nudged India and Germany towards a goal that was first articulated 100 years ago.

If the BJP has a long-term economic vision for India, it needs to shun acting in a purely transactional manner in the near term.

Getting Pakistan to end the Kashmir conflict has been a difficult task, because Kashmir means many things to them. At one level, it is a cause that unites everyone in that country - the jihadis, the army and the civilian elite. At another, it provides it a means to maintain a hostile posture towards India, something necessary for its current sense of national identity.

In the coming Pakistan elections, the PPP cannot be written off because it has substantial pockets of support across various provinces. But it deserves some sympathy. Asif Zardari has not had an easy time with the media which had deemed him corrupt from day one or the judiciary and the military which have foiled all his efforts to come up with bold policies.

Modi has been ambivalent about the Lokpal, believing, presumably, that a revitalised administration will make this institution redundant. If so, he is wrong. At some point, he will have to take up the fight directly. This is the lesson we can learn from Xi Jinping. From the outset, Xi has been involved in a struggle against corruption.

Egypt is the fulcrum of the Arab world and developments there can have a profound impact in other Arab nations. That is why it is important to get things right. The immediate challenge for Egypt is to ensure that it does not degenerate into civil war.

It has been five years since General Pervez Musharraf came to power in Pakistan in a bloodless coup on October 12. One questionable referendum staged in April 2002, the less-than-credible parliamentary elections in October the same year, a controversial constitutional amendment and two changes of government this year later, Gen Musharraf is still the numero uno.

Fixing manufacturing and acquisitions alone will not work. Nirmala Sitharaman needs to urgently tackle the need to reorganise India’s sprawling military to make them an effective fighting unit for 21st century warfare, where challenges range from nuclear armed adversaries to proxy jihadis.

Indian counter-terror thinking needs strengthening from the ground up without care of international levers, FATF, and other multilateral security mechanisms

In a municipality of 55 members in Dhule, 16 are Muslims, affiliated to all the mainstream parties in Mumbai. These councillors are virtual middlemen for state leaders, in whose electoral interest they try to keep the local flock.

The Russian president, who will be in New Delhi on December 6, is not just coming to maintain the ‘special, privileged strategic partnership’, but to also deepen bilateral relations

Compared to the increasing suicide attacks the world over, India has, by and large, remained safe from these assaults. The reason is that Indian Muslims have a strong sense of Indian identity. In both their grievances and aspirations they think like their fellow Indian citizens, rather through any religious or sectarian prism.

The Japanese Prime Minister may have won a battle, but the war remains.

Where is the national leader of sufficient stature who can distil the message from the treaty of Hudaibiya and from Iqbal, and give it contemporary relevance? Or, in a more narrow focus: where is the Muslim leader to manage the post verdict mood? I believe the Congress has two or three but the nation has not seen them in the past week.

An economic revival would grant India the resources for power projection but strategy matters even more if those are scarce 

The Congress ended with the insertion of the ‘Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era’ into the Party constitution, confirming Xi as the most powerful Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping.

While Dr. Manmohan Singh must necessarily wait for Nawaz Sharif to determine the pace at which he might be comfortable moving forward with India, in the case of Bangladesh, the burden is entirely on Delhi to implement the historic agreements it had negotiated with Dhaka.

As India, China, US and the European Union grapple with the need for equitable and meaningful climate action, strategies are also needed to address the differing needs and capabilities of the sub-national entities that make up these big players.

In India, the office of the foreign minister doesn't command nearly the sort of authority it should, or it did in the past. While foreign policy in other countries is influenced by domestic politics, in India it's being completely overshadowed by intra-party and intra-government feuds.

The issues in Afghanistan do not exhaust potential areas for India-US cooperation. For example, combating the drug trade, engaging China, Central Asian nations, Iran, and Russia. Successful coordination and collaboration will go a long way towards creating a post-2014 Afghan scenario amenable to both India and the US.

Settle the border with India. With increasing US pressure, it is in China’s interest.

Though Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani described his Mohali discussions with Dr. Manmohan Singh as a win-win situation, the Pakistan foreign office spokesperson, Tehmina Janjua, described the situation as one of guarded optimism. So what are the ground realities in this exchange? asks Mr. T.V. Rajeswar.

Eminent Nepalese journalist Mr. Yubaraj Ghimire visited ORF and shared his insights on the situation in Nepal.

A Budget is an imperative or otherwise a government will drift aimlessly, though that often seems to be the case even with the most minutely specific Budget. Having said that, one must wonder why there is such a fuss each year when the Finance Minister of India is about to present the Budget?

The MH370 incident has occurred very close to our Tri-service Command at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which has three radar stations. Regardless of whether or not MH370 actually flew over or close to the Command, it would doubtless be useful to learn lessons from this and that switching off radars at night is a dangerous way to economise.

The state’s monopoly of violence is accepted only if it follows the rule of law; if it doesn’t, it justifies the breaking of its monopoly by individuals, mobs and insurgents.

A closer look at the trajectory of an important relationship.

In the urban-rural stereotyping, the phrase 'city girls' epitomises the impact of urban excesses on the apparent modesty and traditional aspect of femininity. City girls are assumed to be loud, to say the least, and of 'morally inappropriate character' on the extreme. Even within cities, this dilemma of how girls in cities ought to behave persists.

The poem, one of numerous written in that period, expresses admiration for the spell Nehru had cast by his deft navigation of foreign policy between the two blocs not for India alone but a whole group.

In the earthquake tragedy, India and Pakistan have a rare opportunity to forget past differences and bitterness, at least some of it to begin with, and forge a partnership of peace and development. Both the countries should shed past inhibitions and acrimony, and look for fresh opportunities to work together for a common cause: to rebuild Kashmir.

If we do not stand up and reclaim the space we have conceded to criminals and other low-life who now sit in judgment over us, it will be our children who will pay the price in the coming years