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Pakistan¿s port city of Karachi has been buzzing with military activity beginning September 2004. There have been two important events: first the inauguration by President Musharraf of the third IDEAS-2004 defence exhibition at the Expo Centre, Karachi.
The message in the murder is the obvious one. Kashmir’s terrain has changed, all the past verities no longer prevail. In the new situation, you are either for us, or against us, there is no middle ground.
South Asia's Weekly report with news of peace brokering in Afghanistan among other news
New Delhi must stop viewing its foreign relations with Colombo from the Chennai prism alone just as it was a mistake to view our relations with Bangladesh through Kolkata's priorities. Tamil aspirations in Sri Lanka are important but there are other abiding interests too.
The current impasse in the peace process in Sri Lanka should worry friends of the nation, including India. Starting haltingly in the post-war months, the negotiations between the Government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has been deadlocked...
Reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping had proposed trilateral talks involving the shared Indian neighbour at a meeting with visiting Sri Lankan counterpart Maithripala Sirisena should make New Delhi sit up and take notice.
The just-concluded parliamentary polls in Sri Lanka may have a lesson or two for political parties in India, which too is facing elections in the coming weeks. If past parallels are any indicator of a sub-continental voter-behaviour, the average Sri Lankan has gone with bread-and-butter issues, highlighted by the United People¿s Freedom Alliance (UPFA)
The end to ¿Karuna rebellion¿ inside the LTTE, as fast as it commenced in early March also marks the beginning of a new, rather revived pace in the Sri Lanka peace process. Within days of telling the world who was the boss in all the Tamil-speaking areas in the North and the East, the LTTE sat across the table with the Government team, facilitated again by the Norway-led Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM),
By declaring that his talks with Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri would produce nothing dramatic or drastic, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh might have robbed the event of the avoidable media hype, the like of which had attended on the ¿Agra summit¿ earlier. At the end of it, the two-day ministerial meeting in New Delhi was a cup that was not half-full. Nor was it half-empty. In turn, this indicated that the two Gover
The ORF conference stressed that the Sri Lankan state must be very sensitive towards creating the right perceptions about its policy of inclusiveness towards the Tamil minority
Afghanistan and India enjoyed a “romantic relationship,” with close cultural ties.
Realities are changing in Afghanistan, and New Delhi must be nimble.
Pakistan is an important player as far as determining the outcome of a post-2014 Afghanistan is concerned and should be engaged with. But to expect it to play a productive role or to expect Afghanistan and Pakistan to reconcile their differences and jointly work towards stability is a tall order.
Understanding the importance of peace has been accorded high priority in many religions, such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. In recent years, many economists have realized the monetary value of peace. Peace is a pre-requisite for the development of infrastructural facilities like education, health, roads, irrigation, power and communications.
The India-Pakistan peace process, punctuated with -uctuating waves of optimism and anxiety, has completed three years, and it is appropriate, and timely, to review whether the primary On April 22, 2003 the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, told the Indian Parliament that India was unilaterally opening “the doors for talks” with Pakistan. The offer was based on two simple premises: one, that Pakistan would stop cross-border in
This brief examines the Kashmir conflict from the perspective of the young population who have grown up in tumultuous times in the Valley. It builds on findings of field surveys conducted by the author across the Kashmir Valley over the last two years, covering issues that remain unanswered three decades since the start of the insurgency. These topics include Kashmiriyat, the exodus of pandits, governance and administration, the post-2016 unrest
There has been speculation galore regarding Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of the Al Qaeda in Iraq, ever since the US Marines carried out a flushing-out operation to smoke out foreign terrorists allegedly operating from the Sunni stronghold of Qaim, which is located in a desert area where the Euphrates river crosses from Syria into Iraq.
The troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir is governed by two controversial laws – the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1990 and its predecessor, the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978. In the past few years, state security forces have been enforcing these two laws against suspected militants and insurgents with increasing severity. This paper argues that the combined enforcement of these two laws has s
Now in its twelfth month, the Ukraine crisis is caught in a protracted winter of war rather than one of frozen hostility or attempted peace. Most prognoses point towards continuing military action instead of dialogue in the near term. This is primarily because Russia and Ukraine have made their maximalist positions clear. But is the door to dialogue completely shut, or is there room for ‘strategic accommodation’ through creative peace diploma
For starters, trade talks between the two countries resumed after a hiatus of nearly three years. The talks were suspended following the Mumbai attacks. But the thaw emanating from the latest bout of 'cricket diplomacy' has paved the way for cooperation in the sphere of trade.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s bold peace offer to the Taliban has aroused hopes of peace in the country torn by war for many years now. In a sweeping proposal made at the Kabul Process conference in February, President Ghani offered a ceasefire, the removal of sanctions, release of prisoners, the recognition of the Taliban as a political party, the conduct of fresh elections, and a review of the constitution. He repeated his offer in Mar
The US cannot be seen to be losing the war in a re-election year, and so the US withdrawal needs repackaging as a peace process for Afghanistan. The problem is that nobody really knows what the Taliban wants and reconciling an emirate — and Shariat-based system with the existing constitution — is not easy.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to form a joint commission to collaborate their efforts to reach a political solution to the Taliban insurgency. This was announced during the visit of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani to the Afghanistan capital of Kabul over the weekend.
On Monday night, a television anchor asked Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit about her views on India's decision to run the Lahore bus again. She said: "I hope it doesn't fall by the wayside as the previous one.'' If she clearly sounded sceptical, there are reasons. The last time buses began to cross the Wagah border
There is a lot to feel hopeful about the maiden meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff in distant New York. If the two nations needed to move ahead with the peace process, set in motion by predecessor Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh needed the personal chemistry working with Musharaff. At the end of the day, both said it did work.
त्यांच्या तिसऱ्या कार्यकाळात, त्यांनी नॉर्वे आणि स्वित्झर्लंड यांच्यासारख्या देशांप्रमाणेच, शांतता प्रस्थापनेसाठी आक्रमक दृष्टीकोन स्वीकारावा. यामुळे भारताला त्या�
The 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation was probably the most seminal foreign policy arrangement entered into by India in the 20th century. It had a profound effect on the politics and geography of South Asia, cementing what many thought was the pre-eminence of India in the region
New Delhi, Tehran and Moscow could coordinate their efforts on Afghanistan as the US exits
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.
Separatism, extremism, and terrorism originating in Afghanistan compelled the neighbouring countries to form the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001. However, instead of presenting a united front, the SCO is rife with disagreements. Increased divergences and mistrust among the members have helped the Taliban regain power in Afghanistan and strengthen its influence in the heart of Eurasia. The Taliban have taken advantage of the trust
When two top American diplomats speak out in quick succession about the international system, the world will take note. The op-ed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in the Washington Post titled "The Promise of Democratic Peace," and the policy speech four days later by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns at the European Institute titled "A Renewed Partnership for Global Engagement" fall into this category.
India has been witnessing rapid urbanisation in the last decade, particularly in its large and medium-size cities. As more and more people move towards cities and towns, it is imperative to build an understanding of how cities are geared in terms of growth and inclusion. In what ways do India's marginalised communities get excluded from the country's growing urban spaces? This paper studies how individuals and groups are included inor exclude
More than six months into his tenure, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is possibly as far from achieving a breakthrough with the Taliban. There is no unanimity in the Taliban for peace talks. And Pakistan's failure to bring the Taliban to the table could possibly be a reflection of its limited influence over the group and a bigger obstacle to the talks may be the Taliban itself.
Nawaz Sharief's election for an unprecedented third time as Pakistan's prime minister has been welcomed by the Afghan government. Afghan President Hamid Karzai congratulating Sharief called upon the new Pakistani government to enhance cooperation in order to work towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Afghanistan.
In the midst of growing political instability, emerging complexities in the peace process, and significant aid cuts, the coronavirus outbreak is intensifying the struggle on all fronts in Afghanistan.
The recent developments in the Afghan reconciliation process have evoked a new sense of optimism regarding a peaceful solution to the conflict in the country. First, there was the release of 26 prisoners, in batches, by Pakistan and then the two-day talks in Paris,
Vision of a peaceful, united and prosperous Africa set out in Agenda 2063 could be achieved through sound planning and other roundups
Even after the decolonisation of Africa, the continent was unable to formulate, let alone implement its own agenda because of its deep political and economic vulnerabilities. This situation has changed in the last two decades, and today, Africa is witnessing political and economic resurgence. Its leaders realise that the time has come for African development to be owned and driven by the African people themselves. There is a new enthusiasm for th
At the end of a French delegation's visit to Pakistan recently, the Pakistan Foreign Office put out its usual statement. It referred to Pakistan as an anchor of peace in the region and said that the leader of the French delegation, former Premier Senator (Francois) Poncet, had commended Pakistan's role in promoting peace and stability.
It has historically been assumed that while the nature of war remains the same—i.e., violence inflicted on the adversary to bend them to one’s will—the character of warfare changes with technology, organisation, politics and culture. This notion has changed. Over the past decade, the nature of war has also changed, with increased use of non-contact and non-kinetic modes of warfare expanding the battlefield spatially and temporally.
By announcing the American decision to ¿nominate¿ Pakistan as a ¿major non-NATO ally¿, US Secretary of State Colin Powell may have done a calculated disservice to the ongoing peace process between Islamabad and New Delhi. His reference to greater military-to-military cooperation with Islamabad may have stirred,
Joe Biden’s decision may have the potential to drag the Trump administration into the conflict.
Naxalites of the Communist Party of India-Maoist and Communist Party of India -- Marxist-Leninist (Janashakthi) trashed the peace process in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on January 17.
