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NEW DELHI, AUGUST 7, 2008: Mr. Inder Kumar Gujral, former Prime Minister of India, on Thursday released a book on "Small States Security Dilemma: A Maldivian Perception" at Observer Research Foundation.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was formed in 1981 to counter the emerging threat from an ideological rival, Iran. While it has served the purpose of keeping the GCC countries together over the decades, the changing regional dynamics are raising questions over its continued relevance in its present form. The Hamas terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the consequent Gaza war has led to irreversible changes, Israel and Iran have engaged

With the Chinese refusal to take charge of the operations at Pakistan's Gwadar Port and a series of handicaps and security issues, this facility may fail to achieve its intended target of building it into a strategic asset.

In 2006, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh named  Maoist insurgency as “the single biggest internal-security challenge”[i] the country has ever faced. He would repeat the same warning in the succeeding four years.[ii] This paper argues  that today, the insurgency no longer poses the same degree of threat to the Indian state. It outlines the trajectory of the Maoist insurgency from its roots in the late 1960s, to credible domination over

Hamas was never a household name beyond a point unlike Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. Until now

Even if there’s a ground invasion by Israel into Gaza and an extended conflict, the impact on energy prices and the resultant OPEC response would depend on the scale and reach that the conflict takes. If it remains localised without affecting major oil producers or transit routes, prices may see limited immediate change, prompting OPEC to maintain current production levels

Did New Delhi’s ‘big-stick’ approach make Beijing pipe down on the LAC?

India’s online gaming sector is rapidly growing, surpassing other emerging digital sectors in the country. It contributes to GST revenue, creates jobs, and attracts FDI. The sector also promotes ancillary sectors, contributing indirectly to the economy. However, concerns persist around harms such as addiction, financial crimes like money laundering, and implications to national security. Regulatory uncertainty continues to hinder the sector’s

The neighbouring waters around China have been marked by competing maritime territorial claims for decades. In recent years, tensions have intensified as Beijing’s inroads have increased in pace and extent. Today China’s economic security is closely linked to the South China Sea. With Beijing repeatedly engaging in acts that are widely seen as violative of international maritime law, there is a growing need to underscore the significance and

There is uncertainty in the availability of domestic coal and in this context there is probably a need to rethink India's energy security strategy based on domestic coal

Most of the joint exercises being conducted by security forces, like like the Malabar 2015, are of the simple basic variety and, hence, really provide no 'net value addition' to the Indian force that participates. Thus, approvals for such exercises should necessitate a case-by-case approach in the future.

The maritime domain has taken centre stage in talks

Terrorists have taken to the use of social media networks in a big way. This brings us back to the old dilemma of how much data is information and how much information is adequate intelligence. The other dilemma is how much surveillance is enough for security. The third dilemma is how much liberty is to be sacrificed for security.

Young Indians now prioritise national security, view China as a military threat, and support stronger ties with the US.

It’s a fact that countries of the Global South, while not supportive of Russia’s war against Ukraine, also blame NATO and the West for its global impact. Europe needs to change its approach.

For India, a key lesson from 2025 is that innovations in drone use that blend their employment with missiles will obviate predictability

The emergence of this new grouping is clearly an outcome of the Abraham Accords of Aug 2020 and the possibilities that they have created for Israel and the UAE to be on the same platform with India and the US. As President Biden moves to Saudi Arabia for the second leg of his visit to West Asia, we are likely to see a push towards integrating Israel through trade, technology, direct flights and people-to-people contact even with countries where f

प्रादेशिक आर्थिक एकत्रीकरणाला प्राधान्य देऊन I2U2 बिझनेस फोरम समोर येत आहे. पश्चिम आशियाई प्रादेशिकतेसाठी मजबूत पाया म्हणून हे फोरम काम करू शकणार आहे.

The U.S.-India strategic relationship looks to be set on firm footing, with both sides keen to materialize deeper collaboration across defense and critical and emerging technologies.

The new militant movement in Kashmir, which began with Burhan Wani in the southern areas, has escalated the conflict in the Valley. While militancy is not new in Kashmir, the Pulwama attack put the conflict back on the radar of the international community. This paper examines the changing nature of militancy in Kashmir, specifically with regard to training, recruitment patterns and the use of social media, public support for militants, and an app

IMEC को भारत–यूरोप व्यापार का गेमचेंजर माना गया था लेकिन जमीनी हकीकत बताती है कि यह गलियारा अभी उम्मीद और अमल के बीच अटका हुआ है.

This corridor will connect Indian manufacturing and services with European markets via West Asian logistics

New Delhi will have to keep a close watch on global debates on economic security and the impetus building to restructure the world’s trading system

The predominant view not only within India but globally, is that China sees Tibet solely through the prism of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Analysing sources that illuminate China’s internal debates and discussions about its stakes in Tibet, this paper finds that unlike in the past, China no longer views Tibet as a national security barrier. Rather, Tibet has become China’s main gateway into the economic hinterland of South Asia. Wit

Most of the world failed to notice that the BLA conducted several attacks during the India-Pakistan tensions of May 2025. China, however, was paying close attention.

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea are traditionally viewed through the standpoint of China’s military expansionism, where the threats are more visible. The environmental impacts of China’s activities, which will be long-lasting, remain underexplored. China’s island construction, drilling activities, and overfishing have pushed the marine ecosystem of the region to the brink of collapse, and the destruction of coral reefs a

In the past few weeks, Afghanistan has received a stream of important visitors from western capitals that are in a position to preside over its destiny ¿ U.S. National Security Council Advisor Stephen J. Hadley, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, British Secretary of State for Defence John Reid, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit will be an opportunity to assess its progress in ensuring a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific

Talks of a major rift were also put to rest by the joint statement, which largely hewed to India's stated position

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

Despite differences that remain, there is clear evidence of growing strategic convergence by both countries in the security realm.

They can keep trying to match each other’s capabilities but that will only increase chances of war.

As Sino-Indian enmity in the maritime domain intensifies, the relationship between space assets and maritime capabilities in this constantly evolving rivalry remains understudied. This paper fills the gap with a comparative analysis that brings to the fore the importance of space sensors in the conduct of naval operations for both India and China. Equally relevant to this competition is the relationship between space assets and the nature of the

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

This paper considers and explains the shifts and consistencies in India’s engagement with structures of global trade governance beginning from the Uruguay round of trade negotiations in late 1980s. It makes three major arguments. First, that although India has participated actively in global trade negotiations since the establishment of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) it was only under the present-day trade governance institut

India's ability to separate the Palestinian issue from Indo-Israeli relations could be tested in the future. As the security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories deteriorates and Israel faces greater international pressure to negotiate an end to the conflict, it may not be long before Tel Aviv turns to New Delhi for diplomatic support.

The India-Japan engagement has been enhanced both on the bilateral front as well as in minilateral formats such as the Quad in recent years.

Indo-Japanese relations have witnessed a paradigm shift since 2000 when both countries launched a global partnership in order to address a range of issues affecting regional and global peace and prosperity. Systematic efforts made by the leaders of both countries since then have strengthened their partnership. Until very recently, their interactions were mainly limited to economic issues, but today they cover a wide spectrum of subjects including

Neighbours India and Nepal, who share an open border, have not always had the most amicable of relations, oscillating from one extreme to the other. One of their long-standing disputes is over the border area of Kalapani. This discord has the potential to disrupt the other aspects of their ties, especially in the domains of the economy and cross-border security. Further, if the two countries fail to arrive at a resolution to the disagreement, it

The deepening of India-New Zealand after a lull in relations is important both in bilateral terms and also within the wider regional context.

The First R K Mishra Memorial Lecture was delivered by Major General Mahmud Ali Durrani. He was Pakistan's National Security Adviser till January 2009. A former Ambassador to the United States, General Durrani has been closely associated with Mr RK Mishra, and Observer Research Foundation, in promoting peace and dialogue between India and Pakistan

Amidst pressures on the global trading system, the EU FTA will provide stability and certainty for businesses, support greater investment flows, and deepen supply chain integration

This brief reviews the crucial role of India in global climate politics and highlights the country’s partnerships on sustainable energy in Africa through the India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA). The brief finds that, beyond contributing to climate change mitigation, India—through ISA, in particular—is helping ensure energy security and sustainable livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa by providing poor communities access to natural, ec

India has had modest success in its efforts to internationally isolate Pakistan as a state-sponsor of terrorism. More effective in this regard has been Pakistan’s own duplicity vis-à-vis the West. Indian discourse has not resonated abroad because it relies too heavily on respect for vague global norms rather than adherence to specific national interests, which are more easily comprehended by foreign governments. New Delhi’s previous failures