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History of FATA reforms
In November 2015, the PM set up a six-member Fata reforms Committee “to propose a concrete way forward for the political mainstreaming of Fata areas.” At its very first meeting on November 21, 2015, the Committee decided to carry out an... More
Terrorism: a technique of war?
AFTER the cataclysmic events of September 2001, a war was declared on ‘terrorism’. Some feeble attempts were made to explain the nature of this beast but the frenzy was not conducive to a meaningful dialogue. Now that Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, in... More
Choppy waters, unsure navigator
This week’s gathering of the Indian Ocean leaders in Jakarta has drawn a mixed reaction. Optimists see the Jakarta summit of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) as a “game changer”. For the pessimists, the IORA is a talking shop that... More
The Afghan graveyard
Afghans often proudly refer to their country as “the graveyard of empires”. Today, unfortunately, it has become just a graveyard. The latest UN Report on Afghanistan chronicles the large and escalating human toll of its prolonged war. Afghanistan has also emerged... More
Making Sense of China’s Role as a Crisis Manager in South...
While China’s growing alliance with Pakistan has raised alarm in relevant quarters in India, the situation might not be threatening to regional stability in South Asia. In fact, China might be the most well-placed country to mitigate crisis situations in the... More
India’s Participation in CPEC: The Ifs and Buts
At the recently concluded Raisina Dialogue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that “only by respecting the sovereignty of countries involved, can regional connectivity corridors fulfil their promise and avoid differences and discord.”1 The Prime Minister’s statement on the importance of respecting... More
Gauging the breeze in Manipur
Manipur is to vote in two phases, on March 4 and 8, to elect the 60 members of the Legislative Assembly. The term of the current Legislative Assembly ends on March 18. In the last election, in 2012, the Congress won... More
Fruits of patience
Strategic patience is a virtue in statecraft. But it is not about passive and endless waiting. It demands persistent pursuit of one’s goals and seizing the moment when the circumstances turn more favourable. It has certainly come to define India’s recent... More
Trump’s Russia and China Policy: Impact on South Asia
In only a month in office, the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump has inspired extensive debate through his seemingly unpredictable policy pursuits. While many have expressed apprehension about the possibility of a trade war with China, others have... More
Sri Lankan elite discusses “frightening economic situation”
The Colombo-based Sunday Times published a lengthy article last weekend about a secret meeting of government ministers and President Maithripala Sirisena. According to the newspaper, the high-level gathering discussed “what portends to be a frightening economic situation unfolding in the country.”
The... More
Getting down to work with Trump
At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, the Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed leadership of the global economic order amidst the US President Donald Trump’s emphasis on “America First”.
The tendency to present narrow national interests as global good has... More
China should ensure Pakistan doesn’t face financial crisis
While Pakistan's fast growing economy has made it a darling for foreign investment, the surge in the country's fiscal deficit and public debts has increasingly become a source of concern for international investors and has led to doubts about its capability... More
Trump administration to expand India-US military-strategic alliance
The Trump administration has served notice that it intends to expand the Indo-US military strategic alliance. This is not surprising, but nonetheless highly significant: first, because it underscores the new administration’s intention to pursue confrontation with China; and second, because Washington’s... More
Disrupting space: How far ahead is India in the $323-billion space...
India has launched the PSLV-C36 successfully, with 104 satellites on board. Apart from three Indian satellites, taking up 748.1 kg of its 1,500 kg capacity, it also carried 88 small satellites owned by a US-based company, Planet Labs, and others from... More
Did a Canada court really clear Bangladesh officials of corruption?
Last Friday , a Canadian court acquitted three former executives of the large engineering company SNC-Lavalin who had been accused of bribing Bangladesh government officials to win a $50 million consultancy contract involving the World Bank-funded construction of the Padma bridge.
Their... More
Battling de-globalisation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was more direct in demanding that diplomacy serve economic interests of the nation.
As Rex Tillerson, until recently the head of one of the world’s largest companies, Exxon Mobil, settles down as America’s secretary of state, one wonders... More
Can China, US cooperate on Afghan issues?
After winning the presidential election, Donald Trump's "America First" doctrine has created a prominent shift in the US' foreign relationships. Trump emphasized that: "We don't want to have a depleted military because we're all over the place fighting in areas that... More
Delhi, Tokyo, Canberra
Donald Trump sent a tremor through one of America’s most solid alliances last week in his leaked phone call with the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. He reportedly got angry at one of his country’s most loyal allies and cut short... More
Lankan worries about Indian “Trojan horse”
For decades before and after Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948, India’s relations with the island nation were political and adversarial. But since the second half of the 1990s, there has been a gradual shift to trade, development assistance, and investment, in... More
PM and the UP crucible
In the 69 years of parliamentary democracy in India, no prime minister has been as audacious as Narendra Modi. He has said publicly that he will be in office for at least 10 years. Occasionally, he has also said that he... More
Sri Lanka and the pivot to Asia in the new global...
In October 2011, then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlined a new foreign policy vision for the United States that rebalanced its focus to East Asia and Pacific from the Middle East.
Given the costly American interventions in the Middle East,... More
