News
What India should know about non-state actors, counterterrorism and asymmetric warfare
It is imperative for India to remember that fighting DIY and crude armed technologies could well be more difficult to achieve than traditional warfare.
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New Year rings in reconciliation in West Asia
Ties between Qatar and the three GCC members went downhill after uprisings in Arab countries that began in Tunisia, the beginning of the so-called “Arab Spring”.
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COVID19 & War? Do India and China only have two choices?
The relationship between India and China seems to have become very dangerous recently. Is this really what we want? COVID-19 threatens both India and China, but, perhaps, this is not the most critical threat. In their long histories, both India and China have rich experience in fighting plagues. I believe both countries will eventually be able to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, which is not the most important thing at this juncture. The most critical question is, is it necessary to go to a border war while both countries encounter the COVID-19 crisis?
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Afghanistan: Aid-cuts stare at poverty-alleviation
The 2020 Afghanistan Conference, a ministerial-level pledging event, took place in Geneva on 23-24 November, with the participation of 66 countries and 32 international organisations. The conference was co-hosted by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Government of Finland and the United Nations. The Afghan delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar.
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Decoding India’s latest diplomatic push in the West Asian theatre
While successfully balancing relations between Israel, Iran and Saudi Arabia power blocks, New Delhi’s affinity for this Gulf outreach is rooted in geopolitical and geo-economic realities.
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The ball is in China’s court
With its strong response across spheres, India has shown that it has options and a willingness to exercise them.
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How is urban poverty different from rural?
The past practice of seeing all poverty in a rural light and applying rural solutions in urban conditions will not yield the expected results.
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Pakistan: the Dossier Charade
On 14 November 2020, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar in a joint press conference unveiled a dossier allegedly containing ‘irrefutable evidence’ of India's sponsorship of terrorism in the country.1 The underlying message was that India had become a rogue state and was indulging in state terrorism. India had four supposed objectives: putting obstacles in Pakistan's progress towards peace, economic instability, creating chaos and political instability in the country.
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Madam Vice President, you have the floor
What does the election of the first female Veep of the United States mean for women in politics?
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A Biden presidency and US-India economic ties
As President elect Joe Biden makes his first moves towards the White House without garnering a concession from the incumbent, it is time to assess the real import of the choice that American voters have made. This choice and the very nature of it will have an impact on how the global order shapes up in the coming years. For all the talk of American decline, the way most of the world has been obsessed with the Trump versus Biden contest underscores the influence America continues to wield around the globe. In fact, China and Russia, two nations who never get tired of telling the world that the US is no longer the world’s superpower, are still waiting and watching till every last vote is being counted to officially congratulate the victor!
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