COMMENTARIES
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Islamic State in Af-Pak: The �Wilayat Khurasan� Conundrum
Rajeshwari Krishnamurthy · 04 Mar, 2015 · #4847 · Commentary
In January 2015, the Islamic State (IS), in a statement, called on the militants operating in the Af-Pak region to pledge their allegiance to their chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his ‘Caliphate’. They declared ‘Wilayat Khurasan...
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Nepal’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Where Does It Stand?
Kalpana Jha · 04 Mar, 2015 · #4846 · Commentary
While truth is a mirror to the past, reconciliation is the road into the future. Uncovering the truth to attain reconciliation is an intrinsic step for all post-conflict societies. In such societies, reconciliation involves an elaborate engageme...
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Dateline Colombo
Sri Lanka: President Sirisena’s First One Hundred Days
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera · 04 Mar, 2015 · #4845 · Commentary · Column
“Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.”
Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days
51 days have passed, and 49 remain to fulfill the election promises of the 100-day reform introduced by the newly elected re...
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Maritime Matters
Indian Ocean: Modi on a Maritime Pilgrimage
Vijay Sakhuja · 02 Mar, 2015 · #4844 · Commentary · Column
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Maldives, Mauritius Seychelles and Sri Lanka during this month to reinforce India’s foreign policy objectives. A number of political, economic, social and security issues would constitute the agenda ...
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Spotlight West Asia
Saudi Arabia and Evolving Regional Strategic Dynamics
Ranjit Gupta · 02 Mar, 2015 · #4843 · Commentary · Column
Saudi Arabia had, for the immediate short-term, seemingly successfully launched the process of transition to monarchs coming from the next generation; however, there has been dissent about the two younger generation appointments which has been k...
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East Asia Compass
Russia and North Korea: Replaying Old Games
Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra · 02 Mar, 2015 · #4842 · Commentary · Column
It has been announced that Kim Jong-un will be participating in the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II, to be held in Russia in May 2015. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim...
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Red Affairs
The Rising Civilian Costs of the State-Vs-Extremists Conflict
Bibhu Prasad Routray · 23 Feb, 2015 · #4841 · Commentary · Column
In 1956, the British authorities fighting the Communist insurgents in Malay granted a lump sum of M$12,000 to a former member of the Min Yuen, the supply organisation of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA). The information provided by th...
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IPCS Discussion
Bangladesh and Nepal: Review of IPCS Forecasts
Report · 23 Feb, 2015 · #4840 · Commentary
On 9 February 2015, the IPCS, in collaboration with the India International Centre, reviewed and released two papers published as part of the Institute’s Forecast 2015 Series. The papers were: Bangladesh in 2015 (by Prof Delwar Hossain) an...
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Sub-Regional Cooperation in South Asia: A New Lease of Life?
Saurabh Kaushik · 23 Feb, 2015 · #4839 · Commentary
During the 18th SAARC Summit held in November 2014, Prime Minister Modi remarked that regional integration in South Asia would go ahead “through SAARC or outside it, among all of us or some of us.” It is evident that SAARC as a regio...
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Australian Interest in the Indian Ocean: Domestic Motivations
Stephen Westcott · 20 Feb, 2015 · #4838 · Commentary
Australia has been edging closer to embracing the Indian Ocean region for several years and finally openly declared in the 2013 Defence White Paper that it considered the Indian Ocean to be a key interest of the country. The international compulsi...
