COMMENTARIES
-
Myanmar’s National Census: Fuelling Ethnic Crises
Aparupa Bhattacherjee · 18 Jun, 2014 · #4522 · Commentary
The nationwide census that was carried out from March to May 2014 in Myanmar was an essential step in the country’s preparation for the 2015 general elections. The previous census was held 31 years ago in 1983, under the military junta gov...
-
Modi’s Thimpu Visit: Deepening India-Bhutan Relations
Roomana Hukil · 17 Jun, 2014 · #4521 · Commentary
In his maiden foreign visit as premier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recently went to Bhutan to strengthen development cooperation and further enhance economic ties. Although there are no big agreements on the anvil, the prime minister's sh...
-
India’s Northeast: An Agenda for DoNER
Ruhee Neog · 17 Jun, 2014 · #4520 · Commentary
In interviews conducted post his appointment as the head for the Ministry for the Development of the Northeastern Region (DoNER), General (Retd) VK Singh identified certain areas for the “overall development” of the Northeast. This a...
-
INS Arihant: A 'Giant Stride' for India?
Amit Saksena · 16 Jun, 2014 · #4519 · Commentary
When the INS Arihant’s nuclear reactor went critical in August 2013, India not only joined the blue-water navy club of countries with the capability to build nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, but also picked on a major doctrinal ...
-
South China Sea
China's 'Salami Slicing': What's Next?
Teshu Singh · 16 Jun, 2014 · #4518 · Commentary
It has been over a month since China installed an oil rig in the disputed South China Sea (SCS). Ever since, China has shifted the location of the rig thrice. The installation of the rig appears to be a well calibrated move. Evidently, China has...
-
Turmoil in West Asia
ISIL, Iraq and Securing India’s Interests
Adil Rasheed · 16 Jun, 2014 · #4517 · Commentary
The rabbit hole of Iraq springs up bizarre and devastatingly new challenges for the US even a decade after its invasion of the country. The embarrassment does not end there. The US is now forced to re-enter the quagmire and may fight alongside i...
-
Afghanistan: Political Crises After the Presidential Run-off
Mariam Safi · 16 Jun, 2014 · #4516 · Commentary
The second round of the Afghan presidential elections held on 4 June saw Afghans returning to the polling stations in large numbers with no regard for Taliban threats.
Unfortunately, instead of resulting in a successful end to a long and unc...
-
Indus-tan
India-Pakistan: The MFN-NDMARB Debacle
Sushant Sareen · 16 Jun, 2014 · #4515 · Commentary · Column
In the irrational exuberance that is invariably on display in the media every time leaders of India and Pakistan meet, the subtlety of some of the signals that are sent out is often lost. Something similar happened after the Indian Foreign Secre...
-
Red Affairs
Tackling Naxal Violence: An Agenda for the New Indian Government
Bibhu Prasad Routray · 16 Jun, 2014 · #4514 · Commentary · Column
In a way the challenge of left-wing extremism the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in New Delhi faces bears close resemblance to the situation that confronted the United Progressive Alliance regime in its second tenure in 2009. ...
-
Strategic Space
Time for India-China Nuclear-speak
Manpreet Sethi · 16 Jun, 2014 · #4513 · Commentary · Column
It is significant that the first international call that Narendra Modi received soon after taking oath as Prime Minister was from Premier Li Keqiang of China. This has been quickly followed up with the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Y...
