COMMENTARIES
-
East Asia Compass
North Korean Peace Gestures and Inter-Korea Relations
Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra · 03 Mar, 2014 · #4317 · Commentary · Column
A lot has been happening in North Korean domestic politics as well as its relations with South Korea in recent months. Some of these happenings appear to indicate that there may be some improvement in the relationship between Pyongyang and Seoul...
-
The Nuclear Energy Debate in Pakistan
Ahmad Khan and Beenish Altaf · 19 Feb, 2014 · #4316 · Commentary
The very mention of the word nuclear more often than not invokes a sentiment of antagonism towards nuclear energy. Nuclear pessimists often associate this word with the mushroom cloud, the Three Mile Island incident, the Chernobyl incident, and ...
-
Red Affairs
Maoists in the Northeast: Reality and Myth-Making
Bibhu Prasad Routray · 17 Feb, 2014 · #4315 · Commentary · Column
On 9 June 2013, just before the clock struck midnight, a police contingent in Assam's Tinsukia district boarded the Chennai-Egmore Express, minutes before its three-day long journey, and pulled out 66 youths. A critical intelligence input re...
-
South Asian Dialectic
Federalism: Centre as Coordinator and Adjudicator
PR Chari · 17 Feb, 2014 · #4314 · Commentary · Column
Some verities about federalism in the context of regionalism in South Asia are becoming clearer. The proposition that "the (changing) political map of South Asian countries must reflect its social and cultural diversities" is unarguabl...
-
Dhaka Discourse
Bangladesh: Domestic Politics and External Actors
Delwar Hossain · 17 Feb, 2014 · #4313 · Commentary · Column
A new government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has started functioning in Bangladesh following the general elections held on 5 January 2014. The new cabinet has received positive responses from different groups in Bangladesh for inducting ...
-
Dateline Islamabad
Pakistan and TTP: Dialogue or Military Action?
Salma Malik · 17 Feb, 2014 · #4312 · Commentary · Column
The verdict is out: instead of supporting decisive military action to break the back of insurgents, the government chose to dialogue, with umpteenth committees to name, shame, blame and footdrag. Interestingly, where the dialogue option has halted...
-
Strategic Space
US, China and the South Asian Nuclear Construct
Manpreet Sethi · 17 Feb, 2014 · #4311 · Commentary · Column
Most Western writings/conferences on India-Pakistan nuclear deterrence tend to try and understand this dyad in a narrow regional box of South Asia. This is not only stifling and restricting but also not a useful formulation. Rather, the India-Paki...
-
India, China and the US in Indian Ocean
The Maritime Silk Route and the Chinese Charm Offensive
Vijay Sakhuja · 17 Feb, 2014 · #4310 · Commentary
China appears to be in an overdrive to charm India. At the recently concluded 17th Annual Dialogue of the Special Representatives of India and China, state councilor Yang Jeichi proposed a dialogue between the two naives on freedom of navi...
-
Contemporary East Asia
The Yasukini Controversy: Global Implications
PR Chari · 15 Feb, 2014 · #4309 · Commentary
By definition a war memorial is a building or monument to celebrate a war or victory or, as in present times, to remember those who died or were injured in war. Several regiments in the British Army have constructed monuments to their comrades w...
-
Taliban Tracker
TTP under Mullah Fazlullah: What Next for the Pakistani Taliban?
D Suba Chandran · 14 Feb, 2014 · #4308 · Commentary
Almost two months after the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud, the former head of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), by a drone attack in the Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where does the TTP stand today? Is it demoralised, o...
