COMMENTARIES
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Year in Review
Nepal 2013: Constituent Assembly Elections
Uddhab Pyakurel · 10 Jan, 2014 · #4243 · Commentary
Three major developments took place in Nepal during 2013: conclusion of integration process, formation of the caretaker government and the second elections for the constituent assembly.
End of the army integration process
With an...
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Antarctica and the Ice breakers: What should India prepare for?
Vijay Sakhuja · 09 Jan, 2014 · #4242 · Commentary
The fortnight long icy drama in the Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica is finally over and the two ice breakers, MV Akademik Shokalskiy of Russia trapped since Christmas Eve, and Xue Long , the Chinese ship that came to rescue it, have broken throug...
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IPCS Debate
India, Pakistan and Tactical Nuclear Weapons: What’s in a Name?
Usman Ali Khan · 07 Jan, 2014 · #4241 · Commentary
India has chosen to fight at sub-conventional level but evidence in this regard is not taken into account. In a recent article, an author considered Pakistan’s development of the so-called tactical nuclear weapons. ‘Nuclear Insanity&rs...
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Bangladesh Elections 2013: Fate of a Nation
Chiranjib Haldar · 07 Jan, 2014 · #4240 · Commentary
The outcome was never in doubt. Sheikh Hasina's Awami League ended with more than two-thirds of seats in a hustings shunned by international observers as flawed and derided as a ‘farce’ by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Pa...
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IPCS Debate
India, Pakistan and Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Irrelevance for South Asia
Amit Gupta · 06 Jan, 2014 · #4239 · Commentary
Tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) have little utility in the South Asian context since neither India nor Pakistan’s nuclear doctrines are based on those of the Cold War superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union. American nuclear analysts used ...
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Af-Pak Diary
Pakistan: Talks about Talks with the Taliban, Again
D Suba Chandran · 06 Jan, 2014 · #4238 · Commentary · Column
Talks about talks with the TTP seem to have become seasonal in Pakistan. There is another effort, this time to initiate a new round of talks with the Pakistani Taliban, now under the leadership of Mullah Fazlullah. This time, not only is Fazlull...
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Maritime Matters
Iran Navy: Developing Long Sea Legs
Vijay Sakhuja · 06 Jan, 2014 · #4237 · Commentary · Column
Iran’s suspected nuclear weapon programme, the associated economic sanctions, hardliner Iranian lawmakers’ demand for uranium enrichment, and the inconclusive Geneva talks to urge Tehran to roll back its nuclear programme has attract...
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Himalayan Frontier
Nepal: The Crisis over Proportional Representation and the RPP Divide
Pramod Jaiswal · 06 Jan, 2014 · #4236 · Commentary · Column
Last year (2013) was lucky for the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) led by Kamal Thapa as they emerged as the fourth largest party in the second Constituent Assembly (CA-II). But in 2014, the party seems to be sailing through rough...
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East Asia Compass
China, Japan, Korea and the US: Region at Crossroads
Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra · 06 Jan, 2014 · #4235 · Commentary · Column
Japanese Prime Minister Shinjo Abe visited Yasukuni shrine on 26 December last year and the visit invited usual condemnations from China and South Korea. The US also reacted by saying it ‘disappointing’ and would lead to ‘exace...
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Japan: Revised Defence Posture
Shamshad A Khan · 02 Jan, 2014 · #4234 · Commentary
The Japanese government led by nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has scrapped the previous government’s National Defense Programme Guidelines (NDPG) and has adopted new defence guidelines that outline Japan’s defence and security...
