COMMENTARIES
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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...
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India: Security and Strategic Challenges in 2014
C Uday Bhaskar · 02 Jan, 2014 · #4233 · Commentary
The twin terrorist attacks in the Russian city of Volgograd that have killed more than 30 innocent people and grievously injured scores of others on two successive days (29 and 30 December 2013) which are suspected to be the handiwork of an Isla...
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Special Commentary
Indian Air Force: Is it an Expeditionary Force?
Gp Capt (Retd) PI Muralidharan · 02 Jan, 2014 · #4232 · Commentary
Reporting on the recent assumption of office by the new Chief of the Indian Air Force, The Times of India on 31 December 2013 carried a piece by Rajat Pandit stating that the new Chief would have to focus on faster induction of plann...
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Japan’s New National Security Strategy: India Factor
Shamshad A Khan · 02 Jan, 2014 · #4231 · Commentary
Japan, in its new strategic doctrines for the next decade, has identified India among the countries that are ‘primary drivers’ of change in the global ‘balance of power’. The two strategic documents (National Security Str...
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Thailand: Challenges to Democracy?
Aparupa Bhattacherjee · 31 Dec, 2013 · #4230 · Commentary
The ongoing anti-government protests in Bangkok seem to threatening the democratic establishment of the country. The protests which started in November 2013 are being led by Suthep Thaugsuban, the former deputy Prime Minister of Thailand before ...
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Special Commentary
Iran Nuclear Deal: Israeli and Saudi Arabian Objections
Ruhee Neog and Ayesha Khanyari · 31 Dec, 2013 · #4229 · Commentary
While the interim nuclear deal signed with Iran has earned praise from many quarters, it also has its share of detractors. Chief among them are Israel and Saudi Arabia, with whom the US has the most firmly held relationships in the region. The b...
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Peace Audit
Ten Years of Ceasefire along the LoC: Through Elections and Media Ratings
Salma Malik · 27 Dec, 2013 · #4228 · Commentary
If nothing else, India and Pakistan have no dearth of issues to disagree and dispute over. The already fragile and precariously balanced “peace,” suffered yet another major setback when starting January 2013, the Line of Control (LoC...
