COMMENTARIES
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Vietnam: Gay Pride Parade
Amruta Karambelkar · 24 Aug, 2012 · #3712 · Commentary
Early August, around 100 persons took to streets in Hanoi as part of a gay pride parade. The procession came at the backdrop of an announcement to legalise same sex marriage in the country. The event received significant media attention, some de...
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India: Double Speak on Nuclear Disarmament
PR Chari · 24 Aug, 2012 · #3711 · Commentary
Call it unintended irony. But India’s Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser using a forum to discuss the resurrected Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan and the Holy Grail of nuclear disarmament to emphasise India’s devotion to nuclear...
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Attack on Pakistan’s Kamra Airbase: What Next for Pakistan and the TTP?
D Suba Chandran · 23 Aug, 2012 · #3710 · Commentary
The attack on a Pakistan airbase on 15 August 2012 was a grim reminder of an earlier attack on PNS Mehran in May 2011. While a section would consider this to be a tipping point, a cursory look at the reactions to such attacks in the past would i...
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Self-Immolations in Tibet-III: Altruism, Fatalism or Anomie?
Bhavna Singh · 23 Aug, 2012 · #3709 · Commentary
In its Annual International Religious Freedom Report released on 30 July 2012, the US held the Chinese government responsible for the wave of self-immolations amongst Tibetans over the recent years (45 deaths so far). It identified that ‘t...
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The g7+’s ‘New Deal’: A New Approach to State Fragility?
Lidia Leoni · 23 Aug, 2012 · #3708 · Commentary
2011 saw a new development in the international community's discourse on state fragility. Nineteen countries ranking high in the Fund for Peace's Failed States Index formed a voluntary diplomatic group, called the g7+, with the aim of im...
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Indo-Iran Cooperation in Afghanistan: Potential and Problems
Aryaman Bhatnagar · 22 Aug, 2012 · #3707 · Commentary
India and Iran have contributed substantially to the development of Afghanistan post-2001 and have committed to further increase their involvement in the country in the future. Both countries have also collaborated with each other on a number of...
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Afghanistan: Operation Enduring ‘Fiefdom’
J Jeganaathan · 22 Aug, 2012 · #3706 · Commentary
The US recently appointed James Cunningham and Richard Olson as ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively. Speculations are now rife about how are they going to shape the US end-game in the Af-Pak region. The appointments occurred in ...
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Kudankulum: Questioning India’s Capability to Guarantee Nuclear Safety
Shubhra Chaturvedi · 22 Aug, 2012 · #3705 · Commentary
The sudden re-emergence of a hue and cry (http://bit.ly/O3FwOM) in the Sri Lankan media regarding radiation emitted by the India nuclear plant at Kudankulam could not capture much attention around the world. The news however did raise certain is...
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Christianity in China: Changing Domestic Attitudes?
Namrata Hasija · 22 Aug, 2012 · #3704 · Commentary
Although, Daoism and Buddhism are the two religions usually identified with China, Christianity also dates back to the Tang dynasty when the Nestorians came to spread it. This article looks at the reasons for the rise of Christianity in China du...
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Sansha: Understanding China’s Increasing Foothold
Teshu Singh · 22 Aug, 2012 · #3703 · Commentary
In the latest development in the South China Sea (SCS) region, China, in a move of unilateral aggression, established the new city of Sansha on Yongxing Island/Woody Island a few miles away from Hainan Province. Besides being a pivot point of th...
