COMMENTARIES
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Isolating Iran: Is it Counter-Productive?
Anureet Rai · 30 Nov, 2011 · #3501 · Commentary
The alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US and the recent IAEA report on Iran’s nuclear programme have revived the West’s efforts to further isolate Iran through the imposition of sanctions. The possibilit...
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Kodari Road: Implications for Nepal, China and India
Chok Tsering · 30 Nov, 2011 · #3500 · Commentary
The expansion and construction of a road network in the border areas between Nepal and China presents new opportunities for Nepal to promote the overall development of its trade. Nepal signed a boundary treaty with China in 1961 by constructing ...
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Reading Pakistan: What will follow the NATO Strikes?
D Suba Chandran · 30 Nov, 2011 · #3499 · Commentary
Pakistan has closed the NATO supply route and asked the US to vacate the Shamsi base. The prime minister has threatened that relations with the US would not be business as usual. What is next in US-Pakistan relations?
Whom does the Shamsi ba...
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The West and Myanmar: From Estrangement to Engagement
Medha Chaturvedi · 30 Nov, 2011 · #3498 · Commentary
After decades of isolation, the West seems to be softening towards Myanmar, which is evident with Hillary Clinton’s scheduled visit to the country on 1-2 December 2011. Does this visit bring with itself a promise of rejuvenation of relatio...
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Af-Pak Diary: Civil War and Instability as an Option in Afghanistan
D Suba Chandran · 30 Nov, 2011 · #3497 · Commentary
With preparations for the international withdrawal from Afghanistan after 2014 in full swing, there has been a significant amount of discussion on what is acceptable and what is not. There is a unanimous understanding that instability and a civi...
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NATO Strike in Pakistan: Need for a Joint Probe
Radha Vinod Raju · 30 Nov, 2011 · #3496 · Commentary
A pre-dawn airborne NATO attack on two Pakistani posts on the AF-PAK border resulted in the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers in the Mohmand Agency. This 26 November attack, unprovoked according to the Pakistanis, on the Golden and Volcano Pakista...
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Waiting for Godot?: US’s North Korean Dilemma
Ruhee Neog · 30 Nov, 2011 · #3495 · Commentary
Former US special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth met with a North Korean team led by Kim Kye Gwan, First Vice Foreign Minister, in Geneva in October 2011. Bosworth tersely called them ‘very positive and generally constructive’...
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Agni V: Will it Enhance India’s Deterrence against China?
Bhartendu Kumar Singh · 28 Nov, 2011 · #3494 · Commentary
India’s Defence Research and Development Agency (DRDO) recently declared that it would be testing, for the first time, a 5000 km range Agni V missile by February 2012. It is construed to be a major leap in the country’s missile capab...
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Maoist Encounter: Fall of the Legend
Rajat Kumar Kujur · 28 Nov, 2011 · #3493 · Commentary
The evening of 24 November 2011 suddenly started bustling as the media flashed news of the death of Malojula Koteshwara Rao, more prominently known as Kishenji. The number two man of the CPI (Maoist) organizational structure was killed in a join...
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Changing Discourse on the Diversion of the Brahmaputra
Chok Tsering · 18 Nov, 2011 · #3492 · Commentary
Water has emerged as a source of increasing competition and tension among different nations. In this context, China’s construction of dam and diversion projects over the Brahmaputra created tensions along the lower riparian countries like ...